Africans Abroad: Boniface and Marmoush bag braces as Wissa and Ezzalzouli also score
England
Yoane Wissa continued with his impressive goal scoring run as Brentford fell 2-1 to reigning champions, Manchester City.
The DR Congo international got the Bees off to a flying start at the Etihad Stadium – heading past goalkeeper Ederson after just 22 seconds – the fastest goal scored in the Premier League this season.
Sadly, Wissa was withdrawn in first-half stoppage time after a heavy challenge from Mateo Kovacic.
Profiting from Brentford’s lifeless presence in attack as a result of Wissa's absence, Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens bounced back from their deficit to secure all three points with red-hot Erling Haaland finding the net twice.
In London, Wilfred Ndidi got a brace of assists as Leicester City played out a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
The Nigeria international teed up Jamie Vardy, who rounded goalkeeper Dean Henderson for the Foxes’ opener in the 21st minute at Selhurst Park.
A minute into the second half, he assisted Stephy Mavididi for Leicester City’s second, nonetheless, the Eagles clawed back to secure a point with Jean-Philippe Mateta bagging a brace.
Elsewhere, Amad Diallo contributed an assist in his third start of the 2024-25 campaign as Manchester United silenced Southampton 3-0 at St Mary's Stadium.
The Red Devils had taken the lead through Matthijs de Ligt in the 35th minute before the Old Trafford giants doubled their advantage six minutes later courtesy of Marcus Rashford who was supplied by the Cote d’Ivoire international.
Spain
Abde Ezzalzouli scored his first goal of the 2024-25 season as Real Betis subdued Leganes 2-0 in a Spanish top-flight outing.
With the scores tied 0-0 at half-time inside Estadio Benito Villamarin, the Morocco international gave the Green and Whites the lead in the 74th minute.
Teed up by former Arsenal star Hector Bellerin, the 22-year-old drilled the ball past goalkeeper Juan Soriano.
Super-sub Vitor Roque ended the visitors’ ambitions of a comeback with the second goal with four minutes left on the clock.
In another LaLiga fixture, Athletic Bilbao put up an impressive display to defeat Las Palmas 3-2 with Inaki Williams contributing a hat-trick of assists.
First, the Ghana international set up Oihan Sancet in the seventh minute before assisting younger brother Nico for Bilbao’s second of the evening.
Inaki had a hand in the third goal as he helped Aitor Paredes register his name among the goal scorers as Ernesto Valverde’s men recorded their second win of the campaign.
Germany
Victor Boniface found the net twice as Bayer Leverkusen caged hosts Hoffenheim 4-1 in the Bundesliga.
In the five-goal thriller, the reigning German champions got off to a brilliant start with the Nigeria international supplying Martin Terrier for the opener in the 17th minute.
Boniface, who had been denied earlier, made no mistake on the half-hour mark when played through by Granit Xhaka, holding off a defender and slotting home at the near post of goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
In the goal-laden first half, Mergim Berisha reduced the deficit for the hosts in the 37th minute.
Florian Wirtz restored the two-goal lead for Xabi Alonso’s team in the 72nd minute, with Boniface completing his brace three minutes later thanks to an assist from Jeremie Frimpong.
Just like Boniface, Omar Marmoush’s double proved pivotal for Eintracht Frankfurt in their 2-1 away victory over Wolfsburg.
Still basking in the euphoria of his international goal for Egypt in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Cape Verde, the forward delivered a man-of-the-match performance for the Eagles.
He scored first in the 30th minute before finding the net the second time in the 82nd minute of the keenly contested encounter.
