SPORT: Odemwingie’s penalty causes controversy and other related stories

PETER ODEMWINGIE (Stoke City) Odemwingie found himself at the centre of controversy after winning a penalty against former club Cardiff City in a 1-1 draw. The Nigerian forward went down after a challenge from behind by Kim Bo-kyung in first-half stoppage time, with Marko Arnautovic scoring from the spot, but Peter Whittingham equalised with a penalty of his own in the second half. Cardiff manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his players had been “incensed” by the penalty won by Odemwingie. Also Ivorian sharpshooter Wilfried Bony took his season goal tally from all competitions to 19 with a brace as Swansea defeated Newcastle 2-1 at the weekend. Bony gave the Swans breathing space in the fight against relegation after Nigerian Shola Ameobi had put the Magpies ahead in the English Premier League match. Malian Cheikh Diabate was the toast of Bordeaux, scoring his first hat-trick in a 5-2 drubbing of French Ligue 1 strugglers Guingamp. ENGLAND SAMUEL ETO’O (Chelsea) Cameroon star Eto’o scored his 12th goal in Chelsea’s colours in the 12th minute of their home game with Sunderland, volleying home a corner from Willian. He was to finish on the losing side, however, as goals from Connor Wickham and Fabio Borini gave Sunderland a shock 2-1 win and condemned Jose Mourinho to his first home league defeat as Chelsea manager. WILFRIED BONY (Swansea City) Bony scored twice in a 2-1 win at Newcastle United that lifted Swansea six points clear of the relegation zone. The dreadlocked Ivorian striker cancelled out Shola Ameobi’s opener with a header in first-half injury time and then netted a stoppage-time winner from the penalty spot. SHOLA AMEOBI (Newcastle United) Nigeria international Ameobi had put Newcastle ahead in the 23rd minute at St James’ Park with his first goal since December 2012. The 32-year- old flicked on a high ball to strike partner Luuk de Jong and then collected the Dutchman’s pass before steering a left-foot shot past visiting goalkeeper Michel Vorm. SPAIN STEPHANE MBIA (Sevilla) Cameroonian midfielder Mbia scored his third goal for the club as the Andalusians continued their fine form with a 4-0 thrashing of Granada. Sevilla are just three points behind Athletic Bilbao in fourth place and the sides meet this weekend. ALEX SONG (Barcelona) Cameroon midfielder Song played the full 90 minutes as Barcelona maintained their La Liga title hopes by coming from behind to beat Bilbao 2-1 at Camp Nou. ITALY GERVINHO (AS Roma) Roma maintained their slim hopes of challenging leaders Juventus for the title with a 1-0 win at Fiorentina, but Ivorian Gervinho wasted a great opportunity to score before Radja Nainggolan’s 26th-minute winner when he side-footed wide of the open goal after being set up by Adem Ljajic’s counter-attack. ADEL TAARABT (AC Milan) Milan’s resurgence under Clarence Seedorf continued with a fourth straight win from a 3-0 home rout of Livorno and Moroccan international Taarabt fired an early warning to the Serie A strugglers with an audacious long-range strike that inched just over the crossbar. Taarabt finally grabbed his first goal at the San Siro when he combined with Mario Balotelli to dribble through the defence and beat Francesco Bardi from seven yards. KWADWO ASAMOAH (Juventus) Juventus ground out a 1-0 win at home to Bologna to edge closer to a third consecutive scudetto. It was a cagey win and Ghanaian Asamoah was given little opportunity to express his offensive skills to the full. At the end of the first half he saw one delivery for striker Sebastian Giovinco go amiss and did little else of note in a win which kept Juve eight points ahead of second- placed Roma with four games remaining. FRANCE CHEIKH DIABATE (Bordeaux) It was a red letter day for the Mali international as he celebrated his first hat-trick in Bordeaux’s 5-2 drubbing of Guingamp. In fine form after injury, the 25-year-old striker’s treble came in the first half to bring his tally for the season to 11. With justification he took home the match ball. ABOUBACAR DEMBA CAMARA (Ajaccio) The Guinea teenager scored in the fourth minute, but that was the only bright point as the striker’s side went on to lose 2-1 at Corsican rivals Bastia to condemn Ajaccio to life in the second division next season. VINCENT ABOUBAKAR (Lorient) The 22-year-old Cameroon attacker played the role of super sub. Introduced late on against Montpellier with his side trailing 2-1 they were set for a 4-2 defeat before his 90th and 93rd-minute goals produced an improbable draw. That took his haul for the campaign to 16, with only PSG’s mighty Zlatan Ibrahimovic on 25 above him. GERMANY DIDIER YA KONAN (Hanover 96) The Ivory Coast forward scored what proved the winner in Hanover’s 3-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to help keep them out of danger in the Bundesliga relegation battle. Playing as Hanover’s lone striker, Ya Konan slammed home his second goal in as many games when he hit a 29th-minute goal from the edge of the box which gave the diving Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp no chance. IBRAHIMA TRAORE (VfB Stuttgart) The Guinea international weighed in with an assist in Stuttgart’s 3-1 romp against Schalke 04, which was a huge boost for the hosts’ survival chances. Traore fired in a cross from the right wing which Germany striker Cacau headed home on 54 minutes to make it 2-0. RUSSIA CHRISTOPHER SAMBA (Dynamo Moscow) The Congo Brazzaville defender had a good chance to double the lead against FC Krasnodar midway through the second half, but his header was parried and the visitors went on to win 2-1 against a tiring 10-man Dynamo side. SEYDOU DOUMBIA (CSKA Moscow) The Ivory Coast striker missed a clearcut early chance, converted a late first-half penalty and set up the final goal in a 4-0 triumph at Kuban Krasnodar before being substituted eight minutes from time.