On Saturday, six matches took place in Round 10 of this season in the Premier League. While a few players of Nigerian descent played today, some had really good performances.
Brighton hosted Wolverhampton at the AMEX Stadium. Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun was once again on the bench for the home side. Glenn Murray scored the goal for the Seagulls, which was enough for a third straight win.
Another team from South England, Bournemouth, is doing well this season. On Saturday, they travelled to Craven Cottage to take on the struggling Fulham. The Cherries ended up winning 3:0 with two goals from Callum Wilson and one from David Brooks. The Cottagers finished the match with ten men after Kevin McDonald was sent off. Jordon Ibe was among the substitutes but never made an appearance.
Isaac Success Ajayi (www.watfordfc.com)
High flying Hornets took on the bottom of the table Terriers at Vicarage Road. For the second game in succession, the Nigerian rising star Isaac Success Ajayi was in the starting line-up. Watford opened the game with a goal in the 10th minute. Roberto Pereyra received the ball on the left, went around four players before putting the ball through the keeper’s legs and into the net. Just nine minutes later, Gerard Deulofeu went behind the two defenders and scored another great goal to give Watford a 2:0 lead. Philip Billing started the match for Huddersfield and was booked for a start on Success in the 34th minute. In the second half, Terriers attacked which gave the Hornets a chance to counter. Ten minutes before the final whistle, Success scored a goal from close range after an indirect free kick. He was subbed out only three minutes after that. The final score was 3:0.
In the evening kick-off, Leicester City took on visitors from London, West Ham, at the King Power Stadium. From the start, it looked like it was going to be a tight affair. Fabian Balbuena scored a goal half an hour after kick-off to give West Ham the lead. Leicester weren’t convincing but then Mark Noble got sent off after a strong start on Wilfred Ndidi, the Nigerian midfielder. That seemed to have lifted the Foxes but it stayed 1:0 at the break. In the second half, Leicester looked much better and had the majority of the ball, but couldn’t create a good enough chance to level the game. Finally, a minute before the end, Leicester equalized. Ndidi took a shot from all of 25 yards and the ball took a deflection along the way to end up past the goalkeeper.
Three more games are scheduled for Sunday and a big derby match between Tottenham and Manchester City on Monday evening.