West Ham United defender, Angelo Ogbonna, has admitted frustration missing Italy’s Euros squad. Ogbonna feels his form with the Irons was enough to earn him a place in coach Roberto Mancini’s selection. The former Juventus defender told Sky Italia: “For me it was a positive year, our goal was salvation and we managed to grab the Europa League. “I was saddened by the lack of a call-up, I can’t hide it, but I’m very happy with the path of our national team, the approach to the matches is totally different than in other years. In my case, I think there was little meritocracy but the coach will have had his reasons for making such choices. “But it is my analysis, it is not a criticism of the coach. But after such a year…” Asked if he was penalised for not playing in Italy, Ogbonna added: “I do...
Arsenal set an unwanted record during Thursday night’s Europa League draw with Benfica which ended 1-1 after being caught offside 10 times. A Bukayo Saka equaliser saw Arsenal fight back from a goal down to snatch a draw – and an all-important away goal – in their Europa League last-32 first-leg clash in Rome. Incredibly, the North Londoners were caught offside a staggering 10 times, which is more than any other Premier League side in all competitions this season. Club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was responsible for four of those. The previous record had been held by Manchester United, who were flagged eight times during their goalless Premier League draw with Liverpool last month. Crystal Palace were caught offside seven times in their 7-0 home mauling at the hands of Liverpool in D...
Anambra State has recorded 89 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in its second wave, bringing the total confirmed cases in the state to 169 as of January 13, C-Don Adinuba, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, has said. Mr Adinuba, in an interview with newsmen on Thursday in Awka, urged the citizens of the state to shield themselves from the COVID-19 pandemic following the second wave in Nigeria. He said the need to repeat the precautionary call was as a result of a considerable increase across the state, with 453 confirmed cases and 334 persons discharged. According to him, it is a worrisome situation with the state having recorded a total of 14,267 tests done. He appealed to the public to comply with all precautionary measures in order to sustain the health safety m...
File Photo The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company said five power towers were damaged by suspected vandals at the Elelenwo transmission substation in Obio/Apkor Local Government Area, plunging several communities in Rivers State into darkness. Acting Head, Corporate Communications, PHED, Ngozi Koroye, who disclosed this to newsmen in Port Harcourt, said the installation belongs to the Transmission Company of Nigeria. Koroye explained that the action of the hoodlums caused extensive damage to the facility, noting that the company felt the pains of residents in the affected areas who have been in darkness for over one month. “The outage though regrettable is as a result of extensive damage caused by the activities of electricity vandals to towers 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55. Five towe...
Leeds boss kicks against fans returning to stadiums
Marcelo Bielsa has demanded Premier League chiefs block fans returning to grounds until all 20 top-flight clubs can reopen their turnstiles. Under the new Covid tier system, half of Premier League clubs will still not be allowed supporters from Wednesday, while the other ten can have 2,000. Leeds are in Tier 3 and must keep fans locked out – with boss Bielsa saying: “If fans are not allowed in all stadiums, then they should not be allowed until everyone can. “Clubs shouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of being in a category. It should be about trying to maintain the competition as equally as possible.” Arsenal will become the first Prem team to welcome fans back since March when they host Rapid Vienna in the Europa League on Thursday. While West Ham’s Prem clash with Manchester Uni...