African Players in Europe: Salah Leads Egyptian Goal Rush

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)
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African Players in Europe: Salah Leads Egyptian Goal Rush

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)

Prolific Liverpool scorer Mohamed Salah led an Egyptian goal charge across Europe at the weekend with Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed also finding the net.

Salah scored his 200th goal for the Reds and 150th in the Premier League by equalizing at Crystal Palace in a match his team went on to win 2-1 in added time.

Marmoush was first to score for Eintracht Frankfurt in a 5-1 thrashing of champions Bayern Munich, and Mohamed equalized for Nantes in a 2-1 loss at Paris Saint-Germain.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

He scored his 200th goal for Liverpool to spark their fightback against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Just moments after Palace's Ghana international Jordan Ayew was sent off, Salah hit a deflected 76th-minute equalizer and Harvey Elliott scored the stoppage-time winner to send Liverpool top of the Premier League. Salah's 14th goal this term made him the fifth player to score 200 for Liverpool in all competitions after Ian Rush (346), Roger Hunt (285), Gordon Hodgson (241) and Billy Liddell (228).

"The most important thing was that we won the game. It's a great feeling. I'm happy for the record and that we won the game," Salah said. In his 247th Premier League appearance, he also reached 150 goals in the competition, including two scored for Chelsea, putting him in the all-time top-10 list, level with Michael Owen.

ABDOULAYE DOUCOURE (Everton)

The Mali midfielder set Everton on course for a 2-0 win against Chelsea at Goodison Park. Doucoure, 30, scored his sixth goal this season in the 54th minute, firing home after Dominic Calvert-Lewin's shot was blocked. Deducted 10 points for financial breaches recently, Sean Dyche's side have managed to climb out of the relegation zone thanks to Doucoure's determined efforts.

GERMANY

OMAR MARMOUSH (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Marmoush opened the scoring as Eintracht rampaged to a sensational Bundesliga victory over champions Bayern. The Egyptian smashed a well-timed shot into the bottom corner after just 12 minutes, kick-starting an extraordinary match in Frankfurt. Marmoush set up two more goals, either side of half-time, while Franco-Cameroonian Junior Dina Ebimbe grabbed a brace as Bayern collapsed. The defeat left Bayern four points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

IHLAS BEBOU (Hoffenheim)

Togo international Bebou scored his first goal of the season in Hoffenheim's comfortable 3-1 win over Bochum. Bebou came on as a substitute to score off a second-half header and put Hoffenheim three goals ahead midway through the second half. Bebou has struggled to hold down a starting place this season, making seven of his 12 appearances from the bench.

FRANCE

MOSTAFA MOHAMED (Nantes)

The Egyptian equalized for mid-table Nantes 10 minutes into the second half at leaders Paris Saint-Germain with a near-post header off a corner. However, a late Randal Kolo Muani goal gave the home side victory. Mohamed is the leading African scorer in Ligue 1 this season with six goals.



China’s Huang and Sheng Win First Gold of Paris Games at Air Rifle Mixed Team Event

 China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
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China’s Huang and Sheng Win First Gold of Paris Games at Air Rifle Mixed Team Event

 China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)

China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao won the first gold medal of the Paris Games on Saturday in the 10 meters air rifle mixed team event.

Keum Ji-hyeon and Park Ha-jun of South Korea claimed silver and Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev of Kazakhstan were awarded bronze.

Three years after Yang Qian and Yang Haoran won the gold in Tokyo, compatriots Huang and Sheng made sure China retained it.

The reigning world champions topped the qualifying round ahead of their Korean rivals at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.

The gold medal round was not really a cakewalk though despite them racing to a 14-8 lead after the first 11 shots.

Keum and Park staged a late comeback to reduce the gap at 14-12 but the Chinese pair prevailed 16-12 in the end.

Le and Satpayev gave Kazakhstan their first medal of the Paris Games with a 17-5 romp against the German pair of Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich.