The best and worst of African players abroad

Too Good: Thomas Partey

The Ghana midfielder gave a solid midfield performance as Atletico Madrid overturned an early Paco Alcacer goal to beat Villarreal 3-1 at Wanda Metropolitano.

Partey completed all six of his dribbles and backed that up by creating a couple of chances in the final third. Defensively, he made four tackles, won all aerial duels and was aware to read the danger from time to time.

Atletico could’ve fallen behind the Yellow Submarine with a defeat, but they showed their resilience to fight back to secure a big result which sees them move to third in the standings.

Too Bad: Marvelous Nakamba

Aston Villa were totally outplayed by Southampton and perhaps should’ve lost more heavily than 2-0 at St Mary’s Stadium.

Nakamba was poor on Saturday and he failed to win any of his ground duels, losing out on four occasions, and was regularly bypassed all afternoon as the Saints swarmed all over Dean Smith’s side.

Villa are still in 17th, but could fall into the bottom three if West Ham United manage to secure an unexpected win at Liverpool on Monday.

Too Good: Moussa Djenepo

The wideman was lively for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s troops in their deserved victory over Aston Villa.

Djenepo created several chances for his Southampton teammates and merited his assist, his second of the campaign, for the Saints’ opening goal.

He completed six of nine attempted dribbles, and was constantly fouled by players on the away side as they struggled to live with him.

Southampton’s win, their first in five games, has taken them to 12th, and 10 points clear of the bottom three.

Too Bad: Fousseni Diabate

Diabate was peripheral in Amiens’ 0-0 draw at Strasbourg, failing to attempt a single dribble throughout his time on the pitch.

He lost seven of eight duels and was guilty of losing possession on multiple occasions.

It was no surprise Luka Elsner withdrew the ineffectual wideman after 68 minutes, and the Unicorns’ winless run now stretches to 14 games.

Too Good: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Arsenal were put in a spot of bother early on against Everton as Dominic Calvert-Lewin sent the Toffees in front inside the first minute.

After Eddie Nketiah levelled for the hosts with a fine finish from an awesome Bukayo Saka cross, it was Aubameyang who then took the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring twice – at 1-1 and 2-2 – to carry the Gunners to a 3-2 victory over Carlo Ancelotti’s in-form side.

The club captain, whose brace took his Premier League tally to 17 goals, is now level with Jamie Vardy at the top of the scoring charts.