Orban, Akpom, Lookman and Moffi all score, Chukwueze dazzles

EUROEAGLES REVIEW Orban, Akpom, Lookman and Moffi all score, Chukwueze dazzles

Tunde Young 12:51 - 03.04.2023

Euro Eagles review is a weekly series evaluating the performances of Nigerian players in European leagues across the weekend.

Moffi makes history

After what was a barren international break with Nigeria, Terem Moffi needed just four minutes of action to get back among the goals for OGC Nice on Sunday in a 1-1 draw against Angers.

The 23-year-old striker was on hand to complete a brilliant team move by tapping into an unguarded net after some neat combination play between Khephren Thuram and Gaetan Laborde to open the scoring away at Angers.

Terem Moffi celebrates with his teammates after opening the scoring for OGC Nice against Angers
Terem Moffi celebrates with his teammates after opening the scoring for OGC Nice against Angers

Moffi’s goal was his 16th in Ligue 1 this season which is the joint-highest tally by any Nigerian player in the history of the French top flight.

The previous record was held by Victor Ikpeba when the Prince of Monaco scored 16 league goals in 30 games in the 1997/98 season.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Moffi has reached 16 goals in five fewer games than Ikpeba with 12 goals in 18 games for Lorient before leaving in January to join Nice where he now has four goals in seven league games.

Terem Moffi has carried his great from from Lorient to OGC Nice
Terem Moffi has carried his great from from Lorient to OGC Nice

That also means the Super Eagles striker has now scored in three consecutive games for his club with a run of five goals in his last seven games across all competitions.

Orban the Gift that keeps on giving

The name Gift Orban has become synonymous with goals lately and that is because of the young Nigerian’s exploits with KAA Gent.

Gift Orban has scored nine goals in six matches in the Jupiler.
Gift Orban has scored nine goals in six matches in the Jupiler.

His latest headline-grabbing performance for Gent came on Saturday in a 5-0 win away at Seraing which saw Orban record a brace and an assist.

His display against Seraing extends Orban’s run of productivity to six consecutive games with at least one goal involvement as he only managed one assist in the 3-0 win against Eupen, the only game in which he has not scored in his last six.

In those six games, Orban has returned 11 goals which also stretches back to 12 goals in his last eight games for Gent across all competitions.

Both of his goals against Seraing on Saturday exemplified the sharpness he's become known for, as the  20-year-old reacted quickly with a snapshot for his first.

And so was the second, Orban reached sharply to intercept a bad back pass, round the goalkeeper and slot into an empty net all within three seconds max, displaying quickness of thought and feet.

Lookman back among the goals 

Ademola Lookman finally snapped a lengthy goal drought by coming off the bench to score in Atalanta’s 3-1 win away at Cremonese.

Lookman was on target for Atalanta against Cremonese
Lookman was on target for Atalanta against Cremonese

The two-month gap between Lookman’s 12th and 13th Serie A goals was alarming but he still remains the third-highest scorer in the league this season.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

His lack of confidence was evident with a big chance he spurned just after coming off the bench at half-time, the type of one-on-one he would have tucked away two months ago.

He made up for it late in the game with a 93rd-minute strike after some unselfish play by Jeremie Boga and Ederson to set up a simple finish and seal a 3-1 win in the process.

Another interesting part of his 45-minute performance was his passing, completing 20 of his 22 attempts with 91% accuracy.

Perhaps his first goal since January 28 will open a path back into the Atalanta starting lineup for Lookman in the coming games.

Akpom makes case for Super Eagles inclusion

Just before Nigeria played the first of two games against Guinea-Bissau in the just-concluded international break, Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro dismissed the possibility of handing Chuba Akpom a call-up, citing better players in the centre forward position.

Super Eagles News: Akpom shines for Boro again.
Chuba Akpom is on fire for Middlesbrough this season Super Eagles News: Akpom inspires Middlesborough again.

Perhaps it is telling that none of the invited strikers managed a goal for Nigeria and Akpom scored his 25th league goal of the season in his first game since the snub.

The 27-year-old scored the last goal of the game for Middlesbrough in a 4-2 defeat away at Huddersfield on Saturday.

The striker lurked behind an opposition defender while asking to be found, a request which Riley McGree obliged with a pinpoint cross which Akpom connected beautifully with.

He has now scored at least seven goals more than everyone else in the English Championship this season with 26 goals across all competitions in 33 games for Middlesbrough.

Chukwueze comfortable in Yellow again

Samuel Chukwueze’s performance for Nigeria in both games against Guinea-Bissau grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons as the winger failed to show the decisive and productive threat he had displayed for Villarreal all season long.

Chukwueze was phenomenal for Villarreal against Real Sociedad
Chukwueze was phenomenal for Villarreal against Real Sociedad

And to further aid that theory, the 23-year-old appeared back to his best in his first game since the international break for Villarreal in a 2-0 win at home to Real Sociedad on Sunday.

He was unable to add to his 11 goals and 11 assists for Villarreal but he was crucial to the outcome by winning a late penalty which produced the opening goal in the 76th minute.

Chukwueze received the ball well outside the box and decided to advance it in a central area by weaving his way past two challenges but not the third, as Martin Zubimendi’s outstretched leg caught the Nigerian in the box and a penalty was awarded which Dani Parejo converted.

The winger played the full game and completed all five of his dribble attempts as well as one key pass which was spurned by Yeremy Pino.

Related content