Swansea struck a crucial blow in the fight for Premier League survival as goals from Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton clinched a 2-0 win at Sunderland on Saturday. Spanish striker Llorente put Swansea ahead early on before Kyle Naughton blasted his first goal for six years on the stroke of halftime. Swansea’s third win in their last four games moved Paul Clement’s 17th placed side four points clear of the relegation zone as they battle to stay above third bottom Hull. The Welsh club’s survival will be guaranteed if Hull lose their crunch clash at fellow strugglers Crystal Palace on…
Author: David Folami
Antonio Conte says reuniting Chelsea’s fractured team-spirit was the key to their charge to the Premier League title. Conte’s side were crowned champions on Friday as a 1-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion wrapped up the title with two games to play. Michy Batshuayi’s 82nd minute winner after coming off the bench was the latest example of Conte’s remarkable impact since the Italian took charge last year. When Conte arrived at Stamford Bridge, he found a squad ripped apart following the mutiny that led to Jose Mourinho’s sacking last season. But the former Juventus and Italy boss skillfully soothed the…
Guardiola’s side made heavy weather of beating Leicester, with Shinji Okazaki’s spectacular volley bringing the visitors back into the game just before halftime. Craig Shakespeare’s side looked set to equalise when Riyad Mahrez was tripped by Gael Clichy 15 minutes from the end, but the winger slipped as he scored the resulting penalty, touching the ball twice and causing the goal to be ruled out. “In the second half, we didn’t know whether to attack or defend. You have to understand how important the game was for everybody,” Guardiola said. “When you are in the middle of that, you are…
Pep Guardiola is certain Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero can play together for Manchester City despite suggesting it was a disaster when they first linked up. Guardiola surprisingly started with the fit-again Aguero on the bench as City moved a step closer to Champions League qualification by beating Leicester 2-1 at Eastlands on Saturday. Third-placed City are three points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal with two games remaining as they battle for a top-four finish. Jesus scored the penalty that put City two goals in front after David Silva had given them the lead with an effort that Leicester believed should…
“There’s still some work to do, not just in the final. There are still two league games to go, so let’s rest a bit and prepare ourselves,” said the Brazilian centre-back. “If I say I’m not thinking about winning the Double, I am a liar! Of course we think about this. “But we need to think day by day, rest well, keep ourselves very good in these next two games to have a top performance against Arsenal. “It will be a difficult game against a fantastic team, so we need to be at a high level.” Watford, 15th, are not…
Scorer of the goal that won Chelsea the title, Michy Batshuayi will hope to make his first Premier League start for the club in Monday’s home game with Watford. The Belgium striker came off the bench to score the decisive goal in Friday’s 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion, which confirmed Chelsea as champions. Batshuayi is yet to start a league game since arriving from Marseille last year, but could be given a run-out if, as expected, manager Antonio Conte elects to shuffle his pack. “I’m delighted for Michy,” said centre-back Gary Cahill following victory at The Hawthorns. “He hasn’t…
All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun has said that the party is not protecting defectors from the law. Oyegun made the comment in response to concerns that opposition party members were joining the APC to avoid prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). “In spite of the obvious difficulties that the nation is passing through, people like you voluntarily wanted to assist in this responsibility of helping in nation building,” Oyegun said on Thursday, May 11, while receiving Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, and Senator John Enoh into the APC. “I know that those who don’t wish us well…
All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, May 10, revealed how former president, Goodluck Jonathan tried to stop Governor Akinwunmi Ambode from winning the 2015 elections. Tinubu also said that Jonathan spent a lot of money to prevent Ambode from being elected, according to ThisDay. According to Tinubu, Jonathan moved “to take over the state by all means including spending huge cash, but the APC members resolutely stood their ground and ensured the victory of the party.” The APC leader added that Ambode won the election and had performed well since being elected into office. “He is doing…
Over 160 buildings were destroyed by a rainstorm which wreaked havoc on four villages in Potiskum Local Government Area of Yobe on Wednesday. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected villages are Danchuwa, Bogocho, Jumma and Ardo Shani. Eyewitnesses said that although there were no deaths, one boy had bone fractures, while a few others sustained minor injuries. They said that the persons whose houses were destroyed had relocated to the houses of their relations within the neighbourhoods or in adjacent communities. Malam Isa Audu, a resident of Danchuwa, whose house was ravaged by the rainstorm, said that…
Former Abia State governorship aspirant, Uchechukwu Ogah has congratulated the Governor of Abia state, Okezie Ikpeazu, after his election was affirmed by the apex court’s verdict. Ogah has accepted defeat 24 hours after Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen led five-man bench unanimously affirmed Ikpeazu’s election and dismissing his appeal for lacking in substance. In a statement released by Ogah’s aides on Saturday, May 13, 2017, the ex-governorship aspirant said he had accepted the verdict and urged all the people of the state to support Ikpeazu as governor of the state. “On the 12th of May 2017, the Supreme…
The All Progressive Congress (APC) controlled states have proposed the setting up of a Security Trust Funds to tackle security challenges in the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this was part of the recommendations reached at the second quarterly meeting of the Secretaries to the Governments of APC-controlled States in Sokoto. The meeting held under the auspices of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), on May 11 and 12, 2017 was hosted by the Sokoto State Government. The meeting had as its theme: ”Setting Enabling Framework for Implementation of Progressive Governors’ Forum Policy Briefs.” A Communique issued…
The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Review of Pump Price of Petrol has directed the NNPC and its subsidiaries to make public the true cost of imported petrol. The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Raphael Igbokwe, gave the directive in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos. Igbokwe spoke on the side lines of the committee’s visit to Lagos depots of some private operators involved in transportation and distribution of petrol from the ports to the consumers. NAN reports that the depots visited by the committee are Folawiyo Energy Limited, WOSBAB Energy…
The allegations that some bank accounts owned by the Nigerian Governors Forum has been frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has been debunked. In a report, Abdulrazak Barkindo, the Director of Media of the NGF debunked the reports saying an earlier decision of the court to stop usage of the NGF’s account had been lifted. Barkindo reportedly said that the embargo on the usage of the account had been lifted following the decision of the consultant, Mr. Ned Nwodo to settle the issue out of court. “I saw the report in the newspapers. How can EFCC freeze an…
82 Chibok schoolgirls were released to the federal government of Nigeria by terrorists, last week. The girls were part of the 276 abducted by Boko Haram insurgents from their school dormitory in April of 2014. Al Jazeera notes that “the release is the biggest since” the night of the abduction. 113 remain in Boko Haram custody. However, notes Al Jazeera, “the ordeal is not over for the freed girls and their families”. There have been complaints from some members of the families of the first batch of 21 schoolgirls who were set free from Boko Haram clutches in October of…
The Kogi chapter of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has suspended its 10-day old strike to give room for dialogue with State Government. In a statement issued after its Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) in Lokoja on Saturday, signed by its Chairman, Dr. Godwin Tijani, the association said the decision to suspend the strike was unanimously taken to honour the Kogi paramount ruler, Attah Igala, and other imminent stakeholders, for their intervention. He said:“NMA has agreed to suspend its strike for two weeks to enable prominent personalities and stakeholders, mediate. “Since the Attah of Igala, NMA National President and our honourable members…
Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari has said that no one except the president himself can tell the world what is wrong with him. In an interaction with Tribune on the state of the President’s health, Adesina said “It is only the president himself that can declare that. “And when he came back from London on March 10, he said it that he had never been that sick in his life. That is a declaration of his health status. “It is within his prerogative to do that. Nobody can do it for him.…
Real Madrid may be on the verge of a first La Liga and Champions League double for 59 years, but coach Zinedine Zidane insisted his job is only safe if he delivers trophies. Madrid sports daily reported on Saturday that Zidane is set to be handed a contract extension to 2020 as a reward for his spectacular success since taking charge in January last year. Real need seven points from their last three La Liga games for a first league title in five years and face Juventus in the Champions League final on June 3. Zidane also led Madrid to…
Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Weigl added to the growing list of injured Germany players ruled out of next month’s Confederations Cup after fracturing his right ankle on Saturday. The 21-year-old defensive midfielder was stretchered off after 22 minutes of Dortmund’s 1-1 draw at Augsburg in the Bundesliga. German media reports claimed he would be out for the next three to four months — a bitter blow for Dortmund’s under-fire coach Thomas Tuchel. “This is a loss we can’t compensate for one-to-one,” admitted Tuchel, who has left his future open for next season after a public disagreement with Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.…
Arjen Robben’s superb solo goal five minutes into time added on sealed a dramatic 5-4 comeback win for Bayern Munich at RB Leipzig in an electric top-of-the-table clash on Saturday. Carlo Ancelotti’s star-studded Bayern, who were already confirmed as Bundesliga champions for the fifth straight year, were 4-3 down on 90 minutes until David Alaba drilled home a free-kick a minute later. Robben, 33, then proved he had the legs to sprint clear of the tiring home defence as he capped a superb run with the winner. “It was a crazy game,” said Ancelotti. “We had a difficult start, but…
Olivier Giroud scored twice as Arsenal won 4-1 at Stoke City on Saturday to maintain manager Arsene Wenger’s hopes of a top-four finish and Champions League qualification. Arsenal endured an anxious spell in the second half after Stoke substitute Peter Crouch reduced the arrears to 2-1 with a goal scored using his arm that was allowed to stand. But eventually Wenger’s side turned in a clinical display to move to within a point of fourth-place Liverpool. Giroud scored the opening goal on 42 minutes as Arsenal scythed their way through the Stoke defence impressively. Francis Coquelin picked out the run…