The best and worst of African players abroad

Too Good: Willy Boly

Wolverhampton Wanderers sealed a convincing 2-0 success over Crystal Palace on Friday night, with the center-back producing a commanding display to pick up their third clean sheet in four.

Boly made more interceptions (five) than his central defensive partners and was joint-highest for clearances and tackles with Conor Coady.

The win saw Wolves move three points off Liverpool at the top of the table.

Too Bad: Wilfried Zaha

Playing against the impassable Boly, Zaha struggled to gain inroads into the Wolves backline for the entirety of Friday’s game at Molineux.

The Ivory Coast wideman lost all but two of his 11 duels on the night, couldn’t complete any of his four dribbles and was guilty of losing possession a plethora of times.

The upshot of that defeat saw the Eagles fail to extend their two-game unbeaten run to three.

Too Good: Hakim Ziyech

After thriving on his first Chelsea start vs Krasnodar in midweek, Ziyech netted his second goal on his maiden Premier League start in the Blues’ dominant 3-0 win at Burnley.

The Wizard of Amsterdam beat Nick Pope with a driven effort in the first half before setting up Timo Werner for his third league goal of the campaign.

Having been criticised for their largely underwhelming performances beforehand, Saturday’s victory was the most-accomplished showing by Frank Lampard’s men this season.


Too Bad: Lassina Traore

Following Traore’s breathtaking outing in Ajax’s 13-0 thrashing of VVV-Venlo (he netted a staggering five times), the forward struggled to put away opportunities despite the league leaders’ 5-2 win over Fortuna Sittard.

The 19-year-old Burkinabe failed to put away two presentable opportunities before his 65th-minute withdrawal.

Erik ten Hag will hope the teenager is more clinical when the Eredivisie giants return to action vs Midtjylland in the Champions League in midweek.

Too Good: Aubameyang & Partey

After over a decade without beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in the league, Arsenal defeated the Red Devils 1-0 on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s troops had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to thank for the Gunners’ first victory at the Theatre of Dreams since 2006.

After being uninvolved on his first Premier League start in defeat by Leicester City, Thomas Partey dominated vs Man Utd with his strength in the tussle and effectiveness in possession.

The midfield man completed all four long passes, came out on top in 10 of 14 total duels, successfully beat his man in the dribble on all but one occasion.

Indeed, this was more like it from the West African anchorman and Gooners should hope for more strong showings going forward.