African players in Europe: Salah injury scare after 28th goal

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Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah applauds supporters as he leaves the game, substituted during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield in Liverpool, northwest England on March 5, 2022. (Photo: AFP)
PARIS — Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said “something was not 100 percent right” when asked about an injury that forced two-time African Footballer of the Year Mohamed Salah to limp off after scoring against Brighton at the weekend.اضافة اعلان

“He thinks it’s not serious but you can see when Mo Salah is sitting down... something is not 100 percent right,” added the German.

Egypt captain Salah converted a penalty as Liverpool won 2–0 on the road to move within three points of Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Here, AFP Sport highlights Africans who starred in the major European leagues:

England

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Salah scored his 28th goal of the season from the penalty spot as Liverpool closed to within three points of Manchester City with a routine 2-0 win at Brighton.

Thomas Partey (Arsenal)

Ghana midfielder Partey scored just his second goal for Arsenal in a comfortable 2–0 win over Leicester City that put the Gunners back in the top four. Partey nodded home a corner early on and also had a part to play in Arsenal’s second as his header was handled by Caglar Soyuncu inside the box to win a penalty, converted by Alexandre Lacazette.


Spain

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona)

Aubameyang scored his sixth goal for Barcelona in a 4–0 La Liga thrashing of Osasuna. The Gabon striker steered in Ousmane Dembele’s cross in the first half at Camp Nou to continue his excellent form since moving to Barca in January. He opened his account with a hat-trick against Valencia last month, then scored against Napoli, Athletic Bilbao and now Osasuna. Victory lifted Barcelona to third ahead of next weekend’s Clasico against Real Madrid.


Italy

Victor Osimhen (Napoli)


Nigeria striker Osimhen is in fine fettle and confident of Napoli’s chances of securing a first Serie A title in over three decades after netting both goals in a 2–1 win at Verona. The 23-year-old rose highest to put the away side ahead early on and then secured a win which kept his team three points behind leaders AC Milan in the 71st minute, sweeping home Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s pull-back before snatching a camera to take a snap of the celebrating Napoli fans.

Hamed Traore (Sassuolo)

Ivorian Traore netted his fourth league goal of the season to put Sassuolo 2–1 ahead at bottom side Salernitana, and it was a beautiful effort. Picking up the ball on the left side he shimmied into the area between two home defenders before curling home a classy finish. Milan Djuric leveled with nine minutes remaining but that won’t take anything away from the quality of Traore’s strike.


Germany

Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin)


The 24-year-old Nigeria striker banged in a first-half penalty to claim his 11th Bundesliga goal this season. However, Union were denied a home victory when Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic equalized for the visitors in the 90th minute to seal a 1–1 draw.


France

Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg)


The Ghana center-back picked an opportune time to score his first Ligue 1 goal of the season as his overhead kick gave Strasbourg a precious 1–0 victory over Monaco, keeping them in the hunt for a shock Champions League berth. The France-born defender is expected to be called up for this month’s World Cup play-off against Nigeria.


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