On Wednesday and Thursday, teams across Europe played the second leg of their round of 32 UEFA Europa League match-ups. We will review the games where Nigerian players and those of Nigerian descent were in action.
After losing the first leg 1:0, Arsenal had to bounce back against Bate Borisov at the Emirates. Manager Unai Emery fielded a strong Gunners side. Alex Iwobi started the match and played the full 90 minutes.
Arsenal received an early present when Zakhar Volkov put the goal in his own net, after just four minutes of play. Shkodran Mustafi doubled the lead in the 39th minute, going into the break with a 2:0 advantage.
Soon after the restart, Sokratis Papastathopoulos came in off the bench for the injured Laurent Koscielny. And it only took him six minutes to get on the score sheet, heading the ball into the net after a corner kick. Arsenal are through to the last 16 where they will take on the French team Rennes.
Fenerbahce travelled to Saint Petersburg with a 1:0 advantage from the first leg. Zenit needed to put in a great performance at home to go through to the next round. For the visitors, the former Super Eagle Victor Moses was in the starting eleven, playing just behind André Ayew.
Victor Moses (www.thenff.com)
The home side scored just four minutes into the game through Magomed Ozdoyev. Sardar Azmoun scored the second goal for the hosts in the 37th minute. Before the break, the Turkish side pulled one back, courtesy of a Mehmet Topal strike.
The Russian team secured the win in the 76th after Azmoun got his second goal of the game and third for Zenit. With the aggregate score 3:2, they are through to the round of 16 where they will play Villareal.
Galatasaray lost the home leg 2:1 to Benfica and were up against it in the second leg. The encounter finished a goalless draw which meant the Portuguese side are through to the next round. They will play Dinamo Zagreb, with both teams hoping to make it to the quarter-finals. Henry Onyekuru started the match for Galatasaray but was substituted late in the game.
Napoli welcomed FC Zürich at the San Paolo, taking a commanding 3:1 lead into the second leg. Simone Verdi opened with a goal in the 43rd minute. Adam Ounas added another on in the 75th minute to make the final score 2:0. Stephen Odey played for 60 minutes before he was substituted by Lavdim Zumberi.
With a 5:1 win on aggregate, Napoli are going to the next round. In order to make it to the quarter-finals, they will have to beat Red Bull Salzburg from Austria.