Champions League victory makes Chelsea star top Nigerian player in England Aiyegbeni scores 17, but Blackburn still relegated, Osaze remains West Brom’s top scorer, Moses rated third EPL’s dribbler

ENGLAND

John Mikel Obi(Chelsea): Super Eagles midfielder John Obi Mikel’s 2011/12 season couldn’t have been any better after Chelsea’s last Saturday’s Champions League triumph in Germany. In 2008 when the Blues lost to Premier League rivals,Manchester United. He has now joined the league of Nigerian players to win the European top prize after Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George who were winners with Dutch side,Ajax in 1994. In the English Premier League, Mikel played 22 matches but failed to find the back of the net despite having 11 shots on goal. The 25-year-old star who won his first EPL trophy in 2010, was also a winner of the FA Cup this season with a 1-0 win over Liverpool on May 5th. Mikel played a total of 1,323 minutes of club football in the EPL in the 2011/12 season. He started 15 of the 22 matches he played, committed 44 fouls and suffered 39. He was yellow-carded four times this past season but had nine yellow cards overall in the season under review. Last season, he played 28 EPL matches and was yellow-carded three times. The last time Mikel was red-carded in the EPL was in the 2007/08 season.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni(Blackburn Rovers): Power-playing Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni scored an impressive 17 goals in the 2011/12 season and 18 in all competitions, but it was not just enough to save his team from being relaged to the Championship. The former Portsmouth and Middlesbrough striker is close to scoring a century of goals in English football. Now, he is four goals away from that feat.  Yakubu played  30 games in the EPL. He started 29 of them. The Nigerian star was yellow-carded once and was also sent off once. Aiyegbeni played 453 minutes in total in the 2011/12 season. Last season, he played in the Championship with Leicester City.

Osaze Odemwingie(West Brom): Peter Osaze Odemwingie emerged as West Bromwich Albion top marks man again this season with 10 goals, after his last season’s 15. Osaze was the Baggies’ most successful dribbler. He was also the player with the highest shots on target with 47 shots. The striker played 30 matches, starting 25 of them. He bagged two yellow cards and played 2,288 minutes in total.
Osaze thus became the second player to have scored double-digits goals in two succesive campaigns.

Last season, he played for 2,680 minutes in the EPL matches and was yellow-carded three times.

Victor Moses(Wigan Athletic): Victor Moses was rated the Premier League’s third best dribbler in the 2011/12 season. He played all of Wigan’s games in the season and was a nightmare to defenders who were at the receiving end of his terrific speed and dribbling skills. The Eagles star who will play in the Super Eagles’ 2013 African Cup of Nations and 2014 World Cup qualifiers in June, scored six goals in 3,215 minutes but bagged four yellow cards. Contrastingly, he managed to score just one goal in the penultimate season-2010/11 campaign, playing in 21 matches in which he started only in eight games and had one yellow card to his name . The Kaduna-born forward is already a target of several Premier League sides.

Taye Taiwo(QPR): Taiwo played a total of 15 matches in the English Premier League in the concluded season since his loan move from AC Milan in January. He played just four times in Italy to bring his tally overall to 19 games. The Eagles left back started 13 out of his 15 matches in England. He scored one goal through a freekick on March 24 in a 3-1 loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, while it was against Swansea on April 11 that he bagged his only yellow card of the season .

Dickson Etuhu(Fulham): Super Eagles defensive midfielder Dickson Etuhu played 22 games in the past season in the EPL. The Fulham star made nine starts,13 of them as substitute. He was yellow-carded four times and played 899 minutes in total. The one-time Norwich City man had a slightly better season in the 2010/11.He played 28 games in the 2010/11 season, scored twice and was yellow-carded on three occasions.

Efe Sodje(Bury Town): Former Super Eagles defender Efe Sodje played 41 games in the 2011/12 season, starting in 40 of them. The Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup player of the Eagles scored two goals and was booked nine times. He played a total of 3,620 minutes in total in the just concluded season.

Magnus Okunghae.Kayode Odejayi(Colchester United): One of Nigeria’s most consistent players in Europe in the just concluded season, Magnus Okunghae, had 42 games under his belt in the 2011/12 season in the League One. He had eight yellow cards and one red card, playing 3,706 minutes in total.
Odejayi played 43 matches, made 33 starts in those matches,scoring four goals and was yellow-carded four times.

Bartholomew Ogbeche (Middlesbrough): Former Super Eagles striker Bartholomew Ogbeche scored three goals in 17 Championship appearances for Riverside outfit, Middlesbrough and made five starts. He was yellow-carded twice.

Nwankwo Kanu, Kelvin Etuhu(Portsmouth): Former Super Eagles skipper Nwankwo Kanu played just once this past season in the Champioship on January 2,2012 against Watford. He played 10 matches and had only one goal to his credit. Kelvin Etuhu played 13 games in the Championship this term, starting in nine of them and getting one goal to the bargain. Etuhu played 770 minutes in total. Last season, he was on the bench on three occasions but was not brought unto the fray. Papilo(Kanu)was actively involved in Pompey’s campaign in the 2010/11 season when he played 32 matches and scored two goals. He was not neither yellow-carded