Riyad Mahrez leads African stars in Europe this weekend
Pep Guardiola admits that Algerian playmaker Mahrez gets “grumpy” when he does not play and has seen his game-time limited of late. So he perhaps had a point to prove when he lined up for Manchester City at Wembley for their FA Cup semifinal against Sheffield United on Saturday. His first was from the penalty-spot, but his second was a superb run and finish in which he beat three defenders to score. His third was a lovely left-foot finish from Jack Grealish’s pass as he completed the first hattrick in an FA Cup semifinal since Alex Dawson for Manchester United against second-tier Fulham in 1958. Has he now done enough to start against Arsenal in the crunch Premier League game on Wednesday?
MOHAMED SALAH (EGYPT & LIVERPOOL)
Salah scored the winning goal in a tense 3-2 battle with Nottingham Forest as Liverpool’s late push for Champions League football next season continued. The strike took Salah to 183 goals in 298 games for Liverpool and joint sixth in their all-time scorers list alongside Robbie Fowler, with surely many more to come. It was also his fifth goal in as many games as he finishes the season on a hot-streak, taking his Premier League tally to 16 after a slow start to the campaign. Masterful Mo is back to his best.
KELECHI IHEANACHO (NIGERIA & LEICESTER CITY)
New Leicester City manager Dean Smith went for broke as he started Jamie Cardy, Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho in the crucial 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers that moved The Foxes out of the relegation zone. It was a bold, attacking move that paid off as the Nigeria international scored their equaliser from the penalty-spot in the first half, before they went on to win the game. It follows his goal in the previous game against Manchester City and takes his tally for the season to five, though he has only started eight matches in this tumultuous campaign for Leicester.
READ ALSO: Bayern suffer shock loss at Mainz to leave title race open
YOUSSEF EN-NESYRI (MOROCCO & SEVILLA)
En-Nesyri scored twice for Sevilla in their 3-0 Europa League victory over Manchester United on Thursday and followed that up with the latest of winners for Sevilla in their LaLiga clash with Villarreal on Sunday to underline his importance to the side. The big Moroccan forward headed home a corner in the 94th minute to seal a 2-1 success for the Seville club, who climb up to 12th and surely now banish any notion of being in a relegation scrap at the end of the campaign. It takes his tally of goals to 17 in all competitions this season, one of the best of his career.
BOULAYE DIA (SENEGAL & SALERNITANA)
Dia was hugely influential for Salernitana in their 3-0 success against Sassuolo on Saturday as he scored an 11th Serie A goal of the season to go with an assist in a big home win for his team that moves them seven points clear of the drop zone after an eight-game unbeaten run. Dia bundled the ball in from close range to give his side a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes. He then teed-up a shot for Mali international Lassana Coulibaly to score the third.
CHRISTIAN KOUAME (IVORY COAST & FIORENTINA)
Fiorentina’s season is rather petering out and they let a 2-0 lead slip in this one as they lost 3-2 at Monza to further dampen spirits. Ivorian winger Kouame had a fine game though as he scored one and set up another to hand his team the advantage they could not hold on to. His goal was an excellent diving header from all of 12 yards that arrowed into the corner of the net, before he produced a lovely turn on the edge of the box and a low pass for Riccardo Saponara to score. What a pity they could not hold on. Kouame took his tally to three goals this season.