African stars shine as Diakite, Salah and Dessers make their mark in Europe

African internationals delivered a series of decisive performances in the Europa League and Conference League this week, combining goals, assists and important victories during the league phase.

Oumar Diakite scored the only goal as Sturm Graz beat Marseille 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Ivory Coast forward struck in the 13th minute after Luca Weinhandl picked up the ball following a poor clearance by young defender Kamissoko. Diakite finished with his right foot, beating Jeffrey de Lange.

It was Diakite’s first goal in the competition, following a hat-trick in the Austrian league. Marseille had 19 shots but managed only one on target, which came in the 70th minute. The victory moved Sturm Graz up to 19th in the standings.

Olaitan earns Besiktas a point

Besiktas’s African players scored both goals in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in Istanbul.

Wilfred Ndidi opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, collecting a long ball played in behind the defence before finishing with his left foot in the 45th minute plus two.

Crystal Palace turned the match around after the break through goals from Pino in the 51st minute and Jean-Philippe Mateta four minutes later.

Junior Olaitan, introduced in the 64th minute, restored parity in the 73rd minute with a low right-footed effort. It was the Benin forward’s first goal of the season and his first in European competition. Besiktas finished with 10 players and now have seven points.

Dessers double puts Panathinaikos top

Cyriel Dessers scored twice as Panathinaikos won 5-1 away to Kairat in Almaty in the Conference League.

The Nigeria international converted a penalty in the 24th minute to make it 2-0, then added the third shortly after half-time. His second goal came in the 47th minute, when he found the top-left corner after receiving a pass from Andrews Tetteh.

Dessers was substituted in the 56th minute. He now has three goals in this season’s competition and has equalled Mikael Ishak as the leading scorer in Panathinaikos’ history. The Greek club have six points and sit top of the table.

Mohamed Salah also scored and provided an assist as Trabzonspor defeated Hearts 2-0 in the Conference League. He converted a penalty won by Franculino in the 32nd minute before setting up his team-mate for the second goal with a one-two in the 58th.

Salah was replaced by Ozan Tufan in the 71st minute, on the occasion of his 150th appearance in UEFA competitions. Trabzonspor, managed by Thomas Reis, have won five consecutive matches in all competitions and remain perfect after two league-phase games, with six points.

At the Johan Cruijff Arena, Tolu Arokodare helped Ajax beat Atalanta 2-0. The Nigeria forward came on for Marcos Leonardo and broke the deadlock in the 87th minute, controlling a long ball from Youri Baas before beating Marco Carnesecchi.

Arokodare then supplied the assist for young Abdellah Ouazane to score Ajax’s second in stoppage time. On loan from Wolverhampton, he has eight goals in nine appearances for Ajax in all competitions. It was Ajax’s first win in the league phase and earned them three points.