Author: Nurudeen Obalola
Liverpool increased their lead at the top of the English Premier League to four points as they thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 6-3 in front of their own fans in London on Sunday. The Reds were in irresistible form and ruthlessly took advantage of Spurs’ injury-hit team. Liverpool had already had several opportunities before Luis Diaz headed in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s perfect cross after 23 minutes, with Alexis Mac Allister doubling their lead with another header 13 minutes later. James Maddison gave Tottenham hope of an unlikely comeback when he curled in his eighth goal of the season four minutes before half-time but…
Nigeria’s Super Eagles B held Ghana to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifying tie in Accra on Sunday. Ghana’s Black Galaxies were dominant in the first half at the Accra Sports Stadium with a slew of opportunities, but they were held off by the Super Eagles defence, led by captain Nduka Junior. Stephen Amankwoo found an opening through the Nigeria defence in the 15th minute only to see his rising shot go inches wide of Henry Ozoemena’s goal-post. Sikiru Alimi’s free-kick, with a minute to half-time, also sailed over as the regional rivals…
Bournemouth thrashed Manchester United 3-0 in the English Premier League at a chilly Old Trafford on Sunday and climbed to fifth in the table thanks to goals from Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo. Bournemouth’s fourth league victory in five matches moved them to 28 points after 17 games, while United are 13th with 22 points and will spend Christmas in the bottom half of the table for the first time in Premier League history. Huijsen put the visitors on the score sheet when he out-jumped Joshua Zirkzee to head home Ryan Christie’s free kick in the 29th minute.…
Tyson Fury claimed he was “robbed” after losing a unanimous decision to Oleksandr Usyk in their heavyweight world title rematch. Having beaten Fury by split decision in May to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, the Ukrainian retained his WBO, WBA and WBC titles on Saturday as all three judges scored the fight 116-112 in his favour. Fury, who was unbeaten in 35 professional fights before facing Usyk, celebrated as though he had won at the final bell and looked shocked as the scores were read out. Having chosen not to do an interview in the ring…
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk retained his WBA (Super), WBO and WBC world heavyweight titles by unanimous decision against Britain’s Tyson Fury to remain undefeated after an enthralling clash in an electric atmosphere at the Kingdom Arena on Saturday night. Giving up advantages in height, weight and reach to his much bigger opponent, Usyk fought superbly throughout to win 116-112 on all three judges’ scorecards as he again defeated Fury after his success in May made him the undisputed champion. Fury, 36, was much-improved from that first encounter where he wilted in the ninth round but could still not solve the puzzle…
By Nurudeen Obalola Super Eagles defender Ola Aina scored on Saturday as Nottingham Forest defeated Brentford 2-0 to move to fourth place in the English Premier League table, while Gabriel Jesus starred against Crystal Palace for the second time in three days. Nigeria international full-back Aina struck the opening goal in the 38th minute to take his Premier League goals this season to two in 17 games, with Anthony Elanga netting in the second half to seal the away win for Forest. The afternoon kick-off victory at the Gtech Community Stadium took Nottingham Forest back to fourth, two points behind…
Manchester City’s crisis intensified as they slipped to a damaging 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday. Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers goals meant Phil Foden’s late reply for the visitors was little consolation. Defending champions City have dropped to sixth in the Premier League, nine points behind leaders Liverpool having played two games more, while Villa have moved above them into fifth. It is now nine defeats in 12 games in all competitions for City, who are winless in their last eight away matches, as their season continues to spiral downwards. Pep Guardiola made six changes from the Manchester…
Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 124-101 home win over the Bucks on Friday, swiftly bringing Milwaukee Bucks down from their NBA Cup-championship high. Five other Cavs scored in double-figures, with Darius Garland putting up 16 and Evan Mobley and Dean Wade adding 15 each. Ty Jerome had 13 points, and Jarrett Allen posted 10 points and 10 rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 33 points along with 14 rebounds. Fellow star Damian Lillard did not travel with the team due to a right calf strain. Khris Middleton scored 14 off the bench, and…
FIFA and Netflix have signed a deal to broadcast the 2027 and 2031 editions of the Women’s World Cup in the United States, world soccer’s governing body said on Friday. FIFA said the Women’s World Cup will be the first competition to be acquired in full by Netflix and U.S.-based fans would be able to watch every match live. The agreement also includes Puerto Rico while it will cover all languages, with a dual telecast in English and Spanish in the U.S. “As a marquee brand and FIFA’s new long-term partner, Netflix has shown a very strong level of commitment…
Stand-in Super Eagles B head coach Daniel Ogunmodede has named a final squad of 18 players, including veteran Rabiu Ali, defender Sadiq Ismail and striker Sikiru Alimi, for Sunday’s 8th African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifying fixture against Ghana’s Black Galaxies in Accra. The Remo Stars head coach also selected goalkeeper Henry Ozoemena, defender Victor Collins and forward Abubakar Adamu for the two-leg tie against Ghana who stopped Nigeria from qualifying for the championship in 2009 and 2023. The Super Eagles B, with Ogunmodede and coaches Fidelis Ilechukwu and Olatunji Baruwa in charge, had staggered training sessions over three weeks from the…