From Ademola Lookman's Serie A brace to Iqraam Rayners' Carling Knockout heroics, African players were unstoppable this weekend. We break down the top performers from Europe and beyond, each delivering standout moments for their clubs.
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN (NIGERIA & ATALANTA)
A double for the Nigerian star away at the Serie A leaders led to the weekend’s most eyebrow-raising result in Italy as Atalanta won 3-0 away at Napoli to shake up the title race.
It was only a second loss of the season for Napoli, who still have a one point lead over champions Inter Milan in the standings with Atalanta now up to third, a further two points adrift.
Lookman now has six goals in eight games this season, already halfway past the 11 league goals he netted in the last campaign. He has moved tie third in the Italian league’s goalscoring charts and will be key to his club’s chances as they now go away to VfB Stuttgart of Germany in the Champions League on Wednesday.
IQRAAM RAYNERS (SOUTH AFRICA & MAMELODI SUNDOWNS)
The 28-year-old is very quickly paying back the fee that Sundowns spent on him in the
off-season when they signed him from Stellenbosch, laying the foundation for their 4-0 romp over Kaizer Chiefs away in the Carling Knockout at the weekend.
Sundowns moved onto the semifinals, where they are runaway favourites, after the easy win over Chiefs – the third time they have beaten them in the calendar year at the cavernous venue.
Rayners was brought down by Njabulo Blom and slotted home the resultant penalty to get things going after 12 minutes before adding a second before the half hour mark with a rasping short for Sundowns’ second.
ANTOINE SEMENYO (GHANA & BOURNEMOUTH)
A day of history for Bournemouth on Saturday as they claimed their first-ever league win over Manchester City in beating the defending champions 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium and ending City's 32-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
The London-born striker got Bournemouth off the mark inside 10 minutes as he turned to fire in at the far post from the centre of the box, before Evanilson doubled their lead after halftime.
It wes Semenyo’s fourth goal of the league campaign as he displayed the form that the Black Stars will hoping he will reproduce for them in this month’s decisive Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers where Ghana’s hope hang by a thin thread.
MOHAMED SALAH (EGYPT & LIVERPOOL)
Liverpool went to the top of the Premier League on a weekend in which their closest rivals faltered with Salah grabbing a stunning winner in the come-from-behind victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.
Salah curled a trademark left-footed finish beyond Brighton’s Dutch international goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to ensure Liverpool are top of the pile on 25 points, two clear of their nearest challengers after the opening 10 games.
Curtis Jones supplied the pass out to the Egyptian, who set himself on his stronger foot and bent a sublime effort into the left-hand corner to delight the Anfield faithful.
OLA AINA (NIGERIA & NOTTINGHAM FOREST)
It was one of the goals of the weekend as the thunderbolt from the Super Eagles’ fullback put the cherry on top of the cake for Forest, as they recorded a third successive Premier League win to go third in the table .
The 3-0 home win over 10-man West Ham United saw Aina lash home from distance after some lax defending 12 minutes from time. It was an unstoppable left-footed half-volley into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Not usually among the goals, Aina now has a second-ever Premier League goals as he proves his consistency, having Aina, who not missed match for Forest this campaign.
JORDAN AYEW (GHANA & LEICESTER CITY)
Ayew’s stoppage-time equaliser snatched a point on Saturday for Leicester, who held 10-man Ipswich Town to a 1-1 draw at Portman Road.
The Black Stars veteran had already shown his ability to pull his team out of the fire when he scored a 98th-minute winner when the Foxes recovered from 2-0 down to snatch all three points at Southampton in their last Premier League game on the road.
This time, he brilliantly converted a neat one-two with Jamie Vardy to salvage a point for the visitors. It was his second league goal of the season plus he has also scored in the League Cup.
MUNIR EL HADDADI (MOROCCO & LEGANES)
The striker has lost his place in the Morocco squad over the last two years but will be hoping to be back in Walid Regragui’s vista after a return to the spotlight, scoring in a tightly contested 4-3 loss to Girona.
El Haddadi’s goal in the 77th minute marked Leganés’ third of the match but it proved an effort to turn the game around that ultimately fell short.
Just days earlier, El Haddadi also played a key role in Leganés’ progression to the next round of the Copa del Rey after a victory over Ciudad de Lucena.
ABDOU HARROUI (MOROCCO & HELLAS VERONA)
Harroui will have the freedom of ther city after his weekend heroics with a last-gasp winner for a 3-2 home triumph over Roma that snapped a three-match losing streak for his side.
It looked as if Verona were letting a 2-1 halftime lead slip and having to settle for a point. Before the Dutch-born midfielder blasted home an 88th minute screamer for victory.
It could be the trigger for another call-up to the Morocco side, having first been selected to the squad ahead of the 2022 World Cup but still waiting for his first cap.