Europa League: Christian Atsu, other Ghanaians in action

Ghana’s 2015 AFCON superstar Christian Atsu came off the bench to play for Everton who humiliated Swiss side BSC Young Boys after beating them 4-1 in Switzerland on Thursday.

The 23-year-old stepped into the game with five minutes left to play to replace Romelu Lukaku at the STADE DE SUISSE Wankdorf Bern.

Before the 2015 AFCON Player of the tournament would step onto the pitch to get a taste of the action, Belgian Romelu Lukaku had bagged a sensational hat-trick to add to Seamus Coleman’s 28th-minute strike.

While Atsu was happy to help his side win the tie convincingly, his countryman Samuel Afum could not make the Young Boys squad for the game as he was not in the team announced by the club.

In other games, Dutch-born Ghanaian attacker Elvis Manu watched from the Netherlands as his Feyenoord side held Italian Serie A giants AS Roma to a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico.

Striker Abdul Majeed Waris watched from the stands at the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu as Napoli mauled his Trabzonspor side 4-0 in their own backyard.

Defender Daniel Opare warmed the Besiktas bench as they slipped to a late Mario Balotelli penalty at Anfield. The former Real Madrid Castilla player is yet to play a game for the Turkish giants since joining them.

Real Bull Salzburg slipped to a narrow 2-1 loss against Villarreal at Camp El Madrigal. Ghana international defender Isaac Vorsah has not recovered from injury.

Dutch-born Ghanaian defender Kenny Tete sat on the Ajax Amsterdam bench when they won 1-0 against Legia Warsaw.

Frank Acheampong played 86 minutes for Anderlecht who were held to a 0-0 draw by Lokomotiv Moscow.

Wakaso Mubarak returned to the Celtic team but warmed the bench as they shared the spoils with Inter Milan in a 3-3 draw. Ghanaian defender Isaac Donkor could not make the trip with Inter Milan.