Season
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
Pep Guardiola: Manchester City miss Sergio Aguero
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola opened up on his side’s goal scoring troubles after a goalless draw against Man United. He also talked about missing star striker Sergio Aguero. He said: “We miss Sergio but for the last six months, not just today, he was injured a lot of times. One step at a time, he still isn’t fit”. “Other players are working hard. Today he had a problem in his stomach and couldn’t make a session. He was at home”. “Of course, we miss Sergio, he is the best striker in Manchester City’s history”. “In the next short time, we will go without him and I am sure when he is fit, he will be back.” Sergio Aguero missed the Manchester derby due to sickness. The Argentine has been absent for much of City’s season till now. He was carrying an injury into the start of the new sea...
Police arrest kidnapper of ex-Ekiti commissioner
Ekiti Police Command said it has arrested one person in connection with the kidnap of a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state, Mr Folorunsho Olabode. The suspect was among those paraded by Mr Sunday Abutu, the command’s Public Relations Officer, in Ado-Ekiti for their alleged involvement in various criminal activities. Abutu said that the suspect was arrested inside a forest at Ilemeso-Ekiti in Oye Local Government area of the state. “During interrogation, the suspect confessed to being a member of the syndicate that kidnapped Mr Folorunso Olabode, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state,” he said. The police spokesman said that the suspect also mentioned other members of his gang, including the two who had earlier been arrested, prosecuted and were now being remanded...
DPR shuts down seven filling stations in Rivers
File Photo The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says it has closed seven Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) retail outlets in Rivers for operating without valid licences. Bassey Nkanga, Zonal Operations Controller of the agency, made the disclosure during a meeting with Petroleum Products Marketers Association and Petrol Tankers Drivers Union (PTD) on Friday in Port Harcourt. Mr. Nkanga said the enforcement of safety requirements/sanction against violators became necessary to support effective regulation in the downstream sector. “We are in a very peculiar season, the harmattan season when fire incidents usually occur at filling stations. This challenge had, in most cases, occurred as a result of avoidable mistakes, hence, the need to step up safety consciousness amongst stakeholders in ...
Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal transfer European form into Premier League
Mikel Arteta has demanded Arsenal transfer their Europa League form into the Premier League, where he says his side need to start winning matches “immediately”. Goals from Eddie Nketiah, Mohamed Elneny, Joe Willock and Folarin Balogun helped the Gunners ease past Irish side Dundalk 4-2 in Dublin on Thursday to finish top of Group B with a 100 per cent record – the first time they have won six successive European matches since 2005. That fine European form is in sharp contrast to their domestic struggles, where the club have lost six out of their last nine matches to slump to 15th in the table. With the Europa League now finished with until February, Arsenal can focus all their attention on domestic competition, with Arteta stressing the urgent need to pick up positive results, starting wit...
Pep Guardiola: Kun Aguero not ready to start Manchester derby
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says Sergio Aguero won’t start Saturday’s derby against United at Old Trafford. The Argentine, who has been troubled by knee injury and hamstring issues this season came off the bench to score Manchester City’s 3-0 win against French club Olympic Marseille on Wednesday night. Aguero has featured in five games across all competitions for the Citizens this season. Guardiola has said he will not take risks with the 32-year-old and will not be tempted to throw him in from the beginning at Old Trafford. Asked if Aguero could start the derby, Guardiola simply said: “No.” On his general performance, he added: “His instinct to score will always be there. He’s had three or four training sessions and the reaction was good. “He had 25 minutes and scored a goal. S...
Inter preparing offer for Junior Firpo
The name Junior Firpo continues to be on the Inter agenda. According to the newspaper ‘Sport’, the Italians will try again for the Barca player in January: they are studying a six month or year and a half loan with option to buy. Inter Milan haven’t forgotten about Junior Firpo, one of their big alternatives for down the left. The Italian outfit are still interested in the Barcelona player and are reportedly studying a six month or year and a half loan with option to buy. All of this while the 24-year-old LB continues to not be in Ronald Koeman’s plans, as the 192 minutes that he has played this season demonstrate, which increase the rumours about his possible exit. Junior is under contract at Barca until June 2024 and his market value is around 12.3 million euros. According to the newspap...
Eberechi Eze makes Premier League Team of the Week
Eberechi Eze has been included in the Premier League Team of the Week following his impressive performance in Crystal Palace’s 5-1 win at West Bromwich Albion at the weekend. The list was compiled by football facts and statistics website whoscored .com on Tuesday. Eze marked a superb display for Palace with an assist for Wilfred Zaha in the win at the Hawthorns. The Team of the Week which is in a 4-4-2 formation has Eze on the left of the four-man midfield. Some other players also included are Eze’s Palace teammates Zaha and Christian Benteke, Mohamed Salah and Joel Matip of Liverpool and Aaron Wan-Bissaka of Manchester United. Commenting on Eze’s display whoscored. com wrote:”After being eased into the swing of things following his summer arrival, Eberechi Eze is starting to leave his mar...
Al Ahly complete historical treble, win Egypt Cup via penalties
Egyptian football giants, Al Ahly, crowned an extraordinary season by winning the 2019-20 Egypt Cup title on Saturday. By so doing, they completed a historical treble, having previously taken the 2019/2020 Egyptian Premier League trophy and the 2019/2020 Total CAF Champions League titles. On Saturday, after the tie against Talaea El Geish ended in a 1-1 draw, Al Ahly needed penalty shootouts which they won 3-2 at the Alexandria based Borg El Arab Stadium to extend their record by winning their 37th Egypt Cup title, ten more than arch-rivals Zamalek. Substitute Mahmoud Abdel Moneam “Kahraba” came from the bench to give Al Ahly the lead after 65 minutes. Only for Nasser Mansy to equalize for El Geish two minutes into injury time. As no more goals cake in the extra time, the game headed to pe...
Juventus hit back to beat Torino
Juventus came from behind to beat Torino 2-1 on Sunday with US midfielder Weston McKennie among the scorers for the first time since he joined the Italian champions on loan. McKennie’s close-range header on 78 minutes put Juve level after Nicolas Nkoulou had given Torino a first-half advantage. After McKennie’s equaliser, Leonardo Bonucci produced an 89th-minute winner to lift Juve to second in the table, three points behind AC Milan who visit Sampdoria on Sunday. Inter Milan can overtake Juve by beating Bologna in Saturday’s late match. Before the game in Turin, Cristiano Ronaldo was presented with a special jersey commemorating his 750th career goal. But Ronaldo played a supporting role for once as 22-year-old McKennie, on loan from German club Schalke 04, scored a first Serie A goal and...
Paul Mukairu nominated for Anderlecht Goal of the Month Prize
Nigeria forward Paul Mukairu is in the running for Anderlecht player of the month award for November. Mukairu’s superb strike from outside the box on his league debut for Anderlecht handed Vincent Kompany’s side all three points against Royal Antwerp. The young forward replaced Sierra Leone’s Mustapha Bundu three minutes after the hour mark and scored the winning goal in the 76th minute. The 20-year-old is nominated along with three other players; Lukas Nmecha, Laura Deloose and Laura De Neve for the award. He provided the assist for Nmecha’s goal in the 2-1 away defeat at Beerschot. Mukairu, who linked up with Anderlecht on loan from Turkish outfit Antalyaspor at the start of the season has scored one goal in four league appearances for the club. Get more stories like this on Twitter You ...
Mercedes replaces Lewis Hamilton with George Russell for Sakhir Grand Prix
British race driver, George Russell, will take Lewis Hamilton’s place at Mercedes for this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix after the seven-time champion tested positive for coronavirus. Mercedes has backed Russell’s career since 2017 and he is effectively on a three-year loan at Williams, where he has posted some impressive races since making his F1 debut last season. Jack Aitken, a 25-year-old British-Korean, will race in Russell’s place at Williams for his F1 debut while Russell is away at Mercedes. Mercedes had approached Williams to see if a deal to release Russell was possible as soon as it became apparent that Hamilton’s absence from the first race of his career was confirmed after the positive COVID-19 test and retest. And the confirmation of an agreement arrived on Wednesday morning. T...
