Minutes
AFCONQ: Super Eagles beat Crocodiles to end campaign unbeaten
Nigeria ended the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with a 3-0 victory over Lesotho at Teslim Balogun Stadium. Victor Osimhen, Oghenekaro Etebo and Paul Onuachu strikes helped the Super Eagles to end the Afcon campaign unbeaten and finished at the top of the Group L table with 14 points. Nigeria headed into the encounter, having already secured their place at the biennial tournament, scheduled for Cameroon. Coach Gernot Rohr made a few changes to the team that started their 1-0 victory over the Republic of Benin at Stade Charles de Gaulle on Friday. The German tactician started Francis Uzoho Etebo and Tyronne Ebuehi who did not feature against the Squirrels in Porto Novo. Iwobi also returned to the starting XI after missing his side’s last outing as he tested positive for Covid-19 befo...
10 including police officer killed in Colorado mass shooting
Ten people including a police officer were killed on Monday in a mass shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, near the Rocky Mountains in northern Colorado. Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said that the 51-year-old officer, Eric Talley, was one of the first responders at the scene. She called his actions heroic. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said that the alleged shooter was injured and in custody. Herold said that police began receiving calls about shots fired and a call about a person with a “patrol rifle’’ at 2:30 p.m. Talley was one of the first officers at the scene and was fatally shot. “This is a very complex investigation that will take no less than five days to complete,’’ Herold said at a news conference. CNN cited an unnamed senior law enforcement source a...
Asisat Oshoala cleared to return for Barcelona despite Fortuna Hjorring injury
Asisat Oshoala’s absence from Barcelona victory over Santa Teresa will not prevent her from taking part in Wednesday’s second leg against Fortuna Hjorring in the Women’s Champions League. The Nigerian featured in the final 13 minutes for Lluis Cortes’ team, after replacing hat-trick hero Jenni Hermoso at Estadi Johan Cruyff, as the Spanish champions cruised to a 4-0 first-leg victory. Oshoala was forced to watch the last match against Santa from the sidelines, having been left out due to an injury on her right foot. Besides the Nigerian, teammates Lieke Martens and Andrea Falcon also missed the Santa trip due to discomfort in their knees on Friday. Ahead of their trip to Denmark, Oshoala and Martens, however, were cleared to make the Barcelona squad to Hjorring for the second leg match. Th...
Carlo Ancelotti: Everton not at Chelsea level
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted his side had been second best all night during their defeat at Chelsea stating the Meyserside club are not at the same level with the Blues. An own goal by Ben Godfrey and a second half penalty from Jorginho consigned Everton to a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, leaving them four points adrift of Chelsea in fourth but with a match in hand still. Chelsea dominated the fixture and could have won by a bigger margin, with Kai Havertz also having a goal ruled out in the second half for handball. And Ancelotti claimed that his side have plenty of work to do before now and the end of the season if they want to somehow battle it out right to the very end with the likes of Chelsea for a Champions League spot. “They played better than us,’ Ancelotti told BT Sp...
Bundesliga: RB Leipzig knock Bayern Munich from top after romp at Freiburg
RB Leipzig climbed top of the Bundesliga on Saturday with a 3-0 romp at Freiburg to replace previous leaders Bayern Munich, who later host Dortmund in Germany’s ‘Klassiker’. Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emil Forsberg scored the goals in Freiburg which lifted Leipzig one point ahead of Bayern, who are at home to Dortmund (1730GMT). “That was a mature performance,” Leipzig sports director Markus Kroesche told Sky. “Anything is possible,” he replied when asked if Leipzig can stop Bayern winning a ninth straight league title this season. Leipzig impressed in their final tune-up before facing Liverpool in Budapest next Wednesday in the last 16 of the Champions League having lost the first leg 2-0. Leipzig took the lead at Freiburg after a first-half blunder by home goalkeeper Flori...
Dimitar Berbatov warns Manchester United’s Shola Shoretire not to relax
Manchester United Double winner, Dimitar Berbatov, has warned Shola Shoretire not to relax. The 17-year-old came off the bench to make his senior debut against Newcastle at the weekend, playing the final minutes in what he described as a “dream come true”. Berbatov told Betfair: “It is a great moment for a player at 17 to make his debut at Old Trafford. He must have shown something in training and the youth teams which made that happen. “He has made the first step and now the difficult thing is to show Ole and the coaching staff that he can back that up. He has to prove he belongs there. He just needs to keep pushing and show himself in the eyes of the coaching staff. “In Shola’s situation, you must train like your life depends on it. “You need to show everyone that you are here and are wa...
Victor Osimhen likens his unconscious 30 minutes to a brain reset
Super Eagles and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen has said his 30 minutes of unconsciousness Sunday, ‘felt like a brain reset’ Osimhen was discharged to return to Naples on Monday after spending the night under observation at a hospital in Bergamo following an alarming collapse towards the end of the club’s 4-2 Serie A defeat by Atalanta on Sunday. Osimhen was knocked unconscious in a scary incident during the final minutes of the game after a challenge with Cristian Romero; he was stretchered off the pitch and taken directly to hospital. A close adviser to the player told ESPN that a disoriented Osimhen was shocked when he saw the video of the incident. “He could not believe it when they showed him the video from the incident,” the adviser said. “He said it felt like a brain reset.” Multiple...
Leon Balogun impresses at right back in Europa League for Rangers
Super Eagles center back Leon Balogun impressed in a right-back role as Rangers won in a seven -goal thriller in the Europa League round of 32 clash against Royal Antwerp at Bosuilstadion on Thursday night. With 24 minutes played, the Nigeria international came off the bench to replace Rangers skipper James Tavernier, who was not able to continue due to an injury. The right-back position is not entirely new to Balogun as he has played in that role for the national team, Mainz and Brighton & Hove. In fact, he made his debut for the Super Eagles as a right-back when he replaced Efe Ambrose in the second half of a pre-World Cup friendly against Mexico in March 2014. “I was back to an old role and I was happy I can still play it,” Balogun said at yesterday’s press conference. “I think the ...
RB Leipzig boss: Liverpool players knew they were lucky
RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann dismissed Liverpool’s performance for last night’s victory over the Germans. Liverpool took full advantage of errors in Leipzig’s defence to go ahead through a quick-fire double from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in the second half. The away win at Budapest’s Puskas Arena puts the Reds in control of the Champions League last-16 tie, but Leipzig boss Nagelsmann was not convinced his side were second-best. “When you win, you’re always right,” he said. “We earned a lot of respect in the 90 minutes. “And what I noticed when I left the field, the Liverpool players did not use the words “deserved victory”. “We were definitely not worse and certainly not by two goals.” Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for D...
Senate asked to probe public hearing on medical council bill
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), the umbrella body of health workers in the country, has demanded that Senate probe the recent public hearing of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Bill as it accused Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, of disenfranchising its members. JOHESU Chairman, Comrade Joy Bio Josiah flayed what he called “vindictive and discriminatory” attitude of Dr. Oloriegbe against other medical professional bodies as he gave his constituency, MDC and NMA more time to canvass their views on the contentious bill. “We challenge Oloriegbe and the NMA to produce video and audio evidence contrary to this. The point here is Oloriegbe does not understand the philosophy and basics of running Public Hearings because he pointedly domina...
AC Milan ready to pay €30 million for Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz
AC Milan are willing to pay as much as €30 million (£26m/$36m) to land Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz, with the 21-year-old having made a positive impact during his loan spell with the Serie A side. Goal can reveal that Milan bosses are keen to make the loan move permanent and, although they do not have a purchase option, they are keen to discuss a transfer with Madrid. While Brahim has always wanted to succeed at the Bernabeu, Madrid will now weigh up whether to keep him beyond the end of the 2020-21 campaign or sell for what would be a significant amount amid the coronavirus crisis. Following his loan switch to Milan in September 2020, Brahim immediately took to life in Italy and has become an important member of Stefano Pioli’s first-team squad. He has made 25 appearances in all compet...
Manchester United boss seeks team’s cutting edge after Arsenal stalemate
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United’s forwards need to be more clinical after a 0-0 draw at an under-strength Arsenal dealt a second setback to their Premier League title challenge in four days. United threw away top spot with a shock 2-1 defeat by bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United in midweek and are now three points adrift of league leaders Manchester City having played a game more than their local rivals. The quartet of Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes have now scored just once in United’s last five league games. Cavani was the biggest threat for the visitors with two second-half efforts that flew just wide, but Arsenal were worthy of at least a point despite missing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka and Kieran Tierney. “We come awa...
