It was a profitable European night Thursday for some Nigerian players as their goals helped their teams advance on the continent.
In a Europa Conference League match in Prague, Cyriel Dessers scored twice for Dutch side Feyernoord to claim a precious 2-2 draw against Slavia Prague .
He struck first on 31 minutes with a turn-and-shoot routine to cancel out fellow Nigerian Peter Olayinka’s opener.
Then in added time the 25-year old looped a header over the goalkeeper so send the Dutch side into the knock-out stage as group winners.
Dessers was full of delight after the game.
“It is my job as striker to score of course but if you score two goals against such a strong team in an important match it is fantastic! Which one did I like more? I don’t score a lot of headers so I liked the second one more; the first was a nice turn and good finish with my left foot but the second one was very, very nice. If you see the ball going into the net like that, it is superb feeling,” he said.
“After the draw we thought it was the hardest group in the Conference League but now when we are at the top of it, it feels even better – we are very happy. Though it was a draw today, it feels like a win.”
Dessers has formed a habit of hitting the back of the net as a super-sub for Feyernoord in the Dutch league – but seems to be even better in Europe
On Song
In England, Nigerian midfield maestro Wlfred Ndidi scored the winning goal for Leicester City in a 3-1 win over Legia Warsaw.
Ndidi’s strike sealed the Foxes spot in Europa League knockout stage with one game remaining.
There was an added African flavour to the famous win as Zambian striker Patson Daka scored his fifth European goal – making him Leicester City’s all-time top scorer on the continent.
The emphatic nature of the result was not lost on coach Brendan Rodgers.
“We returned to our football,” the Northern Irishman told Leicester City Tv at full-time.
“That was the key message leading into the last few days. Our football is about pressing high up the pitch and counter-pressing with aggression. When we do that, everything in our game is much quicker and faster.
“The positioning of the team was excellent, we scored good goals. We’re disappointed with the penalty, we felt it was a bit harsh, but overall, we showed good concentration in the game. It’s a good feeling to win the game,” he added.
Leicester now lead their group on eight points.
