Former West Bromwich Albion record signing Brown Ideye picked up from where he left up last season in the league by scoring a hattrick for Olympiakos to help them beat Veria 5-1, in their first league game.

He ended last season with a goal against Kalloni, which took his tally for the season to 10 and, this time around he needed just 25 minutes to open his season account before grabbing his brace in the 61st minute.

Just when it appears the game was going to end 5-1, Ideye punished Veria further with his third of the game, to claim the match ball in a routine win for the champions.

The hattrick is his first since moving to Europe in 2008, between which he has had spells in Switzerland, France, Ukraine and England before his move to Greece last summer.

Ideye was in fine form during the Super Eagles training ahead of their game against Tanzania last weekend, but he was surprisingly left on the bench until the final 15 minutes of the tie before he was introduced.

Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi who captained Nigeria Olympic team to a bronze medal at the recently concluded Rio 2016 Olympics has revealed the total amount of money, he spent on the team during camping in Atlanta.

With lack of support from the federation for their training camp in Atlanta – where they won a gold medal in 1996 – Mikel took matters into his own hands to help the team realise their Olympic dream, with help from coach Samson Siasia.

“I think if we talk about the money that I put into the team I think it was more than [£30,000],” Mikel told Goal.
“But we just had to do it.

“I said to myself, ‘I won’t let this happen. If I can help, I’ll try to help’. Sometimes there was no food, sometimes there was no pitch to train on, there was no bus to go to the training ground. So all of this was what me and the coach had to figure out, and get money together.

“I came to the camp. I sat down with the boys in Atlanta and I could see the frustration, the pain and the anger. Their aim was to play in the Olympics, their goal was to play in the Olympics.

And for me being there and seeing what they are going through, they are young boys, they want to start their career and someone in the ministry is trying to crush that dream.”

“There was just no flight provided by the Nigerian ministry,” he added. “We planned to leave three or four days before the tournament, but we ended up leaving the day of our first game. It was a difficult one. I don’t think I have ever seen something like that before, it was crazy.”

Nigeria Under-23 invitee Iyayi Believe Atiemwen scored his first goal for his new Turkish side Rizespor to help them beat Akhisar Belediye Genclik Ve Spor 1-0.

Iyayi was handed his second start in his second game for the team he joined this summer, and the former BJ Foundation attacking midfielder didn’t disappoint, as he scored what ended as the match winner in the 49th minute.

He is one goal away from his last season tally of two in five games, which he achieved for relegated second division side Kayseri Erciyespor in his first season in Turkey.

The power playing forward was invited to the Nigeria Under-23s and played in the 1-0 friendly win over Brazil in Rio, during preparations for the Olympics but wasn’t considered for the games proper.

20 year old Iyayi wasn’t the only Nigerian on show as Super Eagles centre defender Godfrey Obaboana was on for the entire duration of the game, with Iyayi going off in time added on.

Liverpool highly rated Nigerian teen Ovie Ejaria picked up an assist and a goal for the Under-23s to help them to a convincing 4-0 win over Leicester City.

Ejaria was the breakaway star of Liverpool pre season tour with impressive performances in their friendly games, before picking up an injury that kept him out of their final set of games.

The injury appears to have taken the eyes of the manager Jurgen Klopp away from him, but this afternoon while playing for the Under-23s in front of the manager, he put in a shift that should serve as a reminder to the manager of his qualities.

Former of Arsenal, the 18 year old had a hand in the first goal scored by Liverpool and also came close to scoring with several chances before finally heading in the 4th goal with 20 minutes left to play.

He headed in a cross from Harry Wilson, who was also impressive on the day to wrap up victory for his side over visiting Leicester City. Same way the main team defeated their senior counterparts although with a 3-1 score line.

Nigeria international Moses Simon scored his second goal in as many games to help his Belgian side Gent overcome Lokeren 3-0 in a league game.

Last season, Moses Simon had a tough time in front of goal, scoring just three goals in 32 appearances. A far cry from his first six months at the club, when he scored 7 goals from 17 games after his transfer in the winter transfer window of 2015.

Simon scored his second goal of the season in the 70th minute to extend Gent’s lead to 3-0, in a game that saw three Nigerians playing for the winners of the tie.

In the same game, Anderson Esiti who has one cap for Nigeria started on his debut for the team he joined on transfer deadline day and put in a strong shift in the middle for the 2015 champions of Belgium.

New signing Rabiu Ibrahim was introduced for his debut in the 78th minute and the player widely referred to as the closes thing to former Super Eagles captain Austin Okocha was his usual self with flicks and tricks that drew applause from the home fans.

Following the success of Kelechi Iheanacho at Manchester City, the Etihad based outfit could yet add another Nigerian to their squad, going by reports gathered by the editorial staff of Owngoalnigeria.com.

Scouts from English Premiership giants Manchester City were in the stands when Zorya took on Stal Kamianske in a Ukraine Premier League game, with Nigerian 18 year old forward Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure starting for Zorya.

The 18 year old is reportedly one of the players scouts of Manchester City came to watch alongside other players, as the winners of the Manchester derby step up their transfer activity in the country where one of their latest signing Oleksandr Zinchenko comes from.

Infront of the scouts of Manchester City, Bonaventure was on for 72 minute before he was substituted for Denys Bezborodko in the game that ended 2-2. A product of Football Academy Abuja, he is nicknamed Neymar due to his similar hairstyle with that of the Barcelona Brazilian super star.

So far he has made four appearances for Zorya, in what is his first full season as a professional footballer. He also has one goal to his name and one caution picked up due to excessive celebration after scoring in the league opener on his professional debut.

Chelsea winger Victor Moses has once again fired shots at former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who is now at Manchester United by labeling the current handler of the team Antonio Conte who has given him the chance to flourish at Stamford Bridge the unique one.

Moses was farmed out on loan by Mourinho in the three season, the Manchester United boss spent at Chelsea. Moses reckons Conte has a way of working with players on a one on one basis unlike his former coach.

Many will see his amazing backing for Chelsea boss Conte as a dig at Mourinho, who fell out big time with Blues stars last season before being axed.

Moses said: “He’s very different because he came to the club and showed us it’s about more than football. He cares about the players individually.

“The manager never discussed it with me, so I knew I was going to stay and play here this season.

“He just said to me, ‘You know what, you ARE a good player and I just want you to keep on enjoying your football’.

“He wants to know what we are eating and he always wants us in the gym to prevent us from getting injured.

“He’s a very unique and a different manager from the other managers because he’s passionate and loves the game as well.

“When he talks about the game with you, he knows what to expect, his awareness, knowledge of the modern game and experience make him completely different and unique — in a nice way.”

If you see what happened last season, the players obviously don’t want that to happen this season.

“With the manager as well, it’s a different attitude and mentality.

“You can call it the desire not to fail, as he is helping us to make sure we don’t replicate what happened last season.

“The atmosphere is buzzing because we cannot let our fans, the club, manager and also ourselves down.

“The manager is there to help us and we all want to work hard for him, stay in top shape and approach the games with the hunger and desire it deserves.”

Godwin Obaje is obviously the most sought after player in the Nigeria Professional Football League, as reports indicate that Premier Soccer League (PSL) side Chippa United has joined the likes of Tunisian giants Sfaxien and Esperance.

His elder brother Joshua Obaje who played in South Africa for two and a half years for Black Leopards was reportedly approached by an agent based in South Africa to sound out the possibility of having the forward move to PSL side Chippa United.

The PSL side must fend off interest from teams from Israel and Tunisian giants Esperance and Sfaxien if they are to stand any chance of signing the forward, who reportedly fancies a move to Israel.

However Chippa United can use their strong links with Nigerian players to snap up the hot in demand striker, as they presently have a Nigerian captain in James Okwuosa with Super Eagles shot stopper Daniel Akpeyi also on their books.

Obaje, 19, has 18 goals in the Nigeria League for title chasers Wikki Tourist with four goals in his last five games, taking him five goals clear of his challenger for the top scorer award.

Out of favour Super Eagles forward Fanendo Adi is making a case for his recall to the Super Eagles with his current goal scoring streak for his MLS side Portland Timbers.

The 25 year old was called up to the Super Eagles team by coach Samson Siasia after his exploit last season, when he scored 18 goals from 39 games. But he failed to make the match day squad for both legs of the AFCON 2017 qualifiers tie against Egypt, which he was invited for.

However his recent purple patch in front of goal could help me get the attention of new coach of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr, who is reportedly looking for options to bolster his forward line.

Adi struck his 14th goal of the season to help Portland Timbers beat Real Salt Lake 1-0. His third goal in four games, that moved him to three goals behind top scorer David Villa.

Alreadu he is four goals away from his last season tally with more than 11 games to go before the end of the season in the USA.

Kelechi Iheanacho who struck the winning goal for Manchester City in the Manchester Derby against Manchester United admits he headed the wrong way out of Old Trafford before kick-off.

Iheanacho struck the all important winning goal that gave City a 2-1 win over their city rivals but the Nigerian, while answering question from Sky Sports confirmed he took the wrong turn and almost walked out of the stadium upon arrival.

” Yes, It was about being in the right place at the right time. It means all because it is a dream come true to play in Manchester derby and get the winning goal” He said.

” I am very, very happy for everyone and the fans who came to support us.

” It was a great day for me and the fans and the team as well. We’re happy”. He concluded.