Football411 kept a close eye on Nigerian stars abroad this past weekend — and they didn’t disappoint.
From Europe to North America and the Middle East, several Super Eagles and Super Falcons stars delivered standout performances for their various clubs across top leagues.
Onuachu, Orban, and others keep Nigerian players abroad in the spotlight
In the Turkish Super Lig, Paul Onuachu continued his red-hot form for Trabzonspor, following up a late equaliser against Gaziantep with a sensational brace in a 4-3 win over Fatih Karagümrük.
The 31-year-old opened the scoring with a stunning overhead kick in the 35th minute before calmly slotting home a penalty to put his side 3-1 up.
With five goals in seven games, he has already eclipsed his tally at Southampton.
In Major League Soccer (MLS), Victor Olatunji made a decisive return from suspension for Real Salt Lake, scoring the clincher in a 3-1 victory over Austin FC.
The 25-year-old Nigerian forward rounded the keeper in the 82nd minute after a precise pass from Diego Luna, netting his second goal in five starts and helping RSL bounce back from a heavy defeat at LAFC to boost their playoff push.
In the Scottish Premiership, Kelechi Iheanacho marked his first start for Celtic in a frustrating 0-0 draw with Hibernian.
The Super Eagles striker thought he had broken the deadlock in the 65th minute by tapping in Marcelo Saracchi’s cross, only for VAR to rule it out.
He later hit the woodwork and took four shots before being substituted, showing glimpses of the spark Celtic hopes he’ll ignite.
Victor Osimhen returned from an ankle injury for Galatasaray, coming off the bench in the 85th minute during their Super Lig clash with Alanyaspor.
His presence was a timely boost as the Turkish champions gear up for a crucial Champions League trip to Liverpool.
Galatasaray remain unbeaten domestically, sitting atop the table with 19 points from seven games.
Simy Nwankwo delivered a brace to lead his team Al-Oroba to an away league victory over Abha in Saudi Arabia Division 1.
Olanrewaju Kayode scored his sixth goal of the season, but but it wasn’t enough to rescue Erokspor as they succumbed to a narrow 3-2 home league defeat in Turkish 1. Lig.
Nigerian striker Gift Orban led Verona’s charge in their 2-0 Serie A defeat to Roma in Serie A.
Playing the full 90 minutes in just his third league appearance, the 21-year-old caused constant problems for Roma’s defence, rattling the crossbar and seeing a stoppage-time strike ruled out by VAR for handball.
With one goal so far this season, Orban’s sharpness and persistence show his growing importance to Verona’s attack.
Gift Monday stuns NWSL with record-breaking hat-trick
In the women’s game, Nigeria’s stars were equally brilliant.
Asisat Oshoala continued her fine form for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia’s Women’s Premier League, assisting the opener and scoring the clincher in a 3-0 win over Neom SC.
She has now been directly involved in five goals in just three appearances since joining from Bay FC.
Esther Okoronkwo was the creative heartbeat in AFC Toronto’s 1-0 win over Ottawa Rapid FC, setting up the match-winning goal in the 33rd minute.
The 27-year-old forward has now tallied 10 goals and 12 assists this season, including four goals and two assists in her last five games.
Edna Imade announced her return to Spanish Liga F in style, scoring the opener in Real Sociedad’s 2-0 win over Levante Badalona to extend their unbeaten run to five matches.
On loan from Bayern Munich, the 24-year-old is rediscovering the form that saw her score 17 goals for Granada last season.
Gift Monday lit up the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) with a historic first-half hat-trick for Washington Spirit in their 4-0 win over Houston Dash.
The 23-year-old forward struck three times in just 18 minutes — the fastest hat-trick in league history — ending a nine-game goal drought and raising her season tally to eight goals and two assists.
To wrap up the weekend, Joy Omewa continued her scoring streak for Fortuna Hjørring, assisting the opener and netting the clincher in a 2-0 win over Odense Boldklub Ladies.
The 22-year-old now has nine goals in 11 matches this season, including five in the Danish league and four in UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers.
Nigerian players can’t stop making headlines and flying the flag high across the globe.
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