Tag: Alex Iwobi

Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi has set a record ahead of Nigeria’s AFCON third-place final against Egypt on Saturday.

According to OptaJoe, Iwobi has made the most line-breaking passes, leading to 13 shots and 4 goals at the ongoing AFCON in Morocco.

The Fulham star has also made the most total line-breaking passes (44) in the knockout stages.

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Iwobi has been impressive for the Super Eagles at the AFCON tournament so far.

The 29-year-old will now hope to lead Eric Chelle’s side to victory when Nigeria face Egypt this weekend.

Iwobi was unable to help Nigeria to victory against Morocco in the semi-final tie played on Wednesday as the Atlas Lions won 4-2 on penalties following a goalless draw.

Alex Iwobi yester night made history as Nigerian with most appearance in the Premier League when Fulham welcome his former club Arsenal to the Craven Cottage.

Iwobi played for 90 minutes as Arsenal ran away with a late goal.

Iwobi has amassed 299 appearances in the English top-flight till date.

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The versatile midfielder beat Shola Ameobi to the appearance record.

The 29-year-old moved on top of the appearance record after  featuring against Arsenal.

Iwobi racked up the 299 appearances for three different clubs, Arsenal, Everton, and Fulham.

He made his Premier League debut for Arsenal against Swansea City on October 27, 2015.

Super Eagles winger, Alex Iwobi put up a great display to earn an assist while Calvin Bassey was also awesome for Fulham who held Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at the Craven Cottage yesterday.

The Cottagers began the season with a 1-1 draw at the Amex against Brighton but they had to force their way back into the game to earn consecutive  draws in their  first two games of the English Premiership season.

Both players saw out the entire duration of the game for their second game of the season and they contributed in no small measures to Fulham’s unbeaten run in the league this season.

Since the start of last season, Alex Iwobi has been directly involved in 16 goal contributions in the Premier League goals than any of his teammate following his seventh assist since last season and nine goals. His latest assist came against Manchester United when he laid the pass for Emil Smith Rowe to equalise in the 73^rd  minute of the game.

At Selhurst Park, Nottingham Forest played a 1-1 draw away to Crystal Palace with Super Eagles right back, Ola Aina receiving a yellow card in the 68^th  minute for the Reds.

Nottingham Forest have thus earned their fourth point of the season having started the season with a 3-1 thumping of Brentford at the City Ground.

Aina played the entire game but Taiwo Awoniyi was not even considered for a bench role as anxiety continues to grow if the Super Eagles attacker still has a future with Nottingham Forest.

In France, Chiedozie Awaziem was booked by the referee in the 22^nd  minute of Nantes 1-0 loss at Strasbourg for their second loss of the season.

Also in Turkey, Paul Onuachu was substituted in the embers of the game as Trabzonspor made it three successive wins following a 1-0 victory at home to Antalyaspor.

In Scotland, Cyriel Dessers was unable to shake off his knock as Rangers settled for a 1-1 draw away to St Mirren.

The Russel Martin led side have drawn all their three league games thus far this season and are six points behind eternal rivals, Celtic after only three games into the season.

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Meanwhile in other games played last weekend, in France, Terem Moffi celebrated his recall to the Super Eagles with a goal for OGC Nice.

Moffi, named in coach Eric Sekou Chelle’s 31-man provisional squad for next month’s crucial FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa, came off the bench in the 73rd minute and found the net just three minutes later to seal a 3-1 victory over Auxerre, featuring compatriot Gabriel Osho.

The 25-year-old’s timely strike could boost his chances of making the final 24-man list when Chelle trims down his squad ahead of the September 5 and 9 qualifiers.

Also in France, winger Moses Simon netted his first goal for Paris FC since joining from Nantes, though his strike was in vain as his side fell 5-2 to Olympique Marseille.

In the Germany Bundesliga, Forward Justin Njinmah was on target for Werder Bremen, scoring a second-half consolation in their 4-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.

In the  Czech Republic Fortuna Liga, striker Rafiu Durosinmi continued his fine form with Viktoria Plzeň, opening the scoring in the 35th minute of a 2-1 win over Karviná. It was his second goal of the campaign.

Alex Iwobi has said he hopes Fulham use their best Premier League finish of last season to aim for Europe in the new campaign.

Last season, Fulham posted their best-ever finish in the Premier League when they finished eighth, but it was not enough to get them into Europe for the new season.

Iwobi said he hopes they do even better in the forthcoming season so that they could enjoy football at a higher level.

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 “What we achieved last season should be a stepping stone, a motivation, for us to achieve Europe now,” he said. “I enjoyed this when I was at Arsenal, and the hunger is still there.

 “We want to play at the highest level now and hopefully we can get to do this in the new season.”

Iwobi along with fellow Super Eagles star Calvin Bassey was one of the standout players for the London club this past season.

Super Eagles Alex Iwobi scored his ninth goal of the season for Fulham in their 2-1 home loss to Chelsea who netted twice in the last seven minutes of the game.

Iwobi who star in his 33^rd  game of the season got the goal in the 20^th  minute but the Cottagers lost steam in the embers of the game and were made to pay for it.

Calvin Bassey also featured in the same game for his 31st game of the season in the EPL he has a goal to his credit. The Nigerian got his sixth booking of the season in the same game.

In another game, Wilfred Ndidi’s Leicester City were relegated after they were beaten 1-0 by champions designate, Liverpool. It was the Foxes ninth straight loss at home and will play in the English football league second tier- Championship next season.

In Turkey, David Okereke notched his eighth goal of the Turkish Super Lig season but it proved to be a mere consolation to Gaziantep FK who were beaten 2-1 at Istanbul Basaksehir.

Okereke scored the game’s opening goal on the ninth minute but Basaksehir rallied back to get two goals of theirs. Gaziantep are eighth in the table with 42 points from 30 games.

Bright Osayi-Samuel’s Fenerbahce lost some ground in their push for Turkish League title after they were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Kayserispor.

Fenerbahce are second in the table with 72 points but they are five points adrift of the reigning Turkish Super Lig champions, Galatasaray with a few games to the end of the season.

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In another Turkish Super Lig tie, Rizespor with Ibrahim Olawoyin on for 90 minutes before his withdrawal in the fourth minute of stoppage time beat Eyupspor 1-0. Rizespor are in the 14^th  spot with 37 points.

In Italy, Samuel Chukwueze was brought on in the 83^rd  minute of AC Milan 1-0 loss at home to Atalanta. The Zebras paraded Super Eagles Ademola Lookman who played the entire duration of the game to help Atalanta consolidate on their third spot with 64 points from 33 games but Milan have slipped to the ninth spot with 51 points.

Tyronne Ebuehi came on in the 70th minute of Empoli’s 2-2 draw at home to Venezia. They are still in the relegation zone.

In Spain, Chidera Ejuke was replaced at the start of the second half in Sevilla’s 1-1 draw at home to Alaves. Sevilla are in the 15th spot with 37 points.

In Germany, Victor Boniface replaced Nathan Tella in the 90th minute for a cameo appearance in Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 draw at St Pauli. The reigning league champions are second in the table with 64 points from 30 games.

Frank Onyeka though omitted from the Super Eagles FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March continued to put in a good shift for Augsburg. Onyeka was yellow carded in the 81^st  minute of his club’s goalless draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Also in France, Lille thrashed Gabriel Osho’s Auxerre 3-1. Chuba Akpom played for Lille and was replaced in the 80th minute but Osho was not even listed for the game. Lille are fourth in the table with 53 points while Auxerre are 11th with 38 points.

Terem Moffi was benched in OGC Nice 2-1 win over Angers. Moffi only recently returned from an injury that kept him out of football for close to one year.

Super Eagles winger, Alex Iwobi extended his impressive season statistics in the colours of Fulham with another goal and an assist which aided the Cottagers’ 3-2 home win over EPL leaders, Liverpool at the Craven Cottage yesterday.

Iwobi who now has eight goals and five assists from 31 league games his enjoying an outstanding season which is by far his best in terms of statistics since he debuted for Arsenal in the EPL.

Not reputed for goals scoring, Iwobi bagged five goals in 30 games for Fulham in his opening season with the Cottagers to supplant his other seasons performance but his eight goals have dwarfed that record as he goes further in search of more goals and more records.

Before joining Fulham last season, Iwobi featured in all 38 EPL games for Everton to jointly hold that record for most games with James Takowski who has now become the Toffees’ skipper.

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The Nigerian Is on the verge of equally that record with Fulham having featured in all the 31 league games played by the Cottagers thus far. He will equal that feat if he stays fit over the course of the remaining seven games this season.

Iwobi’s compatriot  at Fulham, Calvin Bassey put up a magnificent performance for his club in the 3-2 home win. He ticked all boxes in a Man of the Match performance by the former Rangers’ defender.

The Eagles Central defender was on for the entire duration of the game. It was his 29^th league game of the season and he has scored a goal.

The performance of both Nigerians complemented by their teammates at Fulham has seen the Cottagers leapt to the eighth spot with 48 points from 31 games. They are on the cusp of a return to European club football if they stay focused in the remaining games of the season.

In England, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey played pivotal roles in Fulham 3-2 home win over Liverpool who are the runaway league leaders.

Iwobi scored the game’s second goal for his eighth of the season from 31 league games while Bassey played in his 29th game of the campaign.

In another EPL tie, Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo could not help Southampton to retain their topflight status after they were officially announced relegated yesterday following their 3-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

Onuachu has four goals from 21 league games and was on the pitch for the final 17 minutes but Aribo was replaced in the 64th minute in his 30th game of the season.

Meanwhile, , Chrisantus Uche bagged two assists including a sensational first minute opener as Getafe rattled Real Valladolid 4-0 to return to winning ways in the Nigerian’s comeback game in Spain.

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Uche who served a game suspension in their 2-1 home loss to Villarreal in the last game came back with a bang supplying two quick assists in the first and 19th scored by Mauro Arambarri and Ramon Terrats. Getafe benefitted from a red card to Valladolid’s Mario Martin in the stoppage time of the first half.

Getafe are now 11^th  with 39 points from 30 games ahead of their Saturday tie with Las Palmas.

In another La Liga tie, Chidera Ejuke’s Sevilla were beaten for the second straight game by Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Seville.

Sevilla lost 2-1 to Real Betis in the Seville derby before yesterday’s defeat to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. Ejuke was introduced in the 11th minute to replace an injured player before he was later substituted in the 69th minute.

Sevilla are now 12^th  in the log with 36 points from 30 points.

In Italy, Ademola Lookman and Atalanta were on the losing side again this term to Lazio with Super Eagles attacker, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru supplying the pass that led to the goal scored by Gustav Isaksen in the 54th minute. It was Dele-Bashiru’s third assist of the season from 31 games with five goals in all competitions.

While Lookman whose Atalanta are in third spot with 58 points has scored 18 goals from 32 games with six assists in all competitions for the Zebras.

Also in Italy, it was joy in Empoli as Tyronne returned to competitive football for the first time since March last year after he came on in the 65th minute of his club’s goalless draw to Cagliari.

The right back suffered a knee injury that kept him out for long.

In France, Gabriel Osho was benched in Auxerre’s 1-0 away win at Rennes. Auxerre are now in 10th position with 38 points from 28 games.

In Turkey, Bright Osayi Samuel clocked his 18^th  league game of the season in Fenerbahce’s 4-1 thrashing of Trabzonspor which paraded Anthony Nwakaeme in the tie.

The win has cut Galatasaray’s gap at the top to just three points as Fenerbahce moved to 68 points as against 71 for the league leaders, Galatasaray.

Nwakaeme who was a second half substitute in the tie came on with 10 minutes remaining in the tie.

In another Turkish Super Lig tie, former youth international, Funsho Bamigboye was replaced in the 72^nd  minute of Hatayspor’s home loss to Eyupspor.

Super Eagles winger  Alex Iwobi has urged his teammates to strive to correct the mistakes that led to their defeat to West Ham ahead of their Saturday’s trip to Leicester City.

Iwobi grabbed a brace but it was not enough to hand them the maximum points as they stumbled to a 3-2 defeat to West Ham in the London derby.

Ahead of the fixture with the Foxes billed for the King Power Stadium, Iwobi noted that Fulham were not able to defend very well as a team and paid dearly for it with a defeat but charged them to correct that against Leicester City this Saturday.

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“Leicester City may be looking at our away game with West Ham perhaps to get at us but they will be getting it wrong,” Iwobi told the club’s website.

“We lost it due to some individual mistakes but we can’t continue to dwell on that knowing that we have another game around the corner.

“We were disappointed that we could not get a result because we worked very hard and hit the woodwork twice. We didn’t defend so well as a team.

“We must have to dust ourselves up as a team analyse where we have got it wrong and move ahead.”

Iwobi has played in all Fulham’s  league games thus far with 21 appearances, scoring seven goals and grabbing three assists.