Too Good, too Bad: The best & worst of Africans abroad

Ismaila Sarr was charged with helping his Watford side to a big performance against Championship leaders Norwich City this weekend, with the Canaries tipped pre-match to pick up their sixth win on the trot at Vicarage Road.

How did the Senegal star and a select few of the continent's stars fare this weekend?

Too Good: Bertrand Traore

The Aston Villa forward continued his recent fine form in Boxing Day’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace, despite playing with 10 men for the entirety of the second half.

Traore opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute at Villa Park and was unlucky not to register an assist after fashioning out a few decent shooting opportunities.

The Burkina Faso attacker was replaced at the break due to Tyrone Mings’ dismissal, but he ought to return to the XI for Monday’s trip to wobbling Chelsea.


Too Bad: Jeffrey Schlupp

While Crystal Palace were painfully bad against 10 men, Schlupp somewhat epitomised everything that was wrong with Roy Hodgson’s side at Aston Villa until his withdrawal in the 82nd minute.

The Ghana wide midfielder never had the beating of his man and was second-best in several tussles until the Palace boss introduced Andros Townsend with eight minutes to play.

Hodgson’s team are 14th after the 15th round of games in the Premier League.

Too Good: Andre Zambo Anguissa

Fulham may have only played out a 0-0 draw with Southampton on Boxing Day, but Anguissa produced arguably the most impressive showing of any player at Craven Cottage this season.

The all-action midfield man completed six of seven attempted dribbles, created a few chances for teammates and combined final third ingenuity with defensive art, often getting stuck in when necessary.

Even though they remain in the bottom three, the Cottagers are unbeaten in four games and only now seem to find that extra bit of quality in attack after largely finding the right defensive balance and midfield solidity.


Too Bad: Benjamin Tetteh

Yeni Malatyaspor were beaten 3-1 by BB Erzurumspor, and Tetteh didn’t have a particularly good outing.

The Ghanaian offered little in the final third and was guilty of losing possession with reckless abandon for the whole 90 minutes.

Following the unexpected loss vs the second-bottom visitors, Yeni Malatyaspor’s nine-game unbeaten run in the league has been halted.

Too Good: Ismaila Sarr

Sarr scored his fourth Championship goal of the season in Xisco’s first game as Watford boss as the Hornets beat league leaders Norwich City 1-0.

The Senegal wide attacker netted to end a run of eight games without a goal, and five without any goal contribution.

Watford’s success sees the fifth-placed side move within two points of second-placed Swansea City as they seek to move into those automatic promotion spots in the league.