The Anglo-Nigerian and the South African made significant contributions for their respective clubs at Deepdale
Sheyi Ojo scored the match-winner while Tom Barkhuizen impressed as Cardiff City secured a 1-0 victory over Preston North End in Sunday’s Championship game.
Ojo teamed up with the Bluebirds on a season-long loan this summer from Premier League champions Liverpool.
The forward was afforded his fifth appearance for Neil Harris’ men at Deepdale and delivered an eye-catching performance.
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The 23-year-old opened his account for the Bluebirds while English-born South African Barkhuizen made an impressive contribution for the Lilywhites after coming off the bench.
Ojo started on the left-wing, supporting centre-forward Kieffer Moore in the Cardiff attack along with Joe Ralls and Junior Hoilett, who starred on the right-wing.
The game kicked off with both sides failing to open up each other’s defences after missing a number of goalscoring opportunities in the first half.
The Anglo-Nigerian then broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute after receiving a timely pass from Moore.
Ojo ran through with the ball before smashing his effort into the net past the helpless Preston goalkeeper Declan Rudd.
The strike proved significant as it was enough to help the Bluebirds clinch their second Championship win of the season.
Besides his strike, the forward had 32 touches on the ball and had a 77% successful pass rate in the encounter before he was replaced by Will Vaulks in the 79th minute.
Barkhuizen, on his part, played for 30 minutes after replacing Brad Potts and had 18 touches on the ball.
The South African’s efforts were, however, not enough to help his side avoid their third Championship defeat.
Ojo will hope to continue his scintillating performances in front of goal when Cardiff take on Bournemouth while Barkhuizen will look to get more minutes under his belt in Preston’s next outing against Queens Park Rangers on October 21.
