Yakubu Aiyegbeni came back to Merseyside and Everton gave him a performance to celebrate: a composed, commanding 3-0 win over Chelsea that lifted them firmly into the European conversation.
Supporters were singing his chant outside the ground before kick-off had even been confirmed. Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Nigeria’s all-time leading scorer in the Premier League, made an emotional return to Merseyside on Saturday as Everton delivered a 3-0 hammering of Chelsea that felt like a proper send-off for a club legend. The 43-year-old, still fondly known as “The Yak” on the blue half of Merseyside, received a welcome that underlined just how deeply his time at Everton still resonates with supporters more than a decade after his final appearance.
The result itself had real significance beyond the occasion. Everton climbed the table with three commanding points against a Chelsea side that needed the win to keep pace in the top-four race. The timing of Yakubu’s visit, combined with the quality of the performance, gave Everton supporters one of the more satisfying afternoons of their season.
Beto Does the Damage
Portuguese striker Beto was the man of the match on the day Yakubu returned, which felt appropriately poetic. A powerful number nine delivering for Everton, just as The Yak once did. Beto broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute after being played through by James Garner, finishing calmly past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. He then doubled the lead just after the hour mark, squeezing a low shot through Sanchez’s legs to all but seal the points.
The third goal arrived in the 76th minute when Beto turned provider, teeing up Iliman Ndiaye, who cut inside and fired a powerful effort into the top corner. Chelsea had no answer for Everton’s intensity and organisation across all 90 minutes, and the result leaves them with questions to answer in their own pursuit of a Champions League place. Everton fans who want to back their side in upcoming fixtures can check the Bet9ja welcome offer page before the next round of Premier League games.
The Yak’s Legacy in Numbers
Yakubu Aiyegbeni holds a record that may stand for a very long time: 95 Premier League goals in 252 appearances, the highest tally by any Nigerian in the competition’s history. He scored those goals across five different clubs, including Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers, but it was his time at Everton where he built his cult status. He joined from Middlesbrough in 2007 for what was then a club-record fee and scored on his debut before going on to net 21 times in his first season, becoming the first Everton player in more than a decade to reach the 20-goal mark in a single campaign.
What Nigerian football fans remember is the power and the penalties, the physical menace he brought to defences across the league, and the sheer volume of goals. Four hat-tricks in the Premier League place him among the most prolific African strikers the competition has seen. His record remains a marker against which every Nigerian striker who has followed him in the league is measured. With Victor Osimhen nursing a broken arm back in Lagos, the question of who might eventually challenge that tally feels more distant than ever. Nigerian bettors who want to track Premier League odds this weekend can get started with the YOHAIG Bet9ja code before the midweek fixtures begin.
A Visit That Said Everything
The warmth of the reception Yakubu received outside the stadium was a reminder that Premier League cult status transcends the immediate moment. Everton have had many players since Yakubu who have contributed more in terms of squad value or longevity, but few who left such a visceral impression on the fanbase. The chant “Feed the Yak and he will score” is one of the more affectionate pieces of football songwriting in recent Premier League history, and the fact that supporters still belt it out when he returns says everything about the bond.
It was a fitting backdrop for a result that does genuine good for Everton’s season. With the European places crowded and every result now decisive, a 3-0 win over one of the top-four contenders is the kind of performance that can shift momentum for a run-in. Fans from Nigeria following Everton’s push for Europe can find the latest Bet9ja odds and match previews explained at the today’s Bet9ja promo code page.
📌 Did You Know?
- Yakubu Aiyegbeni’s 95 Premier League goals place him 26th on the all-time scoring list for the competition. He scored more top-flight goals in England than Nigerian legends Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Odion Ighalo combined.
- The famous “Feed the Yak and he will score” chant sung by Everton supporters was adapted from a more generic football chant and given specific lyrics celebrating Yakubu’s predatory instincts in the penalty area. It has endured at Goodison long after his departure in 2011.
- Yakubu scored four goals in a single Premier League match twice in his career: once for Middlesbrough against Charlton Athletic and once for Everton against West Bromwich Albion. Only three other players have scored four or more in a Premier League game for two separate clubs.
- Chelsea have not beaten Everton at Goodison Park in their last five visits, a run stretching back to 2021. Saturday’s result extended that sequence and underlines a persistent problem the Blues have at grounds where they struggle to impose their usual possession-based dominance.
- Beto, who scored twice in Saturday’s win, joined Everton from Udinese in 2023. His path through Italian football mirrors that of several Nigerian strikers who used Serie A as a platform for Premier League moves, though he is Portuguese and made his career in different circumstances.
- Marco Materazzi, who was also present at the game, famously received a red card for a foul on Yakubu during a Serie A match in Italy earlier in his career. The two men shared the stadium on Saturday under considerably less contentious circumstances.
- Yakubu was born in Benin City, Edo State, making him one of the most prominent footballers to have come from the same city that produced John Obi Mikel, a remarkable concentration of talent from a single urban area across two generations of Nigerian football.
