PARIS — Super Eagles striker Brown Ideye out performed all other Africa footballers in top European football leagues at the weekend with a brace for French club Sochaux.
Ideye, who played in his homeland and Switzerland before joining the club from the eastern France industrial city, struck the first and last goals in a 4-0 win at Bordeaux that boosted hopes of a Europa League slot next season.
Nigerian Peter Odemwingie of West Bromwich Albion and Ivorian Yaya Toure of Manchester City scored in England, but their clubs lost at Wolves and Everton respectively in the Premiership.
ENGLAND
PETER ODEMWINGIE (West Brom)
The Nigerian striker maintained his rich vein of scoring form, netting his 15th goal of the season from the penalty spot. But it was not enough to prevent the Baggies from slipping to a 3-1 defeat against Wolves in the Black Country derby.
YAYA TOURE (Man City)
The Ivorian midfielder took his tally to 10 goals for the season at Goodison Park, but it was a disappointing afternoon for Manchester City as their bid to secure fourth place suffered a setback in a 2-1 defeat by Everton.
DIDIER DROGBA (Chelsea)
The veteran striker was restored to the centre of Chelsea's attack as the Blues attempted to score a decisive victory over Manchester United in the title race. But Drogba endured a frustrating afternoon, picking up a second-half booking and finishing goalless as United ran out 2-1 winners.
FRANCE
BROWN IDEYE, RYAD BOUDEBOUZ (Sochaux)
Striker Ideye scored a double in Sochaux's 4-0 success at Bordeaux which could seal his side's Europa League berth. The Nigerian broke the deadlock in the ninth minute and then out-paced Bordeaux right-back Mathieu Chalme before teeing up Franco-Algerian midfielder Ryad Boudebouz for their third in the 22nd minute. Ideye claimed the fourth goal on the half-hour mark following a header from Marvin Martin's cross.
SOULEYMANE DIAWARA (Marseille)
A foul by Senegalese defender Diawara on Argentine striker Lisandro allowed Lyon to open the scoring after 25 minutes at their Gerland Stadium. Lisandro stepped up and netted the penalty and the hosts won 3-2.
YOUSSOUF HADJI (Nancy)
Moroccan striker Hadji wasted third-bottom Nancy's best chance of sharing the points with an effort that went wide in injury time, allowing visiting Lille to scrape a 1-0 victory and move four points ahead.
FOUED KADIR (Valenciennes)
Algerian midfielder Kadir opened the scoring for Valenciennes in their 2-0 success over Rennes which gave his side their first home win in three months and lifted them to 12th, four points above the drop zone.
GERMANY
ISAAC VORSAH (Hoffenheim)
The Ghana defender played the full 90 minutes of his side's 2-1 win at Nuremburg as they came from behind to beat the hosts for a victory which leaves them eighth in the Bundesliga.
PAPISS CISSE (Freiburg)
The Senegal striker had a terrible Saturday as his side suffered a shock 2-0 defeat by relegation-threatened Borussia Moenchengladbach which leaves them eighth in the table and outside the European berths for next season. To make matters worse, Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez netted a hat-trick which virtually guarantees he will finish as the season's top scorer. Gomez has 27 league goals, five more than Cisse.
ADIL CHIHI (Cologne)
The Morocco striker netted his first goal of the season for Cologne to help them to a 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. The 23-year-old has played 10 league matches this season and the victory guarantees Cologne's Bundesliga survival.
SPAIN
DEREK BOATENG (Getafe)
Getafe picked up three vital points with a 2-0 win over Almeria and Ghanaian midfielder Derek Boateng played an important role in breaking Almeria?s play and launching attacks. The win saw Almeria relegated while Getafe moved clear of the bottom three.
PIERRE WEBO (Mallorca)
Mallorca drew 0-0 with high-flying Villarreal in a slow-moving game of few chances for either side. Cameroonian striker Webo had little service in attack and only one real chance with a header from close range at the start of the second half which goalkeeper Diego Lopez parried.
