Mohamed Salah pick of Africans in Europe again

Liverpool's Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring the team's first goal during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Leicester at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 30, 2017. PHOTO | PAUL ELLIS | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Ghanaian Jordan Ayew, a son of former African Player of the Year Abedi 'Pele' Ayew, levelled for relegation-threatened Swansea, who went on to win at Watford.

PARIS

Mohamed Salah was once again the outstanding African performer in Europe at the weekend, bagging a brace in Liverpool's English Premier League win over Leicester City. 

A flop at Chelsea, the 25-year-old Egyptian rebuilt his career in Italy and has scored 18 league goals in his first season at Anfield, placing him second in the scorers charts.

Ghanaian Jordan Ayew, a son of former African Player of the Year Abedi 'Pele' Ayew, levelled for relegation-threatened Swansea, who went on to win at Watford.

ENGLAND

JORDAN AYEW (Swansea)

The 26-year-old sparked a late fightback away to Watford, equalising for struggling Swansea in the 86th minute. Dutchman Luciano Narsingh netted the winner as new coach Carlos Carvalhal enjoyed a dream debut.

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

He will likely be hailed as the signing of the season as Liverpool push for a Champions League spot. His double against Leicester at Anfield brought Liverpool back from a goal down to win 2-1 and collect the three points.

SOFIANE BOUFAL (Southampton)

The goal-shy 24-year-old Moroccan showed his class against Manchester United at Old Trafford, going toe to toe with the likes of Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the heart of an impressive showing by a side that made a nonsense of their lowly Premier League position with a 0-0 draw.

WILFRIED ZAHA (Crystal Palace)

Ivory Coast winger Zaha won the penalty that could have given Palace a shock win against Premier League leaders Manchester City, but Luka Milivojevic missed the spot kick and the match ended goalless.

ITALY

AMADOU DIAWARA (Napoli)

Guinean Diawara narrowly missed scoring his first Serie A goal for Napoli in a 1-0 win at Crotone. The 20-year-old's dipping effort at goal was palmed away by Alex Cordaz, but Napoli finished 2017 top of the table thanks to captain Marek Hamsik's early goal.