Africans: Zaha, Mane inspire respective teams to victory 

Wilfred Zaha and Sadio Mane scored a brace each, inspiring their respective teams, Crystal Palace and Bayern Munich, to victory.

Here, FARPost rounds up how Africans are plying their trade in top European leagues performed over the weekend.

Wilfred Zaha (Crystal Palace)

Ivory Coast International striker Wilfred Zaha was the toast on Saturday after inspiring Crystal Palace with a brace when they beat Aston Villa 3-1.

Nigerian hopeful Eberechi Eze was also a thorn in the flesh of Aston Villa in midfield.

Villa were the first to score when Ollie Watkins struck after five minutes before Zaha levelled matters two minutes later.

He was on target again in the second half from a penalty initially palmed away by the Aston Villa goalkeeper, but the Ivorian quickly lashed the ball home on the rebound. 

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored Palace’s third goal after 71 minutes to condemn Villa to a defeat.

Chancel Mbemba ( Marseille)

Democratic Republic of Congo defender Chancel Mbemba was on target as 10-men Marseille narrowly beat Nantes 2-1 on Saturday.

Mbemba scored Marseille’s opening goal after quickly reacting to a goalmouth scramble in the 70th minute.

Ludovic Blas equalised for Nantes from a penalty eight minutes later, and Marseille’s winning goal came via an own goal by Nicolas Pallois. The latter mistakenly headed a cross from Luis Suarez into his net.

Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)

Inspirational Senegal forward Sadio Mané added two goals to his tally at Bayern Munich when the German giants drubbed Bochum 7-0 on Sunday night.

Mané took his tally to four goals after parting with Liverpool in the offseason. The other goals were scored by Leroy Sane, Matthijs de Ligt,Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and an own goal by Cristian Gamboa.

Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain)

Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi was also on the scoresheet on Sunday night when Paris Saint-Germain trounced Lille 7-1.

In this match, striker Kylian Mbappé scored the fastest Ligue 1 goal in 30 years. Mbappé and Neymar scored a brace each, while Messi grabbed one goal.

And the flying full-back Hakimi also had a final say in this devastating display of their stranglehold in the French elite league.

Saif-Eddine Khaoui (Clermont)

Tunisian International Saif-Eddine Khaoui scored the only goal that Clermont needed to account for the scalp of Nice on Saturday.

Khaoui scored after five minutes before Gabon forward Mario Lemina was shown a straight red card for a crude tackle from behind in the 80th minute. Jean-Clair Todibo was also red-carded after receiving two yellow cards.

Victor Osimhen (Napoli)

Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen gave a good account of himself on Sunday when  Napoli dispatched newly promoted Monza 4-0.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored twice for the Italian giants, but it was Osimhen who scored a delightful goal after a solo run, and he beat three defenders before darting the ball home in the first-half’s injury time.

South Korean Kim Min-Jae wrapped up the scoring moments before full-time.

Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg)

Ghana international Alexander Djiku helped Strasbourg salvage a point following a 1-1 stalemate with Stade Reims on Sunday.

Djiku scored on the stroke of halftime for Strasbourg, but Folarin Balogun restored parity in the 80th minute to force a share of the spoils.

Achraf Dari (Stade Brestois) and Sofiane Boufal (Angers SCO) 

Two Moroccan players were on target as Stade Brestois recorded their first win of the 2022/23 campaign over Angers SCO.

The match ended 3-1, with Jérémy Le Douaron scoring a brace in the second half.

Moroccan international Achraf Dari had opened the scores for Stade Brestois in the 65th minute from a Youcef Belaïli corner-kick.

His compatriot Sofiane Boufal levelled matters soon after, but Stade Brestois walked away with the bragging rights courtesy of Douaron’s brace.

Ibrahima Kone (Lorient)

Malian forward Ibrahima Kone scored an 80th-minute penalty to help Lorient pick a point on the road as they drew 2-2 with Toulouse.

Armand Laurienté thrust Lorient ahead after two minutes, but goals from Rafael Ratao and Thijs Dallinga in the 31st and 64th minute, respectively, gave Toulouse control of the game as they looked set to collect maximum points at home.

But Lorient were awarded a penalty, and Kone converted it with ease, forcing the two sides to settle for a share of spoils.