ENGLAND
It was both an FA Cup weekend and a Premiership weekend with Nigerians featuring in both competitions
Victor Moses started for Chelsea in their FA Cup quarter final clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday while Mikel Obi started on the bench. Moses was replaced in the 52nd minute by Eden Hazard while Mikel came on for Frank Lampard.
Chelsea clawed their way back from two goals down to end the match in
a 2-2 draw and earn a replay at Stamford Bridge. Whoever wins the
replay will confront Manchester City at Wembley. Moses had 80% pass accuracy from 25 balls and had two attempted shots on target as he also completed one sucessful dribble. In the 38 minutes played by Mikel, he had 89% pass accuracy from 42 touches on the ball and completed one dribble. In the other match on Sunday, Millwall drew 0-0 against Blackburn Rovers. Nigerian defender Danny Shittu
captained the Millwall side and could have scored a stunner from 40
yards in the second half but the effort was tipped over the bar.
Their replay is next Wednesday and the winner has a semi-final date
with Wigan who beat Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday. Victor Anichebe
came on in the second half to replace Philip Neville in the 46th minute
but his introduction could not pull the Toffees out of the hole that
had been dug in the first half. In the Premiership, Reading fielded Hope Akpan from the start and the
young Nigerian midfielder had a hand in Reading’s goal as his flick was
diverted into the net in the 32nd minute by Nathan Baker. Akpan was
replaced by Garath McCleary. Akpan had a pass accuracy of 70% from 27
touches on the ball and won 100% of his aerial duels. He also had one
attempted shot before he was replaced.
Peter Odemwingie
replaced Romelu Lukaku in West Brom's 2-1 win over Swansea on Saturday.
The win moved the Baggies to eighth position with 43 points. Odemwingie
came on in the 81st minute and attempted a left footed shot on goal in
the 86th minute but the effort went wide. Odemwingie has five goals from
21 league appearances.
Ahmed Musa continued his good form as he scored the second goal in CSKA Moscow’s 2-0 win over Krylya Sovetov on Saturday.
Musa who plays centrally for his team scored the second on 72 minutes
and it was a true poacher's goal as he collected the ball outside the
box, shrugged off his marker and placed a low shot beyond the reach of
the goalkeeper.
That is Musa’s ninth league goal and it has helped CSKA to maintain a
stranglehold on top spot as they are now five points clear of Anzhi
Makhachkala, who lost away to Mordovia Saransk
Obinna Nsofor
started the second phase of the Russian league on the bench for
Lokomotiv Moscow though he came on in the 79th minute to replace Maicon.
Lokomotiv lost 1-0 away to their cross-town rivals, Dinamo Moscow on
Saturday. Nsofor has played 18 times in the league with two goals - his
last goal coming on November 24, 2012 against Krasnodar at home.
Lokomotiv are in 10th place on the 16-team league table with 31 points from 20 matches.
