Author: Nurudeen Obalola
By Korede James Super Eagles stars Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi were in action for Nottingham Forest as they defeated Manchester City 1-0 to boost their hopes of finishing in the English Premier League top four positions, which would guarantee UEFA Champions League football next season. Forest have now won a league game against City for the first time since a 3-2 win at Maine Road in the Championship in December 1997. Aina played for 90 minutes in his 28th appearance in the league this season, and was one of the best players on the pitch, locking down the right…
By Korede James Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers has said Rangers would find it tough against Fenerbahce in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg clash at Ibrox next Thursday. Dessers scored and also provided an assist as Rangers sealed a 3-1 win in the first leg in Turkey on Thursday and is looking ahead to the reverse fixture at home against the Turkish club coached by Jose Mourinho. “Overall, I think we can be very happy. We handled them well. It will not be easy to handle them again next week but you see that we can…
By Korede James A late goal by Ahmed Abdultaofik earned Katsina United a 1-0 win against struggling Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) in a week 28 fixture of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) on Friday. A win for 3SC would have seen them temporarily move up to the second position, eight points adrift of leaders Remo Stars, in the league table. Katsina United climbed to the 12th spot with the victory. While Katsina returned to winning ways after back-to-back defeats, the Oluyole Warriors are now winless in their last six matches, recording three defeats and three draws. With…
By Korede James Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has spoken out about Chido Obi-Martin’s move from the Gunners to Manchester United, describing it as ‘very unfortunate’. Fresh from their 7-1 thrashing of PSV in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, Arsenal travel to Old Trafford on Sunday with the hope of earning the three points to keep their faint English Premier League title hopes alive. The Gunners are 13 points behind Liverpool in the table, although with a game in hand. United have been poor in front of goal and the terrible form of centre-forwards Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee has…
By Korede James Jose Mourinho has given high praise to Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers after his display for Rangers against Fenerbahce in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg fixture. Fenerbahce manager Mourinho hailed the Nigeria international who scored and provided an assist as Rangers won 3-1 in Turkey. Dessers opened the scoring in the seventh minute as he rounded the goalkeeper before squeezing a shot over the line, and then set up teammate Vaclav Cerny to make it 2-0. “Dessers is a good player,” Mourinho was quoted by Rangers Review. “But today he looked like the…
LeBron James’ and Luka Doncic’s 30-point double-doubles might have jumped off the box score after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 113-109 overtime win over the New York Knicks in the NBA on Thursday, but superstars said the victory belonged to their supporting cast. “I think Gabe [Vincent] won the game with those three 3s in the fourth quarter,” Doncic said of the team’s bac-kup point guard. The Lakers trailed by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter — only the second time during their eight-game winning streak they were down double-digits to an opponent — when D’Tigers star Vincent caught fire. Vincent, who missed…
By Korede James Nigerian forward Rafiu Durosinmi scored for Viktoria Plzen but a stoppage time strike by Gustav Isaksen earned nine-man Lazio a 2-1 victory in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg clash in the Czech Republic on Thursday. It was the third appearance for the 22-year-old Durosinmi in the competition this season, with two goals and an assist. Alessio Romagnoli gave Lazio the lead on 18 minutes but Durosinmi pulled the home team level eight minutes into the second half. Lazio were reduced to 10 men 13 minutes from time after Nicolo Rovella was shown a…
By Korede James Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers was on target and also provided an assist to inspire Rangers to a shock 3-1 victory over Fenerbahce in their UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg clash in Turkey on Thursday. The Nigeria international now has three goals and two assists in nine Europa League matches this campaign. Also, this season Dessers has so far registered 19 goals and five assists in 41 appearances across all competitions. Also in action for Rangers was Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun who came on in the 28th minute, while Bright Osayi-Samuel was not…
FIFA said on Thursday it will review a proposal to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams to mark the centenary of the sport’s marquee event. The 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, where the inaugural edition was staged, set to host three games. The World Cup has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams for next year’s edition in the United States ofAmerica, Mexico and Canada. “A proposal to analyze a 64-team FIFA World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was…
By Korede James Former English Premier League player Joey Barton has controversially claimed that the African continent has never produced a defender better than Jamie Carragher. Barton, who played for Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers among others, made the comments in support of former England and Liverpool defender Carragher, who has received heavy backlash for saying that the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is not a major tournament. Carragher has since clarified his comments, admitting that he was clumsy with his language. Appearing on the Common Sense Podcast, Barton, who was a journeyman midfielder, featuring for several clubs in…