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Super Eagles star Frank Onyeka missing but three players flew the flag for Africa in an exciting game between Brentford and Tottenham.
Brentford and Tottenham served up an entertaining 2-2 draw to mark the official return of the Premier League after the World Cup break.
The Bees raced in front in the Boxing Day early kickoff thanks to two goals in either half by Vitaly Janelt and Ivan Toney but Spurs equalised through two second-half goals from Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojberg.
Both teams were represented by African players on the pitch as Cameroon’s Bryan Mbeumo started for Brentford while Congolese forward, Yoane Wissa came off the bench in the absence of Nigerian midfielder Frank Onyeka. Yves Bissouma was the only African representative for Tottenham.
How the starters performed
Cameroonian forward Bryan Mbeumo started for Brentford upfront alongside strike partner Ivan Toney but did not have the kind of influence expected of him in his 82 minutes of action.
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He only had one shot with an xG of 0.10, had 43 touches and failed to complete a single dribble, with only one accurate cross in five attempts.
His game will be remembered for a ridiculously bad dive in the second half which earned him a yellow card and losing 13 duels, the most in the game.
The other African starter was Yves Bissouma, the Malian who played the full game for Tottenham and put on a good display in the comeback.
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Bissouma had 71 touches and completed 55 of his 61 attempted passes, a whopping 90% accuracy, five of which were into the final third.
The defensive midfielder also won both of his two attempted tackles, had two clearances and eight recoveries.
The substitutes
DR Congo international Yoane Wissa was brought off the bench to replace fellow African Bryan Mbeumo in the 82nd minute.
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The 26-year-old forward had too little time to impact the game after Spurs had already equalised and only had four touches.
Wissa played three passes and completed all three but failed to record any other stats in eight minutes of play.
Nigerian international midfielder Frank Onyeka was not even named on the bench with no explanation for his exclusion from the Brentford team by manager and namesake Thomas Frank.
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