Alex Iwobi (L) celebrates after his goal clinched a 3-1 Premier League victory for Fulham at Sunderland. (ANDY BUCHANAN)<\/p>\n
Ivorian Evann Guessand scored his first goal for Crystal Palace in a 1-0 Premier League win over bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old striker, who moved to the London club from Aston Villa in a mid-season loan deal, struck in the 90th minute at Selhurst Park.<\/p>\n
Last month, Guessand helped defending champions Ivory Coast reach the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals, where they lost to Egypt. \u00a0<\/p>\n
AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:<\/p>\n
ENGLAND<\/p>\n
EVANN GUESSAND (Crystal Palace), TOLU AROKODARE (Wolves)<\/p>\n
Guessand scored to secure just a second win in 16 games for the Eagles after Arokodare had missed a first-half penalty for Wolves. Nigerian striker Arokodare’s spot-kick was saved by Dean Henderson. Guessand produced a fine finish at the near post to ease any lingering fears of his side being dragged into a relegation battle.<\/p>\n
ALEX IWOBI (Fulham)<\/p>\n
Iwobi created Fulham’s opening goal for Raul Jimenez and then rounded off the scoring himself in a 3-1 win at Sunderland. The Nigeria international coolly chipped beyond Robin Roefs to register his first goal of 2026.<\/p>\n
SPAIN<\/p>\n
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN (Atletico Madrid)<\/p>\n
Nigeria international Lookman continued his superb start to life in the Spanish capital by scoring his first La Liga goal in a 4-2 win over Espanyol. The forward has netted four times in his first six games for the club across all competitions.<\/p>\n
ERIC BAILLY (Real Oviedo)<\/p>\n
Ivorian centre-back Bailly scored his first goal for Oviedo since arriving at the Asturian club last year in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Real Sociedad. Bailly rescued a point by rising highest to nod home a 93rd-minute equaliser from a corner.<\/p>\n
PAPE GUEYE (VILLARREAL)<\/p>\n
The Senegal midfielder converted a penalty deep in first-half added time to give third-placed Villarreal a 2-1 home win over lowly Valencia. Gueye scored in extra-time to give Senegal victory over hosts Morocco last month in the Africa Cup of Nations final.\u00a0<\/p>\n
GERMANY<\/p>\n
YAN DIOMANDE (RB Leipzig)<\/p>\n
Yan Diomande was only credited with one assist, but he was responsible for creating both of Christoph Baumgartner’s goals in RB Leipzig\u2019s 2-2 Bundesliga home draw with Borussia Dortmund. After 20 minutes, Diomande laid off a low pass for Baumgartner to tap home. Shortly before the break, the 19-year-old winger again bamboozled the visiting defence. He found David Raum, who squared the ball for Baumgartner to score again. In his first season in top-flight football, Diomande has eight goals and six assists in 22 league games.<\/p>\n
FRANCE<\/p>\n
MARSHALL MUNETSI (Paris FC)<\/p>\n
The Zimbabwean, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, scored his first goal for Ligue 1 strugglers Paris FC in a 1-1 draw at mid-table Toulouse. Set up by Alimani Gory, Marshall Munetsi found the bottom left corner of the net with a shot from the centre of the box.<\/p>\n
bur-dl\/bsp\u00a0<\/p>\n