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It’s becoming a norm for African players to put on a show for their clubs in Ligue 1 over the course of the weekend.
As usual in the Ligue 1, there were several impressive and important performances from African players throughout the weekend, and these are the pick of the bunch.
Sinaly Diomande
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Sinaly Diomande was a rock in the heart of the Lyon defense as he helped them to a 1-1 draw against Nice in Ligue 1. He gave an assured performance at centre-back, making five tackles, and winning all of them without being dribbled past.
The Ivorian defender was also imperious in the air for Lyon, winning five of six aerial duels that he was involved in, as he did his best to help Lyon keep a clean sheet, although his efforts were betrayed by his international teammate, Nicolas Pepe who scored from the penalty spot.
Diomande was impressive in defense, but was also tidy in possession for Lyon, helping them recycle possession time and again, eventually racking up 80 completed passes (the second most in the entire Lyon team) with an accuracy of 93%.
Seko Fofana
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Lens captain Seko Fofana scored his third league goal of the season with a brilliant finish to give Lens the win against Clermont.
The Ivorian midfielder was solid in midfield for Lens and was key to every positive moment for Lens in the game as they secured a 2-1 victory to maintain the pace with PSG at the top of the table.
Lens have now won five matches on the bounce, and will be hoping for a fit and rested Fofana to help them continue their unlikely title charge after the World Cup break.
Achraf Hakimi
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PSG mauled Auxerre at home with a resounding 5-0 victory, and a key component to their performance was the excellence of Moroccan full-back Achraf Hakimi who gave a performance that would give The Atlas Lions confidence going into the World Cup.
Hakimi was one of PSG’s best performers and his goal in the 57th minute capped a marvellous showing from the full-back.
He was a constant thorn in the side of the Auxerre team as his constant overlapping runs put their defence at sixes and sevens, helping PSG to breach them at will.
Hamza Sakhi
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It’s not often you impress when your team takes a 5-0 pasting, but that is exactly what Hamza Sakhi has done this weekend.
Sakhi’s Auxerre were hammered 5-0 by league leaders PSG, but the Moroccan midfielder still came out as one of the best players on the pitch.
Before being substituted in the 84th minute, Sakhi had managed to create four chances for his teammates including one clear-cut chance missed by Senegalese forward M’Baye Niang.
Despite being on the losing side, Sakhi completed more long balls than any other player on the pitch (10) with 100% accuracy, and also put in a shift off the ball, winning seven of eight attempted ground duels, making two interceptions, and completing four tackles without being dribbled even once.
If everyone on the Auxerre team put in the same amount of effort as Sakhi, perhaps they would have given PSG a run for their money.
Youssef Belaili
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Algerian winger Youssef Bellaili put up a performance for Ajaccio against Nantes that was superb in every possible way.
He opened the scoring from the penalty spot to give Ajaccio the lead and laid an assist on a plate for Romain Hamouma to double that lead less than 10 minutes later.
Beliali gave the Nantes side hell, completing four out of five attempted dribbles, while winning a total of eight ground duels and 100% of his duels in the air.
The 30-year-old winger also helped out defensively, making a total of five successful defensive actions before being substituted in the 72nd minute.
Other Impressive Africans in Ligue 1 this weekend.
There were other African players who impressed over the Ligue 1 weekend, including Nice’s Nicolas Pepe who opened the scoring for them in their 1-1 draw with Lyon.
The Nigerian duo of Terem Moffi and Moses Simon continued the impressive form of Nigerian forwards in the last weekend of league action before the Qatar World Cup that Nigeria will miss out on.
Moffi and Simon were both on the score sheet, scoring equalisers for their clubs Lorient and Nantes respectively.
Zimbabwean midfielder Marshall Munetsi came on as a substitute for Reims and thought he had secured the winning goal with the 87th-minute strike, but he was denied by an even later Montpellier goal in the 91st minute.
Stade Rennais’ Malian captain Hamari Traore was was also impressive in their 2-1 victory over Toulouse, while Brest’s Beninoise forward Steve Mounie came off the bench to score the winner against Troyes from the penalty spot.
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