Can Omar Marmoush take advantage of Erling Haaland’s absence at Manchester City?

With Erling Haaland set for a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury, Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush has been handed a chance to shine, and he showed in the FA Cup quarterfinals against AFC Bournemouth.

Egypt’s Marmoush arrived at City heralded as one of Pep Guardiola’s principal building blocks, but the forward demonstrated against Bournemouth on the weekend why he may yet be the man to salvage what has been a miserable season for the reigning English champions.

City could have been forgiven for believing, once again, that a disastrous campaign was about to take another wretched turn on Sunday, after Kepa Arrizabalaga had saved Erling Haaland’s penalty and Evanilson had then given the Cherries a 1-0 lead to put them on course for their first FA Cup semifinal.

Haaland equalised for City, but Bournemouth appeared primed to grow in stature when he was replaced through injury on the hour-mark — with Dango Ouattara entering the fray and the home fans sniffing an upset.

However, Marmoush had other ideas.

He required only two minutes after replacing Haaland to score the go-ahead goal, meeting the outstanding Nico O’Reilly’s cross, taking one touch to control the ball, then shooting beyond Kepa — who arguably should have kept the attempt out.

Ghana’s Antoine Semenyo must take some blame, misjudging a loose ball and allowing O’Reilly to steal possession and delivering his key assist.

Marmoush had another opportunity to convert City’s increasing dominance to goals late on, only to be denied in the goalmouth by Illia Zabarnyi. His winner concluded a strong end to March, with the forward also nominated for the Premier League Goal of the Month award for his superb finish in the 2-2 home draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

The North African now has five goals for City after arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt during the January transfer window; it’s not yet the scoring rate he produced in Germany, but the 26-year-old continues to prove he’s a player for today… as well as a prospect for the future.

And with Haaland sidelined for potentially the best part of two months, Guardiola will need Marmoush to step into a key role for the Sky Blues — most likely to be leading the line in the Norwegian’s absence. He’ll have opportunities to star in the Manchester derby on April 6, the FA Cup semi against Nottingham Forest on April 26, and, depending on Haaland’s recovery, potentially even the final itself.

Could Palace and Sarr be lying in wait for City at Wembley?

The Eagles have to get past Aston Villa in the semifinals, but they will fancy their chances after a resounding 3-0 victory at Fulham that extended their winning streak to five matches in all competitions.

Palace have scored 14 goals during that run, with Senegal’s Sarr posting four in five games after his near-post header — meeting an excellent Eberechi Eze cross — put Palace 2-0 up at Craven Cottage.

“Sarr, for this team, is brilliant,” ex-Premier League and England defender Micah Richards said on the ‘Rest is Football’ podcast after the match. “He just doesn’t stop running. I remember when he was at Watford and he was linked to Liverpool for about £45million; it never happened and things sort of went a little downhill for him.”

The wideman is certainly bouncing back in London, with the goal against Fulham his seventh for the Eagles this season.

“He’s gone to Palace, and now he’s looking like the player of a couple of seasons ago,” Richards said. “He’s just really athletic, but gets in the right areas. His movement looks like it’s gotten sharper as well, so it’s nice to see him doing well.”

Sarr has featured in different roles at times in his career, but Glasner’s commitment to using him in his favoured right-wing position is helping both player and club; no Palace player has created more goal-scoring chances than the 27-year-old since he established himself in the starting XI.

His form has helped the Eagles move into 12th in the Premier League, and their confidence could help them emerge as the FA Cup’s dark horses.

Super Eagles duo Boniface and Osimhen both harbour hopes of ending the season with a domestic league championship before — potentially — being at the heart of major transfers this summer.

Boniface is the outsider, with reigning German Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen six points off Bayern Munich with seven games to play.

The league leaders ended a two-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory over St. Pauli at the weekend, but Boniface ensured Bayer kept pace as they dispatched VfL Bochum 3-1 at home.

The Nigerian restored the hosts’ lead on the hour mark, after Felix Passlack had cancelled out Aleix García’s opener, before Amine Adli secured all three points in the dying minutes of the contest.

It wasn’t Boniface’s most testing finish this season, as he touched the ball into an empty goal from two yards out after Piero Hincapié’s cross had evaded Timo Horn in the Bochum goal.

This was Boniface’s eighth goal of the Bundesliga season, and the striker earned praise from head coach Xabi Alonso in the aftermath of the triumph.

“[Boniface] did well,” Alonso asaid. “Boni is back at a good level and can certainly play from the start [in Tuesday’s German Cup semifinal against Arminia Bielefeld]. “With him, we’ve got flexibility. He can play as a centre-forward or as a winger.”

Leverkusen face an uphill struggle to unseat Bayern, but the DFB-Pokal represents a decent opportunity for silverware as Boniface’s time in Germany potentially comes to an end.

In Turkey, Osimhen’s hopes of ending the season undefeated with Galatasaray — and emulating Boniface’s feat with Bayer last term — were extinguished as the Super Lig leaders lost 2-1 at rivals Besiktas.

This was their first loss in 28 league games, with Osimhen wholly failing to impose himself as Gala — down to 10 men after 36 minutes – — were unable to respond after Gedson Fernandes ‘s 66th-minute winner.

Osimhen scored three times in two matches for Nigeria during the international break, but he appeared out of sorts in the Istanbul derby — with none of his four shots hitting the target. His passing was also wayward on occasion, with the striker appearing to be missing the fine chemistry he’d previously enjoyed with his teammates.

The goalless display ended his outstanding streak of nine goals in five matches for club and country in all competitions, although he remains atop the Super Lig’s goal charts — two clear of his nearest rival with eight games still to play.

Gala remain six points clear of Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the league, with the pair set to meet in the Turkish Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Osimhen’s Nigerian compatriot Iheanacho has endured a tough return to English football after signing for Middlesbrough on loan from Sevilla in February.

His half a season in Spain was miserable and goalless, and things at the Riverside Stadium were shaping up to go the same way, with the 28-year-old failing to net in his first seven matches for Boro.

Indeed, while he netted for Sevilla in the Copa del Rey, Iheanacho hadn’t scored a league goal since bagging in Leicester City’s 3-1 victory at Swansea City in October 2023.

Middlesbrough were trailing 1-0 at home against Oxford United when Iheanacho finally ended his drought, meeting a Samuel Iling-Junior cross to equalise for Michael Carrick’s side.

The goal set the hosts on their way to victory, with Anglo-Congolese wideman Iling-Junior registering another assist when Neto Borges scored the winner 10 minutes from time.

“[Iheanacho] has played at a level, and goals make you feel a bit better, naturally,” coach Carrick said after the match. “I wasn’t concerned, I knew he would score, and hopefully he has got more in him. I am sure he has. It was a massive goal for us.”

Iheanacho had attempted 13 shots in seven matches before the Oxford game, and he clearly swelled with confidence after scoring — adding a five further shots during the course of the match, his highest tally this term.

He also created two goalscoring chances, although the Nigerian will acknowledge the influence of left-sider Iling-Junior, whose star qualities in wide areas could encourage Boro fans that they can muscle their way into the playoffs.

The Villa loanee’s precise crosses have added another weapon to Boro’s arsenal, and, along with Iheanacho, could fuel Middlesbrough’s hopes of a Premier League return.