African players in Europe: Osimhen in seventh heaven

Victor Osimhen of Nigeria scored in seven straight Serie A games as Napoli defeated Sassuolo at the weekend to maintain their commanding lead.

With 18 goals, the forward leads the league in scoring. Manchester United is reportedly interested in him.

Napoli leads Inter Milan by 18 points as they compete for their third Italian championship and the first time since 1990.

AFP Sport highlights a few African newsmakers in Europe here:

MOHAMED SALAH ENGLAND (Liverpool)
The Egypt striker, whose team defeated Newcastle 2-0 at St. James’ Park to snap their 17-game Premier League winning streak, may not have scored a goal himself, but he certainly contributed to Liverpool’s return to the race for a top-four spot. When Salah’s well-timed pass over the top in the 17th minute allowed the advancing Cody Gakpo to slot past stranded Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope with a cool finish, Liverpool had already taken the lead.

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TINO KADEWERE, SPAIN (Real Mallorca)

The Zimbabwean, who is on loan from Lyon, scored his first La Liga goal for Mallorca, who are currently in eighth place, to start a 4-2 La Liga victory over Villarreal at home. Samuel Chukwueze of Nigeria scored the losing team’s second goal.

VICTOR OSIMHEN, ITALY (Napoli)The Nigerian hit the woodwork before doubling the lead on 33 minutes. His powerful shot on the turn beat Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli at his near post.
GERMANY

ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO-MOTING (Bayern Munich)

Bayern striker Choupo-Moting scored a first-half equaliser, but it was not enough to stop his side suffering a surprise 3-2 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach. Reduced to 10 men after just eight minutes and needing an extra defender, Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann left Choupo-Moting on the pitch, removing veteran forward Thomas Mueller instead. The decision was vindicated on 35 minutes when the Cameroon international whacked in a perfect cross from Alphonso Davies.

FRANCE
HABIB DIALLO (Strasbourg)

The Senegalese scored both goals for his side in a 2-1 win over bottom club Angers that took Strasbourg out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone. Diallo now has 12 league goals this season, a tally that is one more than Lionel Messi and includes six in eight games in 2023. The 27-year-old helped Senegal win the Africa Cup of Nations last year but did not go to the World Cup in Qatar.

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CHANCEL MBEMBA (Marseille)

The powerful 28-year-old Democratic Republic of Congo international centre-back has been an outstanding signing for Marseille since arriving from Porto ahead of this season. He scored his side’s equaliser as they came back to win 3-2 at Toulouse.