Sad European night for Nigerian stars, Boniface, Orban, Moffi
It was a sad European night for Nigerian stars Victor Boniface, Gift Orban and Terem Moffi as their clubs were knocked out of the continent.
For Victor Boniface, his 81-minutes involvement could not save Royal Union Saint Gilloise from a 1-4 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in front of their fans.
Goals from Moussa Diaby, Mittchel Baker, Jeremi Frimpong, and Adam Hlozek ensured Casper Terho`s 65th minute strike for the Belgians was just a consolation as they bowed out 2-5 on aggregate.
Boniface also failed to add to his six-goal tally in the UEFA Europa League where he sits top of the goal-scorers chart.
In the UEFA Conference League, Gift Orban was in action for 60-minutes as West Ham came from behind to defeat Gent 4-1 in London.
A 1-1 first leg score meant Gent had the aggregate lead midway through the first half following a fine strike from Hugo Cuypers.
West Ham responded like hammers with 4-goals. Micheal Antonio bagged a brace plus strikes from Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice to seal a convincing win for the English side.
In France, the result was not nice for Terem Moffi and his OGC Nice teammates.
The Nigerian striker was named in the starting XI at the Allianz Riviera on Thursday night . The first leg at the St. Jakob Park in Basel last week had ended in a 2-2 draw.
Nice took the lead in the 9th minute through Laborde but succumbed to a late fightback from Basel to take the contest into extra-time.
Moffi had already left the field as a 73rd minute substitute for Nicolas Pepe before Basel substitute Augustin bagged the equalizer in minute 86.
Eight minutes into extra-time, Adams K. broke French hearts with what turned out as the winning goal to send Basel into the last-4 with a 3-4 aggregate win.
A night to forget for the Nigerian lads.
