African players in Europe : Ba scores for Chelsea to cap comeback

Demba Ba was on the scoresheet for Chelsea against Southampton at the weekend, coming on for Michael Essien who struggled early on. The Senegal striker notched his side's third goal in a 3-1 come-from-behind win against the visitors at Stamford Bridge.There were goals also for Africans Moustapha Bayal Sall for St Etienne and Vincent Aboubakar for Lorient in France.

ENGLAND

MICHAEL ESSIEN (Chelsea)
The Ghana star's first Premier League start since his return from a season-long loan at Real Madrid got of to just about the worst possible start when his mishit backpass set up Southampton's Jay Rodriguez for a goal barely 15 seconds in to Sunday's match at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea recovered to win 3-1 but by then Essien had long since been substituted.

DEMBA BA (Chelsea)
Senegal striker Ba was the man Portuguese boss Mourinho brought on for Essien and the forward rounded off the Premier League title-contenders victory with a goal in stoppage time, having already caused the Southampton defence problems. Ba finished in style, volleying home a cross from Ramires.

KOLO TOURE (Liverpool)
The Ivory Coast defender had his own reasons for wanting to forget Liverpool's first defeat by Hull after being responsible for the second of the home side's goals in a 3-1 win that haltered the Reds' title push. His failure to clear a ball into the Liverpool box paved the way for David Meyler's 72nd minute goal that made it 2-1.

YAYA TOURE (Manchester City)
More than played his part in title contenders City's comprehensive 3-0 win at home to Swansea, their latest impressive display at 'Fortress Eastlands'. It was his precise pass that set up Samir Nasri to score City's match-clinching second goal in the 58th minute.

MOHAMED DIAME (West Ham)
Sent West Ham on their way to a 3-0 win over Fulham by breaking the deadlock at Upton Park on Saturday with a 47th minute shot from outside the box that was cruelly deflected past Fulham's Dutch goalkeeper Martin Stekelenburg. It was the first goal of the season for the 26-year-old Senegal midfielder who arrived at Upton Park in 2012 after three seasons with Wigan and a prior spell in Spain with Rayo Vallecano.

FRANCE

MOUSTAPHA BAYAL SALL (St Etienne)
Senegalese international defender Mustapha Bayal Sall turned goal scorer on Saturday when he netted the first of four goals in 26 second half minutes in St Etienne's 4-0 rout of Reims at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium. Bayal Sall, 28, broke a 0-0 deadlock after 62 minutes to opening the floodgates to a goal spree that would set the home side on their way as they sit fifth.

SABER KHELIFA (Marseille)
Tunisian international striker Saber Khelifa helped give Marseille a third straight win to keep them fourth in Ligue 1. Khelifa scored three minutes into injury time in a 2-0 win at Montpellier to seal victory after Florian Thauvin's first half goal. It was a welcome boost for Elie Baup's team, who were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday, ahead of their trip to second-placed Lille this coming Tuesday.

VINCENT ABOUBAKAR (Lorient)
Cameroonian striker Vincent Aboubakar was on target for Brittany side Lorient scoring in injury time in a 3-0 win at home against Nice. After having a first half header hit the woodwork, Aboubakar scored the final goal four minutes into extra time as Lorient move up from the drop zone after their second straight league win. The 21-year-old also played a role in the second goal when Nice's Jordan Amavi deflected a shot into his own goal after 71 minutes.

GERMANY

MAME DIOUF (Hanover 96)
Senegal striker scored his first Bundesliga goal since August as Hanover broke their seven-match winless streak with a 2-0 victory over ten-man Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.Diouf helped ease the pressure on Hanover coach Mirko Slomka when he headed home on 24 minutes for the opening goal, his third of an injury-ravaged season.Hungary midfielder Szabolcs Huszti then swung in a superb free-kick on 68 minutes for his sixth goal of the season as Hanover picked up their first win since September to go ninth.

ERIC CHOUPO-MOTING (Mainz 05)
The 24-year-old Cameroon forward converted a penalty, eleven minutes from time, to equalise and claim his fifth goal of the season as 10-man Mainz 05 lost 3-1 at home to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.Choupo-Moting came on after the break and stepped up to convert the first of three penalties in the last 20 minutes after a foul by Dortmund defender Lukasz Piszczek. But Poland striker Robert Lewandowski converted two penalties in the last 11 minutes to give third-placed Dortmund their first win in three league games while Mainz dropped to eighth.

PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG (Borussia Dortmund)
Gabon star netted his eighth goal of the season when he curled his superb free-kick just inside the near post on 70 minutes to give Borussia Dortmund the lead in their 3-1 win at 10-man Mainz 05 on Saturday.Although Mainz equalised through Eric Choupo-Moting's penalty, Dortmund went onto claim the three points with two Robert Lewandowski penalties in the last 11 minutes.

SPAIN

SOFIANE FEGHOULI (Valencia)
Algerian Feghouli started and set up the second goal of Jonas Goncalves' hat-trick as Valencia beat 10-man Osasuna 3-0 on Sunday.

YACINE BRAHIMI and YOUSSEF EL-ARABI (Granada)
Algerian midfielder Brahimi scored his first Granada goal from the penalty spot, however the Andalusians still lost 2-1 at home to Sevilla on Sunday.Moroccan El-Arabi also started the match, but was withdrawn 22 minutes from time after having a first-half goal ruled out for offside.

ITALY

SAPHIR TAIDER (Inter Milan)
Taider had an unremarkable first half for Inter, who scored through Fredy Guarin in the 18th minute, but the Algerian international midfielder came within a whisker of his Colombian teammate's cross just after the restart while in a scoring position. He was replaced with Mateo Kovacic just before the hour with the match ending in a 1-1 draw.

OMAR EL KADDOURI (Torino)
A week after scoring a brace in a comprehensive 4-1 win over Catania, Moroccan El Kaddouri was close to getting back on the scoresheet twice in a 1-1 draw away to Genoa. In the first minute El Kaddouri's strike came off the upright and six minutes later the midfielder played a key role in Torino's opener, deflecting Alexander Farnerud's 20-metre drive past Mattia Perin. El Kaddouri was initially credited with the goal although league bosses later credited Farnerud.

RUSSIA

GERARD GOHOU (FC Krasnodar)
The Ivory Coast forward was the only African player, who played in the Russian league matches at weekend. He came as a substitute in the match at Samara with 10 minutes to go but failed to make an impact.

African players in Europe : Ba scores for Chelsea to cap comeback