Gervinho brace fires Gunners to big win
Ivory Coast star Gervinho bagged a brace as Arsenal went on a six-goal romp against newcomers Southampton in the English Premier League at the weekend.
Burkinabe Alain Traore of French Ligue 1 outfit Lorient was another African to net twice with both goals coming in the opening half of a 2-1 triumph over local rivals Rennes.
Ghana midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah came off the bench to excel as Italian Serie A title holders Juventus won 3-1 in Genoa, winning a penalty that was converted before scoring himself.
ENGLAND
GERVINHO (Arsenal)
The Ivory Coast international had a match to remember, scoring twice as the Gunners thrashed Southampton 6-1. Played as a lone striker, he made use of the space afforded him by the Saints defence in the 35th minute to make it 3-0 before scoring the team's fifth in the 72nd minute when substitute Aaron Ramsey's shot came back off the post.
JOHN OBI MIKEL (Chelsea)
The Nigeria midfielder had a solid match in a goalless west London derby with Queens Park Rangers, but his under-hit back-pass nearly gifted Bobby Zamora what would have been the only goal of the match.
BENOIT ASSOU-EKOTTO (Tottenham)
The Cameroon full-back is set for four weeks out with a knee injury after missing Spurs' 3-1 win at Reading.
YAYA TOURE (Manchester City)
The Ivory Coast ace had another sound match for champions Manchester City in a 1-1 draw at Stoke and went close to scoring when a free-kick just evaded the top corner.
FRANCE
JORDAN and ANDRE AYEW (Marseille)
Nancy's Cameroon goalkeeper Guy Ndy Assembe did his utmost to keep 2010 champions Marseille at bay, making fine stops before Vincent Muratori saved the day on the line from an effort by Ghana's Andre Ayew. But Ayew's brother Jordan made the breakthrough with a second-half header to frustrate the 26-year-old shot-stopper and give Marseille a 1-0 win.
ALAIN TRAORE (Lorient)
Lorient won 2-1 at local rivals Rennes despite two red cards and thanked Burkina Faso midfielder Traore for two fine strikes. One was a first-half long-range lob which sailed home and before the break he swept home a ferocious free-kick.
CHEICK DIARRA (Rennes)
Rennes' loss to Lorient was exacerbated by the dismissal of substitute and Mali international Diarra. The defensive midfielder saw red for an ugly high foul on the impressive Alain Traore on 78 minutes.
GERMANY
ERIC CHOUPO-MOTING (Mainz 05)
The Cameroon and Mainz striker was powerless to prevent Bayern Munich picking up their third straight league win at the Allianz Arena as the Bavarians ran out 3-1 winners. The 23-year-old played the first 79 minutes before being substituted and had few chances.
ARISTIDE BANCE and MOHAMED AMSIF (Augsburg)
Burkina Faso striker Bance had a great chance to give Augsburg three points against Wolfsburg, but his long-range shot after only five minutes flew just over the bar. At the other end, the 27-year-old headed his side out of trouble following a Wolfsburg attack while Augsburg's Morocco goalkeeper Amsif pulled off a string of fine saves to deny the 2009 Bundesliga winners in a 0-0 draw.
CEDRICK MAKIADI (Freiburg)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo midfielder scored Freiburg's fourth goal in their 5-3 rout of Hoffenheim to give his side their first win of the season. With the scores locked at 3-3 going into the last 10 minutes, Makiadi slotted his shot home from a corner for his first goal of the season.
ITALY
KEVIN PRINCE BOATENG (AC Milan)
A week after undergoing surgery on a broken hand bone, Boateng wore an arm brace, which did not seem to hinder the feisty Germany-born former Ghana midfielder against Atalanta. But despite his energetic play posing problems for the visitors, Boateng was off target several times with scoring chances as the Serie A runners-up were stunned 1-0 at the San Siro.
KWADWO ASAMOAH (Juventus)
Asamoah was one of two inspirational substitutions by stand-in Juventus coach Massimo Cerrara. At 1-1 away to impressive Genoa, Asamoah won a penalty in the 76th minute, which Mirko Vucinic converted, and scored Juve's third after sliding home Vucinic's cross-goal pass six mintes from time to send the Serie A champions back on top.
SPAIN
WAKASO MUBARAK (Espanyol)
The Ghanaian midfielder played 82 minutes of a 3-3 draw with Athletic Bilbao that gave his side their first point of the season. The 22 year-old former Villarreal player filled a starring role, setting up Javi Lopez for the first goal of the game before his defence-splitting pass with 10 minutes left allowed Samuele Longo to put the Catalan side 3-2 ahead.
SOFIANE FEGHOULI (Valencia)
Algerian international Feghouli scored Valencia's first goal in a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo. The midfielder signed from Grenoble in 2010 struck his 10th goal for the club on three minutes, finishing off a quick move with a sweet right-foot shot.
