Ernesto Valverde was at a loss to explain Barcelona’s shock defeat to Leganes on Wednesday as their unbeaten start to the season came to an abrupt end at Butarque. It extended Barca’s mini-slump after they were held by Girona at the weekend at Camp Nou, which saw their four-game winning streak in the league come to an end. “How do I explain it? This is football and these things can happen,” Valverde said in his post-game news conference. “Sometimes it’s difficult to explain what happens in a game. “You have a game under control and then the opposition can do…
Author: David Folami
The agent for Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong remained coy when recently questioned about his client’s future amid interest from Real Madrid and Manchester United. Speaking to De Telegraaf about De Jong, Ali Dursun passed the responsibility to Ajax sporting director Marc Overmars to verify interest from the likes of Real and United in the Netherlands international. “I can neither confirm nor deny this,” Dursun said when asked about the pair’s interest after watching De Jong in the 3-0 Champions League win over AEK Athens recently. “You must ask Marc Overmars — I send all interested clubs his way.” Overmars…
Derby County manager Frank Lampard picked up the biggest win so far in his young managerial career on Tuesday when his Championship side knocked Manchester United, coached by his former boss Jose Mourinho, out of the Carabao Cup. And following the match, Lampard said he was somewhat in disbelief. “I’m a bit shell shocked [but] in a good way,” said Lampard. “What a performance from the team and in terms of personality… “To have the personality to step up and take penalties and perform the way they did, I’m just a proud manager, they were great. “I am trying to…
Julen Lopetegui has accepted that his Real Madrid side were beaten by the better side on Wednesday after Sevilla won 3-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, with all their goals coming before half-time. “Sevilla were far superior and they deserved to win,” Madrid coach Lopetegui said. “We weren’t as we would have liked and we paid in the first half by letting in quick goals. “Later, in the second half, we matched them and after that we hoped that, if we scored, we could get back into the game. “We did score, but the goal didn’t count on the…
Unai Emery has denied a report that he blocked Germany coach Joachim Low from seeing Mesut Ozil during a visit to the club’s training ground this week. However, Emery denied the report when asked about it by Sky Sports following Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Brentford in the Carabao Cup. “It’s not true, it’s not true,” Emery said. A club source also said that the report was incorrect, saying that Low was at the training ground in London Colney to have lunch with Per Mertesacker, who is now the academy director at Arsenal. He also met with fellow Germans Shkodran Mustafi…
Mauricio Pochettino has hailed the Tottenham Hotspur supporters who travelled to Milton Keynes after his side’s Carabao Cup victory over Watford. Despite that inconvenience, the official attendance was given as 23,650. “First of all I want to say thank you to our fans,” said Pochettino. “They need to be praised from myself on behalf of all the players and staff and the club, to say thank you for coming here and offering their support. They made a massive effort. “It’s important for the people all to listen to me, as the manager of the club, to that gratitude and [for…
Eden Hazard has joked that he had no choice but to score the sensational solo goal that sealed Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup third round because N’Golo Kante had told him he did not want to take a penalty. Chelsea trailed at Anfield from the 58th minute when Daniel Sturridge acrobatically fired beyond Willy Caballero, but Emerson Palmieri bundled in a controversial equaliser before Hazard beat five Liverpool defenders in the course of a dazzling move and smashed the winner past Simon Mignolet. It was Hazard’s sixth goal in eight matches this season and will surely…
Juventus playmaker Paulo Dybala scored his first goal of the season to set the Serie A leaders on the way to a 2-0 win over Bologna on Wednesday, which maintained their 100 percent start to the league campaign. Juve, with 18 points from six games, will take a three-point lead into Saturday’s match at home to bitter rivals Napoli after last season’s runners-up comfortably disposed of Parma 3-0 with a brace from striker Arkadiusz Milik. Dybala set up Blaise Matuidi for a shot which was parried by goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski and the Argentine followed up to score from the rebound,…
Jurgen Klopp has questioned the usage of the video assistant referee in allowing Chelsea’s equalising goal to stand during Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Klopp felt the awarding of the free kick in the buildup — when Naby Keita was adjudged to have fouled Victor Moses — was particularly harsh, adding that he believed Alvaro Morata and Ross Barkley were in offside positions from the resulting set-piece. “Both discussable,” he said at his postmatch news conference. “I don’t think it’s a foul. He plays the ball and then he touched afterwards, but things like that…
The Lagos state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tunde Balogun has announced the result of the governorship primaries. The governorship primary election which held on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, was cancelled by the National Working Committee (NWC) panel sent to monitor the exercise. Balogun, however countered the NWC panel, saying that the results will be announced soon. A statement issued by supporters by Babajide Sanwo-olu under the aegis of Armoury Group, said Babajide Sanwoolu scored 970,851 and Akinwunmi Ambode, 72,901. The statement also said that there will be no re-run election since the APC Lagos chairman has announced…
The All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship direct primary election scheduled to hold across the 236 wards of Ogun on Sunday has been postponed. This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abeokuta on Sunday by the APC Chairman in Ogun, Chief Derin Adebiyi. “This is to notify all party faithful and stakeholders that the governorship primaries originally scheduled for Sunday has been postponed. “Further announcement will be made upon receipt of firm clarification from the APC National Headquarters,” Adebiyi said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that party faithful had gathered in some wards for the event before it…
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has called Jide Sanwo-Olu a better candidate ahead of the Lagos governorship primaries. The former governor of Lagos state said Sanwo-Olu is a young man endowed with superlative vision and commitment and who also possesses a wealth of experience and exposure. “While possessing a wealth of experience and exposure, he is a young man endowed with superlative vision and commitment. Most importantly, he understands the importance of the blueprint for development. “He esteems it as a reliable and well-conceived vehicle for the future development of the state.…
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said that his opponent in the governorship race, Babajide Sanwo-Olu was arrested in US for spending fake dollars. The Governor made this known at a press conference on Sunday, September 30, 2018 in Lagos. According to The reports, Ambode said “We have never responded to the campaign of calumny on social media. We have one family in APC. The aspirant being put up to compete against us is not a fit and proper person to take this job. I have done everything in the last three and half years to serve people selflessly and to serve…
All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Babajide Sanwo-Olu called on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to tell Lagosians the reason the state is going through what he called a sanitation crisis. Sanwo-Olu said this while responding to allegations made by Ambode during a press conference on Sunday. The Lagos Governor had alleged that the governorship aspirant was arrested in the US for spending fake dollars. He also said “Today, instead of making a convincing defense of his performance, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode sought to sow fear into the hearts of Lagosians. “But Lagosians are an intelligent and brave people. They can see through…
Muhammadu Buhari made a last ditch attempt to save Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode from a looming embarrassment at the Lagos APC primary, by calling for an emergency meeting with godfather Bola Tinubu and former national Chairman of the APC Adebisi Akande. The president had to call for the meeting after Ambode’s press conference on Sunday. As leader of the party, he is worried about a possible implosion of the APC in Lagos and he was quite disturbed by some of Ambode’s allegations during his press conference”, the source offered. Tiinubu has accused Ambode of deviating from the Lagos masterplan. Tinubu…
Some supporters of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday staged a protest at the Lagos secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over what they called the party’s plan to manipulate the governorship primary to favour Mr Jide Sanwo-olu. Olasheu, Deputy APC Local Government Chairman in Somolu, said that the party was taking a number of other steps to ensure that Ambode did not win the election. He said they were sure that Lagos residents wanted the governor because of his administration’s strides, and that he would win in a free and fair contest. “We are here today, first to show…
Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Monday urged the panel appointed by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to conduct the Governorship Primaries in the state to ensure a level playing field for all aspirants in the contest. Ambode spoke when he received members of the panel led by its Chairman, Mr Clement Ebri, at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja. Ambode said it is important that the election when conducted, is seen to be free, fair and credible to all aspirants concerned. Expressing confidence in the selection of members of the panel, Ambode…
Oby Ezekwesili, and founder of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, are set to join the race to contest in the 2019 presidential election against incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari. This was disclosed by Pastor Bakare while he was speaking at an annual freedom rally tagged “This Is My Nigeria” that took place at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos on Monday, October 1, 2018. He said, “By the way, my sister Oby is stepping into politics now, she is going to contest for the office of the president, and I am waiting for October 7 to throw in my…
The Convener of the Red Card Movement and one-time Education Minister, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, has called on Nigerians to come out in their numbers to vote and protect their votes, come 2019. Ezekwesili made the call at a one-day conference organised by ‘The Church Must Vote’ an NGO, on Monday in Abuja. She said that it is time for Nigerians to determine the quality of leadership they get through massive voting. Ezekwesili said that nobody should be comfortable to sit at home during the upcoming 2019 general elections, because it was time to get rid of the old order of…
“If somebody decides to, they really want to get out in the street, I’ll meet them in the street” Joe Budden has denied that he’ll be coming out of retirement to rap on a song in response to Eminem’s diss track n new album ‘Kamikaze‘. The rap veteran and podcast host was among the many figures that Marshall Mathers took aim at on the record via a number of ‘diss tracks‘. Budden came under fire on ‘The Ringer’ and ‘Fall’ after previously slammed his track ‘Untouchable’ as “trash” and “once of the worst songs he’s ever heard”. While not responding…