Day 2 of the European Cup group stages, which began on Tuesday October 3, came to a close on Thursday evening. Twenty goals were scored by African players.
Champions League
With their 3-2 Group A victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, Turkey's Galatasaray Istanbul put in one of the finest performances of Matchday 2 of the Champions League group stage. Ivorian Wilfried Zaha scored Istanbul's first goal against one of his former teams. In Group B, Spain's Sevilla drew 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, thanks in particular to a goal from Morocco's Youssef En-Nesyri. Portugal's Sporting Braga, who trailed Union Berlin 0-2 in Germany, finally prevailed 3-2, with a goal from Mali's Sikou Niakaté. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) were held at home (2-2) by Young Boys Berne (Switzerland). Senegalese Pape Ndiaye and Ghanaian Osman Bukari scored the two Belgrade goals.
Europa League
England's West Ham United, winners of the Europa League Conference last season, pulled off an impressive victory over SC Freiburg in Germany (2-1, Group A). Moroccan striker Nayef Aguerd scored the winner for the Hammers. In Group B, Marseille were held to a 2-2 draw by Brighton. Congolese (DRC) Chancel Mbemba opened the scoring for the French. Gabon's Alex Moucketou-Moussounda and Shavy Babicka gave Aris Limassol (Cyprus) a home win over Glasgow Rangers (2-1, Group C). In Group G, the Czechs of Slavia Prague pulverized the Moldovans of Sheriff Tiraspol (6-0), with a goal from Nigeria's Igoh Ogbu.
Europa Conference League
Moroccan Tarik Tissoudali scored twice - including from the penalty spot - as Belgium's La Gantoise overcame Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv (2-0, Group B). In Group C, FC Ballkani of Kosovo sprang a surprise by beating Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia 2-0, with a goal from Algerian Walid Hamidi. One of Thursday evening's finest performances came from Switzerland's FC Lugano in Turkey. Trailing 0-2 to Besiktas in Istanbul after a brace from Cameroonian Vincent Aboubakar, they managed to score three goals in the last ten minutes. Ivorian Eric Bailly scored an own goal in the 90th minute to give the Ticino victory.
In Group F, Belgium's RC Genk beat Serbia's Cukaricki 2-0 away from home, with Ghanaian Joseph Paintsil scoring from the penalty spot. Despite his goal, Egypt's Omar Marmoush was unable to prevent Eintracht Frankfurt's defeat at the hands of PAOK Salonika (1-2, Group G).In Group H, Denmark's FC Nordsjalland thrashed Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria 7-1. Ghana's Ibrahim Osman scored one of the Danish goals, while Benin's Olivier Verdon reduced the visitors' deficit from the penalty spot. In the other match, Trnava (Slovakia) were defeated at home by Fenerbahce Istanbul (Turkey), despite a goal from Ghanaian Kelvin Ofori.
