14 March 2011
African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o raised his Inter Milan goal haul in all competitions this season to 31 by scoring in a drawn Serie A match against Brescia at the weekend.
The Cameroon striker and captain, who turned 30 last week and opened his official website, put the defending champions ahead on 18 minutes by showing all his predatory instincts to poke home a cross from close range.
African goals were scarce across Europe with Senegalese Moussa Sow and Gabonese Eric Mouloungui on target in the French Ligue 1 and Moroccan Mehdi Benatia among the Serie A scorers.
ENGLAND
YAYA TOURE (Man City)
The Ivory Coast midfielder helped his side beat Reading 1-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals to set up a semi-final clash with Manchester United at Wembley. Toure played the full 90 minutes at Eastlands as City finally saw off their Championship opponents thanks to a Micah Richards header which clinched City’s first FA Cup semi-final place since 1981.
MAROUANE CHAMAKH (Arsenal)
The Morocco striker came on as a 59th-minute substitute against Manchester United but couldn’t prevent the Gunners slumping to a 2-0 defeat in an FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford. Chamakh, who replaced Denilson, almost got a goal back for Arsenal but his header from Bacary Sagna’s cross was brilliantly saved by Edwin van der Sar.
VICTOR OBINNA (West Ham)
The Nigerian striker was substituted in the 68th minute as West Ham crashed out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 quarter-final defeat at Stoke. Obinna, on loan from Inter Milan, was close to equalising for West Ham in the 67th minute when his shot was pushed away by Thomas Sorensen.
FRANCE
MOUSSA SOW (Lille)
The Senegalese striker was guilty of a horrendous miss in the 22nd minute of his side’s game at home to local rivals Valenciennes, spooning the ball high over the crossbar from 12 yards despite a clear sight of goal. He atoned six minutes before half-time, however, with a deflected shot from the edge of the box that flew into the top-left corner. It was his 18th league goal of the campaign and laid the foundations for a 2-1 win that sent Lille three points clear at the summit.
ANDRE AYEW (Marseille)
Left-sided attacker Ayew, son of Ghana great Abedi Pele, was one of his team’s star performers as the champions won 2-0 at Rennes. The 21-year-old set up Marseille’s first goal in the 23rd minute with an inviting cross from the left that Loic Remy dispatched with a diving header. His younger brother, 19-year-old Jordan, teed up Lucho Gonzalez for OM’s second goal 10 minutes before the end.
ERIC MOULOUNGUI (Nice)
Gabon international Mouloungui, who scored twice in Nice’s 3-2 defeat of Reims in the French Cup quarter-finals earlier this month, was also their match-winner in the 1-0 defeat of Auxerre. He claimed the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute with a fine strike, flicking a left-wing Anthony Mounier cross into the air and thumping a blistering volley into the roof of the net from 10 yards.
GERMANY
DIDIER YA KONAN (Hanover 96)
The Ivory Coast striker sat out a 4-0 defeat at Cologne as the 26-year-old missed his third consecutive game with a knee injury, but is expected to be involved in Saturday’s game at home to Hoffenheim.
ANTHONY ANNAN (Schalke 04)
The Ghana midfielder played the full 90 minutes as Schalke, who booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals in midweek, beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 to ease the pressure on coach Felix Magath. It was the 24-year-old’s fifth appearance since joining from Norway’s Trondheim in January.
SAMI ALLAGUI (Mainz 05)
The Tunisia striker came off the bench after 61 minutes of his team’s 1-0 defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen. It was Allagui’s 20th league appearance of the season.
ITALY
SAMUEL ETO’O (Inter Milan)
The Cameroon captain took his tally for the season to 31 goals in all competitions but it wasn’t enough as Inter were held 1-1 at lowly Brescia. Showing true striker instincts, Eto’o was in the right place at the right time to poke home Andrea Ranocchia’s header from inside the six-yard box. However, Inter were generally a little lacklustre as they may have had one eye on Tuesday’s crucial Champions League trip to Bayern Munich.
MEHDI BENATIA (Udinese)
The Morocco centre-back scored the crucial opening goal in the 4-0 victory at Cagliari that propelled Udinese into the top four and a Champions League qualification spot. Benatia came up to head home a corner in typical centre-back fashion. Thereafter, he made several vital interventions as Udinese never gave their hosts a sniff.
KWADWO ASAMOAH (Udinese)
The Ghana midfielder was the stand-out performer earlier in the season when Udinese lost their opening four matches. But since Alexis Sanchez and Antonio Di Natale have clicked into gear, Asamoah has stepped back into the shadows. Even so, he was effective in what he was asked to do against Cagliari, using his muscular presence to help the visitors maintain control in the middle of the park and winning the individual battles with his opposite number.
HASSAN YEBDA (Napoli)
The Algerian midfielder was in the thick of the battle as Napoli won 3-1 at Parma to reignite their title hopes and close within six points of leaders AC Milan. As the defensive midfielder in the side, Yebda had little chance to shine, particularly with the returning Ezequiel Lavezzi so impressive. But the Algerian was strong in the tackle, worked hard and ran all night, giving his more talented team-mates the platform to use their skills.
SPAIN
MODESTE M?BAMI (Almeria)
Cameroon midfielder M’Bami has become a key player for Almeria in their bid to avoid relegation and produced one of his best performances as they came from behind twice to draw 2-2 against Atletico Madrid. M’Bami provided the muscle in midfield and also linked well with the strikers.
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (Real Madrid)
Whereas the Togolese has usually taken turns to lead the attack with Frenchman Karim Benzema, the pair started against Hercules as coach Jose Mourinho rested some players ahead of a midweek Champions League match with Lyon. The duo worked well together from the start with Benzema getting the two goals and Adebayor going close on several occasions.
2010 AFP
