Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hopes the thorny issue of his future will not prove a distraction when his side attempt to squeeze into the Champions League against Everton on Sunday. Wenger’s future remains unresolved and he said on Friday he expects a decision to be announced after a board meeting that will take place in the days following the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 27. Wenger has come under fire from an increasingly vocal number of Arsenal fans, but with the team’s top-four hopes in the balance, he says his personal circumstances should be put to one side.…
Author: David Folami
Bayern Munich’s beer-soaked head coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted it will be tough to replace Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso after the pair played their final game before retiring. Lahm, 33, and Alonso, 35, hung up their boots after Saturday’s 4-1 win over Freiburg as Bayern celebrated lifting the German league trophy for the fifth season in a row. The German giants ended up 15 points clear in Ancelotti’s first season since replacing Pep Guardiola. Germany’s World Cup-winning captain Lahm played his 517th and final game in the Bayern shirt, lifting the Bundesliga shield for a record-equalling eighth time. Alonso, a…
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice in Borussia Dortmund’s 4-3 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday to finish as the Bundesliga’s top-scorer and seal his side’s direct Champions League place on a dramatic final day of the season. Aubameyang finished with 31 goals, one more than Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, who failed to score in the champions’ 4-1 home win over Freiburg. There was drama at the bottom of the table as Hamburg guaranteed their survival with an 88th-minute goal to seal a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg. Two minutes after coming on, Luca Waldschmidt’s header, the day after his 21st birthday, sealed…
Mohamed Salah and Stephan El Shaarawy fired a double apiece and Edin Dzeko struck late as Roma put Juventus’s title celebrations on hold with a 5-3 win at Chievo on Saturday. Roma travelled to Verona knowing defeat, coupled with a Napoli draw against Fiorentina later, could hand Juventus a record sixth consecutive title before the Turin giants host relegation-haunted Crotone on Sunday. But with Napoli only one point further adrift and desperate to snatch Serie A’s second automatic Champions League qualifying spot, Luciano Spalletti’s men were in no mood for capitulating early. The capital club’s 27th win of the season…
Lionel Messi will spearhead Argentina’s attack against arch-rivals Brazil next month but there was no place in the squad for Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero. Inter Milan forward Mauro Icardi replaces Aguero in a squad believed to have been chosen by Jorge Sampaoli, the Sevilla coach who is poised to take over Argentina in a bid to rescue their World Cup hopes. Playmaker Manuel Lanzini, who has enjoyed a good season for West Ham in the Premier League, gets his first international call-up. Before they get back to the business of qualifying for Russia 2018 in August, Messi and Argentina…
Producer and singer Sheyman is a daddy! The music star welcomed a beautiful baby girl this week. The proud new dad just shared the news that he and his wife,, Cynthia Okonkwo-Ademoye are now parents. He took to Instagram on May 18, 2017, with a photo of his new lady love writing, “My Lord, I count myself lucky of your favour all the time, you allow me do things without stress, you guard my process of progress. You provide my happiness!!! To crown it all you gave us a precious jewel. Today, We share our joy with you as we…
Nollywood actress Mama Gee and evangelist Patience Ozokwor has revealed that her early marriage deprived her the chance of conjugal bliss. The veteran and brand ambassador of South-eastern descent, explained in an interview how she was forced into marriage at 19. She revealed that her mother wanted her to get married on time as she was from a polygamous home. In an interview with a Ghana television station, RTV, she said, “It was not my decision to get married at 19. And if it’s not my decision it means I was forced into it. I was forced into it many…
The remains of late actress, Mojisola Abike Olaiya will be flown back to Nigeria for burial. According to fresh reports by Punch, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has offered to fly the remains of late actress for proper burial as against the scheduled burial in Canada. Punch reports that the state governor aborted the burial in Canada at the last minute on Friday, May 19, 2017 after her death was reported on Wednesday, May 18, 2017. It was further reported that the Ekiti state government has agreed to foot the cost of bringing home her remains to Nigeria for…
The Industrial Arbitration Panel sitting in Abuja has ordered PENGASSAN and Mobil Staff to suspend their strike action. Following the industrial action embarked upon by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN, Mobil Branch), the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) on Friday, issued an order prohibiting any lock-out or strikes in the course of the dispute. The panel also ordered that a circular signed by the Union Secretary, Comrade Anietie David Udoh, be issued withdrawing the already circulated internal memorandum dated May 18, 2017, on or before midday of Saturday, May 20, 2017. Non compliance, read the…
Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has restated the commitment of the Nigerian Army to secure the country, pledging the commitment of officers and men in the discharge of their duties. Buratai stated this on Saturday in Kano when he paid a courtesy visit on the governor of the state , Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje. ”Insurgents and other criminals have been seriously degraded and the army would not relent until it ensures peace and stability in all parts of the country,” he assured. Buratai said that he was in Kano to round off a special military exercise “Operation Scorpion Sting…
Parents of the 82 Chibok schoolgirls who were released after being held for more than three years by Boko Haram have arrived in Abuja. According to Punch, the parents arrive Abuja to reunite with their daughters on Saturday, May 20, 2017. This is coming nine days after the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, had promised that the girls’ parents will travel from the remote northeastern town in Borno state to meet their daughters in the capital, Abuja. Deadly Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, has released 82 of the Chibok high school girls who were abducted in mid-April 2014. The…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he felt “sad” that his former captain Tony Adams claimed the Frenchman “couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag”. Wenger has come under fire from many quarters as his team struggle to make the Champions League next season with even a win over Everton on Sunday not certain to guarantee a spot in Europe’s elite tournament. Speaking in his autobiography “Sober”, serialised in The Sun newspaper, Adams said: “Arsene is essentially not a coach. Back in the day I said in an interview coaching wasn’t Arsene’s strong point. “Actually in the original draft,…
Real Madrid have all they can ask for with just one La Liga game of the season to go and that is the destiny of the title in their own hands, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Saturday. Madrid lead Barcelona by three points at the top of the table and just need to avoid defeat at Malaga on Sunday to be assured of a first La Liga title in five years. Barca need to beat Eibar at home to have any chance of leapfrogging their fierce rivals. “It is in our hands which is important for us,” said Zidane. “There…
Veteran midfielder Yaya Toure is set to get a new Manchester City deal due to his impressive form this season. Toure’s current contract expires runs out at the end of this and the midfielder is keen to quickly resolve his future. The midfielder has really impressed Pep Guardiola who wants to tie the midfielder to another contract. According to reports, there have been strong indications that the 34-year-old will be offered an extension. It will be a busy summer for Manchester City who will be working hard to replace some of the players who will be leaving at the end…
Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers said on Friday that the State government was determined to strengthen the judicial system in promotion of good governance. The governor made the assertion in Port Harcourt while handing over a Federal High Court complex constructed by his administration to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. Wike said the court complex was constructed in a bid to promote access to justice. He said that part of the vision of the government in providing the Federal High Court complex was also to make the state a judicial hub in the South- South region. Wike…
Last weekend, grandmasters of data, Globacom, held its rave of the moment music concert, Glo Mega Music Nationwide Tour, in Calabar, Cross River State, with the country’s leading musicians entertaining the crowd at the city’s Cultural Centre. From Marvin Records sultry singer, Di’Ja, to Kiss Daniel, Omawumi, Runtown and Timaya, the stars delivered incredible performances that left the guests which included the former Minister for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke, First Lady of Cross River State, Dr. (Mrs.) Lynda Ayade, Cross River State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Comrade Asu Okang and the Chief Executive Officer of Hit FM,…
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has made a $1.3 billion (£998 million, 1.1 billion euros) bid to take control of Arsenal from rival majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, according to a Financial Times report on Friday. Uzbekistan-born Usmanov owns 30 percent of the Premier League club and is said to have recently made the offer in a letter to Kroenke, who controls a 67 per cent stake. Kroenke is yet to formally respond to the offer, but the report says, after initially considering his options, the American sports mogul has decided he has no interest in selling the Gunners. “Two weeks ago,…
Justin Bieber is a Harry Styles fan boy. The Love Yourself hitmaker has been watching Harry Styles’ Carpool Karaoke, just like us, and can’t get enough. Sharing a snap of himself watching the clip on YouTube, Bieber praised his pal Harry’s performance alongside James Corden as well as his debut solo album. ‘Just watched Harry styles carpool karaoke!! Hilarious! Also congrats on the album, it sounds great!’ Bieber wrote. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for – the culminating moment of his week long residency on the Late Late Show with Corden of Harry rolling around LA blasting out some…
“It’s gonna be a moment that people aren’t expecting.” When Drake takes the T-Mobile Arena stage in Las Vegas at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, it will be the first time the year’s top-nominated artist performed at an award show since joining Rihanna for “Work” at the BRITs in 2016. In Drake years — releasing both Views and More Life since then — this is a long time. With that in mind, there’s a lot to speculate about what his performance might have in store. Will he join forces with show-opener Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne for “No…
The Rt. Revd. James Odedeji, the Bishop of Diocese of Lagos West, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion),on Friday said the three arms of government must be ready to work together in unison to save the nation from collapse. Odedeji said this in his address at the formal opening of the 3 Session of the 6 Synod of the Diocese held at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, Lagos. The bishop advised the executive and the legislature to close ranks in order to have a smooth working relationship and move the nation forward. He said that while the nation deserved commendation…