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Tyronne Ebuehi’s first Serie A goal for Empoli was a memorable one which put him in exclusive company
Empoli defeated Sampdoria by a lone goal scored by Super Eagles defender Tyronne Ebuehi to claim all three points at the Stadio Carlo Castellani.
The Nigerian international jumped highest to connect with a corner from Razvan Marin, heading the ball into the net to put Empoli in front after 55 minutes.
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His first goal for Empoli in 9 league games was also his first in Serie A in 28 games for both Venezia and Empoli combined, making him only the third Nigerian defender to score in Italy’s top flight.
Ebuehi joins an exclusive club
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Ebuehi’s goal put him alongside Torino’s Ola Aina and the legendary Taribo West as the only Nigerian defenders to score in Serie A according to Opta.
Super Eagles full-back Ola Aina was the most recent Nigerian defender to score in Serie A before Ebuehi with his goal for Torino in a 2-1 win against Udinese in October 2022.
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That was only Aina’s second Serie A goal with the first coming all the way back in February 2019, also for Torino in a 1-0 win also against Udinese.
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Before Ebuehi and Aina, there was Taribo West, the legendary Super Eagles defender who represented and scored for both Milan giants.
Taribo became the first Nigerian defender to score a Serie A goal on November 9, 1997with his 88th minute strike for Inter Milan which was the decisive goal in a 2-1 win against Atalanta.
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His only other Serie A goal came in his last game in the league, this time for AC Milan for whom he had a short stint, only playing four games for the Rossoneri in the 1999/00 season but still made it count.
On May 14, 2000, in his last game for AC Milan, Taribo scored a header which was the third goal in a 4-0 rout of Udinese.
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In total, these three Nigerian defenders have five Serie A goals between them, three of which were scored against Udinese.
And although Taribo West has long since retired, Ebuehi and Aina are still active and open to increasing that tally.
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