Football
Dami Ugbane, Special to ESPN 6y

Nigerians in Europe: Iwobi, Onyekuru find the net

KwesèESPN reviews the weekend performances of Nigerian players across the European leagues.

In England, Alex Iwobi netted in his first Premier League appearance of the season for Arsenal, who lost 3-2 away at Chelsea. The 22-year-old put in a massive shift for the Gunners, rated the joint-best player before his substation with 15 minutes remaining.

Hard-battling midfielder Wilfred Ndidi was at his best in Leicester City's 2-0 home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The 21-year-old recorded an 83 percent pass accuracy, 69 touches of the ball, three interceptions and was given a 7.78 match rating.

Leon Balogun was handed his Premier League debut as a 20th minute substitute in Brighton and Hove's shock 3-2 victory against Manchester United at the Amex Stadium. The 30-year-old won a total of four tackles, three interceptions and five clearances.

Kelechi Iheanacho played the final eight minutes in Leicester's win against Wolves, while Isaac Success was on for the final minute of Watford's 3-1 away victory at Burnley.

Bright Edomwonyi hit a first-half brace for Austria Wien in a 4-0 home win against Admira Moedling in the Austria Bundesliga. They were the 24-year-old forward's opening goals of the league season.

On-loan Everton forward Henry Onyekuru capped a dream home league debut in a 90-minute shift at the Turk Telekom Stadium, netting the match-winner for Galatasaray with his only shot of the game in a 1-0 victory against Goztepe.

Also in Turkey, Ogenyi Onazi played the entire match of Trabzonspor's 3-1 home win against Sivasspor, Sincere Seth played 90 minutes at right-back for Yeni Malatyaspor as they created an upset at home to Fenerbahce, while Aminu Umar played 85 minutes of Rizespor's 1-1 away draw at Akhisarspor.

William Troost-Ekong was on from start to finish for Udinese in Serie A, who were held to a 2-2 draw at newly promoted Parma. The defender made two key interceptions, five clearances and won two aerial duels at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.

Joel Obi was on for the final 12 minutes on his Chievo Verona debut, which ended in a 3-2 home defeat against Juventus.

Ola Aina played 65 minutes off the bench in a losing Serie A debut for Torino against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

In Belgium, Taiwo Awoniyi failed to open his league account for Gent despite playing 46 minutes in a 3-2 away win at Eupen, while Denis Bonaventure was substituted in the final minute of Club Brugge's 1-1 away draw at Royal Antwerp.

Imoh Ezekiel played the final 10 minutes on his Kortrijk debut, while compatriot and teammate Abdul Ajagun saw 63 minutes of action and was cautioned in a 2-1 home defeat against Oostende.

Alhassan Ibrahim, for a second successive league game, played the entire match, but couldn't prevent a 2-1 home defeat for Nacional against Moreirense in Portugal.

In Denmark, two Nigerians were on parade for FC Midtjylland in their 1-1 away draw at OB Odense. The duo of Paul Onuachu and Frank Onyeka played the final 29 and seven minutes respectively.

Tough-tackling defender Stephen Eze was rock solid in the heart of Lokomotiv Plovdiv's defence in their 1-0 derby away victory at Botev Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

In the English Championship, Oghenekaro Etebo played the final six minutes of Stoke City's 2-2 away draw at Preston North End.

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