Osimhen, Fulham trio dazzle in final club games before AFCON

File: Vitor Osimhen (left) celebrating goal with Ademola Lookman (right)

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Super Eagles stars Victor Osimhen, Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze, and Alex Iwobi all impressed in their final club appearances before departing for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Osimhen scored as Galatasaray thrashed Antalyaspor 4-1 on Saturday, sending a warning to Nigeria’s AFCON opponents ahead of the tournament in Morocco.

The league leaders came out firing from the opening whistle, with Leroy Sane opening the scoring in the seventh minute before Roland Sallai doubled the advantage four minutes later.

Osimhen delivered the moment everyone had been waiting for in the 56th minute. Receiving Yunus Akgün’s exquisite pass on the left wing, the Nigerian striker drove purposefully into the box before unleashing a thunderous shot from an impossibly tight angle to make it 3-0.

Antalyaspor managed a consolation goal late on, but Mauro Icardi came off the bench to wrap up the win with a fourth.

With this result, Galatasaray increased their points to 39 and maintained their leadership position.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Fulham trio delivered impressive performances as they inflicted a seventh straight Premier League defeat on Burnley.

Harry Wilson set up two Fulham goals before scoring their third in the entertaining clash.

The visitors led when Wilson’s low corner inexplicably beat Clarets full-back Quilindschy Hartman, allowing Emile Smith Rowe to divert in from three yards.

Burnley responded well through Lesley Ugochukwu’s strike, but Fulham were gifted a second just after the half-hour mark as Calvin Bassey was allowed to head home uncontested after a fine control and cross from Wilson.

Wilson then made it 3-1 with a classy guided shot into the far corner after being picked out by Nigerian winger Chukwueze.

Oliver Sonne scored a late consolation for Burnley, but it was too little too late.

Bassey and Chukwueze both played the full 90 minutes, while Iwobi came off in the 79th minute for Sasa Lukic.

The Super Eagles stars will now report to Nigeria’s AFCON training camp in Cairo, Egypt, which opens on Monday, December 15.

A friendly against hosts Egypt follows on Tuesday, before the Super Eagles fly out to Fez, Morocco, where all their Group C matches will be staged.

Nigeria have been drawn alongside Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania, with their opening fixture scheduled for December 23 against Tanzania.

Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories

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