Mohamed Salah eclipses Robbie Fowler's Premier League record; nominated for African Footballer of the Year award

Paris: Egypt sharpshooter Mohamed Salah created Liverpool history when he scored twice in a 3-0 English Premier League rout of Southampton at the weekend. [caption id=“attachment_4221169” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mohamed Salah is among 30 contenders for the African Footballer of the Year award. AFP[/caption] The brace took his goal haul to nine after 12 matches of a league season, bettering the eight of Robbie Fowler from the same number of games. Salah is also among 30 contenders for the African Footballer of the Year award that was last won by an Egyptian 34 years ago. England  Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) The livewire 25-year-old proved he is one of the buys of the season, scoring a double in an easy Liverpool win. Two super first-half strikes made it 14 goals in all competitions this season. Oumar Niasee (Everton) Niasse is not on the same level as Romelu Lukaku, but gives his all and a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace reflected that commitment. With Everton behind in the first minute, Niasse won a penalty five minutes later which Leighton Baines converted and the 27-year-old Senegalese striker scored to grab a point for Everton after Palace had gone ahead again. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) The skillful Ivory Coast star has added a cutting edge to Palace in front of goal since his return and he struck again for the Eagles to restore their one-goal advantage against Everton only for Niasse to grab a share of the points. Spain  Cheick Doukoure (Levante) Ivorian midfielder Doukoure paid tribute to migrants being sold as slaves in Libya after scoring his first La Liga goal for Levante in a 2-0 win at Las Palmas. “All my thoughts are with the slaves in Lybia #stopslavery,” Doukoure tweeted alongside pictures of a cross-armed celebration following his second-half header to open the scoring. Italy  Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus) Sloppy defending by Ghanaian Asamoah allowed Sampdoria go three goals up as champions Juventus fell to just their second Serie A defeat, a 3-2 loss, to drop to third – four points behind leaders Napoli. Asamoah was involved in the mix-up which allowed Colombian Duvan Zapata open the scoring for Sampdoria after 52 minutes. Germany  Chadrac Akolo (VfB Stuttgart) The Democratic Republic of Congo midfielder profited from a mix-up between defender Marc Bartra and goalkeeper Roman Burki to score in Stuttgart’s 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund. Bartra passed back to Burki, who failed to trap the ball and it rolled into Akolo’s path, allowing the midfielder to fire home. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund) The Gabon striker was suspended for disciplinary reasons by Dortmund for the defeat at Stuttgart. The star striker, who has failed to score in his last five games, said he was baffled by the suspension and Dortmund have stayed tight-lipped. Magazine Kicker claims Aubameyang was late for training and failed to get permission to hold a video shoot at Dortmund’s training ground last Wednesday. He will be recalled to the squad for this week’s Champions League clash against Tottenham. Kevin-Prince Boateng (Eintracht Frankfurt) The Ghana midfielder scored with a spectacular shot when he snapped up a loose pass and hit the back of the net from just outside the area in a 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim for his second league goal this season. France  Serge Gakpe (Amiens) The Togolese forward struck his first goal of the season in a 1-1 draw at home to champions Monaco. Gakpe broke in behind the defence before drilling low into the corner in the 31st minute as promoted Amiens picked up an important point while denting Monaco’s hopes of retaining their title.