Rangers survived another potentially grievous blow to their Scottish Premiership title hopes, thanks to Cyriel Dessers’ decider in their 2-1 win against St Mirren. It was his 20th goal of the season across all competitions and his 130th club career goal in 328 games.
Gers edged in front somewhat fortuitously after a nervy start shortly after the half-hour mark, when home centre-back James Bolton diverted the ball into his own net under pressure.
Mikael Mandron’s header off a post drew fifth-top St. Mirren level moments later, but as the title pressure appeared to again weigh heavily on Rangers shoulders, Dessers rose to head the winner with 15 minutes remaining.
It meant Rangers avoided going four league games without a win for the first time since February 2017 and keeps the Ibrox side on the hunt for a domestic treble after last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-finals win over Hearts.
Aina and Nottingham Forest are still on the brink of relegation in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat against Manchester City left them just a place and a point above the dreaded zone. Aina featured prominently in Sunday’s defeat but couldn’t do much to salvage the situation, just as his compatriot, Taiwo Awoniyi, who spearheaded their safety last season, is still absent due to injury with three matches to end the campaign.
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Lookman scored a beauty from just outside the box in Atalanta’s 2-0 win over Empoli in the Italian Serie A. The Nigerian forward has been inspiring for Atalanta recently, and he made sure he continued in that form as he lashed the ball with incredible pace and power into the bottom left corner for their second goal in the game. Lookman has now scored nine goals and provided six assists in the Italian top flight this season.
Osimhen scored his 14th Serie A goal of the season, a penalty, on Sunday, but Napoli’s struggle to qualify for the Europa League suffered a setback as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Roma.
January signing Okereke was left on the bench on Sunday as 10-man Torino lost 2-0 against champions Inter Milan. After eight games, the former Cremonese striker is still searching for his first goal for the Turin side.
Maduka Okoye continued to keep his place between the sticks for Udinese in the Serie A, but the clean sheets are not coming as much as the Nigerian goalie would have wanted, as he conceded another goal in their 1-1 draw at Bologna.
The former Nigeria number one was breached by Alexis Saelemaekers’ strike in the 78th minute of the game for a Bologna equaliser after the visitors had taken the lead in the first half. His compatriot, Isaac Success, was an unused substitute.
For a second consecutive game, Rasheedat Ajibade was among the goal scorers for Atletico Madrid Women as they claimed a 2-0 victory away to Real Sociedad. The Super Falcons captain added the second goal for Atletico in stoppage time after Brazil’s Ludmila had given them a first-half lead.
The win saw them maintain their UEFA Women’s Champions League spot, a point ahead of Levante.
Ajibade has now scored seven goals plus five assists in the league this season.
For the first time since January 11, Onuachu was back among the goals for Trabzonspor in style by scoring a hat-trick in their 4-2 comeback win over Gaziantep.
Trabzonspor fell by two goals in the early stages of the game, but the lanky striker began the comeback to make it 2-1 in the 50th minute, his first time finding the net in the past four months.
He then turned provider for Enis Bardhi in the 65th minute before the North Macedonia player returned the favour a minute later for Onuachu to make it 3-2.
The 29-year-old completed the thrilling comeback with his hat-trick after finding himself unmarked in the penalty box and getting on the end of a brilliant cross to smash the ball into the top left corner.
He has now scored 12 goals and rendered four assists in what has been a reigniting season for his career, which dwindled during his short spell in the Premier League with Southampton last season.
Midfielder Ibrahim Olawoyin inspired Rizespor to a 2-0 win over Ankaragucu with a goal and an assist as they continue to move within two places of a Europa League spot in the Turkish Super Lig.
The former Super Eagles B player assisted Adolfo Gaich for Rizespor’s first in the 25th minute, while he added the second seven minutes later. He now has seven goals and three assists in the league this season.
His compatriot, David Akintola, who joined them in January, played 75 minutes in the game.
Moffi came on as a second-half substitute, featuring for 21 minutes in Nice’s 3-1 away win at Strasbourg.
A first-half penalty by Evann Guessand and another goal in the second half by Dante meant the job was almost done when Moffi entered the game, as Morgan Sanson added the third to boost Nice’s UEFA Champions League spot chase.
With only three wins in their last 10 matches, Nice are currently fifth in the table with 51 points after 31 matches, two points behind fourth-placed Brest.
After missing last week’s game due to suspension, Onyedika returned to the starting lineup for Club Brugge as they moved to the top of the championship playoffs after an emphatic 3-0 win over Genk.
The midfielder, who has been prolific in recent times, played 85 minutes in the game.
Arokodare played 65 minutes for Genk in their 3-0 defeat to Club Brugge, as the Nigerian could not replicate his recent fine form to salvage something for his team, who have dropped to fourth on the log.
Goalkeeper Uzoho kept his place again for Omonia in the Cyprus title playoffs against APOEL. They won 1-0 as the goalkeeper added to his now-growing clean sheets to make it five in seven games across all competitions.
Oshoala scored her second goal in six appearances for Bay FC in the US National Women’s Soccer League, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat away to San Diego Wave.
Her first goal for the new club in March is remarkably the club’s first-ever in the league.
Alozie continued in her advanced role up front for the Houston Dash in the NWSL, but she has yet to spark as her team settled for a goalless draw against the Utah Royals. She was replaced at the restart of the game.
Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey held their ground for Fulham FC in a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace FC. Both players played the entire game.
Despite efforts from Osho and Onyedinma, Luton Town FC were edged 2-1 by Wolverhampton Wanderers. The result further put Luton in danger of being relegated, as they sit 18th in the league.
In the Championship, Aribo and Southampton suffered a narrow 1-0 loss at home to Stoke City, but that didn’t stop them from booking their place in the championship playoffs, as they hope to return to the Premier League.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen showed resilience as Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella helped salvage a thrilling 2-2 draw against VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, extending their unbeaten streak to 46 games in all competitions.
In the Italian Serie A, Samuel Chukwueze came off the bench for AC Milan as they battled to a goalless draw at Juventus.
Nwakali dazzled fans with a sensational goal, marking his debut strike in the Primeira Liga for GD Chaves, although they fell short in a 3-1 loss against Casa Pia AC. It took the Nigerian midfielder 30 games to score his first goal for the club.
Chidozie Awaziem received his first red card of the season, while Bruno Onyemaechi was also involved in Boavista’s narrow 1-0 defeat to Vitoria SC Guimaraes.
Bright Osayi Samuel’s stellar performance, including five tackles and 14 duels won, played a crucial role in Fenerbahce SK’s hard-fought 2-1 win against rivals Besiktas JK, keeping their Super Lig title aspirations alive.
Jordan Torunarigha impressed in defence as Gent triumphed 3-2 over Westerlo to boost their chances of securing a Europa League ticket.