Nigerians abroad: Payne excellent for Everton; Babajide, Monday crush Sevilla; Boniface, Kayode impress

Soccernet.ng monitored dozens of matches featuring Nigerian stars across the globe on Sunday, February 2, 2025. Here are the most eye-catching highlights.

England

Toni Payne was the architect of Everton’s impressive 4-1 win over Leicester City, as the Super Falcons star provided two assists to inspire her team to only their third victory in the Women’s Super League this season.

Leicester City’s Shannon O’Brien struck in the 15th minute to cancel out Odette Gago’s opener for the home side before Payne supplied the final ball for Dutch forward Katja Snoeijs to restore Everton’s lead.

Get Our Sports News First – Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!

Payne then assisted Gago for her second goal in the 69th minute after Honoka Hayashi had netted Leicester’s third goal of the encounter 12 minutes earlier.

Everton have now won three of their last five matches, with Payne playing a crucial role in their resurgence.

Spain

Sadiq Umar was a second-half substitute as Valencia boosted their survival hopes with a hard-fought 2-1 La Liga home win over Celta Vigo.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s flag flew high inside the Estadio Jesús Navas as Super Falcons stars Rinsola Babajide and Gift Monday netted the goals that propelled UD Tenerife to a commanding 2-0 win over Sevilla in the Primera División Femenina.

Babajide handed Tenerife the lead in the 9th minute before setting up compatriot Monday to double the visitors’ advantage ten minutes into the second half.

Proving once again that she is the most in-form forward in Spain, Monday has now scored six goals in her last five consecutive games for Tenerife.

Two of Nigeria’s finest attackers in Spain — Edna Imade and Rasheedat Ajibade — faced off at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, but there was no victor, no vanquished, as Granada and Atlético Madrid settled for a goalless draw.

Germany

Victor Boniface put aside recent off-field distractions to fire Bayer Leverkusen to a thrilling 3-1 Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim.

The Super Eagles forward had been sidelined with injury since last year, survived a terrible car accident, and nearly completed a move to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr last week.

Despite all these troubles, Boniface was back on the scoresheet for Leverkusen, firing a low shot into the net to open the scoring in the 15th minute. It was his seventh league goal in 11 appearances this season, a tally that compares well with the 14 goals he managed in 23 Bundesliga games last term.

Jeremie Frimpong and Patrik Schick added further goals on either side of halftime as Leverkusen looked comfortable at the BayArena.

However, Gift Orban came off the bench to reduce the deficit for Hoffenheim with a tidy left-footed finish following a set-piece situation just past the hour mark.

Orban’s goal came moments after Bayer Leverkusen were reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Álex Grimaldo.

Despite their numerical advantage, Hoffenheim could not mount a comeback, leaving Christian Ilzer’s men just four points above the relegation zone.

Turkey

Nigeria’s duo of Ibrahim Olawoyin and David Akintola provided assists as Rizespor were beaten 3-2 by José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe.

Fenerbahçe were stunned by two early Rizespor goals, as Ali Sowe broke the deadlock in the 6th minute following an Olawoyin assist. The Gambian forward doubled the visitors’ advantage seven minutes later after capitalizing on an Akintola pass.

However, a moment of controversy changed the complexion of the game as Olawoyin was shown a red card for a foul on Edin Džeko in the penalty area. The former Manchester City striker stepped up and converted the spot-kick to hand Fenerbahçe a lifeline.

Džeko grabbed his second goal of the night in the 79th minute before Youssef En-Nesyri netted the winner ten minutes later for the hosts.

With one game more played, Fenerbahçe are now just three points behind Super Lig leaders Galatasaray.

Elsewhere, after scoring in his first two games for the club, Olanrewaju Kayode claimed an assist to help his new team, Esenler Erokspor, secure a 1-1 draw with Boluspor in their Lig 1 clash.

Meanwhile, Nigerian youngster Uchenna Ogundu, recently promoted to Şanlıurfaspor’s first team following Kayode’s departure, made an instant impact for his club.

The 18-year-old forward assisted Amar Begić’s 92nd-minute winner in Şanlıurfaspor’s 1-0 triumph over İstanbulspor.

The victory lifted Şanlıurfaspor out of the relegation zone into 16th place in the league table.