African players make headlines in Europe

Nigeria's Taiwo Awoniyi has started paying back the £17.5m ($21m, €20.7m) he cost Nottingham Forest with the goal that beat West Ham 1 -0 in the Premier League this weekend.

Joe Aribo was another Nigeria international to score in the world's most-watched domestic league, his goal sparking a comeback that earned Southampton a 2- 2 v Leeds.

Here, AFP Sport highlights some African headliners of the weekend:

ENGLAND

TAIWO AWONIYI (Nottingham Forest)

Forest made a remarkable 15 new signings as he returned to the top flight for the first time in 23 years in a bid to secure his survival. The biggest spend on this shopping spree was a reported club record spent on Union Berlin's Awoniyi. Awoniyi became an instant hero on his home debut with the only goal as Forest beat West Ham, although the 24-year-old knew little about the finish. A block from West Ham defender Ben Johnson knocked Awoniyi's knee off and into the empty net.

KALIDOU KOULIBALY (Chelsea)

The Senegalese captain kicked off his Chelsea career with a bang, scoring on his home debut in a 2-2 draw against Tottenham. Koulibaly showed the technique of a striker rather than a centre-back to steal into Marc Cucurella's corner for the opening goal.

JOE ARIBO (Southampton)

Aribo came off the bench to score his first Premier League goal and possibly save Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl's job in a draw with Leeds. Saints were leading 2-0 when he was presented just after the hour mark and it took just 10 minutes for the former Rangers man to give Southampton hope by showing some neat footwork to bypass Illan Meslier and fire into the far corner.

GERMANY

SADIO MANÉ (Bayern Munich)

Former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane impressed again for Bayern, despite not being on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg. Mane had one goal in each half ruled out for offside as he seeks to strike up a partnership with Germany winger Serge Gnabry similar to the one he shared with Mohamed Salah at Anfield.

ITALY

THE LOOKMAN OF ADEMOLA (Atalante)

Atalanta escaped Sampdoria with a 2-0 win thanks in part to Lookman's beautifully scored opener. The Nigerian international completed a quick counterattack in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a cool finish after feigning the home defense.

ASSAN CEESAY (Lecce)

Gambian Ceesay had Lecce fans dreaming of a strong start to the Serie A season when he skillfully finished Federico Di Francesco's through ball to lure the promoted side to level Inter Milan. It was not to be the case when Denzel Dumfries snatched a final winner for Inter.

AFP