Nigeria goal poacher Peter Odemwingie sent a two-goal warning to Rwanda ahead of a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Kigali Wednesday.
He struck early in each half as West Bromwich Albion rocked Sunderland 4-0 in the Premier League at the weekend, raising his goal haul to five from two matches after a hat-trick against Wolves.
Senegalese Papiss Demba Cisse of Newcastle, Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor of Tottenham and Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba of Chelsea were other Africans on target in England.
ENGLAND
PAPISS DEMBA CISSE (Newcastle)
The Senegal striker hit his team's first goal after just six minutes in the 2-2 home draw against struggling Wolves and it was one to remember. Yohan Cabaye, back from his three-match suspension, caught Christophe Berra in possession and crossed for Cisse to audaciously back-heel a shot towards goal. Wayne Hennessey pulled off a fine save to deny Demba Ba, but after the ball was only half cleared, Cisse was perfectly placed to poke home from Cheick Tiote's pass.
PETER ODEMWINGIE (West Brom)
Nigerian forward Odemwingie, who scored a hat-trick in the recent 5-1 demolition of Wolves, scored twice in the 4-0 win over Sunderland. He broke the deadlock with an early goal and then took his tally to five goals in two games with the hosts' third at the start of the second half.
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (Tottenham)
In Arsenal's 5-2 win over Spurs, Adebayor grabbed Tottenham's second goal at the Emirates, having had a hand in the first. The Togo player, who scored eight goals in nine appearances in this fixture when he was an Arsenal player, spotted Louis Saha running into the heart of the Gunners defence and Saha sent a deflected shot past Wojciech Szczesny. Spurs' lead was doubled in the 32nd minute when Gareth Bale won a controversial penalty with Adebayor striking the ball inside the keeper's left hand post.
DIDIER DROGBA (Chelsea)
The veteran Ivory Coast striker was picked to lead the Chelsea line, which meant Fernando Torres, who had been omitted from the most recent Spain squad, had to be content with a place on the bench. Drogba responded with the second goal in the 3-0 win over Bolton, scoring just after the hour mark, nodding home a Frank Lampard corner.
FRANCE
JOHN UTAKA (Montpellier)
Nigerian international forward Utaka claimed the only goal of the game as Montpellier beat Bordeaux 1-0 to reach the top of the table. The former Portsmouth winger met an 80th-minute corner from Marco Estrada with a glancing header to send his side above Paris Saint-Germain, who were held to a thrilling 4-4 draw at Lyon.
AYMEN ABDENNOUR (Toulouse)
One of the revelations of the 2011-12 season, 22-year-old Tunisian centre-back Abdennour broke the deadlock for Toulouse in a 2-0 win over bottom club Sochaux that sent his side up to seventh in the table. The match was nine minutes old when Abdennour met a Paulo Machado corner with an instinctive left-foot volley to claim his first Ligue 1 goal.
AURELIEN CHEDJOU (Lille)
Cameroon centre-back Chedjou gave Lille a 1-0 lead at Rennes but saw his side held to a 1-1 draw that left the defending champions seven points behind leaders Montpellier in third place. Chedjou flicked home Eden Hazard's free-kick to put the visitors ahead in the 40th minute, after Nigerian centre-back Onyekachi Apam had been sent off for a succession of quick-fire yellow cards.
GERMANY
MOHAMED ZIDAN (Mainz 05)
The Egypt striker continued his remarkable scoring form with a fourth in four games for Mainz in their 4-0 hammering of Kaiserslautern. The 30-year-old has been in stellar form for his new club since joining from Dortmund in January and needed just two minutes to put his side ahead.
MARCEL NDJENG (Augsburg)
The Cameroon midfielder came off the bench to score the hosts' third in their 3-0 win over Hertha Berlin as they escaped the Bundesliga's bottom three. The 29-year-old fired home in the 92nd minute to ensure it was a long drive back to the capital from Bavaria for the Hertha team, who took Augsburg's place in the bottom three.
DIDIER YA KONAN (Hanover 96)
Ivory Coast's striker had barely been on the pitch a minute when he scored from 25 metres having spotted Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller off his line in Hnaover's 3-1 defeat. It proved to be no more than a consolation goal as Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted twice for the Bundesliga leaders, who opened a four-point lead at the top of the German league table.
ITALY
SULLEY MUNTARI (AC Milan)
The Ghana star was involved in a major controversy in the champions' 1-1 draw against title rivals Juventus when he had a perfectly good goal ruled out. Muntari's goal-bound header on 25 minutes clearly crossed the line before it was scooped away by Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. "That incident certainly falsified the result," said Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri.
SPAIN
FREDERIC KANOUTE (Sevilla)
Retired Mali striker Kanoute played a key role for Sevilla in their 2-1 victory at third-place Valencia. He played an exquisite pass for Jesus Navas to grab the winning goal on 69 minutes as Sevilla won their second game in a row under new manager Michel.
AROUNA KONE (Levante)
Ivorian striker Kone played a full game in Levante's 2-1 win over Espanyol that lifted the unfancied side back to fourth position and a potential place in next season's Champions League. Kone has scored eight goals for the side from Valencia this season, making him joint top scorer for the club with Marco Ruben, who got the last-minute winner.
KALU UCHE (ESPANYOL)
Nigerian striker Uche scored his first goal for Espanyol in the defeat by Levante. He has featured in only four games since his return to Spanish football after a short spell at Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax.
Source: AFP
