African talent made a significant impact in the latest round of European competition, with goals, assists and decisive contributions across the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League.

The third matchday of the Europa League and the second round of the Conference League produced several standout performances, led by Oumar Diakite, Junior Olaitan, Cyriel Dessers, Mohamed Salah and Tolu Arokodare.

Diakite earns Sturm Graz victory

Oumar Diakite scored the only goal as Sturm Graz beat Marseille 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Cote d’Ivoire forward struck in the 13th minute after Luca Weinhandl capitalised on a poor attempted clearance by Kamissoko. Diakite controlled the opportunity and beat Jeffrey de Lange with a right-foot finish.

Marseille managed 19 attempts but placed only one on target, arriving in the 70th minute. The goal was Diakite’s first in the competition, following a hat-trick in the Austrian league. Sturm Graz moved up to 19th in the table.

Olaitan and Ndidi on target for Besiktas

Besiktas’s African players scored both goals in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in Istanbul.

Wilfred Ndidi opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, finishing with his left foot in the 45th minute plus two after being played through by a long pass.

Crystal Palace responded through Pino in the 51st minute and Jean-Philippe Mateta four minutes later. Junior Olaitan, introduced in the 64th minute, levelled in the 73rd with a low right-footed shot.

It was Olaitan’s first goal of the season and his first in European competition. Besiktas finished the match with 10 men and have seven points.

Dessers inspires Panathinaikos

Cyriel Dessers scored twice as Panathinaikos secured a 5-1 victory away to Kairat in Almaty in the Conference League.

The striker converted a penalty in the 24th minute to make it 2-0, then added his second shortly after half-time. His 47th-minute effort flew into the top-left corner after a pass from Andrews Tetteh.

Dessers was substituted in the 56th minute. He now has three goals in the competition this season and has matched Mikael Ishak as the leading scorer in Panathinaikos history. The Greek club have six points and sit top of the standings.

Salah leads Trabzonspor

Mohamed Salah scored and created another in Trabzonspor’s 2-0 win over Hearts.

He converted a penalty won by Franculino in the 32nd minute, before setting up his team-mate for the second goal in the 58th minute after a one-two.

Salah was replaced by Ozan Tufan in the 71st minute, having made his 150th appearance in UEFA competitions. The result was Trabzonspor’s fifth consecutive victory in all competitions under Thomas Reis, leaving them on six points after two games.

Arokodare breaks deadlock

Tolu Arokodare came off the bench for Marcos Leonardo and settled a tight match as Ajax beat Atalanta 2-0 at the Johan Cruijff Arena.

The Nigeria forward headed home a long ball from Youri Baas in the 87th minute to beat Marco Carnesecchi, then supplied the assist for young Abdellah Ouazane to score in stoppage time.

On loan from Wolverhampton, Arokodare has scored eight goals in nine appearances in all competitions for Ajax. The victory was Ajax’s first in this Conference League phase, giving them three points.