Reigning African Footballer of the Year Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrated his 100th Bundesliga appearance at the weekend with a goal for Borussia Dortmund.
The 27-year-old Gabon striker got the first in a 3-1 victory over Freiburg and his fifth of the season, making him co-leading league scorer with Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski.
Senegalese goal poacher Sadio Mane was another African on target in Europe, scoring the third for Liverpool in a 5-1 English Premier League romp against 10-man Hull.
ENGLAND
SADIO MANE (Liverpool)
The Senegal star was on target as Liverpool beat Hull 5-1, scoring the Reds’ third goal with a low shot past David Marshall for his third goal of the season. Mane also saw a deflected shot hit the bar.
AHMED ELMOHAMADY (Hull)
The Hull defender’s match lasted just half an hour, with the Egyptian sent off after he blocked a shot from Philippe Coutinho on the line with his arm. He did legitimately clear a Coutinho shot off the line before his red card.
RIYAD MAHREZ (Leicester)
The Algeria winger endured a frustrating afternoon as English champions Leicester were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford. With United 4-0 up, Mahrez and England striker Jamie Vardy were withdrawn at halftime ahead of the Champions League meeting with FC Porto on Tuesday.
CHEIKHOU KOUYATE (West Ham)
One of several Hammers players who had a match to forget in a 3-0 home defeat by Southampton. When he lost possession in the 62nd minute it led Charlie Austin to release Dusan Tadic for the visitors’ second goal.
SPAIN
FAYCAL FAJR (Deportivo la Coruna)
The Moroccan winger had an afternoon to forget as he saw two quickfire yellow cards just before halftime to leave Deportivo la Coruna down to 10 men for the whole second half against Atletico Madrid. Antoine Griezmann eventually scored the only goal of the game for Atletico as Deportivo slid to 16th with a third defeat in four games.
ITALY
KHOUMA BABACAR (Fiorentina)
Babacar endeared himself to fans last week by hitting Fiorentina’s opener in a 2-2 draw at Udinese, but at home against AC Milan the big Senegal forward started on the bench as coach Paulo Sousa opted for Josip Ilicic. Ilicic missed a penalty for the hosts and by the time Babacar finally made an appearance, eight minutes from the end, it was too late to make an impact. The match finished scoreless.
MOHAMED SALAH (Roma)
Salah is usually a threat for opposition defences and midfielders, who have to curb his energetic runs, but at Torino the Egyptian found his match in Antonio Barecca. The Italian full-back was tasked with keeping tabs on Salah and did a great job as Roma huffed and puffed their way to a chastening 3-1 defeat that was marked by club icon Francesco Totti’s 250th goal for the club.
KWADWO ASAMOAH (Juventus)
Asamoah has been starting regularly for Juventus this season, but must have regretted having come off the bench to help the champions on their way to a 1-0 win at Palermo. The Ghanaian replaced Miralem Pjanic on 68 minutes but lasted barely 20 minutes before crumbling to the ground with a knee ligament injury that will keep him out of action for up to six weeks.
FRANCE
SERGE AURIER (Paris Saint-Germain)
The Ivory Coast defender was sent off for a second yellow card after conceding the penalty that set Toulouse up for a shock 2-0 win over stumbling champions Paris Saint-Germain. The 23-year-old was also due in court on Monday to answer a charge of elbowing a police officer in Paris in May.
DICKSON NWAKAEME (Angers)
The 30-year-old journeyman Nigerian striker came off the bench to make just his third appearance for Angers in Monaco and scored an unfortunate own-goal that proved decisive in a 2-1 defeat for his team. He played in Malaysia before moving to France in the close season.
CLINTON NJIE (Marseille)
The Cameroon international forward was handed his first start since joining Marseille on loan from English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur and marked the occasion with the equaliser at home to Nantes before OM went on to win 2-1.
GERMANY
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG (Borussia Dortmund)
The Gabon striker netted his fifth goal in the four league games he has played this season on his 100th Bundesliga appearance in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 win over Freiburg. Aubameyang is neck-and-neck with Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, who also has five goals, but has played in five Bundesliga matches this season.
OUSMAN MANNEH (Werder Bremen)
The 19-year-old Gambia-born striker made his Bundesliga debut in last Wednesday’s defeat at Mainz and started in the 2-1 win at home to Wolfsburg which saw Werder escape the bottom three. Having had a couple of chances, Manneh made way for Lennart Thy, who equalised for Bremen in the 86th minute before Czech Theodor Gebre Selassie won the game with a bullet header.
ERIC CHOUPO-MOTING (Schalke 04)
The Cameroon striker gave Schalke the lead in a 2-1 defeat at Hoffenheim which is the Royal Blues fifth straight league loss – the worst start to a season in the club’s history. Choupo-Moting netted his first goal of the season when he met Breel Embolo’s cross at the far post.
