Nigerian Victor Moses scored twice within three minutes as Wigan Athletic eased their relegation fears by trouncing Champions League hopefuls Newcastle United 4-0 at the weekend.
Moses outjumped taller Mike Williamson for the opening goal of the English Premier League clash in the north-west town and punished a defensive blunder to add a second via a sidefoot shot.
Another Nigerian on target in the major European leagues was Joel Obi, who equalised for former European champions Inter Milan in a come-from-behind 2-1 victory against Cesena.
ENGLAND
VICTOR MOSES (Wigan)
The Nigeria striker scored twice as Wigan knocked back Newcastle's hopes of a Champions League spot and did their own Premier League survival prospects the world of a good with a 4-0 victory over Newcastle. Moses started the rout after 13 minutes when he outjumped defender Mike Williamson, despite giving up several inches in height to the Newcastle man, to back-head the Latics into the lead. And two minutes later he made it 2-0 when he seized on a defensive error to sidefoot the ball past Magpies keeper Tim Krul.
PAPISS DEMBA CISSE (Newcastle)
Wigan did what few other English sides have managed this season and stopped the Senegal striker, who had 11 goals from 10 previous games, scoring. But he did force a save from Ali Al Habsi and then saw a 64th-minute shot clip the crossbar from 15 yards.
SALOMON KALOU (Chelsea)
The Ivory Coast striker provided yet another example of his class by setting up the first goal of a Fernando Torres hat-trick in a 6-1 rout of Queens Park Rangers with an exquisite slide-rule pass.
FRANCE
YASSINE EL KHARROUBI (Quevilly)
The France-born Moroccan Under-23 goalkeeper was unable to prevent his third division team from slipping to a 1-0 defeat by Lyon in the French Cup final at the Stade de France. The goal came in the 29th minute when El Kharroubi was beaten by an unmarked Lisandro Lopez, who rifled in the winner.
YOUNES BELHANDA (Montpellier)
Morocco striker Belhanda hit the target after just three minutes to give leaders Montpellier a 1-0 win at Toulouse. It was the 22-year-old's 11th league goal of the season.
GERMANY
CEDRICK MAKIADI (Freiburg)
The Democratic Republic of Congo midfielder, who has played all bar one of his side's 33 league games this season, captained Freiburg to their 4-1 rout of Cologne and they have now gone 10 games without defeat. Slovakia's Togo-born midfielder Karim Guede also scored for Freiburg in the drubbing, which leaves them 12th in the table.
JOEL MATIP (Schalke 04)
Cameroon's defender slotted in at centre-back as Schalke hammered Hertha Berlin 4-0 in Gelsenkirchen to confirm their third-place finish in the Bundesliga and secure a Champions League place next season. Matip was solid alongside Schalke coach Benedikt Hoewdes as Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted twice in the win to make him the league's top scorer with 27 goals in 31 games.
ITALY
JOEL OBI (INTER)
Nigerian Obi started Inter Milan's fightback in a 2-1 win over Cesena. He scored in the 58th minute to equalise at the San Siro. The win put Inter on 55 points and a share of third place, the last qualifying spot for the Champions League.
DJAMEL MESBAH (Siena)
Algerian Mesbah scored Siena's only goal in their 4-1 loss to title-chasing AC Milan.
KWADWO ASAMOAH and MEHDI BENATIA (Udinese)
The Africans of Udinese played their part in a 2-0 home win over Lazio which kept them on course for the Champions League. Ghana international Asamoah was a bundle of energy in midfield while Moroccan Benatia orchestrated a number of attacks. However, he was also booked and misses the next game.
SPAIN
SEYDOU KEITA (Barcelona)
The Mali midfielder started against Rayo Vallecano in a three-man midfield and although better known for his steady play than his flair, he helped to build Barcelona's attacks and played an important role in the 7-0 win. Keita scored the third himself after a great run from Lionel Messi, who beat two players and nut-megged a third, before passing the ball to the Malian, who finished clinically.
AROUNA KONE (Levante)
The Ivory Coast striker scored Levante's opener as they beat Granada 3-1 to maintain their push for a place in Europe. After going close to breaking the deadlock before the break, he did score a minute into the second half with a header and was a constant danger before limping off with 15 minutes to go.
Source: AFP
