Imade’s brilliance fires Granada past Sevilla; Olowu, Aina, Monday, James hit target in Europe

Obi Donald

15 hours ago

Soccernet.ng monitored 104 games across 61 leagues in Europe, Asia, and on the African continent on Saturday, December 21, 2024 that could potentially feature Nigerian players.

Here are the most eye-catching performances.

England

Ola Aina opened the scoring for Nottingham Forest with an expert first time strike in the Tricky Trees’ convincing 2-0 away victory at Brentford.

It is Aina’s second league goal of the season, matching the most he has managed in a single English top-flight campaign.

Premier League Brentford v Nottingham Forest Ola Aina of Nottingham Forest scores a goal to make it 0-1 during the Premier League match Brentford vs Nottingham Forest at The Gtech Community Stadium, London, United Kingdom, 21st December 2024
Photo by IMAGO

Super Eagles forward Taiwo Awoniyi was a second-half substitute for Forest in the encounter.

In the League Two, Joseph Olowu unlocked the floodgates of goals for Doncaster Rovers in their thrilling 3-1 win at home to Tranmere Rovers.

Spain

Gift Monday scored her first-ever goal for UD Tenerife against Barcelona but it was not enough to help her side avoid falling to a 6-2 defeat in the Copa de la Reina.

AUSTIN, TX – JUNE 16: United States forward Christen Press 23 battles with Nigeria forward Gift Monday 2 in action during a Summer Series friendly international match, Länderspiel, Nationalmannschaft between Nigeria and the United States on June 16, 2021 at Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX. Photo by IMAGO

Nigeria's Gift Monday. Photo by IMAGO — AUSTIN, TX – JUNE 16: United States forward Christen Press 23 battles with Nigeria forward Gift Monday 2 in action during a Summer Series friendly international match, Länderspiel, Nationalmannschaft between Nigeria and the United States on June 16, 2021 at Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX. Photo by IMAGO

The loss knocked Tenerife out of the Queens Cup in the Round of 16 while Barcelona progressed to the quarterfinal stage.

Edna Imade was the star of the show as she netted a goal and an assist to power Granada to a 4-2 victory over Sevilla in their round-of-16 clash at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes.

Spain: La Liga Granada CF – Real Madrid Femenino Edna Imade of Granada CF during the Liga F match between Granada CF and Real Madrid CF at Ciudad Deportiva del Granada CF on October 14, 2023 in Granada, Spain. Granada Granada Spain. Photo by IMAGO

Albania, France, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey

Peter Itodo jumped to the top of the Superliga goalscorer chart with his eight strike of the season in Dinamo City’s hard-fought 2-1 win at home to Egnatia Rrogozhine.

Akor Adams and Montpellier sank to a new low as the Ligue 1 club stumbled to a crushing 3-0 loss to lower league side Le Puy Foot, which sent them out of the Coupe de France.

In Indonesia, Kenneth Ikechukwu gave Semen Padang an early lead but their opponents Persik Kediri fought back impressively to claim a fine 3-1 Liga 1 win.

In the Israeli Liga Ha’al, Adeniyi James grabbed Hapoel Hadera’s only goal in their 1-1 draw with visiting Hapoel Jerusalem.

Hapoel Hadera remains with only one league win this campaign which leaves the club second from bottom in the division.

Emeka Eze continued his excellent form as he netted his third goal in as many games and his eighth of the campaign which earned a share of the spoils for Pendikspor in their 1-1 Lig 1 draw with Istanbulspor in Turkey.