We review the weekend's footballing action across the world, and pick out our quintet of key African performers.
Victor Moses returned to the starting XI for Chelsea as they hosted Newcastle United this weekend, reminding Blues fans exactly what they'd been missing with an outstanding performance down the right flank.
The scores were tied at 1-1 when Moses made the first of two decisive contributions, playing in Alvaro Morata for the Spanish forward to give the hosts the lead in the 33rd minute.
15 minutes from tie, he was again influential as Chelsea put the fixture beyond Newcastle, winning a penalty after his surge into the visitors' box was unfairly halted by Matt Ritchie. Eden Hazard duly stepped up to dink the resulting penalty over Karl Darlow.
Certainly, this performance was an excellent demonstration of just what Moses - with his pace, intelligence and verve - contributes to Antonio Conte's Chelsea.
Richmond Boakye is enjoying a career renaissance at Red Star Belgrade after swapping Italian football for the Serbian top flight earlier this year.
This weekend, the powerful forward came to the fore when Red Star were up against it, equalising twice - including an 86th-minute penalty - as they salvaged a 2-2 draw away at Backa Palanka.
The Ghana international's double took his tally for the season up to 14 goals from 12 appearances so far, putting him second in the Super Liga's scoring charts behind teammate Aleksandar Pesic.
Alassane Plea: What could have been last season had Mario Balotelli and Plea not endured injury-hit campaigns for Nice?!
Ultimately, Les Aiglons rode out the loss of both key figures for spells last term to finish third in Ligue 1, but there's a niggling sense that they could even have maintained their title challenge a little longer had one - or both - stayed fit.
This weekend, they led the line together as Lucien Favre's side hosted Metz.
Balotelli found the net, putting Nice ahead in the 56th minute, but Plea was arguably the home side's star performer.
The Franco-Malian attacker opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a close-range finish after initially miscontrolling the ball, and then contributed an assist inside the final 20 minutes as Allan Saint-Maximin put the clash beyond the visitors.
Medhi Benatia: On Friday evening, Juventus won 1-0 away at Serie A high-flyers Napoli, handing the Partenopei a first league defeat of the season on their own patch, and securing three points that could prove decisive as the title race unravels.
After failing to wholly impress on loan at the Old Lady last season, Benatia has begun to rediscover the form that made him such a key figure at AS Roma during his last stint in Serie A.
Following up on big performances against Barcelona and Crotone, he made a whopping 12 clearances as Napoli's attack - which had previously blown away all who stood in their path - ran out of ideas.
Bartholomew Ogbeche: Age represents no barrier for Ogbeche who, at 33, is rolling back the years to deliver a series of exceptional performances in the Eredivisie.
The veteran Willem II forward struck just once during the entirety of last season, but has already blown that tally out of the water this term, despite not making his first start of the season until November 18.
Following up on his goal against Sparta Rotterdam and his hat-trick in the draw at VVV-Venlo last week, he again played a key role this weekend - scoring twice as Heracles were dispatched 3-1.
Astonishingly, Ogbeche is averaging just under a goal every 49 minutes so far this season, dragging Willem II away from the dropzone in the process.