Sports News of Monday, 26 April 2021

Source: goal.com

The best and worst of African players abroad

Mahrez won the EFL cup with Manchester City Mahrez won the EFL cup with Manchester City

Riyad Mahrez battled Serge Aurier in the League Cup final with the former hoping to play a huge role in landing Manchester City’s fourth title on the trot, while Tottenham Hotspur were aiming to end a 13-year wait for a trophy.

Too Good: Achraf Hakimi

Hakimi played a huge role in Inter Milan’s 1-0 victory over Hellas Verona which takes them even closer to the Serie A title.

The Morocco wing-back assisted Matteo Darmian’s 76th-minute effort which was enough to secure the points at the San Siro.

AC Milan are away at Lazio on Monday and failure to win in Rome would leave Inter within two wins of claiming their first Scudetto since 2010.

Too Bad: Serge Aurier

Aurier couldn’t help Tottenham Hotspur end their 13-year wait for a trophy on Sunday with Manchester City securing a deserved 1-0 win at Wembley.

The right-back was somewhat culpable in the concession of the goal when he conceded a needless foul and his team finally capitulated from the resulting free-kick.

Spurs are ending the year without a title and Sunday’s defeat means they’ve lost three finals in a row since claiming 2008’s League Cup final.

Too Good: Riyad Mahrez

Despite not scoring or assisting, Mahrez was a menace throughout Sunday’s decider against Tottenham and was mighty close to scoring twice in the opening half.

The Algeria wide attacker created three chances, completed every dribble and won the majority of his one-vs-one tussles at the Home of Football.

Having picked up the first domestic title this term, Mahrez will now turn attentions to the Champions League and wrapping the Premier League title.

Too Bad: Musa Barrow

Barrow had a torrid evening in Bologna’s 5-0 hammering by Atalanta on Sunday, resulting in the visitors’ 15th Serie A defeat of the campaign.

The forward’s performance wasn’t helped by Jerdy Schouten’s early bath in the 49th minute of proceedings at the Gewiss Stadium which meant the team from Emilia-Romagna were under-manned for nearly the entirety of the second half.

Barrow attempted more tackles (two) than he managed efforts on goal (one) and was second-best in the majority of tussles before his 74th-minute withdrawal.

Bologna have lost three of their last five league outings.

Too Good: Mohamed Salah

While Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United on Saturday was damaging to the Reds’ hopes of securing a top four finish, Salah made a bit of history with his strike.

The Egyptian became the first player to score at least 20 goals in three different campaigns in Premier League history, a statistic which is more striking given the struggles of Jurgen Klopp’s other frontmen this term.

Salah moved within one goal of PL top scorer Harry Kane going into the final five games of the season.