Joe Aribo scored a brilliant individual goal while Calvin Bassey was shown the red card in the highlights of Super Eagles players’ appearances across Europe today.
Super Eagles midfielder Aribo, who was on from the start, took the ball from halfway and evaded four Villarreal defenders to score for Southampton in the 64th minute of the pre-season friendly at St Mary’s.
Although the goal was the rave of social media afterwards, it was not enough for Southampton as they were beaten 2-1 by their Spanish visitors.
Villarreal scored through Yeremy Pino in the 21st before Aribo equalised for Southampton. Gerard Moreno netted the winner in the 72nd minute.
Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze replaced Pino in the 62nd minute, while Aribo had 83 minutes of action before making way for Nathan Redmond.
In the Netherlands, Bassey had an official Ajax debut to forget.
The Super Eagles defender, who joined the Eredivisie champions from Rangers in the summer, spent 16 minutes on the pitch in the Dutch Super Cup clash before getting sent off for a dangerous tackle.
Bassey came on for Owen Wijndal in the 62nd minute but he was red carded in the 78th minute as Ajax were beaten 5-3 by PSV Eindhoven.
In the opening weekend of the English second-tier, the Championship, Super Eagles left-back Jamilu Collins made his Cardiff City debut as they beat Norwich 1-0.
The Nigeria international played all 90 minutes as his side held on to beat the relegated Premier League club, despite Cardiff City having Perry Ng sent off in the 73rd minute.
Also in the Championship, Super Eagles centre-back Semi Ajayi was in full-time action as his side West Brom drew 1-1 at Middlesbrough.
Isaiah Jones gave the hosts the lead after just 10 minutes but John Swift pulled West Brom level in the 51st minute.
