African players in Europe: Kudus goes from zero to hero to zero

West Ham midfielder Mohammed Kudus captained Ghana to a disastrous defeat, then scored and was sent off against Tottenham during five days when he went from zero to hero to zero.

Ghana fell 2-0 to Sudan last Tuesday – a result that leaves the four-time champions with little hope of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

He put the Hammers ahead four days later at Spurs, who hit back to triumph 4-1, and Kudus was red-carded close to fulltime after striking two opponents.

Here, AFP Sport highlights some of the African headline-makers in the major European leagues.

ENGLAND

MOHAMMED KUDUS (West Ham)

Having scored in the 18th minute, Kudus was dismissed on 86 minutes after losing his cool. He struck Tottenham duo Micky van de Ven and Pape Sarr in the face, earning a three-match ban to continue a difficult period for the 24-year-old.

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

The Egypt forward put the league leaders on course for a crucial 2-1 win against Chelsea at Anfield. Salah converted a 29th-minute penalty, giving Liverpool the lead with his seventh goal in all competitions this season. After a 48th-minute equaliser from Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson, Curtis Jones bagged the winner three minutes later.

JORDAN AYEW (Leicester)

The Ghana forward completed his team's incredible comeback to beat Southampton 3-2 as his first league goal this term settled a thriller. Leicester, who trailed 2-0 at halftime, snatched victory when Ayew drilled the ball into the bottom corner in the 98th minute.

SPAIN

MAMADOU SYLLA (Valladolid)

The Senegalese forward converted a 17th-minute penalty to help Valladolid to a 3-2 win at Alaves, which was just the struggling team's second LaLiga win of the season. Sylla's goal was a little bittersweet as it came against the club he left last year after two seasons.

ITALY

SAMUEL CHUKWUEZE (AC Milan)

The Nigerian, who could move to Everton in January, netted after 13 minutes as AC Milan edged Udinese 1-0 despite having Tijjani Reijnders sent off in the first half. Milan lie fourth, five points behind leaders Napoli.

SAUL COCO (Torino)

The 25-year-old Equatorial Guinea defender was on the scoresheet – sadly for him it was a 78th-minute own-goal which allowed Cagliari to snatch a 3-2 win in Turin. Spain-born Coco, in his first season in Serie A after moving from Las Palmas, inadvertently deflected the ball past his goalkeeper as Torino slipped to a third successive defeat.

GERMANY

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Fresh from scoring five goals for Guinea in two Afcon qualifiers, Guirassy claimed the winner as Borussia won 2-1 at home to St Pauli. He leapt to head in a Jamie Gittens cross on 83 minutes and reclaim the lead for his side.

VICTOR BONIFACE (Bayer Leverkusen)

After spending almost a day stranded on the floor of a Libyan airport before Nigeria boycotted an Afcon qualifier there, he missed a penalty before scoring the winner in a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt for whom Egyptian Omar Marmoush scored. On Sunday, the car Boniface was travelling in was involved in an accident.

FRANCE

DAOUDA DIONGUE (Strasbourg)

The 18-year-old Senegalese midfielder marked just his second Ligue 1 appearance with his first goal for Strasbourg as a late substitute in their 4-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain.

AMINE HARIT (Marseille)

The Morocco international scored Marseille's second goal in a 5-0 thrashing of Montpellier, lashing the ball into the roof of the net. Harit has two Ligue 1 goals this season, already one more than he managed across the previous two campaigns.