Egypt captain Mohamed Salah came off the bench at the weekend, but could not prevent Liverpool dropping two points against Tottenham Hotspur in pursuit of a top-four Premier League finish.
A last-minute goal gave lowly Spurs a 1-1 draw at Anfield, leaving the Reds fifth, two points behind Aston Villa with eight matches to play.
Salah was among several regulars who started as substitutes with a Champions League clash against Galatasaray coming on Wednesday, and Liverpool trailing the Turkish club 1-0 on aggregate.
AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:
MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)
Another difficult match in a tough season for the once prolific forward saw him introduced as as a 64th-minute substitute. He had a chance to double Liverpool’s lead, when Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin struggled to deal with a high ball from Cody Gakpo, but scuffed his shot wide in a match where Richarlison’s late equaliser earned the visitors a draw.
YANKUBA MINTEH (Brighton)
The 21-year-old Gambia forward scored the only goal as the Seagulls won 1-0 at Sunderland when he struck from a tight angle at the near post in the 58th minute at the Stadium of Light.
AZZEDINE OUNAHI (Girona)
Girona’s talented Moroccan midfielder Ounahi netted his first goal of 2026 to help the Catalan side rout Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in a La Liga match in which he shone. Ounahi helped create the opener for Hugo Rincon, then grabbed the second on his first start since December 12, due to injury and travelling to the Africa Cup of Nations.
NICOLAS PEPE (Villarreal)
Villarreal forward Pepe snatched his team a point at Alaves by scoring deep in stoppage time to claim a 1-1 draw. The Ivory Coast forward received the ball on the right of the area, opened up some space and whipped a sensational strike into the top corner with his left foot.
JEREMIE BOGA (Juventus)
Ivory Coast international Boga scored his third goal in as many Serie A matches to give fifth-placed Juventus a 1-0 win at mid-table Udinese. A positional switch during the first half saw Boga occupy a more central role and it paid off on 38 minutes when he tapped a Kenan Yildiz pass into the net past Nigerian goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.
NICOLAS JACKSON (Bayern Munich)
Starting once again with Harry Kane on the bench, Jackson had a difficult time in Bayern’s 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen. Just before half-time, with Leverkusen leading, Jackson sunk his studs into Martin Terrier’s ankle in an ugly tackle near the halfway line. His yellow card was upgraded to a red after a VAR review.
AMINE GOUIRI (Marseille)
Algeria striker Gouiri came off the bench to score the 79th-minute goal that gave third-placed Marseille a 1-0 home victory over third-from-bottom Auxerre in Ligue 1. The goal followed a gamble by Marseille coach and former Senegal full-back Habib Beye, who replaced defender CJ Egan-Riley with Gouiri.
bur-dl/bc
