*Osimhen to resume campaign with Napoli at Inter on Wednesday
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Nigerian internationals returned from the Christmas and New Year break firing blanks in the first fixtures of 2023 yesterday.
However, despite not getting on the scorer’s sheet, Taiwo Awoniyi received rave review nominated Man of the Match as Nottingham Forest claimed a valuable point in their relegation battle with Chelsea. The draw moved Forest from the bottom to the 18th spot on the Premier League log. The Blues on the other hand lost ground in their fight to return to the Top Four.
Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling volleyed home from five yards after Wily Boly had flicked a cross onto his own bar in the 16th minute for the opener. Forest attacked with vigour in the second half and Morgan Gibbs-White crashed a stunning strike off the bar.
However, Serge Aurier showed fine composure when he controlled the ball on his chest and volleyed home the equaliser in the 63rd minute.
Chelsea, who have now only won successive league games once under Graham Potter since he was appointed on 8 September, climbed above Brighton into eighth but are seven points behind Manchester United in fourth.
Forest, who claim a point for the first time this season after going behind, move above Wolverhampton Wanderers into 18th and are only behind fourth-bottom West Ham United on goal difference.
Former Rangers star, Charlie Adams, who was one of the pundits for BBC Sports spoke glowingly on Awoniyi’s New Year day form. “Awoniyi has been good, aggressive, he has been a great focal point and he probably should have had his goal if (Brennan) Johnson had squared it to him in the second half.”
Neco Williams substituted Awoniyi with just two minutes till end of the game.
Emmanuel Dennis was an unused sub.
In another New Day fixture involving Super Eagles stars, Terem Moffi played a key role as Lorient rallied back from a goal down to beat Angers 2-1 in their first France Ligue 1 game in 2023.
Moffi was in full action in the thrilling encounter.
The Super Eagles striker has scored 10 goals in 16 league appearances for Lorient this season.
HisNigerian teammate, Innocent Bonke was also in action for Les Merlus in the game.
In another Ligue 1 fixture, Nantes defeated Auxerre 1-0 with Moses Simon in action.
Simon started the game and was replaced by Marcus Regis in the 64th minutes. Regis netted the winning goal for the Canaries 16 minutes from time.
Simon has scored five goals in 15 league appearances for Antoine Kombouare’s side this season.
Nigeria’s biggest star in Europe, Victor Osimhen’s first match in the New Year is scheduled for Wednesday, January 4 as table-toppers Napoli resume their Italian topflight Scudetto chase away at Inter Milan.
Osimhen ended 2022 as leading scorer in Serie A with nine goals. He is the most expensive Nigeria star on the Transfer Market, while fellow Super Eagles ace Ademola Lookman enjoyed the biggest increase in value.
Osimhen, 24, is now valued at 70 Million Euros. This is an increase of 7.7% from 65 Million Euros.
