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Drogba is hero and villain for Chelsea

Ivory Coast captain and 2010 African Footballer of the Year finalist Didier Drogba equalised before having a late penalty saved as Chelsea drew 1-1 at Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premiership.

Another Ivorian star on target was Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure in a 3-1 triumph at West Ham and he contributed to the second goal when his shot hit a post and then struck goalkeeper Robert Green before crossing the line.

There were a couple of braces from Africans in Germany with Senegalese Papiss Cisse becoming joint leading Bundesliga scorer after a double for Freiburg and Ivorian Didier Ya Konan emulated that feat for Hanover.

ENGLAND

DIDIER DROGBA (Chelsea)

The Ivory Coast striker was both hero and villain as champions Chelsea missed the chance to regain top spot in the English Premier League in a draw at London rivals Tottenham. After coming off the bench at the start of the second half, he equalised for the Blues when his 70^th-minute shot burst through the hands of Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. But he then saw Gomes save a stoppage-time penalty.

SALOMON KALOU (Chelsea)

Drogba’s compatriot endured a frustrating match at White Hart Lane, where he he failed to score with any one of three decent headed chances. His first, from Nicolas Anelka’s cross, saw Gomes make a good save but he then glanced wide and skied a subsequent header high over the crossbar.

YAYA TOURE (Manchester City)

At least one Ivory Coast international in England had something to shout about at the weekend with the midfielder inspiring City to a 3-1 win at basement club West Ham that saw them go second in the table. Toure opened the scoring and then, with 17 minutes left, his shot rebounded off the post and went in off Hammers keeper Robert Green. But his performance was overshadowed by want-away City captain Carlos Tevez handing in a transfer request.

SOMEN TCHOYI (West Bromwich Albion)

The Cameroon winger so nearly scored a goal to remember as the Baggies went down to a 2-1 derby defeat against Midlands rivals Aston Villa. A typically mesmerising run in the 21^st minute saw him beat Stephen Warnock twice on the edge of the area only for his bending shot to hit the crossbar.

MAME BIRAM DIOUF (Blackburn Rovers)

It looked as if the Senegal forward, on loan from Manchester United, had come off the bench to grab an equaliser when he slotted home in the 87^th minute against Lancashire rivals Bolton at Reebok Stadium. But his joy was short-lived with American Stuart Holden scoring barely 60 seconds later to give 10-man Bolton a 2-1 win.

FRANCE

MOUSSA SOW (Lille)

The Senegal striker failed to add to his leading goal-scoring total of 13 goals on a weekend when a miserly 14 goals were scored in the French first division, the lowest total so far this season. Two of those went to Paris St Germain’s Brazilian standout Nene, who is now in second place on the list just two goals behind Sow. Despite not scoring, Sow played a key role in Lille’s last-gasp 2-1 win at basement club Arles-Avignon which left them top of the league.

VINCENT ABOUBAKAR (Valenciennes)

The teenage Cameroon striker had a bitter-sweet match against in-form Paris St Germain. Back in action after an injury-plagued season and after mourning the death of his father, he levelled the scores at 1-1 with eight minutes to go only for Nene to hit the winner two minutes later, nudging the side from the north east of the country closer to the relegation zone.

GERMANY

DIDIER YA KONAN (Hanover 96)

The Ivory Coast striker is out until next year after damaging knee ligaments having scored both goals in Hanover’s 2-1 win over Stuttgart. The victory leaves Hanover third in the table as Ya Konan sealed his side’s fifth straight win in the league, but the 26-year-old went under the knife on Sunday and is expected to be out until at least mid-January.

PAPISS CISSE (Freiburg)

The Senegal striker netted either side of half-time in a 3-0 win over Moenchengladbach as the African joined Frankfurt’s Greek star Theofanis Gekas as the league’s joint leading scorer with 13 goals from 16 games this season. The three points leaves Freiburg fifth in the league, one place higher than defending champions Bayern Munich.

ITALY

KEVIN-PRINCE BOATENG (AC Milan)

The Ghana midfielder enjoyed probably his best game in the red and black shirt of Milan, scoring one goal and creating another. Playing in the trequartista (three-quarter) role between midfield and attack Boateng revelled in the 3-0 defeat of Bologna. Just nine minutes in he burst into the box and got between two defenders to poke home Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s cross. And then on 35 minutes his first-time flick from Ibrahimovic’s pass sent Robinho scampering away to score. He was substituted when the game was already won and picked up a booking for a typically robust challenge.

RODNEY STRASSER (AC Milan)

The Siera Leone midfielder came on early in the second half to replace veteran Gennaro Gattuso when Milan were already well in control against Bologna. The sting had already gone out of the game by then but Strasser proved to be a powerful presence and showed he has two good feet, although he had little chance to really impress.

KWADWO ASAMOAH (Udinese)

The Ghana midfielder has been one of the stars of Udinese’s season but he was far from his best in the 2-1 win over Fiorentina. In fact he was an ineffective presence in midfield and was hauled off before the hour mark with his team trailing 1-0. Replacement German Denis was instrumental in Udinese turning the game around.

HASSAN YEBDA (Napoli)

The Algerian played little more than 25 minutes as a substitute but his physical and combative presence in midfield proved vital in helping Napoli to a 1-0 victory at Genoa. At that stage the southerners were under the cosh and struggling to hold on, but Yebda put himself about with great gusto and brought some fight to the side.

HOUSSINE KHARJA (Genoa)

The Moroccan midfielder was given a start in the 1-0 defeat to Napoli but failed to make much of an impact. He was busy and showed a lot of movement without managing to contribute to the attacking side of the game and was substituted midway through the second half.

SPAIN

CARLOS KAMENI (Espanyol)

The Cameroon keeper is back to his best after a disappointing 18 months when his form dropped and he lost his place in both his club and international sides. Not long ago Carlos Kameni was being linked to the top teams in Europe and he is once again showing that form with commanding displays. After an impressive first half at Athletic Bilbao where they took the lead, fourth-placed Espanyol sat back on their advantage and lost 2-1. Kameni did little wrong, though, getting a hand to Fernando Llorente’s firm header from close range which still crossed the line and he was helpless against a spectacular David Lopez free kick.

FREDERIC KANOUTE (Sevilla)

With Luis Fabiano injured the onus has been on Kanoute and although he has played well in recent weeks, he did not have a good game in a 3-1 loss against struggling Almeria. The Mali striker failed to show his cool composure and hit a poor spot kick which was easily saved. Kanoute did go on to score a consolation goal.