African players in Europe: Superstars Salah, Mane among goals

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, both two-time winners of the African Footballer of the Year award, were among the goals in Europe at the weekend.

Egyptian Salah atoned for several misses by finding the net to lift Liverpool to eighth with a 1-0 Premier League victory over previously unbeaten Manchester City.

Senegalese Mane notched the fourth goal for second-placed Bayern in a 5-0 Bundesliga drubbing of Freiburg.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:
ENGLAND

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

Salah struck his first league goal since August to kickstart Liverpool’s season. He said he is not giving up on the title despite the Reds being 14 points behind leaders Arsenal. Salah kept his cool with a third opportunity to slot past Ederson after outmuscling Joao Cancelo.

SAID BENRAHMA (West Ham)

Benrahma came off the bench to tee up Declan Rice for West Ham’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Southampton. The Algerian has not started any of the Hammers last five league games, but after scoring in the Europa Conference League in midweek, made his case for more game time with a clever one-two with the England international, who fired into the far corner.
SPAIN

REINILDO MANDAVA (Atletico Madrid)

Were it not for Mozambican left-back Reinildo, Atletico Madrid would have left the San Mames with fewer than the three points they eventually took from their 1-0 triumph over Athletic Bilbao. He made a brilliant block in the last minute to deny Raul Garcia when he was poised to equalise, and although the officials penalised him in the area for handball, VAR confirmed he had blocked another effort with his face and cancelled the penalty.

YASSINE ‘BONO’ BOUNOU (Sevilla)

The Morocco international was key in his team’s 1-0 win at Real Mallorca, making a few excellent saves to keep a clean sheet and earn Jorge Sampaoli his first win as coach.

EL BILAL TOURE (Almeria)

Mali international Toure netted for a second consecutive game, having scored against Rayo Vallecano last week in a 3-1 win. This time his team were beaten at Real Betis by the same scoreline. He took his strike well, slotting home early in the second half.
ITALY

VICTOR OSIMHEN (Napoli)

Out since early September with a thigh injury, Nigerian Osimhen has burst back into the Napoli team with two goals in two substitute appearances, his latest the winner in a 3-2 over Bologna which kept his team top of Serie A.

ADEMOLA LOOKMAN (Atalanta)

Another Nigeria attacker made sure Atalanta kept pace with Napoli, Lookman scoring his third goal in as many games which gave his new team a 2-1 win over Sassuolo and continued their best start to a Serie A season.
GERMANY

SADIO MANE (Bayern Munich)

Mane scored his second goal in two games as Bayern thrashed Freiburg 5-0 to rise to second. Mane scored the fourth with an elegant chip over goalkeeper Mark Flekken in the second half, just three days after finding the net in the Champions League against Viktoria Plzen.
FRANCE

NOAH FADIGA (Brest)

The right-back put Brest in front against Nantes only to finish up on the end of a 4-1 defeat. Brest are bottom of Ligue 1 and sacked their coach last week. Fadiga is the son of former Senegal star Khalilou Fadiga.

MOHAMED CAMARA (Monaco)

The all-action Malian midfielder was sent off just 17 minutes into a game against Clermont and without him Monaco managed only a 1-1 draw as their five-game winning run ended. Already due to serve a suspension in Monaco’s next game, Camara now faces an extended spell on the sidelines.