Terem Moffi hits brace in goal-dry weekend for African stars

It was a goal-dry weekend for most African stars in Europe, with Nigerian attacker Terem Moffi notching a brace for Lorient when they beat Clermont in the French Ligue 1.

No African player scored in the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga during the weekend fixtures.

Here FARPost gives a round up of how Africans plying their trade in the top European leagues performed.

Wabi Khazri (Montepellier)

Tunisian skipper Wabi Khazri was on target as Montpellier secured their biggest and most probably sweetest victory ever in the Ligue 1 when they beat Stade Brest 7-0.

Khazri along with Faitout Maouassa and Sepe Elye Wahi scored inside 11 minutes of the game to set Montepellier well on course for a victory.

Nicolas Cozza and Elye Wahi added their names on the scoresheet for Montpellier within the next 20 minutes, as the resurgent side ran riot over a hapless Brest.

A second half red-card made it worse for Brest as they finished the match down to 10 men.

Pierre Lees-Melou was given marching orders moments before Valere Germain struck a brace for Montpellier.

Terem Moffi (Lorient)

Nigerian forward Terem Moffi was the hero of the day for Lorient on Sunday when he scored a brace that helped them edge Clermont.

Lorient leapfrogged to fifth position as they beat Clermont 2-1 with two first half clinical goals from Moffi.

He scored from a penalty before a first time finish from close range on the stroke of halftime.

Clermont got their consolation in the second half courtesy of Muhammed Cham although they were down to 10 men after Neto Borges was red-carded just after the half-time break.

Mama Balde (Troyes)

Guinea-Bissau International Mama Balde grabbed his first goal of the season in the Ligue 1 when Troyes best Angers 3-1.

Goals from Renaud Ripart, Mama Balde and Wilson Odobert proved to be enough for Troyes to register their first win this season.

Angers played the better part of this match with ten men after Batista Mendy was sent off for a second yellow card in the first 20 minutes.

Moses Simon (Nantes)

Speedy Nigerian Moses Simon was on target as Nantes came from a goal down to secure a comfortable a 3-1 win over Toulouse.

The other goals were scored by Evann Guessand and Mostafa Mohamed.

M’bala Nzola (Spezia)

Angolan M’bala Nzola put up a decent performance to score in a four goal thriller as Spezia settled for a share of spoils with Sassuolo after a 2-2 draw.

Simone Bastoni grabbed Spezia’s first goal and and Nzola doubled their scores from a penalty on the 48th minute.

Davide Frattesi and Andrea Pinamonti scored for their opponents, Sassuolo

Boulaye Dia (Salernitana)

Senegalese midfielder Boulaye Dia struck first on Sunday as Salernitana got their first win of the season when they beat Sampdoria 4-0 in the Italian Seria A.

Dia scored and provided two assists on his full debut for the ambitious Salernitana within 16 minutes.

Tonny Vilhena and Erik Botheim completed the demolition with 14 minutes remaining. Botheim connected a delightful low cross from Dia before slicing it past goalkeeper Emil Audero.

Umar Sadiq (Almeria)

Lanky Nigerian forward Umar Sadiq and his Almeria compounded Sevilla’s early struggles when they beat them 2-1 on Sunday in the Spanish La Liga.

Sevilla are yet to win since the start of the season and they are ruing the decision to sell their main defenders, Diego Carlos and Jules Koundé.

They however opened the scoring through Oliver Torres in the 30th minute, but Largie Ramazani equalized for Almeria in the 42nd minute before surging ahead thanks to Sadiq in the 55th minute.

Sadiq’s effort proved to be the priceless goal as the newly promoted side secured their first win of the season.

Isaac Nuhu (AS Eupen)

Ghanaian attacking midfielder Issac Nuhu helped Belgium Pro League side AS Eupen collect maximum points away from home when they edged Westerlo 1-0 on Sunday evening.

The 20-year-old’s 84th minute goal sealed the match and the club recorded their first win of the season to move upwards to 14th position on the log standings.

Abdul-Aziz Yakubu (Rio Ave)

Another Ghanaian Abdul-Aziz Yakubu was on the scoresheet on Sunday when Rio Ave shocked Portugal Primera Liga giants Porto 3-1.

Yakubu scored the assurance goal for Rio Ave after Fabio Ronaldo and Pedro Amaral put them on course in the first half.

Toni Martinez scored Porto’s consolation goal in penultimate minutes of the game.