FOREIGN LEGION (EUROPA LEAGUE)

The Europa league returned on Thursday with matchday two fixtures, and a number of Nigerians featured for their clubs.
We take a look at how they performed.
Anthony Nwakaeme & John Ogu – Hapoel Be’ersheva, Israel

[wpvideo tMwJeUNo]Anthony Nwakaeme scored Hapoel Be’ersheva’s only goal against Victoria Plzen
Nigerian Hapoel Be’ersheva duo, John Ogu and Anthony Nwakaeme were in Barak Bakhar’s side that went down 3-1 against Viktoria Plzen at Doosan Arena on Thursday.
Ogu starred for the whole duration of the game and was rated the best Be’ersheva player of the match by Who scored.
Ogu’s compatriot, Nwakaeme, 28, came on as a 63rd minute substitute for former Chelsea player, Ben Sahar, to score Be’ersheva’s only goal of the game – controlling For Elo’s pass, before placing a low shot beyond Ales Hruska in the Plzen goal.
Alhaji Gero – Ostersunds, Sweden

Gero’s Ostersunds defeated visiting Hertha Berlin through Brwa Nouri’s solitary goal in a group J fixture at the Jamkraft Arena on Thursday.
The former Enugu Rangers forward, who made his second consecutive Europa league group stage start for the Swedish side, saw action from start to finish. He had a chance to increase his side’s lead on 81 minutes but headed off target.
The former Nigeria under-20 international has featured 27 times in all competitions for Ostersunds, scoring three goals, including the opening day goal against Zorya.
Peter Olayinka – Zulte Waregem, Belgium
Olayinka came on at the start of the second half for Waregem, replacing Nill de Pauw.
Goals either side of half-time handed Serie A side, Lazio, a 2-0 victory over the Jupiler club in a group K game held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
The Nigerian was denied by the Lazio goalkeeper, Thomas Strakosha, in the 80th minute.
The 21-year old on-loan Gent forward has scored three goals in 10 games in all competitions since joining in the summer.
Samuel Adegbenro – Rosenborg, Norway
Adegbenro’s Rosenborg bounced back from a 4-0 drubbing at Real Sociedad on opening day to beat Macedonian Europa League debutants, FK Vardar 3-1 at the Lerkendal Stadium.
Adegbenro, 21, who suffered a knock in the opening game, was on the pitch for the entirety of the game for Kare Ingebritsen’s side.
The winger has netted four goals in nine appearances in all competitions, since his summer move from another Eliteserien club, Viking.
Friday Eze – Konyaspor, Turkey
Eze made his European debut for Konyaspor in a 2-1 home win against Victoria Guimaraes in a group I fixture.
The 24-year-old started the game for the Super Lig club as a centre forward but could not find the back of the net and was replaced by Gabonese striker, Malick Evouna with ten minutes left on the clock.
Eze – who moved to the Turkish club from United Arab Emirates Gulf League club, Al Fujairah SC, in the summer – netted his first competitive goal for Konyaspor in a Super Lig matchday six 2-0 home win over Akhisar Belediyespor on Saturday.
His compartriot, Imoh Ezekiel sat out the match.
Alex Iwobi – Arsenal, England
Nigerian international, Alex Iwobi was not in Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side that bashed BATE 4-2 in front of their fans in a group H fixture played at Borisov Arena.
Iwobi last featured for Arsenal in the 1-0 win over Doncaster in the English Football League cup match on Wednesday, September 20 – replacing Theo Walcott in the 76th minute.
The 21-year old attacking midfielder, who is a major doubt for next month’s Nigeria’s crucial World Cup Qualifier against Zambia, started in the 3-1 home win over Koln on matchday 1.
Theophilus Solomon – FK Partizan, Serbia
Dynamo Kiev snatched a win from Theophilus Solomon’s, FK Partizan at Stadion Partizan. The Serbian club went into the interval with a 2-0 lead, but Kiev came back to win 3-2.
Solomon, 21, who came on as a 64th minute substitute in the opening day draw at Young Boys, was not listed by Coach Miroslav Djukic for the group B matchday two fixture.
Segun Adeniyi – Skenderbeu, Albania
Adeniyi, 24, made his second consecutive European appearance for Skenderbeu Korce and featured for the whole duration of the group B matchday two 1-1 draw at home against Swiss Super League club, Young Boys.
Skenderbeu top the Albanian Super League, but are placed bottom of Europa League Group B with one point alongside Theophilus Solomon’s FK Partizan, but the Serbian club have a superior goal difference.
Alhassan Ibrahim – Austria Wien, Austria
Former Akwa United and Wikki Tourist attacking midfielder, Alhassan Ibrahim, made his European bow for Austria 2 draw at AEK Athens on Thursday.
The Austrian Bundesliga club threw away a 2-1 lead at the death, as Marko Livaja salvaged a point for the Greek Super League side.
Alhassan, 20, was replaced by Dominic Prokop at the hour mark.
Ubong Ekpai – Fastav Zlin, Czech Republic
Ubong Ekpai was on the losing side as Fastav Zlin slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Lokomotiv Moscow.
The Czech club yielded to Manuel Fernandes’ hat-trick in the opening 17 minutes.
The 21-year-old former Akwa United and Kano Pillars winger, was rated the second best Zlin player of the match by Whoscored.