Plaudits for Moffi as striker hits 50th Ligue 1 goal News

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Plaudits for Moffi as striker hits 50th Ligue 1 goal

By Daily Sports Nigeria on April 2, 2024

OGC Nice striker, Terem Moffi, is on his way to creating another Nigerian milestone in the French Ligue 1 after reaching a landmark 50 goals in their 2-1 loss at home against Nantes on Sunday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Moffi scored a penalty to restore parity for Nice after Matthis Abline had given Nantes a first-half lead but the visitors struck the winner in less than five minutes from the spot through Egypt’s Mostafa Mohamed for an important victory.

His 50th strike in 126 games now puts him third among Nigeria’s highest goal scorers in the history of the French topflight. Former Super Eagles winger John Utaka leads with 59 goals in 239 games while former Eagles striker Victor Ikpeba is second with 55 goals in 170 games.

With just nine goals behind Utaka, in no time, Moffi can become the all-time Nigerian highest goal scorer in Ligue 1 and has played a lesser number of games than Utaka and Ikpeba.

Moffi’s Ligue 1 journey began at FC Lorient, where he scored 34 goals in 84 games and has now added 16 since initially joining Nice on loan last January. The 24-year-old joined Nice permanently from Lorient in the summer of 2023.

“50 career Ligue 1 goals, Terem Moffi,” Ligue 1 posted with graphics after the Nigerian scored on Sunday.

Some Nigerians also commended the striker for his performance in the French topflight.

“Terem needs to be paid more attention to and given more playing time in the Super Eagles,” Egwemi Newman noted.

“The Eagle keeps soaring. Congratulations Moffi,” Forthman Jr wrote.

“Nigerian heritage. I liked his AFCON performance,” another fan, Eberechukwu said, although the striker only featured in the semi-final against South Africa where he scored a penalty.

For his club, the defeat on Sunday meant they haven’t won at home in four consecutive league games but the Nigerian striker will be key for Francesco Farioli as they hope to qualify for the Champions League next season. Nice dropped down to fifth with 43 points after 23 games, three points below Lille, and 19 points behind league leaders, Paris Saint-Germain.

He is currently the club’s highest goal scorer with 10 goals and two assists, having played 23 games this season.

Farioli was furious after the Nantes defeat and charged Moffi and his teammates ahead of their remaining seven games of the season.

“There are still seven games to go. The table is very tight, and we’ve lost points on Brest, Monaco and Lille. But the race for Europe is still wide open for everyone. We’re in the middle of this mini-league. We’re going to take it game by game. There are seven finals left,” the coach said.

Their next game is at Reims on Sunday.

Source Punch Ng

Posted April 2, 2024