PARIS: Ivorian winger Wilfried Zaha scored the winner as bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace stunned champions Chelsea 2-1 in the English Premier League at the weekend.
Zaha, part of the Ivory Coast team that flopped at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, was in superb form and his curled shot on the stroke of half-time proved decisive.
Democratic Republic of Congo striker Cedric Bakambu followed up a recent Spanish La Liga hat-trick with both goals for Villarreal in a 2-1 win at Girona.
ENGLAND
WILFRIED ZAHA (Crystal Palace)
The Ivorian inspired Palace as they scored their first goals and collected their first points in the Premier League this season after seven losses. Unstoppable Zaha tore the Chelsea defence to shreds and scored the winner from the edge of the area.
MAME BIRAM DIOUF (Stoke)
The Senegal winger scored his second goal of the season, but it was an afternoon to forget for Stoke as they were thrashed 7-2 at Manchester City. With Stoke trailing 3-0 in the first half, Diouf sparked a brief revival when he took Jese’s pass and fired home from inside the penalty area.
SPAIN
CEDRIC BAKAMBU (Villarreal)
Only Lionel Messi has scored more La Liga goals this season than Bakambu as the DR Congo striker produced two classy finishes inside the first 20 minutes to hand Villarreal a 2-1 win at Girona. Bakambu showed poise and power as he placed the opener into the bottom corner before rifling in the second to take his tally for the season to seven in La Liga and eight in all competitions.
ITALY
KWADWO ASAMOAH (Juventus)
Ghana midfielder Asamoah played the full 90 minutes for champions Juventus as their two-year unbeaten home record ended with a 2-1 defeat by Lazio. Juventus took the lead on 24 minutes with Asamoah crossing to unmarked Sami Khedira, whose shot was cleared into the path of Douglas Costa, who scored.
FRANCK KESSIE (AC Milan)
Ivorian Kessie had a game to forget in a 3-2 derby defeat to city rivals Inter Milan. The normally combative 20-year-old midfielder was substituted at half-time in a derby that drew an 80,000 crowd to the San Siro.
GERMANY
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG (Borussia Dortmund)
The 2015 African Footballer of the Year bagged a brace, but could not prevent Borussia suffering a 3-2 home defeat by RB Leipzig, which cut their lead over Bayern Munich to two points. Aubameyang punished a mistake to score after four minutes and converted a second-half penalty.
FRANCE
ADAMA TRAORE (Monaco)
Malian midfielder Traore, 22, made his first appearance for Monaco since last December and marked it with a goal as the reigning champions went down to Lyon in Ligue 1. Traore, who was named the best player at the under-20 World Cup in 2015 as Mali reached the semi-finals, lasted 79 minutes before coming off as Monaco lost the game 3-2.
BAKARY KONE (Strasbourg)
Burkina Faso defender Kone captained Strasbourg in their meeting with Marseille and had an eventful evening. His touch to a Morgan Sanson cross allowed Marseille to go 2-1 up early in the second half, but he redeemed himself by heading in the equaliser shortly after and the match ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw.