Two matches took place in the Premier League on Sunday. In both matches, the away sides took home all three points. A couple of players of Nigerian descent had notable performances for their respective sides.
In an early afternoon kick-off, the surprise package of this season, Bournemouth welcomed Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium. Alex Iwobi, the rising Super Eagles star, was in the starting eleven for the Gunners. On the other hand, neither Jordon Ibe nor Nnamdi Oforborh was in the squad for the home side.
The Cherries were quick out of the gate and a better side in the first part of the first half. By the 8th minute, they had the ball in the net, but David Brooks was ruled just offside. However, less than a minute later, the Gunners hit the post from all of 30 yards, with Lucas Torreira unlucky not to score.
Both teams went back and forth, forcing the goalkeepers to work, like in the 21st minute when Iwobi had his shot saved by Begovic. Still, Bournemouth defended well and created further chances but were then unlucky in the 30th minute when Jefferson Lerma scored a strange own goal giving Arsenal the lead.
Alex Iwobi (www.thenff.com)
Bournemouth players didn’t give up and pressed on as half-time loomed, and then they finally scored right before the break. It was a quality counterattack finished by a great Joshua King strike into the top corner of the goal.
It was more of the same in the second half, before the 67th minute when Arsenal, through some great teamwork, managed to take the lead. Iwobi’s quick thinking pass released Sead Kolasinac who passed it to Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang for an easy conversion.
Going forward, both teams had good chances, but it stayed 2:1 to Arsenal at the final whistle, keeping their 11 games unbeaten in the Premiership run going. After the game, Iwobi got great reviews for his excellent performance during the game, even though he was subbed out in the 82nd minute.
Later in the afternoon, Wolverhampton Wanderers played hosts to the visiting Huddersfield Town side at the Molineux. Philip Billing started the match for the Terriers.
Aaron Mooy scored early for the Terriers, six minutes after kick-off, giving the team confidence that never went away throughout the game. Their win was confirmed in the 74th minute with a second Mooy goal and Huddersfield were off home with the three points which moved them off the bottom of the Premiership and out of the relegation zone for the moment.
The Huddersfield coach praised Billing after the match, saying he was everywhere on the pitch and even managed to get in a goal-line clearance to keep his team in the lead.