Alex Iwobi Threatens Kolo Toure's Record As African Star With Most Matches Played In English Premier League

Fulham of England midfielder, Alex Iwobi on Saturday edged closer towards equalling the record of most matches played by an African in the English Premier League, which is currently held by Kolo Toure, one of his former teammates at Arsenal. Sports247 reports that, for now, Iwobi will be content to know that his appearance against Coventry City on Saturday took him level with Egypt's former Liverpool winger, Mohammed Salah, at 328 appearances apiece in the EPL.

Iwobi would also be happy that his latest milestone in the EPL came on an evening when his club secured a 1-0 win over the team of Frank Onyeka and Taiwo Awoniyi. While Iwobi's outing took him level with Salah as joint-second African player with most appearances in EPL history, the Super Eagles' star still has to play 25 more games to catch up with Toure, as the Ivory Coast defender pooled 353 matches in his glorious run at Arsenal and Manchester City.

Iwobi, though, stands to become the sole second placed African on the log, following the exit of Salah to Trabzonspor of Turkey, where the Egyptian ace continues waxing strong with his haul of goals for Paul Onuachu's side. As it were for Iwobi, who currently has a total of 22,898 minutes under his boots in the EPL, he will move clear of Salah into sole second should he feature for Fulham away to Aston Villa in their next fixture.

"Iwobi made his presence felt against Frank Lampard's men, registering 60 touches and 51 passes with an impressive passing accuracy of 86.3%. He also contributed two key passes.

Defensively, the former Everton and Arsenal midfielder recorded one tackle before making way in the 73rd minute for Cesar Palacios."