The King of Sunderland Alex Iwobi is your Naija Baller of the Week — and it wasn't even close

While Nigerian stars were scoring, assisting, and making headlines across five countries, one performance stood above everything else.

One player looked at a hostile away ground, in a match his team desperately needed, and delivered a goal, an assist, and a performance that had Sunderland's Stadium of Light asking the same question by full time; who is this man?

Alex Iwobi is your Naija Baller of the Week.

Let's be honest about the competition first, because it was a fierce one from other Naija Stars Abroad.

Ademola Lookman scored a historic goal at the Wanda Metropolitano and matched Luis Suarez's record at Atletico Madrid. Frank Onyeka was untouchable in Coventry's midfield and walked away with man of the match at West Brom.

Wilfred Ndidi returned from personal tragedy to score for Besiktas in one of the most emotional performances of the Nigerian football season.

All three had strong cases. None of them had Iwobi's weekend.

A goal. An assist. A commanding performance in a match that mattered enormously for Fulham's top-half ambitions.

While others contributed, Iwobi controlled and on a weekend packed with Nigerian quality across Europe, controlling the narrative is what earns you this award.

The performance that sealed it

Fulham travelled to Sunderland needing a response. They had been drifting, inconsistent results, a defensive record that had been unravelling, and European ambitions quietly fading into the background.

The Stadium of Light, rocking behind a home side desperate to arrest their own slide, was not supposed to be where Fulham rediscovered themselves. But Iwobi had other ideas.

The Super Eagles midfielder was involved in everything, pressing, driving forward, creating space, and making the kind of decisions under pressure that only players with genuine quality can make consistently.

His goal gave Fulham the platform. His assist built the foundation. His energy set the tone for everything Marco Silva's side wanted to do.

By the time Calvin Bassey, returning to the starting XI after weeks on the bench, won a penalty to further twist the knife, Fulham were already in control. But Iwobi was the reason they got there.

Iwobi's form this season has been one of Nigerian football's quietest but most consistent stories. He does not always make the front page.

He does not score the spectacular goals that go viral or produce the statistics that dominate social media debates. What he does is show up, week after week, and be exactly what his team needs him to be.

On a weekend when Victor Osimhen's absence reminded everyone what it looks like when a team loses its most important player, Iwobi reminded everyone what it looks like when a team's most important player turns up at exactly the right moment. That is not a coincidence, that is character.

Naija Baller of the Week: Alex Iwobi. The rest were brilliant. He was better.