Ovie Ejaria grabbed a brace as Reading defeated Fulham 2-1 at the Craven Cottage on Saturday.
It was the first home defeat for Fulham in the Sky Bet Championship this season.
Ejaria put Reading ahead on 19 minutes sending an unstoppable shot past Paulo Gazzaniga.
Read Also: Turkey: Nwakaeme Grabs Acssist As Trabzonspor Beat Kasimpasa Away
The 23-year-old , who was a threat to Fulham’s defence all through the game picked up his second eight minutes after the break.
He collected a looped pass inside the area and controlled expertly to slot into the corner.
Rodrigo Muniz reduced the deficit for the hosts four minutes from time .
The Royals held on for a nervous six minutes added time which included a miraculous save from Luke Southwood to deny Onomah a contender for goal of the season.
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This guy will add a lot quality to super eagles
This guy is the missing link in our midfield
Sure the guy is skillful and manipulative, reminds me of KANU
@Dr.Drey and others, please kindly confirm that Michael Stephen the Nigeria player who played against Cape Verde is actually playing for Bologna Fc in Italy. This is because since the Eagles match against Cape Verde his name has not appeared on Bologna line up or the substitutes bench. I want to confirm if he is actually in the club. Thanks you all
He is a Bologna player.
He played in either the first or second game of the season
He is out injured that’s why he has not featured for Bologna so far
This guy is super fantastic player…keep it up and remain consistent. I am always happy that the one amongst the two (eze and Ejaria) rohr initially annointed has applied for a nationality switch and now keenly waiting for its official sanction from the world football governing body!
Just that I am always surprise on why he is playing in the championship considering the fact that he was a former Liverpool youth graduate who had featured for the senior team for about six times…
of course, he is a great player. However, when Dele-Bashiru achieved the same feat with the same team, in the same league last week, most of you guys turned a blind eye to it. This is what I mean when I claim bias against Southwest players. It is far too obvious here.
@Sunny, you are absolutely spot-on. I thought I was the only one that observed similar attitude from the ethnic bigots on this forum. Some of them even use Yoruba names to deceive themselves.
Why can’t you change your name to Lanre?? Dele Bashru’s biggest development was with Watford and I’m not sure he played a lot games for then in the championship before they gained promotion to the EPL hence the need to send him out on loan to reading. Ejaria has been consistent in the Championship for at least 3 straight seasons now. That’s why he will always generate more hype than Dele Bashru at this point in time. If Dele showed more consistency then he will automatically generate the same hype given to Ejaria as they’re both Nigerians. Sit down there and be deceiving yourself about ethnicity bloody bigot.
I am not going to reduce myself to exchanging abuse words here. Nevertheless, I am going to double-down on my claim that there is an obvious bias against players from the Southwest here. I would encourage you to engage yourself in serious introspection and see if you still stand by your claim of bigotry. The same claim can be made regarding Awoniyi, Aribo, Semi Ajayi etc. Some people here even claim that Michael Kingsley who has only played a game this season (and no longer enlisted in matchday roasters since then) is a superior player to Aribo and should replace Aribo in the strting eleven.
I don’t know who claims Kingsley Micheal is better than Aribo. Aribo is already a mainstay in the SuperEagles first 11 for now baring injury or loss of form. Ajayi is also a bonafide member of the group so what bias are you talking about?? Meanwhile, Micheal played well against Cape Verde away. If he can get enough game time for Bologna in the Serie A why can’t he be a mainstay in the SuperEagles?? He won the U17 WorldCup with Osimhen and Chukwueze.
It’s not up to me to believe that there’s a bias or prejudice against Southwest players because in this day and age I don’t see tribes or race as a determinant of who and who should be in the SuperEagles. SuperEagles is for every deserving Nigerians.
It’s all about players who are inform and playing regularly at their various clubs. If you must be in the team you have to be ready to fight for your shirt whenever you’re called up. That’s the competitive atmosphere the gaffer has brought into the team.
you are still not getting the point! I am not saying the coach should pick a player from the Southwest. My peeve is with the commentary here. When the Super Eagles do not perform well, the scapegoats are always the Yoruba players. Further, in a situation where these players perform well at their clubs, fewer encomiums are showered the way of the Yoruba players while the performances of other players are overamplified.
All I ask for is a level playing field and leave the selection of players to the coach.
Well in that case consistency is the Key. The league you play in also matters to generate any kind of hype. Until recently Bashiru hasn’t really generate such encomiums that Ejaria has generated. As for Awoniyi I think you’re wrong in that aspect because people have been raving about Awoniyi more than even Onuachu recently. Please I implore you to go and check recent hype about Awoniyi before the last international break.
Una done start… anybody wey score una go dey raise call for him to join the super eagles.have you guys made good use of the ones on ground yet..
Superb player. Ovie Ejaria, Ariball, Tom Dele etc just have to start to taking their rightful place in the game of football. This is their generation and they must now stand to be counted.
Glory, thanks for being a genuine football fan. All Nigerian players should be respected equally and given deserved adorations when due. Let’s eschew bigotry and embrace meritocracy.
@Sunny, what I will take from your post, is, we fans should always try to encourage players doing well irrespective. But then, honestly speaking, I don’t think there is anyone on the forum that is into this tribal thing you referring to. Just maybe I haven’t read such give away comments here. I have read names here that aren’t Yoruba, praising n calling out for Yoruba players, myself inclusive;a big fan of Ola Aina, Aribo, Lookman, hoping he joins us. So please Sunny, you are one of those I read here, let’s not allow this tribal sentiment impact negatively on our unified support of the SE. I personally only understand two kind of people in everything in this life; GOOD N BAD.
Glory, you really get it. Let’s exalt ALL our GOOD PLAYERS, irrespective of ethnicity.
Some of them read our posts here. Let us try to encourage them.
But @Sunny, I think you’re reading wrongly. I don’t think most forumites here engage in such biases you’re alleging. What I observe is an emphasis on EXCEPTIONAL performance. Underline EXCEPTIONAL, not regular. Not 100% sure, but I think notable forumites like AYPhilly, Dr.Drey,, Dr Banks, OmoEsan, Pompei, Omo9ja are Yoruba, but you’re can hardly tell cos they criticise or defend players based on FACTS – No emotions. Can say same about Jimmyball, Greenturf, KangaA etc (though not sure they’re Yoruba).
Lots of forumites, some who’re clearly Igbo – going by their monikers like Ugo Iwunze – vigorously clamoured for the invitation of Lookman, Aribo and Maja, who are from the SW. Some Igbo forumites don’t also like Alloy Agu and want him changed. What would you say about that? Or what would you say of Drey who’s got into several fights on the justification of the continued invitation of Ahmed Musa or Shehu Abdullahi. Is Drey a northerner? No. What about those who love Sadiq?
Talking about Lookman, Aribo etc, these are players who are EXCEPTIONAL, SE-level. There are also lots of not-so-EXCEPTIONAL Igbo players no one clamours for as well, such as Nwaekeme, Iwuala etc.
So I think you’re reading wrongly. We see Nigerian players, not Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba players.
Okay
@sunny trust this forum if full of men and not boys, literate and not illiterate, which is the reason I visit this site every hour of the day, and trust I’m yet to notice tribal bias comment here, let’s stick to that pls and embrace peace, we all love our soccer players out there representing the green white green.
Well said my brother. We praise Osimhen even though he is Edo. We praise Balogun and Aina who are youruba. Most forumites are not tribal. Let’s stop all this tribal nonsense here, it has killed our country already.
You are not a Nigerian if you view football from narrow tribal perspectives. If you a Nigerian, lets post you to Sambisie forest.
As if you’re not one of the pioneers of tribalism in Nigerian football. Have you suddenly developed amnesia on all your tribalistic comments about Igbo players on this same forum @edoman
There is no bias here. People are just dropping their candid opinion about players and issues. Most people are passionate about Nigerian football. It will be weird to think tribally inclined when dropping their opinions.
You see why it will be hard for a local coach to handle Nigeria????…….Now imagine that Rhor was not white…….He would have been accused of been tribally biased towards Awoniyi and Co…….Many in our society even in the NFF share the same view as @sunny and co and some are even in influencial position that can armtwist the national team coaches……. Now you see why a local coach is already programmed to fail by default in Nigeria…….An allegation like this can affect the psychology of even the strongest minds because of the sensitivity of tribal issues to the Nigerian man…….Even as Forumites you start to question your fairness and integrity towards tribal issues talk more of a National team coach……. Tribalism is one of the reasons local coaches find it hard to handle the national team because he will face attacks from people like @sunny in every corner he goes and that alone can make him lose focus……. please stop Tribalism it has killed Nigeria alot.
In my opinion Nigerians are very passionate about soccer… this is the more reason we have also said, on no grounds should our coach and administrators be loyal and seen to be fond of any group of individual players on grounds other than pure sporting reasons… Make player invitation based on form and level of competition they are playing in… I was a guy who for long believed that we should be playing players in their traditional roles at Club where they play more… I also believe that regardless of a player standing in the team, if he is not doing the business for us to see… he should cease to be invited until his fortunes changes… No one is perfect, but that some people will be hard-pressed to charging handlers of the national team with biases and some level favoritism is due to situations we have seen from time to time that appears as if certain players are untouchables… a player must be able to replicate club form for Super Eagles and if not try someone else… at the level of senior professional football, nobody is learning the rudiments of the game anymore… the only real and practical barometer to use is simply form and consistency… it was the reason I refused to criticize Paul Onuachu on here even though it would have seem the most popular thing to do… football has also a part of it, adaptation, on the part of a player and a team, for a team to beat harness the qualities of its players, the handlers have to know the strengths and weaknesses of key players and adapt their tactics accordingly, a player should also be able to adapt his game and make it more dynamic… We can see that Onuachu is doing something right at Club, but yes we have players in his position whose style seem to suit what Nigeria ball fans and squad handlers want more… but we must be able to adapt our tactics when needed… there are games that an Osimhen can be closed out completely, maybe then you will need a player like Onuachu who can tap in from melee and scrambles, or poach from crosses… I am just appealing to our squad handlers to be objective and begin to integrate other players who deserve such…. Now check this… if we go to Turkey, the first Nigeria who is at the moment the real deal is Tony Nwaekeme, nothing stops him being involved in the Super Eagles as he won’t be the oldest player to done our Jersey or a national teams Jersey… Nwaekeme is the first name for a Nigeria hitting real heights in Turkey, go to Germany its Awoniyi without a doubt… If we go to France we can make a case for Simon Moses, we know Kalu Samuel quality but what has been his returns in French Ligue 1 for close to three years now? I like Shehu but we can no longer be having squad places for the likes of Shehu, Ahmed Musa appears to be doing fine now, but in his league he is not as prolific and consistent as Nwaekeme… We can decide to use emotion and say he is experienced and our captain and must continue… but in all honesty, a captain should be starting games, the moment a captain starts sitting on the bench for someone who it appears is better… such a captain is the no longer indispensible. People can say oh… Dennis has to vie for centre forward in Super Eagles because he plays there at Watford bow… but it’s not always so with him… he played from the left wing for long periods at Brugge. The case of Nwaekeme and Awoniyi (whom Rohr said is not better than Moffi, Osimhen, Onuachu and Iheanacho) makes one wonder if we should not now directly compare the likes of Musa to players in his position in the Eagles… once a player is a starter and hitting his stats… Such a player should be high in standing with higher probability of callup. There still a few players that are being allowed to camp still on emotic considerations only and we must work to make sure all such soft passes cease to exist with our drive to achieve as a team…
Still wondering where this sunny got the tribal stuffs from, is it this forum or another forum I don’t know of? Na wa o
Kel, well said bro. Personally, I don’t give a damn where a player is from. If the player is the best we have in a position, I want to see that player in the SE.
As for Ejaria, I like him as a player. That didn’t start today. I used to ask for him in the past. But for me, he hasn’t demonstrated a strong enough desire to join us. And I don’t see him joining us eventually. I hope he does, because he will bring real quality to the team. He has probably watched some of our recent games, and seen the abominable pitches we played on. He has also probably heard about NFF ONIGBESE’s penchant for owing player bonuses. So I don’t think playing for Nigeria is top on his priority list at the moment. Same goes for Lookman.
If these guys join us, I will be pleasantly surprised and delighted!
Please I am begging you in the name of God you guys should stop this argument on ethnicity biase. Let just be focus on the reality of life. No one should bring in tribal issue here,as for me I belong to everybody,I am for no body
I’m so disappointed with Sunny… He was one of the forumites here that I held on high regard.. tribalism is the reason Nigeria will always be a third world country
While I won’t like us to flatly say some players are invited and others are not, based on tribal sentiments… We must accept that not all players are invited based on merit…
In the past we have had excellent players like Babangida, Lawal, Amokachi, from Northern Nigeria… even Ahmed Musa in his prime, and somehow still till date Musa on a good day is still a factor. However… Since we are now seeing better wingers, midfielders and defenders in their positions, should we still continue to allow him enjoy invitation despite playing in Cyprus, a destination NFF presido… AMAJU PINICK himself berated and condemned?
The other question to ask is this… Anthony Nwaekeme has been on fire as arguably Nigeria’s best export in Turkish league for over three seasons now playing and commanding regular spot for one of Turkey’s big 5 teams… Trabzonspor where Mikel Obi also played at some point, let us ask this question and I need honest answers… had ANTHONY NWAKAEME been from say Kano, Gombe, Bauchi or Katsina… would he continue to be ignored and left out of the squad for all these times?
The Algeria game was awarded as a no contest from Nigeria because of Abdullahi Shehu’s card position that was not applied and he was fielded in that qualifying game in Algeria. So in essence, the Anthony NWAKAEME has never played for Nigeria, yet players who are not as good or consistent continue to walk and stroll into camp whenever squad are announced for games. What do we call that? Isn’t it a form of misapplication of Justice and fairness? Samuel Kalu, whether fit or unfit is called to camp, same goes for our Skippo Musa and Childera Ejuke was also a victim of same treatment being metted out to Anthony NWAKAEME too until covid red list issue forced Coach Rohr recently to named new players who have been on the wings for a long time despite showing and convincing that they are equal to the task…
if not for Covid red list country exclusion we would never have seen the likes of Kingsley Michael or Chidera Ejuke… and here it Coach Rohr to take the stick because he must not continue to depend and regularly use our best 11 even in inconsequential friendly matches… Imagine inviting Nwakali, Kingsley Michael, Innocent Bonke, Oladoye, Marcus Abraham and a few other fringe players to join up with the bulk of the homebased in that recent game against Mexico which was the situation most of clamored for… but it’s well.
…my reference above was for Musa and Abdullahi Shehu… Should we continue to extend invitations to those two? I also have to say Samuel Kalu also should be allowed to earn invitation based on how consistent he can be for Bordeaux in Ligue 1.
Playerw should earn invitations with regular playing time for their clubs and evident output for such clubs… What I don’t like is this… Dennis is now doing well in EPL, how do we solve his case when we are still inviting players with less impact in their clubs in even a lesser league?
We must not continue to deceive ourselves that merit has not been times without number sacrificed with the national team…
Now we will be watching to see how our coach applies his merit and fairness to Ejuke and Michael going forward, because in that case, some regulars will have to be excluded for them to go on the list…