Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi has shared his excitement after reaching 300 Premier League appearances in Saturday’s game against Newcastle United, SportPremi reports.
The Super Eagles playmaker had surpassed Shola Ameobi’s tally of 298 appearances in the previous match-day and set a new milestone last Saturday, becoming the first Nigerian player to reach 300 league appearances in England.
Iwobi also moved into the top five all-time list for most appearances by an African footballer in the league, behind Jordan Ayew (305), Wilfried Zaha (305), Mohamed Salah (310) and Kolo Toure (353).
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Story of the match
Fulham headed into the encounter on the back of three consecutive league defeats and faced a tough test against a resurgent Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.
Jacob Murphy opened the scoring in the first half, beating Calvin Bassey and firing into the back of the net via the post.
The Newcastle attacker had another chance to double the lead, but was denied by an outstanding save from Bernd Leno.
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Fulham grabbed an equalizer early in the second half after Sasa Lukic headed in a rebound after Raul Jimenez’s shot had struck the crossbar.
The home side had several other chances to regain the lead, but could not find a way past Leno.
Bruno Guimaraes then struck in the 90th minute to seal the hard-fought victory and condemn the visitors to a fourth league defeat on the bounce.
Everything Alex Iwobi said after the match
It was a history-making day for Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi, who reached his 300th appearance in the EPL.
However, the playmaker could not prevent his side from yet another defeat, as their poor run continued on Saturday.
Speaking after the match, Iwobi was delighted on the milestone, but was disappointed at his side’s performance in the defeat.
“It’s amazing. It’s a big achievement to lead that, with the likes of Shola Ameobi and even my uncle [Jay-Jay Okocha], that’s participated in the Premier League.
“It’s an honour, but I’m not done yet, I’m going to keep on going and hopefully keep the record going”, Iwobi admitted.
“Of course, we’re very disappointed. We knew it was going to be a hard game and a tough place to come to, but if we don’t win, then we shouldn’t lose, and maintain the draw.
“Unfortunately, a last-minute winner is a dagger in the heart, but we have to pick ourselves up and go into next week’s game.
“Going into the second half, we had the bigger spark. Obviously, there were a lot of changes; there was a lot more dynamism going on down the flanks”, the Nigerian midfielder added.
“So, we were able to hurt them and create a few chances, but if we don’t take our chances, good teams like Newcastle can punish us.”
