Yes, it's true: Mohamed Salah and Al-Nenni will be playing Champions League football this season thanks to the Basel's talisman Salah who played a huge part in Basel's progression to the group stage of the Champions League. After guiding his team to a 4-2 win over Ludogorets in Bulgaria with two goals and an assist, Salah was less impressive in the second leg but thanks to his first leg show, Basel knew the tie was already over. The second leg ended in a 2-0 win to Basel thanks to strikes from Fabian Frei and Philippe Degen. Salah played an average game and shone at parts but was nowhere near his first leg form as his teammates took care of the game this time and sealed a dream progression to the most prestigious tournament on the planet. Salah was replaced in the 70th minute to a stunning standing ovation from the home crowd who seem to acknowledge that Salah's goals in the first leg are the main reason their team will be playing with the European top guns this season. Al-Nenni was an unused substitute for this game as Murat Yakin preferred to rest the midfielder after playing too many games in too short a time. Basel was drawn in a tough Champions League group alongside Chelsea, Schalke and Steaua Bucharest with most of their fans hoping they can pip Schalke to second place in the group and snatch a spot in the next round alongside Chelsea who seem certain of topping the group. In the league, Basel registered a very important win over league leaders Young Boys 2-1 at home in a crazy three minutes. Both Salah and Al-Nenni started the game on the bench with Salah coming on in the 60th minute while Al-Nenni came on in the 88th minute. Young Boys took the lead in the 71st minute only to concede two goals in the following two minutes much to the delight of the home fans who celebrated a memorable week in which their team sealed a Champions League spot and defeated the league leaders to close the gap at the top. Salah, who played a part in the winning goal in the build up, nearly scored a wonder goal as he dribbled for 50 metres and got past the last defender in amazing fashion only to see his shot skim across the goal. Basel moved to second in the league table three points behind Young Boys. Ahmed Al-Mohamadi and Hull City could not register a second consecutive win in the Premier League as they lost to Man City 2-0 away from home. In truth, Hull City supporters were not too annoyed by the result as many pundits in English football expected a bigger score line in favour of Man City. However, Man City who are in the running with Chelsea and Man United to clinch the league title this season were surprisingly second best for most of the game. Hull City players seemed too determined and motivated during the 90 minutes and fought till the last second of the game where they conceded the second goal. Al-Mohamadi continued his brilliant form this season as he succeeded in diminishing the threat of David Silva, a task not many players in the Premier League succeed in. Al-Mohamadi was very focused from the very first minute and kept a close eye on the Spanish magician and managed to frustrate him time and time again with some brilliant tackles and close marking. However, Al-Mohamadi's defensive duties came at the expense of his attacking chores as he couldn't get forward as much as he would have liked because of Silva's minimal defensive contribution. After frustrating the home side for an hour, Hull conceded the first goal as new signing Alvaro Negredo headed home. The away side did not stop trying and had some chances to equalise but the lack of cutting edge in the team cost them badly until the Ivorian superstar sealed the win with a magnificent free kick with the last kick of the game. Still in England, Adam Al-Abd warmed the bench yet again as Brighton clinched an equaliser against Millwall in the last minute of the game that ended 1-1. With some gamed in the FA cup and Capital Cup coming up soon, Al-Abd will hope to get a chance to prove he can get back in the starting lineup. In Belgium, Hossam Ghali and Ahmed Samir Farag played the full game as Lierse managed to collect a point away from home as it drew 0-0 against Mechelen. Lierse players seemed motivated by their win in the previous week and played a very good game overall and came very close to scoring several times but the opponents' goalkeeper was in form. Ghali once again showed his undoubted talent with some exceptional key passes and amazing skill on the ball. He dictated the game very well from the middle of the park and rarely gave away the ball in a man of the match display. On the left flank, the powerful Farag was a nuisance to opponents throughout the game with his direct running, precise crossing and powerful shots. He came close to scoring in the second half but the keeper was on hand to deny him with a brilliant save. The draw meant Lierse dropped one place down to 12th. In Portugal, Rio Ave's brilliant start to the league campaign came to an end as they lost away to Arouca 1-0. After winning the first two games in the league without conceding a single goal, Rio Ave were hoping to extend their winning streak when they met Arouca who lost the first two games. However, the game was somehow dull with very few chances for both sides and only a goal in the 88th minute of the game saw the home side clinch all three points. Ahmed Hassan Kouka started the game but was substituted three minutes before his team conceded the only goal of the game. Kouka didn't get any clear-cut chances throughout the game as Arouca defended really well and made things difficult for Rio Ave but he still hassled and fought for every ball and managed to hold up the ball really well in tough situations. After a tiring performance from the young Egyptian striker, Kouka left the pitch in the 85th minute only to see his team conceding a last gasp goal from the bench to end their winning streak. The loss meant Rio Ave dropped one place down to third in the league title behind Porto and Sporting Lisbon respectively. In Italy, Ahmed Hegazi's Fiorentina managed to beat Genoa 5-2 away from home to make it two wins out of two after beating Catania 2-1 in their first league of the campaign. Hegazi once again missed the game through injury as unfortunately he injured himself in training just one week before the start of the league. However, Hegazi is expected to return to full training in 10 days. Arab and African: African player of the year Yaya Toure scored a screamer in Man City's 2-0 home win over Mohamadi's Hull City to make it two goals from two free kicks in three games. In Germany, Senegalese striker Mame Diouf scored the first goal for his team and assisted another as Hannover defeated Mainz 4-1. In France, Ivorian star Koffi Romaric scored the second goal and the winning one for Bastia as they defeated Toulouse 2-1 at home. Still in France, Cameroonian striker Pate Abu-Bakr scored the only goal of the game as Lorient defeated Valenciennes at home.
