By Monsurah Olatunji
Nigeria international Joe Aribo scored a goal for Southampton, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a heavy 5-1 defeat to Chelsea at St. Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday night.
Aribo’s goal came in the 11th minute when he finished a well-timed cross from Kyle Walker-Peters, leveling the score after Axel Disasi had given Chelsea the lead earlier.
This was Aribo’s first start since the clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers last month, while fellow Nigerian Paul Onuachu missed out due to injury.
The 28-year-old midfielder has now scored twice in the Premier League this season, with his first goal coming in a 3-2 loss to Leicester City.
With this strike, Aribo joins a select group of Super Eagles players—Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Emmanuel Dennis—who have scored against Chelsea in the Premier League.
However, Southampton’s hopes were dashed after they were reduced to 10 men in the 39th minute.
Chelsea took full advantage, with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, and Jadon Sancho securing a comfortable victory for the Blues.
The result leaves Southampton at the bottom of the league table with just one win and 11 losses from their first 14 games.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
