The best and worst of African players abroad

Too Good: Mame Thiam

The wideman continued his imperious form for Kasimpasa since football resumed, netting a brace in a 2-2 draw with Gaziantep.

Thiam netted in the 13th and 37th minutes to complete a turnaround for the visitors, who fell behind to an early Muhammet Demir strike in the sixth minute.

The Senegal attacker’s strikes now takes his Super Lig tally for the season to 11, with three assists to boot.

Seven of the West African’s return have come since the restart, and Kasimpasa will wish the forward’s rich vein of form had begun earlier in the campaign.

Too Bad: Zargo Toure

Genclerbirligi were beaten 2-0 by Sivasspor in the penultimate gameweek of the season, which means the Ankara-based side have now won just one of their last five.

Toure featured at centre-back for the entirety of the match but was part of the backline that was exposed time and again to concede a torrent of chances for the third-placed side.

Fortunately for Genclerbirligi, teams below them failed to win, and next season’s top flight participation is now assured.

Too Good: Ismael Bennacer

AC Milan thrashed Bologna 5-1 at the weekend to extend their unbeaten run to nine games.

Bennacer returned to the starting line-up for the encounter at San Siro and scored his first Serie A goal of the season, and indeed his first for Milan, in the 49th minute to put the Rossoneri 3-1 up.

Too Bad: Ismaila Sarr

The Senegal wideman wasn’t at the races as Watford fell 3-1 in their relegation six-pointer vs West Ham United on Friday night.

Sarr failed to complete most of his dribbles and was guilty of losing possession on several occasions throughout the game.

With the Hornets to play Manchester City and Arsenal in the final two games this season, they aren’t out of the woods as regards their Premier League status, and their troubles were compounded by Sunday’s bizarre decision to sack coach Nigel Pearson. In addition, the Algerian created three scoring chances and was dominant in his individual battles, winning eight of 10 duels before his withdrawal with 11 minutes to play.

Stefano Pioli’s team piled the pressure on Roma in fifth with their result, and it told as the Giallorossi were held by Inter Milan on Sunday.

Milan, on 56 points, are now two points behind Paulo Fonseca’s team with four games to play.

Too Good: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

There were eyebrows raised when the Arsenal captain wasn’t selected from the off against Liverpool in midweek, a game the Gunners won 2-1, yet he justified Mikel Arteta’s decision by putting Manchester City to the sword at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Aubameyang may have missed a presentable opportunity early in the first-half but he came up trumps with two big goals as the North London side stunned the Citizens 2-0.

Arsenal face Manchester United in the final and the Gabon star will be Arteta’s go-to man on their return to the Home of Football as they chase a 14th FA Cup title.

Too Bad: Said Benrahma

After West Bromwich Albion’s shock 2-1 defeat by Huddersfield Town on Friday, Brentford were given the perfect opportunity to move second in the Championship.

However, the Bees were unbelievably beaten 1-0 by Stoke City, ending an eight-game winning run either side of the lockdown.

Having fired blanks in their 1-0 win over Preston North End during the week, Benrahma couldn’t inspire the team to a win that would have taken them above The Albion.

Brentford can still end in the automatic promotion spots on the final day, but they’ll rue Saturday’s defeat at Stoke if they fall short after initially piling the pressure on West Bromwich.

Source: goal.com