Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen was on target twice as Lille defeated Saint Etienne 3-0 in their French Ligue 1 clash at the Stade Pierre- Mauroy on Wednesday, reports Completesports.com.
Osimhen started the game on the bench and took the place of Frenchman, Loic Remy in the 19th minute.
The 20-year-old opened scoring for the hosts six minutes before the break after he was set up by Domagoj Bradaric.
Jonathan Bamba added the second goal for Lille from the spot in the 69th minute
Osimhen then scored his second of the game 16 minutes from time following a pass from Mehmet Zeki.
The Nigeria international has now scored four goals in three league appearances for Les Dogues.
Lille will face Reims on Sunday in their next Ligue 1 clash.
By Adeboye Amosu
38 Comments
This guy is on fire,carry on young man.wish u all the best in france.
This is the real SuperEagles number 9 we’ve been waiting for since Rashidi. A ruthless finisher Nigeria has lacked since the great 90s. He scored 20 goals last season which was actually his debut season in the top flight. 4 goals already in 3 games what a start!!! Hopefully he continues this way throughout the season. I can’t remember the last time Nigeria had a 20 goals a season striker since the great gangling Rashidi. He’s also gangly too. Gangling Osimhen. #FLY LIKE AN EAGLE INTO THE FUTURE# SuperEagles on the horizon.
I love the second goal he was selfish and took his chance that made the waiting partner feel a little upset but who cares if they were the ones they will not give him the pass like what Chukwueze has been experiencing and lately tonight iwobi as well
We have had better strikers than Rashidi Yekini, may God bless his soul. Aghahowa was better, Aiyegbeni was better, Ikpeba (Prince of Monaco) was better, Akpoborie was better, Emenike was better and Osaze was better. I understand the feeling of nostalgia thoughts of Yekini elicits but that doesn’t mean we have not had better strikers. Did Yekini score 20 goals a season in Europe?? Aiyegbeni constantly score 19-20 goals in Europe. Osimhen is following in the footsteps of other Edo strikers all named above except Emenike.
Maybe you just started watching Nigerian football. You probably don’t know Rashidi Yekini. Between 1990 and 1994 Rashidi was constantly scoring 30 plus goals a season for Victoria Setúbal in Portugal. As good as Ikpeba was at Monaco he never scored 20 goals in any season. Aghahowa never scored 10 goals a season throughout is career in Europe. Yakubu only scored 20 goals a season once in his entire career in Europe and that was at Everton in 07/08. Yes Nigeria have had great strikers after Rashidi, but none ever had the goal scoring prowess of the great Rashidi Yekini. He still holds the record of 37 goals for Nigeria. None of the strikers you mentioned scored half of those goals for the SuperEagles.
Yekini played for Nigeria from 1984 until he retired!! Why wont he score 37 goals? I have checked and I didn’t see any 30 goal a season stat at Setubal. I stand by my position
@MIKe
I know I am intruding;and I know you have your position,
But I must say, (I might be wrong),but it seems you really didn’t watch Yekini play..
Yekini scored more than 30 goals for Setubal ,and his goals primarily promoted them to the primera division in Portugal,where he scored another 20plus goals (if I could remember),
Hence becoming a club cult classic.
In addition to his goals for the super Eagles in the World Cup qualifier and the 94 nations cup,he was crowned the African footballer of the year..
No one,that watched Yekini play,would deny his ability.
Yes. He missed goals.
But he scored goals..
Great one at that.
And it wasn’t all about the goals.
Yekini was always a threat. Always..
And this is fact.
The real deal is here
Henry did same in belgium last year. You see these guys where in form when your favorite coach was playing cargos at the african nations cup i have never seen a coach of that type in my life. Salisu i miss you jare
Rohr despite the positives he has brought to the SE is a timid coach. And I really doubt he has a sharp eye for talent. Even when using Ighalo can anyone tell me they did not see he was tired in some of the games. A solid coach would have brought in another striker with different movements so team not so damn predictable. The match against Madagascar should played Oshimen, Onyekuru and Kalu too give options him attack and get them in rythym of the competition. How a goal getter like this sits on the bench while you seek goals is beyond me. I hope Rohr succeeds but it will be very painful if he wastes this array of talent on defensive minded football. Mostly bold managers achieve anything of note. Same Oshimen clowns on here were saying he wasn’t ready less than 2 weeks of training with new players is banging in goals like it’s nothing. People need stop making excuses for mediocrity. How the strikers on the bench are playing top flight league football and coach scared to unleash them on opponents. I would have played one holding midfielder (Ndidi) played etebo and Iwobi a bit up pitch with etebo a bit behind Iwobi so he can help out Ndidi. Even if I used Ighalo would still tried even if just the dead rubber Madagascar game unleashed chuckwueze, Oshimen, Kalu/Onyekuru. Dazzle opponents with skill flair and precision. If you shoot at goal 15-20x least 2-3 or more are bound to go in and you press opponents so much of the game is played in opponents half. See Liverpool with their right back and left backs all up the pitch not just sitting back inviting pressure. That’s how u get sucker punched last min like Algeria did us
Ighalo was the top scorer in afcon so you can not fault Rohr. You should also understand that a striker can deliver at any moment in a match so it is important that you give your striker confidence as a coach. Osihmeh played in third place match remember!
How many minutes before the end of the game did he put him? Can you assess Osimhen using that match? If so you are so harsh on him. Yes Igalo was top goal scorer at the detriment of our fourth afcon glory and I said it here before the Algeria match that Rohr should not stick to Igalo just to help him clinch golden boot award at the team’s detriment of winning the cup. We don’t want individual achievement but collective (including fans down home) achievement. At least nothing bad testing your substitute striker from the bench for 15mins before time in every match of that tournament if Rohr is not timid coach with defensive minded approach. Osimhen was far better than Paul in form before the tournament and I saw no reason he played Paul ahead of Osihmen as an option to Igalo. The earlier we get rid of Rohr aka Mr forever Young team the better days ahead in super eagles.
This same Rohr gave osimhen his debut in the SE. All 5 caps he has had so far has been under the same rohr. Even when he wasn’t a first teamer yet in Wolfsburg Rohr kept on inviting him. But some people here thinks they know the kid better than Rohr.
5 national team games so far and 0 goals….yet they want him to start at afcon ahead of a 20+ goals a season, qualifiers top scorer and eventual main tournament scorer CARGO.
Enough of all the what ifs and what if nots. Onuachu debuted against Egypt with a bang and went on to flop at afcon. If he had been dropped you all will be postulating by now that we would have won afcon had onuachu been invited.
If 4 caps and a further 45mins at afcon isnt enough to judge Osimhen….I wonder what will. Sam Kalu played less than 10 mins in that same match against Tunisia and almost scored twice.
Osimhen is maturing by the day which is a delight. Let’s not rush d kid.
Football has varying levels of difficulty. Club football isn’t same as national team football.
We all saw the likes of salah, zaha, Pepe et la at afcon…..how many goals did they score…?
Not in Belgium Henry played in Turkey last year and scored 16 goals, but we all saw how he fluffed his lines at the AFCON when given the chance. His exploits in Belgium was three seasons ago. If he can light up the French Ligue this season then he can probably displace Musa on the left side of attack.
Osimhen was not up to speed in the third place match against Tunisia except for the fact that he showed willingness to be a top prospect and the cargo you referred to was actually the top scorer at the AFCON. It’s a great thing that he can be the ideal replacement for the retired Ighalo with his performance so far this season.
Even Nicolas Pepe with his 22 goals last season for Lille in ligue 1 was a shadow of himself at the AFCON. Osimhen so far is still finding his feet with the SuperEagles, but he’s definitely going to be our top striker with time starting from the Ukraine friendly. It was Rohr who gave him his debut prior to the AFCON and he’s yet to score in 4 caps or so. Bro this players need to be integrated gradually. That’s how Westerhoff did it and the rest was history.
Very mature way of looking at this issue.
Henry played at Galatasaray in Turkey last season, not Belgium
Coach Rohr if he can’t re-enact this form with the SE then it’s your fault take note. It’s high time we start scolding you if players don’t carry club form to SE.
Rohr should get us eze of QPR with aribo our team will be solid.no need bargaining for any foreign born player any more
I believe that Victor will make us forget the retirement of IGHALO in a hurry as I had always seen him a better striker than IGHALO just like the way Samuel KALU and Samuel CHUKWUEZE made us to forget the retirement of Victor MOSES in a hurry.
I am very Happy that our successors are better than our predecessors these days in the super eagles.
Victor OSIMHEN is a natural born scorer in the mode of late Rashidi YEKINI.
Victor OSIMEHN with the complement of newly invited Josh MAJA of Bordeaux into the super eagles..our attacking force will be very ruthless and lethargic..
OSIMEHN is the real.
…If coach Rohr continues to play his usual lone attcker in 4-5-1 lineup which is his preferred pattern, believe it will rubbish any lethal attacker SE has… be it the late Rashidi Yekini… we need to learn and master 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 as this allows two strikers up front which is more efficient than a single striker labouring and tiring himself out… football runs on goals and not defensive resilience… no matte how good a team is, once they rely on defense as strength, they are bound to always come up short sooner or later… if we had attacked Algeria and press them high or choke them in midfield play… I see no reason how they would have found a way out against us… Anthony Nwaekeme is a very good player and should have gone to that Nations cup in place of a redundant player like John Ogu… MHO though!
…If coach Rohr continues to play his usual lone attacker in 4-5-1 lineup which is his preferred pattern, believe me, it will rubbish any lethal attacker SE has… be it the late Rashidi Yekini… we need to learn and master 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 as this allows two strikers up front which is more efficient than a single striker labouring and tiring himself out… football runs on goals and not defensive resilience… no matter how good a team is, once they rely on defense as strength, they are bound to always come up short sooner or later… if we had attacked Algeria and press them high or choke them in midfield play… I see no reason how they would have found a way out against us… Anthony Nwaekeme is a very good player… he is skillful as well as very-goal creating and scoring goals, he did so well for Trabzonspor last season scoring a total of ten goals that, he should have gone to that Nations cup in place of a redundant player like John Ogu… MHO though!
Next month england are going to cap Abraham.which is good for us so that we can go indepth in finding good strikers for super eagles.
Abraham is who when you talk of super eagles now,is him better than what we have now,our strikers re far better than him pls
Pls who is Josh maja?
@Chima, Rohr doesn’t need to be scolded, if Osimhen refuses to translate club form to SE, it’s behoves on the players to find his rhythm in SE as well. I know that Rohr can’t play him out of position, simply because he is a point man. His exploits with our U. 17 was remarkable hitherto his scoring instinct is unique. He has attributes of good positioning and finishing. I wish him injury free season in Lique 1 and UEFA Champions League
You’re right what I mean is the right formation like what lille is using double pivot attack. But Rohr might use a single forward and it will isolate the young man. We need array of attackers like Algeria outplayed us.
Defensive game is not our way of football. Naija I know attack as best form of defence Liverpool Manchester city for example,when they attack you you’ll forget your name.
Chima, Lille have been playing him as lone forward in a 4-2-3-1 formation similar to the SE. It is his movements that enables him create space to score his goals. And he’s lethal and ruthless with both feet. He will definitely come good for the SE especially with Iwobi playing behind him.
Thanks Chima someone that gets it. Idk how people who call themselves football fans can say we played the right brand of football given the talent we had at afcon. Maybe I’m watching the wrong leagues but can someone maybe Dr.drey show me a team that doesn’t press or play attacking football that is a top flight team in this football era. Even country we all or most of us watched the last World Cup. The teams that made it far did u see any defensive minded football being played? The fact is the game has changed and if u sit back or invite pressure u will get decimated and if not possibility of getting sucker punched is high. Every top team today moves the ball quickly, involve the left and right backs, and play a dynamic forward moving football. They all have different options in attack too. If Oriji wasn’t available or in top form do you think Liverpool would have won the champions league with just salah Firmino and Mane? How many times have u seen Aguero on the bench, Harry Kane on the bench? Lacazette on the bench? These are top strikers and their managers know u can’t rely on just one option upfront. It limits you tactically and after a while fatigue sets in. These teams still play well even when their so called preferred striker is on bench due to tactical reasons or unavailable due to injury. Is it a surprise Ighalo got injured and now Ndidi cos they have been overworked. I think Rohr should be given one more year just because of the positive inputs he has brought. I’ve been his ardent supporter and still have small hopes he will see the light but I’m being objective and using recently successful teams as a reference point. Going on the 3rd year should have some guts to be dynamic, change patterns, systems, some personnel and establish a team identity idk which brand of football we play these days. A team without a playing philosophy is one that will never get to play as a solid unit. Belmadi was only a year into coaching and you can already see their style and pattern of play. Sometimes you have to loose games to instill your identity. That’s why most European teams give 1-2 maybe 3 seasons when they appoint a new manager for his system to take shape.
@rez
For one,I do know that Rohr isn’t that a good tactician,he is a good man manager (if I could use it that way),but not really astute technically.
But does Rohr has a playing style identity?
Yes I think he does.
He is style is simply sit back,absorbed the pressure and hit on the counter.
Take no risk.
A very dogmatic approach.
One has used for three years.
Has the approach being successful for Nigeria?
To an extent ;Yes.
it took us to the World Cup;qualifiying blowing teams away. Remember,we did score lots of goals.and we actually never lost any.
It took us to the nations cup after past failures.scoring lots of goals;and losing just once.
And at the Afcon,he actually won something (the bronze),scoring goals too,even the top scorer award.
And although the style of play is visually boring; but it got results.
Yes Nigeria was outplayed in some matches ; but never really decimated!
I don’t know what the attributes of decimation are but I sure know winning more of your games,doesn’t mean that.
Rohr has only lost 5 competitive matches (not counting friendly matches now) ; and that’s over 20 something matches; and this is cut across qualifiers,Afcon and the World Cup. He has won more of his competitive matches,higher than average and never failed to score except in like 4 occasions in all those matches.
So as you see, his style of play is boring; defensive, But he isn’t really decimated,he gets results and he scores too.
it is totally unnecessary to say that because all the best club sides or football teams play high pressing game these days that Nigeria should as well play such style.
To do such you have to look at different angles;
1. Club football is totally different from national team football.
Club have time.national team doesn’t ,time in the national team is limited; so it I should really hard to build a philosophy in them.
Yes,but Belmadi’s Algeria just needed a year to adapt!
But most Algerian players have been playing that style at their club sides; so already used to it.
Mahrez at Man city, Hakimi at Dortmund, Bennacer at Empoli(now Milan),Mehdi at Betis,Ounas at Napoli; all these players play for clubs that play high pressing game. They are use to it.
It is no surprise the team was build around Mahrez with major major supporting cast from the aforementioned.
Yes. Our boys are attack minded. It is the Nigerian style to always attack; but simply attacking without keeping shape can also get you decimated.
Being an attack minded player doesn’t necessarily mean you can play a high pressing game,which needs some defensive tactfulness as well.
Arsenal ,Betis are teams that play total attack football, but come short defensively.
That brings me ;
2. Not all the national team at the last World Cup played high pressing game; in fact the world champion France has always played a robust midfield game with Giroud been the point man,mostly doing the work at the midfield with pogba,matuidi and Kante; looking for the runs of mbappe and Griezmann.
Similarly,Croatia plays that way. The midfield game with just a point man.
So high pressing work; but there are other formation that works also. You just have to adapt to a formation that suits your players.
Remember,your assemblage of players are vital,they need to key in to that philosophy or you would get decimated!
3. Every coach has his philosophy, his style; that’s the only way they know how to play.
Maybe It works,maybe it doesn’t. This is just how Rohr operates. Changing it,might bring a reverse result,a disastrous outcome ; it is best the coach leaves. You can’t give what you don’t have. And as I said in the beginning of my write up,Rohr isn’t that good tactically.
He only knows his one way;and he would stick to that.
Yes he might bring in fresh faces, but don’t expect change in style of play.
So as you rightly said; let’s see how it goes going forward; great we churning in good players steadily these days,our boys are doing good.it can only get better.
Let’s see what the future brings.
We got Ukraine next.
Although a friendly, we see if the gaffer gives all Nigerians something new and purposeful.
The array of offensive players we have is just fearsome josh maja osimhen onyekuru kalu chuzee hmmmmmm
This guy simply hit the ground running. It was as if he was made for Lille and the Ligue A. As commented earlier, Osimhen shares a lot of attributes with Rashidi Yekini- unarguably Nigeria’s most ruthless striker ever. Except Osimhen needs to flesh up a bit to add the extra stamina Yekini had while shielding and running with the ball. From all the SE Number 9’s (Aghahowa, Agali, Aiyegbeni, Emenike, Ighalo etc), none quite made scoring easy and a birthright as Yekini. A reincarnation maybe? Gym up, my guy and you’re there. You’re gangling already with the height.
Aghawonder was a beast and ruthless don’t add him to the ranks of Agali,Yakubu and Ighalo please I beg you…. Rashidi, Obafemi and Aghahowa are still the ruthless we have had for ages now thanks!
Did you watch Yekini? All the strikers you mentioned above are better than Yekini. Dont let your emotions becloud your reasoning. Go to YouTube and watch Yekini. Yekini misses 4 chances before scoring one
@Mike
I want to respect your view; but I must disgress,
For me, there is no basis of comparison between Yekini and the other strikers you mentioned.
Rashidi was simply better.
And I mean that with all due respect to the aforementioned,they are all good in their own rights,but not to Yekini.
Especially,as it compares to the National team.
Yekini was a beast.
Even in the African continent,there are not too many strikers that have plained the game that can be compared to Yekini.
Maybe,Eto’o, Weah,Lawrence Pokou,and if I might just add the next level(they try)Drogba,Pele,Gyan,H.Hassan,Madjer,Bwalya.
Yekini was simply a beast.
He is a legend in Ivory coast,go ask African sports.
He is a legend in setubal.
He is a legend in the African nations cup.
He is a legend in Nigeria.
Yekini is top class..
The rest just paid for school.
And Osimhen is still a student..
Hopefully he gets there.
My own opinion
Truth is that Yekini did miss a ton of easy chances especially early on but which striker doesn’t. The ivory coast and zambia matches in ‘94 come to mind. However he was exceptional during his peak years (92-94) for both club and country. In those years, the quality and quantity of goals he scored per game were outstanding. That goal from the tight corner against Algeria in the WC qualifier, the freekick against Gabon, his first goal againt Zaire in ‘94, 4 against the burkinabes, hatrick against ethiopia. During his peak you just knew that he was going to be on the scoresheet.
Welldone Victor, Your time to shine has finally come. This present Super Eagles are blazing hot. With Musa, Henry, Kalu, having assists in the past few days, while Simon, Iwobi banging goals and the main no.9, Osimen scoring his second brace in 3 games. Even outsiders like Success also getting brace of Assists. No room of non performers. Rohr is really doing something great.
In Osimhen I see a potential and worthy replacement for Ighalo (since the latter went into voluntary retirement himself). The only catch is for Mr. Rohr to show willingness to adapt his tactical approach to let the forwards play to their strengths, rather be seen as ordinary because of tactical weaknesses. Rigidity in tactics may backfire. I have liked this young man since his U-17 WC record-breaking performance. He is beginning to show his true potential in France and before long, I see the big boys in Europe seeking his services. Mark my words.
Pls let our coach see look at eze.(qpr)player.the guy is a something we need also.