History was made on Saturday when Gambian international and Swansea forward Modou Barrow became the first Gambian footballer to score a goal in the Barclays English Premier League, as his Swansea side was beaten away to AFC Bournemouth 3-2 at the Vitality Stadium.
Barrow’s 39th minute eye-catching strike means 95 different nationalities have now scored in the famous Barclays Premier League.
Max Gradel’s first goal since returning from a six-month suspension gave Bournemouth the lead in the 37th minute, but that sparked Swansea into life as the threatening Barrow equalised two minutes later.
Barrow rushed up the right flank and tricked his way inside Charlie Daniels before finding the net with a low drive.
The home side retook the lead early in the second half through Joshua King. King, whose father is Gambian, beat Lukasz Fabianski at his near-post in the 50th minute. Swansea equalised in the 62nd minute through Sigurdsson who hammered home from 12 yards out after good work by the Gambian forward Mo Barrow on the right, as both sides continued to push forward in numbers.
Steve Cook’s 78th minute header clinched a third successive victory for AFC Bournemouth as they beat Swansea to take another huge step towards survival.
Swansea, meanwhile, remain eight points clear of the bottom three, with rock-bottom Aston Villa their next opponents at the Liberty Stadium.
Shortly after the game, the highly-fancied Gambian and Swansea forward Barrow took to his Facebook Page to thank God, his friends and fans in the UK, The Gambia and Sweden. “Am happy to represent my country [The Gambia],” he posted.
In spite of his much celebrated goal by all Gambians, the lad said his side deserved more and that he was not happy with the final result.
A game to be ever-remembered by the striker, Barrow told the Swansea TV that he was happy to have the first goal because his teammates kept pushing him. “The fans wanted me to score and finally I can get that off my mind and focus getting more goals instead,”
said Barrow, who is tipped to be among the foreign-based players invited by coach Sang Ndong for the game against Mauritania later this month.
By Alieu Ceesay