The best and worst of African players abroad

Too Good: Ismael Bennacer

AC Milan finished their campaign on a high with a 3-0 success over Cagliari, and Bennacer was imperious for Stefano Pioli’s side for an hour.

The Algeria midfielder was on the pitch for 66 minutes, and in that time was dominant in his duels (winning all four) and completed 54 of 56 passes. What was more impressive about his passing accuracy was the precision of the long-range attempts which saw him find a teammate with six of seven long passes.

He was replaced with the Rossoneri 3-0 up and it stayed that way till the final whistle. Milan ended a topsy-turvy season in sixth.

Too Bad: Kalidou Koulibaly

Despite Napoli’s 3-1 win over Lazio, their top centre-back wasn’t at his usual best at the heart of the defence.

Koulibaly was second-best in four of six duels, lost possession several times and was clumsy in the tackle which led to his booking early on.

Even though Gennaro Gattuso’s men returned to winning ways after losing to Inter Milan during the week, it wasn’t the best way for the Senegal star to end the season.

Too Good: Alfred Duncan & Christian Kouame

Both players netted as Fiorentina defeated bottom-club SPAL 3-1 in their final game of the season.

Duncan opened the scoring in the 30th minute, for his second goal of the season, while Kouame’s strike in the final minute of normal time put the visitors 2-1 up. Erick Pulgar made it 3-1 at the death to seal the victory for the Violets.

Fiorentina’s final day success saw them end the campaign in the top half of the table.

Too Bad: Sofyan Amrabat



The central midfielder saw red in Hellas Verona’s 3-0 thrashing by Genoa, which saw the hosts make sure of their Serie A status.

Amrabat’s show of violent conduct in second-half was entirely needless as the game was all but done. He hadn’t played particularly well during the game, in fairness, losing possession with frustrating regularity and failing to win his 50-50 tussles.

Following the result, Verona lost their chance to supplant Sassuolo in eighth who were surprisingly beaten at home by Udinese.

Too Good: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

The Arsenal captain was at his clinical best in their FA Cup final win over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, claiming the club’s 14th success in the competition.

Having trailed to an early Christian Pulisic strike, Aubameyang converted the penalty he won on the half-hour before brilliantly scoring his brace with 23 minutes to play following Nicolas Pepe’s pass.

The FA Cup was the African duo’s first major trophy at Arsenal, and to lift it at the end of what has been a tumultuous season for the club deserves acclaim.

Source:goal.com