Immediately after Christmas, in an action-packed weekend, best teams in England contested in Round 20 of this season’s Premier League. As usual, Nigerian born players and those of Nigerian descent played in some interesting match-ups.
Brighton hosted Everton at the Amex Stadium. A single goal was enough to give Brighton a win and secure 13th place, while also taking them to a win away from Leicester in 8th place. Jürgen Locadia was the scorer for the Seagulls in the 59th minute. Leon Balogun was back on the bench for the home side and didn’t feature in the match.
In the bottom of the table clash, where every point is important, Fulham welcomed Huddersfield Town. Once again, Philip Billing was in the starting eleven for the Terriers. It was a tight match all the way till the finish and Billing himself had a chance in the 88th minute, but Aleksandar Mitrović managed to score from a counter attack in the 91st minute, giving the Cottagers a much needed three points and taking them four points clear of Huddersfield.
After winning two games in a row, Leicester City welcomed Cardiff City hoping to extend their run. Wilfred Ndidi was in the starting line-up for the Foxes. Kelechi Iheanacho came in off the bench in the 68th minute giving his team a lift in energy. And soon after, in the 74th minute, the Foxes were awarded a penalty which James Maddison missed.
Kelechi Iheanacho (Vlad1988 / Shutterstock.com)
In the end, it was another close match in the Premier League decided with a goal in stoppage time. Victor Camarasa hit a great strike which managed to avoid the Leicester goalkeeper and finish inside the net to give Cardiff a valuable three away points.
Newcastle were hoping to get some points against Watford, away in London. And that they did. Salomón Rondón made his mark with a strike in the 29th minute to give the Magpies an advantage. Isaac Success Ajayi was in the starting eleven for the Hornets but it was Abdoulaye Doucouré coming off the bench who saved a point for Watford, scoring in the 82nd minute. It finished 1:1.
In the last game of the day, Liverpool met Arsenal in the big match of the day. The Reds were looking to continue their unbeaten run this season while Arsenal were looking to get back into the rhythm. Alex Iwobi was in the game from the start. The Gunners did start the game with a goal, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles scoring 11 minutes from kick-off.
Only three minutes later, Liverpool equalized through Roberto Firminho, and not long after they turned the result around, Firminho scoring once again. Sadio Mane scored in the 32nd minute to make it 3:1 and Mohammed Salah added the fourth just before the break, from the penalty spot.
The second half would have been goalless had the referee not given another penalty to Liverpool after Dejan Lovren fell in the box. Firminho stepped up to score another goal and get his hat-trick, confirming the win for Liverpool.