Ivory Coast striker Arouna Kone was among the stars as Wigan stunned Manchester City 1-0 at the weekend to lift the FA Cup trophy for the first time.

The African star with the blond dyed hair troubled City throughout with his running and now turns his attention to keeping the cup winners in the Premier League.

Unfashionable Wigan visit Arsenal on Tuesday and host Aston Villa on Sunday, needing to win both ganes to be sure of avoiding relegation.

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Ivorian Yaya Toure, South African Steven Pienaar and Kenyan Dennis Oliech were among the African scorers in the top European football leagues at the weekend.

Reigning African Footballer of the Year Toure collected his ninth goal of the season and first since February for deposed English Premier League champions Manchester City with a late thunderbolt in a 2-1 home win over West Ham.

Retired South Africa captain and midfielder Pienaar scored the only goal as Everton edged Fulham while in France Kenya striker Oliech netted in stoppage time to earn struggling Ajaccio a key 2-1 win over Montpellier.

Lille threw away a massive three-goal advantage to draw 3:3 against visitors Sochaux in the French Ligue 1 on Friday night.

Cote d'Ivoire striker Salomon Kalou netted twice in the opening half to give Lille a 2:0 lead at the break and Montenegro defender Marko Basa made it 3:0 in the 48th minute.

A late rally however saw Sochaux score three goals in eight minutes to snatch a point.

Veteran Mali defender Cedric Kante started the fight-back with a goal on 79 minutes before French midfielder Vincent Nogueira bagged two quick goals in the 83rd and 87th minutes to ensure the draw.

Record four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o scored for Russian big spenders Anzhi Makhachkala at the weekend on his return from a knee injury.

However, the Cameroonian star could not prevent Dynamo Moscow fighting back to force a 3-3 draw and leave Anzhi third in the table, 10 points behind leaders CSKA Moscow with five rounds left.

Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon was on target for the second consecutive week, with his late first-half goal giving lowly Sunderland a 1-0 home victory over Everton.

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African stars had mixed luck in the FA Cup semi-finals at the weekend with Ivorian Arouna Kone helping Wigan triumph while a superb goal from Senegalese Demba Ba could not prevent Chelsea going out.

Kone burst clear of several defenders to create the first goal as Wigan took time off from an English Premier League relegation struggle to defeat second-tier Millwall 2-0 and earn a first FA Cup final appearance.

Ba scored with an acrobatic half-volley for Chelsea to halve a two-goal deficit against fellow giants Manchester City, but an equaliser eluded the title-holders at a packed Wembley stadium.

Nigeria striker Victor Anichebe netted his sixth goal of the season for Everton to seal a 2:0 win over relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers in the English Premier League on Saturday.

The 24-year-old, who has been shut out of the Super Eagles in recent games, turned a loose ball home in the 56th minute to atone for a huge miss just minutes earlier when he hit the post from close range with just the goalkeeper to beat.

In the Ukraine, AFCON star Ideye Brown finally broke his seven-game barren run (five in the league) when he scored the only goal of the game to help his team Dinamo Kiev beat hosts Karpaty 1:0 today.

Papiss Demba Cisse was the toast of Newcastle at the weekend after scoring the late English Premier League goal that secured a 1-0 victory over Fulham and eased relegation worries.

The Senegalese goal poacher has made a habit of snatching last-gasp goals lately, including one against Anzhi Makhachkala of Russia that lifted the Magpies into the last eight of the Europa League.

Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor was another African scorer in the Premier League, putting Tottenham Hotspur ahead just 34 seconds into a thriller against visiting Everton that ended in a 2-2 draw.

Senegal striker Papiss Cisse netted a superb last-gasp winner for his relegation-threatened club Newcastle to ensure a 1:0 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Sunday.

The three points moved Newcastle five points clear of the relegation zone and would ease survival fears as the Magpies rose to 13th place.

Cisse, who scored just three days ago in a Europa Cup defeat to Benfica, had threatened several times, but finally had his break three minutes into stoppage time when he latched on to a loose ball and scored from close range.

The Teranga Lion was mobbed by his club's fans in the stands after he joined them for celebrations.

Mozambique international Simao Mate says he is looking forward to being part of a growing club after completing his move to Levante.

The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Valencia-based side after parting ways with Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng earlier this year.

The defensive midfielder says he has been following the Granotes’ rise over the past two seasons and believes he will adapt easily to their playing style

"The president told me about the project and what they are trying to do with this club, I found it interesting and that’s the reason I chose Levante,” Simao told reporters.

Mozambique defensive midfielder Simao Mate has joined Spanish club Levante on a two-year contract.

The 24-year-old last played with Shandong Luneng in the Chinese Super League, but new coach Radomir Antic released him earlier this year.

Simao said he has followed Levante over the past two years and liked the club's style, adding "I hope that you guys will also like me as a player.''

He also said he needed to train some more to recover full match fitness.

Club president Francisco Catalan believes "this signing will enrich our squad,'' and said that Simao fulfilled one of the team's technical needs.