Africans Abroad: Shoretire makes Man United debut, Hakimi leads Inter to victory

Shola Shoretire took his first steps into the world of professional football with Manchester United at the weekend, drawing parallels with Odion Ighalo, while Achraf Hakimi took another step towards the Serie A with Internazionale.

Here's the pick of Africa's weekend storylines from around Europe's major leagues.

Another Nigerian arrives at Manchester United

Nigerian strikers at Manchester United, it seems, are like London buses; you wait ages for one and then two come at once.

No sooner had Odion Ighalo taken his leave of Old Trafford, ending his year-long stay with the Red Devils, than United unveiled another Nigerian frontman in Shola Shoretire.

The Anglo-Nigerian youngster, who has played for England at under-15 and 16 levels, made his maiden Premier League appearance for United in the 89th-minute of their 3-1 victory over Newcastle United on Sunday, becoming at the age of 17 years and 19 days the seventh youngest debutant in the club's history.

Shoretire -- who was playing against the club of his birthplace, Newcastle -- earned his stripes at the fabled Wallsend Boys Club, the youth side that launched the career of the likes of Alan Shearer, Michael Carrick and Steve Bruce, before being snapped up by United.

While he had little opportunity to make an impact on his debut after replacing another academy graduate in Marcus Rashford, the future appears bright for the striker who was praised by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the bout.

"Shola is going to play many games for us if he keeps doing what he's doing," the United head coach told the club's official website. "He's training well, and he's a good boy with a good head on him."

Former England striker Michael Owen, who represented both Manchester United and Newcastle, also lauded the youngster after his debut.

"It's great to see him progressing well," Owen said. "He's got a cracking attitude.He's always been quite small, quite stocky. Very, very brave, though, and loads of energy, a real enthusiasm about the game, so it's great to see him getting his chance and I hope he's going to have a long and successful career."

Hakimi steps closer to Italian title

While Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane endured a miserable outing in one of the weekend's big derbies -- as Liverpool were defeated 2-0 by Everton at Anfield -- Internazionale and Achraf Hakimi enjoyed an outing to remember.

Billed as the biggest Milan derby in a decade, neither Inter nor AC Milan could really afford to drop points in this tight race for the Italian title, and a cagey contest was forecast.

This the first time the Lombardy heavyweights had gone into a derby occupying first and second on the Serie A ladder since 2011, but there was a chasm of quality between the two as they took to the field on Sunday.

Inter ran out 3-0 winners, taking them four points clear at the top while handing the Rossoneri their third league defeat in their past five games, a loss that will surely impact morale.

Morocco's Hakimi, as has been the case often this season, was influential for Inter as they capitalised on Milan's apparent lethargy following their UEFA Europa League bout with Red Star Belgrade to secure a comfortable victory.

He made a series of key defensive interventions while weighing in offensively by seeking to stretch the play for Inter.

As the final stages of the campaign fast approach, Hakimi appears primed to become the first Moroccan player since Medhi Benatia in 2019 to get his hands on Italian football's grandest prize.

By contrast, Milan's Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie -- imperious for the Rossoneri at times this term -- endured one of his poorest outings for the season, as he and Sandro Tonali wholly failed to deal with Inter's midfield three.

"Unfortunately, this is football; when you try to score, you are taking risks because everyone is high up the pitch and almost no one is defending, and Inter took advantage of this," Kessie told Milan's official handles.

"We are disappointed, but we have to rise up to do better in the next matches.

"We are sorry for our fans, who tried their best to help the team, and unfortunately, things didn't go well."

Moffi's run continues

Terem Moffi is firmly establishing himself as the breakout star of the French Ligue 1 this season, and he nonetheless laid down another landmark in a remarkable season even though he didn't score against Lille at the weekend.

Moffi had scored seven in his previous eight league games heading into Lorient's weekend bout, hitting a purple patch since December 23 after previously going nine games without a goal.

He failed to net as Les Merlus lost 4-1 at home by Les Dogues on Sunday, but he did weigh in for an assist in the 23rd minute - setting Jerome Hergault to equalise with a delightful bending strike after Andrew Gravillon's opening own goal.

He demonstrated his quick-thinking in the build-up to the goal helped him capitalise on sloppy play in the Lille defence, and he also had the clarity of mind to play in Hergault, although beyond this intervention, his contribution was limited.

However, in contributing an assist, Moffi has now had a direct hand in exactly half (50 percent) of all of Lorient's goals this season, a remarkable stat considering he's a 21-year-old taking his first steps in a major European league.

For context, only two players in Ligue 1 have either scored or contributed an assist in a higher percentage of their team's goals this season than the ex-Kortrijk frontman.