NAIJA PLAYERS XPLOITS ABROAD......WRITTEN BY ABAYOMI ADEMETAN

FUTBALL GALORE

Pacesetters Aland United crushed HTK FC 7-0 in a Finland Women's Football League match. Super Falcons striker Cynthia Uwak failed to add to her goal tally, but provided two assists in the one-sided match. The 26-year-old forward was substituted in the second half.


Kasimpasa ensured that Bursaspor returned back home empty-handed with a two-nil win on Sunday. Former Bordeaux star Kalu Uche made case for a return to the Super Eagles fold with a 90th minute strike in the colours of the hosts. He has netted 16 goals, two adrift Galatasaray's Yilmaz. 


In India, United Sikkim handed out a 5-0 thumping to a rudderless Air India side at the Paljor Stadium in Sikkim with their Nigerian forward Nurudeen Salau scoring a brace (60', 62').

In one of Belgium Jupiler league match, OUD- Heverlee punished Waasland Beveren with their clinical finish in front of goal. The chief tormentor upfront was Derick Chuka Ogbu who capped a man-of-the-match display with one of OUD’s goals. The game ended 3-1 in favour of Chuka’s team.

Ferencvaros were in devastating form, punishing 10-man Egri with a 4-goal rush at home. Energetic striker Daniel Bode netted a brace and thus made it his 11^th goal in the Hungry NB 1 league. The Nigerian born forward is the topscorer in the Hungarian League.

Yusuf Ayila’s Orduspor were dealt a big blow when Michael  Eneramo’s Sivasspor defeated them 3-2 in  a thrilling encounter. Former Esperance forward Eneramo netted the game’s opener in the 5^th minute of action.

At MCH Arena,  Midtjylland played out a thrilling three-all draw against FC Copenhagen. Nigerian trio  Izunna Uzochukwu, Rilwan Hassan and Sylvester Igboun were utilized as part of a five-man midfield system by the home side. They duly delivered with fantastic shows. However, Igboun made way for Danny Olsen in the 71^st minute of action. The match was watched by 8091 fans.

An own goal in the second half rescued Sandhausen from losing at home to Kaiserslautern. Former Super Eagles invitee Seyi Olajengbesi was brilliant at the back, in the colours of Sandhausen. The game ended one-all. 

At Glanford Park, three Nigerians were actively involved as Scunthorpe ran away with a 2-1 victory over  Leyton Orient. Former Sheffield Wednesday forward Akpo Sodje scored the game’s opener in the 3^rd minute and got a yellow card in the 35^th minute. Also in the thick of action was James Alabi who was introduced in the second-half. Moses Odubajo, a sharp rising right-back lasted the length in the colours of the travellers.

At Gigg Lane, Bury and Crewe treated fans to an interesting 2-2 draw. Evergreen defender Efetobore Sodje made his experience count with an excellent performance at the back. Nicholas Ajose was substituted in the second half, while on-loan Arsenal attacking midfielder Jude Aneke was introduced late in the game.

At Estadio Portimonense, Tondela were no match to Portimonense losing 4-0 on Thursday. Lanky striker Tochukwu Nwankwo aka Simmy fired blanks but was involved in one the goals scored by the hosts.

Brentford gained the maximum points at stake against Notts County, winning 2-1 at Griffin Park.  Tom Adeyemi  added steel to the home side’s midfield winning most of the tackles he was involved in . The introduction of Enoch Showunmi in the second half couldn’t salvage a point for the away side.

44718 fans were on hand to cheer PSG and Monpellier in a Ligue 1 match played at Parc des Princes on Friday. Despite terrorising  the leader’s back-line, John Chukwudi Utaka was on the losing side. The former RC Lens, Porthsmouth and Stade Rennes attacker was on for the entire duration of the match.The match only strike was netted by Kelvin Gramiero in the 81^st minute.

At Ewood Park, visiting team Millwall pipped ten-man Blackburn one-nil. Imposing defender Danny Shittu was outstanding at the back, churning out a rock-solid display.

Jakub Slowik earned Jagiellonia a point in the Polish Ekstraklasa by saving a late penalty against Piast Gliwice in their 1-1 draw. Former QPR defender Ugo Ukah lasted the length in the tension-soaked match-up.

Prayag United and East Bengal played out a 2-2 stalemate at the Kalyani Stadium in West Bengal, with Eelco Schattorie's side further denting Trevor Morgan's credentials in his pursuit of winning the side's maiden I-League crown. Chidi Edeh had put East Bengal ahead in the 41st minute and the lead was doubled by Manandeep Singh in the 49th minute from the penalty spot. However Prayag came back strongly after the hour mark, with goals from Carlos Hernandez in the 62nd minute and Ranti Martins Soleye in the 66th minute helping them to make it all level.

West Ham celebrated confirmation of their deal to lease the Olympic Stadium with a convincing 3-1 win over West Brom on Saturday. The away side's most notable contribution was the introduction of Peter Odemwingie, who was heavily booed by both sets of fans upon arrival. The Nigerian - still out of favour with West Brom fans after agitating to leave the club in January - almost turned from villain to hero with some fine skill but could not trouble Jaaskelainen with a near-post shot.

A controversial penalty from Paul McGowan made it four away games without a win for Celtic as they were held to a 1-1 draw at St Mirren. Celtic came out firing early on in Sunday's match and after only six minutes they took the lead after the home team failed to deal with a corner, allowing Efe Ambrose to gain possession on the edge of the area and chip the ball to Commons, who headed into the net from close range. The Super Eagles star was rated high after the match by the Scottish press.

 Chelsea's top-four hopes took a blow after they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to Southampton at St Mary's. Super Eagles AFCON winning stars John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses were part of the Blues squad that lost on Saturday.

In Dalian, the home side picked up their first point of the season but were denied a win after leading 3-1 versus Shanghai SIPG. Having trailed to Zhu Zhengrong's 19th-minute opener, Aerbin recovered to lead at half-time due to a double from Peter Utaka. The match ended three-all.

In Vietnam, TT Ha Noi sent a warning to their rivals with a 6-1 spanking of Dong Nai FC. Samuel Olaleye made his presence felt with a brace. His first strike was netted in the 33rd minute, he converted a penalty in  the 61st minute of action. The highly-rated forward was on for 90 minutes.

Moroka Swallows' top eight ambitions received a major boost as they beat Free State Stars 1-0 in their Absa Premiership match played at Dobsonville Stadium on Friday. Former Lobi Stars number one goalie Greg Etafia gave a good account of himself as his club's custodian.

Atasehir Belediyespor ended their slim hopes of retaining the Turkish Women's League title, after losing 3-2 at home to Kdz. Ereğlispor. With the first half ending three-nil in favour of the visitors, Super Falcons defender Onome Ebi was introduced at the beginning of the second half. She made an instant impact with a 50th minute header that sailed to the top corner of the neat. The former Bayelsa Queens star was utilised as an attacker. She was involved in Atasehir's second goal.