Fellow Egyptian Mohamed Salah maintained his remarkable scoring consistency for Liverpool, converting a penalty in a 2-1 win over Wolves for his 23rd Premier League goal this season.
Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the top European leagues:
ENGLAND
OMAR MARMOUSH (Man City)
Marmoush announced his arrival to the Premier League with a first-half treble as City thrashed Newcastle to climb back into the top four. He had failed to find the net in his first four appearances since a £59 million ($72.6 million) move from Eintracht Frankfurt last month. But he showed why he had scored 20 goals already in Germany this season with a trio of composed finishes.
MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)
Not to be outdone by his compatriot, the original Egyptian King was on target to keep Liverpool on course for a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title. Salah’s penalty proved to be the winner as the Reds remained seven points clear of Arsenal at the top.
YANKUBA MINTEH (Brighton)
Gambian winger Minteh enjoyed his finest night in the Premier League to date by scoring twice in Brighton’s 3-0 rout of Chelsea. The 20-year-old terrorised former Brighton full-back Marc Cucurella, much to the delight of the home fans, and struck either side of half-time.
DANGO OUATTARA (Bournemouth)
Ouattara scored for the sixth time in seven games as the fifth-placed Cherries boosted their chances of Champions League football next season with a 3-1 win at Southampton. Ouattara has proved an able deputy for injured strikers Evanilson and Enes Unal and the Burkina Faso international headed in the opening goal.
SPAIN
CHRISTANTUS UCHE (Getafe)
The Nigeria midfielder was on the scoresheet again as Getafe won 2-1 at Girona, with a second goal in his last four La Liga matches. Uche capitalised on a loose ball in the area and drilled home in the third minute to give the visitors an early advantage.
UMAR SADIQ (Valencia)
Brought on from the bench, the Nigerian forward grabbed Valencia a crucial goal with a well-placed header to snatch a 1-1 east coast derby draw against Villarreal. It was Sadiq’s first after joining Los Che on loan from Real Sociedad in January.
ITALY
ASSANE DIAO (SENEGAL)
Just 19, the Senegal-born winger, who has opted to play internationally for Spain, scored the first goal in a surprise 2-0 win for Como over Fiorentina to ease his team’s Serie A relegation fears. It was his fourth goal since arriving from Real Betis in January.
GERMANY
MOHAMED AMOURA (Wolfsburg)
Amoura helped engineer a 2-1 come-from-behind Bundesliga win against Stuttgart. After creating the equaliser, the Algerian converted an 87th-minute penalty to snatch victory.
FRANCE
NABIL BENTALEB (Lille)
Nine months after suffering a heart attack and five days after being cleared to play by French football’s medical commission, Bentaleb made an inspirational and match-winning comeback as Lille won 2-0 at Rennes. After Lille dominated but failed to score, the 30-year-old Algerian midfielder stepped onto the pitch after 76 minutes, and four minutes later pounced after yet another save by Congolese goalkeeper Brice Samba, to poke the rebound home.
GEORGE ILENIKHENA (Monaco)
The 18-year-old Nigeria-born striker, who had been out injured since December and had scored only one Ligue 1 goal all season, made his return in ideal circumstances with Monaco three up at home to Nantes. He seized his chance. Twice. He powered in a header after 81 minutes and fired in the final goal in a 7-1 rout.
FARID EL MELALIi (Angers)
The Algerian winger made the decisive contribution as Angers eased away from the relegation places with a 1-0 victory at Reims, the club that started the day immediately below them. El Melali curled a free kick under the bar on the stroke of half-time for the only goal.
AFP
