Catch up on the performances of players of Nigerian descent in the <span class=\"_xJh\">UEFA Europa League First qualifying round</span>, <span class=\"_xJh\">Game 1 on Thursday. <br /><br />Ex-Golden Eaglets star </span><b>Abdullahi Alfa </b>remained on the bench in Ventspils&rsquo; 2-0 win at home against&nbsp; Vikingur.<br /><br /><b>Taye Taiwo </b>and<b> Nnamdi Oduamadi</b> both started at the Central stadium of Klaip&#279;da as HJK Helsinki defeated Atlantas Klaipeda. The AC Milan loanee subbed out in the 88th minute. Teammate <b>Vincent Onovo</b> is injured and was not involved.<br /><br />Malta international&nbsp; <b>Alfred Effiong </b>worked a ninety-minute shift in attack for Maltese club Balzan in their 2-0 loss to FK Neftchi.<br /><br />Super Eagles midfielder <b>Dickson Etuhu</b> is few weeks away from full recovery and was missing from the AIK lineup that beat Bala Town 2-0 at the Friends Arena.<br /><br /><b>Paul Onuachu</b> played the entirety of FC Midtjylland&rsquo;s 1-0 win against Suduva and scored the game-winner nine minutes out of intermission.<br /><br />In a Nordic affair, <b>Chukwuma Akabueze </b>lasted the distance as Odd Grenland (Norway) beat IFK Mariehamn (Finland) 2-0 at Skagerak Arena.<br /><br /><b>Nosa Igiebor</b> opened scoring in the 13th minute before grabbing his second in the 69th minute as Maccabi Tel Aviv thrashed <b>Bede Amarachi Osuji</b>&rsquo;s Gorica 3-0.<br /><br />The Nigeria international was in action for ninety minutes, whereas Osuji subbed out 20 minutes before the end of the contest.<br /><br /><b>Joseph Mbong</b> and Hibernians have a mountain to climb in their bid to qualify for the next round after losing 3-0 to&nbsp; Spartak Trnava . The Malta youth international was introduced in the 88th minute.<br /> <div class=\"ply tright\" title=\"Spartak Trnava\"><br /><span>Heart of Midlothian will take a slim lead to Estonia after managing a 2-1 win versus</span> Infonet Tallinn. Left back <b>Juwon Oshaniwa </b>was not involved for the Scots. <br /><br />Former USA U20 star <b>William Oluremi John</b> started and played for 69 minutes as Finnish team RoPS defeated Shamrock Rovers 2-0 in Dublin. <br /><br />Ifeanyi Emmanuel<br /><span></span><br />Photo Credit : maccabi-tlv.co.il<br /></div>