African players in Europe: Jackson sees red as Chelsea lose

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Senegal forward Nicolas Jackson was sent off in the first half as Chelsea lost 2-0 at Newcastle in the Premier League at the weekend.

Trailing to an early goal, Chelsea were reduced to 10 men on 36 minutes, then kept dominant Newcastle at bay until conceding again in the final minute of regular time.

The top five clubs in the standings after two more rounds qualify for the Champions League and Newcastle lie third, and Chelsea fifth, ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference.

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in major European leagues:

ENGLAND

Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)

The 23-year-old had a match to forget as he was sent off in the loss to top-five rivals Newcastle.

The visitors were already a goal down following Sandro Tonali's second-minute opener when Jackson saw red for an elbow on Sven Botman. Bruno Guimaraes put the result beyond doubt with a late goal.

Beto (Everton)

The 27-year-old Guinea-Bissau forward scored his 10th goal of the season and eighth in the Premier League as the Toffees won 3-1 at Fulham -- their first league victory since April 12.

Dortmund's Guinean forward #09 Serhou Guirassy (C) celebrates his 1-4 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund in Leverkusen, western Germany, on May 11, 2025.

David Moyes's men were already 2-1 up after goals from Vitalii Mykolenko and Michael Keane had cancelled out Raul Jimenez's opener for Fulham when Beto's 73rd-minute shot squirmed under Cottagers keeper Bernd Leno and into the net.

GERMANY

Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund)

Guinea star Guirassy scored again as Borussia Dortmund won 4-2 at Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga to keep their Champions League hopes alive, moving one point behind fourth-placed Freiburg.

With Dortmund 3-1 up and cruising, Guirassy collected a pass from Emre Can and cut a low shot across the face of goal and into the net. Guirassy now has 33 goals from 44 games in his first season in Dortmund.

Morgan Guilavogui (St Pauli)

Another Guinea international, Guilavogui, scored and laid on an assist in St Pauli's 2-2 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt, which all but assured his side of top-flight football next season. With just four minutes gone, Guilavogui laid on a pass for Manolis Saliakas to equalise.

He then put St Pauli in front 11 minutes later by cutting through the Frankfurt defence, rounding goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and finishing into an empty net.

FRANCE

Amine Gouiri (Marseille)

The Algeria forward struck twice as Marseille won 3-1 at Le Havre to wrap up Champions League qualification. Signed from Rennes in late January, Gouiri has scored 10 times for Roberto De Zerbi's side, hitting six goals in his last three games.

The 25-year-old also won the Just Fontaine trophy at French football's awards ceremony on Sunday for the best goal this season in Ligue 1, after his superb overhead kick against Brest last month.

Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain)

The Morocco full-back was awarded the Marc-Vivien Foe award as the best African player in France on Monday after a season in which he has helped PSG win the Ligue 1 title and reach the Champions League and French Cup finals.

Hakimi, who has four goals and eight assists in 24 league appearances this season, was rested by Luis Enrique for PSG's 4-1 thumping of rock-bottom Montpellier.