<
>

PSG's Africans finally secure the silverware: Africans Abroad review

Paris Saint-Germain were finally able to celebrate winning the French title on Sunday after LOSC Lille had been held by Toulouse earlier in the day, as their African contingent became the first winners of a major European league this season.

Thomas Tuchel's side could have clinched the title back on April 7, but a draw against Strasbourg coupled by subsequent defeats by nearest challengers Lille, a shocking 5-1 thumping, and Nantes delayed the coronation.

Ultimately, it was a Lille slip-up that got the championship over the line, as Nicolas Pepe and co. were unable to breach a Toulouse defence superbly protected by his compatriot Ibrahim Sangare, and the two sides shared a 0-0 draw in Occitanie.

With an eighth crown in the bag, PSG duly romped to a comfortable 3-1 victory over 2016-17 champions AS Monaco at the Parc des Princes, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick against a team containing Benoit Badiashile, Fode Ballo-Toure and substitute Jean-Eudes Aholou.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting didn't feature against Les Monegasques, but his champagne-fuelled celebrations with teammates after the match were captured by cameramen.

Despite scoring three goals en route to the title, the Cameroonian's most notable contribution to the campaign may be his horror miss against Strasbourg, as he blocked Christopher Nkunku's goal-bound shot on the goal-line in bizarre fashion.

As well as Choupo-Moting, who wins the first title of his career, Franco-African starlets Nkunku, Stanley N'Soki, Colin Dagba, Fresnel Kimpembe, and Moussa Diaby will also get their hands on winner's medals.

Elsewhere in France, Kalifa Coulibaly's prolific run continued with two goals in six minutes to set Nantes on their way to a 3-2 victory over Amiens, while Nigerian wonderkid Josh Maja scored his first Bordeaux goal since a midseason move from Sunderland, but couldn't prevent Les Girondins from falling to a 2-1 defeat by Nimes.

Over in Italy, Juventus also extended their domestic dominance by coming from behind to dispatch Fiorentina to clinch the title and extinguish any residual hope on the part of second-placed Napoli.

Kalidou Koulibaly delivered an underwhelming display and picked up a booking as the Partenopei were defeated 2-1 at home by Atalanta on Monday to fall 20 points behind the leaders with five games to play.

In Sunday's big game, Kwadwo Asamoah was arguably the star performer as Internazionale and AS Roma shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.

The Ghana international defended stoutly, making a game-high four tackles, and was imperious going forward. Indeed, his four completed dribbles were three more than any other player on the pitch.

Unlike in France or Italy, the English Premier League title race in England looks set to be settled at the death, with both Liverpool and Manchester City picking up wins this weekend.

The Reds, for whom Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Joel Matip all started in the 2-0 victory at Cardiff City, lead the table with 88 points, although City (86) would surpass them if they defeat Manchester United in their game in hand on Wednesday.

The Red Devils are one of the quartet of sides in contention for the other two Champions League berths, and all four endured disappointing weekends, with only Chelsea picking up a point.

Victor Wanyama came off the bench for Tottenham Hotspur in their 1-0 defeat at City, while United were unable to capitalise on Spurs' slip-up as they were comprehensively outplayed by Everton, losing 4-0 on Sunday.

Idrissa Gueye, who has been linked to Old Trafford in recent weeks, was influential in the heart of the park for the hosts, and provided the assist for Gylfi Sigurdsson's first-half effort.

Later in the day, it was Arsenal's turn to capitulate.

They too were undone by a player with whom they've been linked, as Wilfried Zaha, leading the line alongside a rejuvenated Christian Benteke, tormented the Gunners backline and put Crystal Palace ahead in the 61st minute following earlier goals from the Belgian and Mesut Ozil.

The Eagles extended their lead through James McArthur eight minutes later, and while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted his 19th league goal of the campaign 13 minutes from time, it wasn't enough for Unai Emery's side to avoid a damaging 3-2 home defeat.

Only two players -- Harry Kane (11) and Jamie VardyJ (10) -- have scored more away goals this season than Zaha (eight), and this was yet another performance that will surely pique the interest of some of Europe's biggest clubs this summer.

Rayo Vallecano's Abdoulaye Ba was the outstanding African performer in La Liga this weekend, as he delivered an imperious display to keep SD Huesa at bay in the sides' 0-0 draw on Saturday.

The former FC Porto man weighed in with a whopping nine clearances -- more than any other player on the pitch -- and also made a further five combined tackles and interceptions. He also created one goalscoring opportunity during an impressive all-round display.

It was a weekend to remember for Celta Vigo's Sofiane Boufal and Karl Toko Ekambi of Villarreal as they scored the winners in 2-1 victories over Girona and Leganes respectively, although Getafe's Djene Dakonam will hope to move on quickly after he was red carded in an ill-tempered victory over Sevilla.

In Germany, the weekend again belonged to Ishak Belfodil.

The Algeria hitman is in the form of his life as the Africa Cup of Nations approaches, and scored Hoffenheim's first and fifth goals as they routed struggling Schalke 04 5-2 away to remain in the European places.

The 27-year-old Belfodil scored the first hat-trick of his career against Augsburg earlier this month, a week after he'd scored twice against Bayer Leverkusen, and his double at the weekend has taken his tally to 11 in his last 10 games.

Mainz's Jean-Philippe Mateta also followed up a recent hat-trick (against Freiburg on April 5) with a brace this weekend as Fortuna Dusseldorf were dispatched 3-1.

The Franco-Congolese starlet scored just once in his first 11 outings for Mainz in all competitions after arriving from Olympique Lyonnais as the club's record signing, yet recent outings suggest he could yet become a cult hero on the banks of the Rhine in the same vein as Burkina Faso great Aristide Bance.