Nigerian duo, David Okereke and Emmanuel Dennis were both in action as Club Brugge and Galatasaray battled to a goalless draw in their Champions League encounter at the at Jan Breydelstadion on Wednesday night, reports Completesports.com.
Okereke who missed a good chance in the second half was replaced by Lois Openda on the hour mark.
His international teammate, Dennis was replaced by Mbaye Diagne 17 minutes from time.
Bryan Idowu came off the bench in added time as Locomotiv Moscow secured a 2-1 away win against Bayern Leverkusen at the Bay Arena.
Grzegorz Krychowiak gave the Russian team the lead in the 16th minute but an own goal from Benedikt Höwedes leveled scores in the 25th minute.
Dmitriy Barinov scored what proved to be the winning goal eight minutes before half-time.
At the Stadion Maksimir, Iyayi Atiemwen was benched for 90 miniutes in Dinamo Zagreb’s 4-0 win against Italian side, Atalanta.
4 Comments
My observations in the champions league changed my impression of players playing in less fancied league.
A host of this smaller clubs either got a draw or wins against their much fancied opponents in the top five rated leagues in Europe.
In Belgium Dennis Blessed Bonaventure’s experience with the super eagles may have upped his confidence level.Though missed a sitter and a couple of others he should have put away,but put up an impressive shift,good body movement and was full of running.
In San siro,Italy,Nigerian forward Peter Olayinka scored for his team against a huge opposition in inter Milan and capped it with an all round performance worthy of notice by his international manager.Apparently,with repeated performances in the champions league,this much travelled attacker could get a chance with the super eagles,an upgrade to Onuachu in my opinion.
Sadly,we weren’t able to see the much talked about Iyayi Believe trade tackle against Atalanta who fell heavily against their less fancied opponent.We hope to see Iyayi in subsequent games and hope he comes up with something good.
The bottom line is we were able to see players like Olayinka who many don’t know putting up a great display against a side like Inter Milan and Emmanuel Dennis electric display against a big side like the Turkish giants Galatasaray.It shows with good scouting work,we could discover more Olayinka’s who can hold their own against the best in this business from some of the obscure leagues in Europe and beyond.
Olayinka was indeed a thorn in the flesh for the Inter Milan defence all night. AT THE SAN SIRO. The energy, stamina and skills level he brings to the table is quite impressive. Good at playing with his back to goal, and creating chances for others. If he continues to produce like this, Gernot Rohr will likely be calling soon. Olayinka, keep your phone handy. It will soon ring.
Nice one GT.
Very well summarised.
You comment nails it. Good observation.Thumbs up.
It sometimes isn’t about the league a player plays in, but about the talent. When such a player is then brought to the limelight, he can get to secure move to a bigger league. It has happened time over.