African stars shine as five standout performances shape European weekend

The European leagues have paused for the first international break of the 2026/27 season, with several African players making a significant impact across the continent. Their goals, assists and individual displays helped define the final round of fixtures before the break.

Here are five of the weekend’s most notable performances in Europe’s five major leagues.

Ismael Saibari opens his Bundesliga account

Bayern Munich produced the biggest victory of the weekend in Germany, beating Union Berlin 7-0 in the fourth round of the Bundesliga.

Ismael Saibari scored the champions’ fifth goal, adding to an encouraging start in the Bayern Munich squad and registering his first Bundesliga goal of the season.

The result lifted Bayern to 10 points and second place in the table, underlining their strong collective form at the beginning of the campaign.

Brian Brobbey scores three despite Sunderland defeat

Brian Brobbey endured a weekend in which a remarkable personal display was overshadowed by his team’s result.

The Ghanaian-born striker scored a hat-trick against Manchester City in the fifth round, but Sunderland were eventually beaten 5-3 in an entertaining contest.

Brobbey’s three goals were not enough to prevent defeat, leaving the Black Cats 14th in the table with four points. His performance nevertheless stood out as one of the individual highlights of the round.

Ilaix Moriba scores his first goal of the season

Ilaix Moriba ended his wait for a first goal of the campaign during the sixth round of La Liga.

The Equatorial Guinea international scored Celta Vigo’s second goal in a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Racing Santander. The midfielder’s effort came during a convincing team performance and marked a significant moment in his start to the season.

Celta Vigo now have seven points and sit 14th in the standings, while Moriba will look to build on the contribution in the coming weeks.

Ernest Nuamah scores twice against Rennes

Ernest Nuamah made an immediate impact for Olympique Lyonnais in their fifth-round meeting with Stade Rennais, scoring twice in a 4-0 victory.

The forward opened the scoring before adding Lyon’s second goal, helping his side secure a convincing win and move into second place in Ligue 1 with 11 points, behind only AS Monaco.

There was also a notable contribution from Zachary Athekame. The Algerian-born full-back scored Lyon’s third goal and provided the assist for Tolisso to complete the scoring.

El Bilal Toure and Nesta Elphege help Parma to first win

Parma recorded their first victory of the Serie A season by beating Genoa 2-1 in the fifth round, with El Bilal Toure and Nesta Elphege combining to influence both goals.

The Mali international supplied the assist for David Romero to open the scoring. Franco-Cameroonian centre-forward Nesta Elphege then provided the pass for Pontus Almqvist to score Parma’s second.

The result gave Parma three points and moved them off the bottom of the table into 15th place.