There were goals, milestone appearances, misses, and red cards for Nigerian stars across Europe this weekend, with Sadiq hitting the gears at Valencia. PUNCH Sports Extra recaps the performances of some Nigerian players abroad.

SPAIN

Umar Sadiq (Valencia)

Sadiq was on target for the second time in three matches for Valencia on Sunday, sealing their 2–0 win away at the Estadi Ciutat de València against Levante.

After Largie Ramazani’s opener, Sadiq doubled the advantage in the 84th minute. The striker showed great strength to win a high ball ahead of Matías Moreno before bearing down on goal to fire home his first LaLiga goal since returning to the club in January. His last league goal came on April 19, 2025, while he was on loan at the club.

The result saw Valencia move out of LaLiga’s bottom three, leaving the hosts seven points adrift of safety.

Ademola Lookman (Atletico Madrid

Despite a lively start to life in Spain, Lookman was dropped to the bench for his second LaLiga game as Atletico Madrid suffered a second consecutive league defeat.

Lookman came on as a 63rd-minute substitute with the home side already 2–0 up, but there was little the Nigerian could do to salvage the situation as they conceded a third goal late in the game.

The defeat leaves Lookman still searching for his first LaLiga goal, despite registering two goals and two assists in two Copa del Rey matches since his arrival from Atalanta.

Kareem Tunde (Levante)

Barcelona-born Tunde featured for Levante in their 2–0 home defeat to Valencia. It was his seventh appearance in the Spanish top flight.

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, to a Nigerian father and a Spanish mother, Tunde joined FC Barcelona’s La Masia in June 2017 from RCD Espanyol. He left the club in 2020 and spent two years at CF Damm before moving to the youth ranks of Levante UD.

Tunde made his senior debut with the reserves on January 7, 2024, playing the final 13 minutes of a 1–1 Tercera Federación home draw against CD Soneja. On May 28, he renewed his contract with the Granotes until 2026, with an option for a further three years.

After establishing himself as a regular starter for the B team, Tunde made his first team — and LaLiga — debut on December 20, 2025, coming on as a second-half substitute for Jeremy Toljan in a 1–1 home draw against Real Sociedad.

ENGLAND

Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham)

Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi reached the milestone of 100 matches for Fulham after featuring in their 2–1 win against Stoke City in the FA Cup on Sunday.

The 29-year-old played all 90 minutes at the Bet365 Stadium as goals from Kevin Mbabu and Harrison Reed sent Marco Silva’s team into the next round.

The former Arsenal man becomes the 183rd player to cross the 100-game threshold for the Cottagers. Only Raul Jimenez (103), Rodrigo Muniz (109), Kenny Tete (140), Bernd Leno (144), Ryan Sessegnon (164), Harry Wilson (176) and Tom Cairney (374) in Fulham’s current squad have more appearances than Iwobi.

Iwobi joined Fulham from Everton in the summer of 2023 for €25.7m and immediately became a mainstay in the first team. He has scored 16 goals and provided 10 assists in those appearances.

His compatriot Calvin Bassey was named on the bench, while Samuel Chukwueze was not listed for the game.

Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham)

Nigeria defender Osayi-Samuel played 83 minutes as Birmingham were knocked out of the FA Cup 4–2 on penalties by Leeds United on Sunday. It was his 18th appearance of the season after joining from Fenerbahce in the summer.

Goalkeeper Lucas Perri denied Tommy Doyle before Patrick Roberts — who had scored a stunning equaliser in the 89th minute — blazed over.

Sean Longstaff then converted Leeds’ fourth spot-kick to send Daniel Farke’s side into the last 16.

Defeat was tough on Chris Davies’ Birmingham side, who pushed their Premier League opponents all the way before suffering only their third home defeat of the season.

Tolu Arokodare (Wolves)

Arokodare made his second FA Cup appearance on Sunday, playing 90 minutes as Wolves put their Premier League struggles behind them to secure a 1–0 win at Grimsby.

Santiago Bueno scored and later blocked a certain goal in stoppage time to seal Wolves’ place in the fifth round. It was not pretty, but Bueno’s second-half strike proved enough for the Premier League strugglers to overcome their League Two opponents and claim their first away win of the season.

Arokodare had three shots in the game, all inside the box, but none was on target. He has scored once in the competition this season and has three goals in all competitions.

ITALY

Maduka Okoye (Udinese)

Okoye failed to keep a clean sheet for the second consecutive game as Udinese suffered back-to-back home defeats, losing 2–1 to Sassuolo.

The goalkeeper managed to save only one of the three shots he faced. With a save percentage of 67.7 per cent this season, he has kept four clean sheets in 17 Serie A matches.

Gift Orban (Hellas Verona)

Orban lasted just 11 minutes for Verona on Sunday as he was sent off in the early stages of their defeat at Parma.

He was shown a straight red card for dissent towards referee Luca Pairetto following a midfield challenge. The hosts had already taken the lead before Orban’s dismissal, but Verona equalised before half-time through a penalty.

Parma piled on pressure in search of a winner and dramatically secured victory in the third minute of five added minutes when Hans Nicolussi Caviglia’s cross found Mateo Pellegrino.

BELGIUM

Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge)

Onyedika put in another 90-minute shift for Club Brugge on Sunday as they secured a 2–1 away win over Cercle Brugge.