It was a tale of benching warming all the way in the English Premier League for several Nigerian players on the weekend, as Isaac Success, Leon Aderemi Balogun and Kelechi Iheanacho failed to see action, while Bukayo Saka and Victor Moses were not even dressed.
Footballlive.ng can report that, in what appeared as the worst weekend of inaction for Nigerian players in the EPL, a goal by Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi was the only saving grace for Super Eagles’ stars in England.
Even at that, Ndidi’s goal came in a 2-1 home loss for Leicester City against Southampton, during which he played the full game, but his teammate, Iheanacho was not called off the bench as a substitute.
In the late kickoff at Stamford Bridge, Victor Moses was not in Cheslea’s against Newcastle United, while the day’s first game saw Alex Iwobi get few shining lights for Arsenal.
However, it was also a sad end to the evening for Iwobi, who played the full game, while Saka was not dressed, as Arsenal lost the London derby 1-0 away to West Ham United.
At American Express Community Stadium, Mohamed Salah converted a penalty four minutes after the restart as league leaders, Liverpool won 1-0 away to Brighton & Hove Albion, who left Balogun out on the bench for the third straight game.
Same was the case for Success at Watford, but his teammates romped back from a goal down to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 away at Selhurst Park.
Success did not taste action for the first time in the Premier League this term, as Craig Cathcart made amends for an own goal before Tom Cleverley grabbed the winner with 16 minutes left.
