.Lookman scores, suffers Copa del Rey final heartbreak

.Iwobi, Onyedika forced off injured

.Otele, Olusegun endure red-card nightmare

.Orban clashes with fan in Italy

Nigerian stars lit up Europe over the weekend with goals, assists and standout displays as the 2025/26 season gathers pace. Kelechi Iheanacho led the charge, firing a brace to send Celtic F.C. into the Scottish Cup final, while other Nigeria national football team stars impressed across Europe’s top leagues.

SCOTLAND

Kelechi Iheanacho (Celtic)

Kelechi Iheanacho maintained his wonderful cup run on Sunday as he scored two goals to send Celtic into the final of the Scottish Cup, as the Glasgow club annihilated St. Mirren 6-2 in the semi-final.

Iheanacho did not even start the game but made an instant impact from the substitutes’ bench, with the Super Eagles striker netting a brace in extra time on 96 and 101 minutes to increase his tally for the season to six goals.

ITALY

Maduka Okoye (Udinese)

Nigerian international goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye‘s clean sheet run in the Italian Serie A came to an end on Saturday when Udinese suffered a 1-0 defeat to Parma.

Okoye who kept his third straight clean sheet last weekend when Udinese surprisingly traveled to San Siro to inflict a 3-0 defeat on AC Milan has so far recorded eight clean sheets in the Serie A this season.

Gift Orban (Hellas Verona)

Gift Orban was involved in a heated clash with a fan on Sunday after Hellas Verona had suffered a 1-0 defeat to AC Milan in an Italian Serie A fixture at the Bentegodi Stadium.

The Nigerian forward saw full action but failed to impact the game as Verona suffered their fifth straight league defeat.

ENGLAND

Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham)

Alex Iwobi picked up a suspected hamstring injury during Fulham’s 0-0 draw with Brentford in a Premier League London derby at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday and could miss the remainder of the season.

Iwobi’s afternoon came to an abrupt end in the 42nd minute when he went to the turf unchallenged, clearly in pain, and required immediate attention from the medical staff and the Super Eagles midfielder was eventually replaced with fellow compatriot, Samuel Chukwueze.

Calvin Bassey also saw action against Brentford, with the Nigerian defender playing for the whole duration of the encounter.

Ola Aina, Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest)

Ola Aina saw full action while Taiwo Awoniyi was an unused substitute in Sunday’s game at the City Ground which saw Nottingham Forest edge closer to retaining their Premier League status by going five points clear of the drop zone after coming from a goal down to thrash relegation candidates Burnley 4-1.

Frank Onyeka (Coventry City)

Frank Onyeka featured for 62 minutes before coming off for Victor Torp on Friday night when Coventry City snatched a 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers in a Sky Bet Championship game at Ewood Park.

Onyeka was impressive in the match, with the Nigerian midfielder, currently on loan from Brentford completing 26 of his 32 passes for an 81 per cent accuracy rate, made two successful tackles, two clearances, six recoveries, won five of seven ground contests and three of four aerial battles, while he also drew three fouls.

Josh Maja (West Bromwich Albion)

Josh Maja scored an 11th minute goal to help West Bromwich Albion boost their survival hopes with a crucial 2-0 win over Preston North End in Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship game.

Semi Ajayi (Hull City); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City)

Semi Ajayi received a yellow card in the 55th minute of Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship encounter which saw Hull City play out a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City who also had Bright Osayi-Samuel in action for 50 minutes before being substituted.

SPAIN

Ademola Lookman (Atlético Madrid)

Ademola Lookman scored in the 18th minute after being set up by Antoine Griezmann, but the Super Eagles winger eventually suffered defeat, with Atlético Madrid losing 4-3 on penalties to Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final
after regulation and extra time had ended 2–2.

By scoring at the Estadio La Cartuja, Lookman became only the second Nigerian player to score in a Copa del Rey final, following in the footsteps of former Super Eagles forward and coach, Finidi George, who scored in the 1997 final for Real Betis against Barcelona.

BELGIUM

Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge)

Raphael Onyedika was forced off injured on Sunday when Club Brugge suffered a 2-1 defeat against Union St.Gilloise in a Belgian Jupiler Pro League encounter.

Following the injury, the Super Eagles defensive midfielder was substituted for Hans Vanaken in the 68th minute.

GERMANY

Nathan Tella (Bayer Leverkusen)

Nathan Tella came off for Jonas Hofmann in the 81st minute of Saturday’s German Bundesliga match which saw Bayer Leverkusen suffer a blow in their top four hopes by losing 2-1 at home to Augsburg.

Victor Boniface (Werder Bremen); Philip Otele (Hamburger SV)

It was a weekend to forget for Philip Otele who was sent off during Hamburger SV’s 3-1 loss to Victor Boniface’s Werder Bremen in a German Bundesliga match at Weserstadion on Saturday.

The Super Eagles forward replaced Albert Grønbæk in the 66th minute and picked up a straight red card following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review only 13 minutes after entering the pitch. Boniface was missing in action due to an injury.

TURKEY

Paul Onuachu, Chibuike Nwaiwu, Anthony Nwakaeme (Trabzonspor)

Paul Onuachu saw full action on his return from injury but fired a blank as Trabzonspor suffered a blow in their Turkish Super Lig title chase following a 1-1 draw with Istanbul Basaksehir on Sunday.

Nigerian defender Chibuike Nwaiwu also saw full action for Trabzonspor while striker Anthony Nwakaeme was taken off in the 69th minute.

RUSSIA

Olakunle Olusegun (Nizhny Novgorod)

Olakunle Olusegun went from hero to zero on Saturday as he was sent off after scoring for Nizhny Novgorod in a 1-1 draw with Dinamo Moscow in a Russian Premier League clash at the Sovcombank Arena.

Olusegun, after being teed up by Renaldo Cephas scored in the 34th minute before picking up a yellow card shortly after the break but his luck finally ran out in the 74th minute, as a second booking saw him being sent off.

The one-cap Super Eagles wing-back has now scored five goals and registered one assist in 22 league matches this season.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Emmanuel Ayaosi, Lucky Ezeh (Karvina)

The Nigerian duo of Emmanuel Ayaosi and Lucky Ezeh combined for the first goal in the 39th minute to help Karvina defeat Dukla Praha 2-1 in a Czech Republic league clash on Saturday.

The record shows that Ayaosi made an assist in three consecutive league matches, taking his tally for the season to seven, while Ezeh has scored three goals.