Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini hailed Samir Nasri as a “hard working, important player” after the French international marked only his second league start of the season with the winner against West Brom. However, the 28-year-old won’t feature in Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg home clash against Paris Saint-Germain after not being included in City’s Champions League squad due to his lengthy absence. “We expected he was going to come back in the middle of April but we needed to play the Champions League in February and we had just Kun (Aguero) as a striker,” said the City manager.…
Author: David Folami
Tottenham Hotspur will once again grapple with historical portents on Sunday when their bid to prevent Leicester City running away with the Premier League title sees them entertain Manchester United. It is 15 years since Tottenham last won a home league game against United and they spurned one opportunity to reverse a long-standing trend last weekend when a 1-1 draw at Liverpool — where they have won just once in 22 league visits — allowed Leicester to open up a seven-point lead. With Leicester visiting third-bottom Sunderland earlier in the day on Sunday, Spurs could be 10 points off the…
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has challenged his stuttering side to respond to Saturday’s 1-0 La Liga defeat at Real Sociedad by repeating last season’s treble of Champions League, domestic title and King’s Cup. Barca saw their lead at the top over nearest challengers Atletico Madrid cut to only three points with six games left, having held a nine-point advantage less than a fortnight ago, and are now just four points ahead of Real Madrid. “It’s an opportunity for us to demonstrate we’re the best in the world like our shirt says,” Luis Enrique told a news conference as they look…
Claudio Ranieri has urged Leicester not to lose focus as he tries to guide the shock leaders past the Premier League’s winning post. On the weekend of the Grand National, Ranieri’s side can take another significant stride towards becoming English football’s most unlikely champions as the title race enters the final furlong. The Foxes, who face struggling Sunderland on Sunday, are seven points clear of second placed Tottenham, who host Manchester United also on Sunday, with just six games remaining. “We are in front, but we have to run a lot now. We have finished the (last) corner and now…
Mesut Ozil has told Arsenal fans concerned that he might be leaving not to worry: He’s happy where he is. The midfield maestro, recently quoted as voicing frustration over a “botched” challenge for the Premier League, has now insisted he’s pleased with life at the Emirates. Ozil, 27, has been tipped as a potential departure — and had fans pleading with him to stay after the FA Cup exit to Watford — but Metro quotes him as saying: “I still have two more years [on his contract] after this season, and I feel really good. As I said before, I…
The Star echoes the theme, saying Costa “has told Chelsea he’ll stay and fight for his place” under Conte. It says the striker is “excited” about the arrival of the current Italy manager and adds that “Chelsea have made it clear he is not for sale.” Meanwhile, mooted Conte target Radja Nainggolan is closer to a switch to London from Serie A side Roma, the Sun suggests. It cites reports in Italy that “the Blues have met with the player’s agent Remy Abbas and the Roman outfit’s sporting director Walter Sabatini” to talk about the 27-year-old midfielder, who would be…
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is set to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury that will keep him out for around six to eight weeks. Henderson, 25, damaged the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in his left knee during Thursday’s 1-1 Europa League quarterfinal first leg draw at Borussia Dortmund. He underwent a scan in Liverpool on Friday lunchtime to determine the extent of the injury, and the club confirmed the result on their official website. The positive news for the player is that it is an LCL problem rather than a cruciate ligament — which is far…
Jose Mourinho has outlined what he wants out of his next job, saying he wants to lead a club in “a difficult league” and “where I am truly wanted.” Chelsea sacked Mourinho in December, just seven months after they won the Premier League title. He has been without a job since, though he has been repeatedly linked to replacing Louis van Gaal at Manchester United. But Mourinho left his options open while aiming some veiled comments towards his former employers as he spoke about his plans for the future at a sponsorship event in Lisbon on Friday. “I’ll take my…
Brazilian superstar Neymar was on Friday given the go-ahead to play at the Olympics by his club Barcelona but was ordered not to take part in the Copa America, local media reported. Brazil coach Dunga had been hoping to have the influential striker at both tournaments — the Copa in the United States from June 3-26 and the Rio Olympics football tournament which runs from August 4-20. But in a letter sent to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), and seen by Globoesporte and Mundo Deportivo, European champions Barcelona insist that Neymar needs to have adequate rest over the summer before…
They currently trail fourth-placed Manchester City by one point, which could be four by the time United go to London on Sunday. However, United haven’t lost at Tottenham since 2001 and their record against the top sides in the Premier League this season is impressive – with five wins and three draws from nine games against the current top seven. They have had costly slip-ups against lower-ranked teams, though, which Van Gaal attributes to the way teams have played against United. “We need creative players. Also more fast players, quick-thinking players. The lower teams are mostly parking the bus, as…
Louis van Gaal has revealed Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney will make his comeback from injury in the club’s under-21 side next week. Rooney has been sidelined for 11 games due to a knee injury and United manager Van Gaal has opted not to rush him back to face Premier League title-chasing Tottenham on Sunday. Instead, the 30-year-old striker will play for the reserve team against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford next Monday – 48 hours before United’s FA Cup quarterfinal replay at West Ham. “He is playing for the Under-21s and it’s going very well,” Van Gaal told…
Anthony Martial is preparing himself to face a top player in Harry Kane ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League match away to title-chasing Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Kane leads the English top-flight’s goal chart with 22 goals in the league so far this season and the England striker’s prowess has been instrumental in Spurs’ rise to second in the table, seven points adrift of shock leaders Leicester with six games left to play. United forward Martial, who arrived at Old Trafford from Monaco on transfer deadline day in September, was in no doubt of the 22-year-old Kane’s quality. “He’s a…
Uefa have opened disciplinary proceedings against Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool after Thursday’s 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal in Germany. European football’s governing body hit Dortmund with a charge of blocking stairways at their Signal Iduna Park stadium, while Liverpool face punishment after away fans set off fireworks inside the ground. Uefa also charged Sparta Prague with “crowd disturbances” following their 2-1 defeat at Villarreal in Spain. “These cases will be dealt with by the Uefa Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on 19 May,” said Uefa in a statement.
The only way Real Madrid can salvage a troubled season is to overturn their 2-0 Champions League deficit in Tuesday’s return match against VfL Wolfsburg, said coach Zinedine Zidane. Real are third in La Liga, seven points behind leaders Barcelona with seven games remaining, and were disqualified from the King’s Cup in December for fielding an illegible player in a last-32 tie at Cadiz. Zidane’s side host ninth-placed Eibar in La Liga on Saturday and he is not expecting a backlash from the fans following their quarterfinal defeat in Germany in midweek. “I don’t think the supporters will give us…
Former Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the best thing that has ever happened to Nigeria. Aliyu also said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is not yet ripe to lead a central government. He made the comments on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, while speaking at the inauguration of the PDP convention committees, Daily Post reports. “A party that has not fully matured, but we handed over to it and we must not repeat that mistake again,” Aliyu said. “We must go out to the people, the ones that we can…
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has urged his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi to accept the fact that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost woefully in the March 19, 2016 legislative rerun elections in the state. Wike made the remark on Thursday, April 7, 2016, while speaking at the opening of a retreat for top government officials in the state. “I call on the former Governor and leader of the APC in the State to accept the reality that the re-run elections has woefully been lost by his party and that Rivers people have, again, overwhelmingly re-affirm their confidence, trust…
Former Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, has berated President Muhammadu Buhari, says his government has not done anything to improve the standard of living of the Nigerian masses since he assumed office. Shekarau stated this while speaking to supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at his residence in Kano State on Wednesday, April 7, after the constitution of a 44-man sub-committee. He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed Nigerians as its ‘Change’ mantra is mere words after all. “It is unfortunate that the APC has failed to address the abject poverty among Nigerians. Those promoting the…
Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of losing its independence and becoming partisan. Fayose also criticized INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, over plans to establish an Electoral Offences Tribunal. The governor made the comments on Thursday, April 7, 2016, via a statement released by his media aide, Lere Olayinka. It reads: “INEC under the present dispensation is the number one electoral offender and that electoral reform without INEC neutrality is a mirage. “Even though the establishment of Electoral Offences Tribunal is not entirely a bad idea, but INEC as presently constituted does not…
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has revealed that it was President Muhammadu Buhari who forced him to contest for the governorship of the state. El-Rufai made the disclosure on Thursday, April 7, 2016, while speaking at the closing ceremony of the two-day Kaduna Investment Forum, ThisDay reports. “It was President Muhammadu Buhari that forced me to contest for the governorship race of Kaduna State in revenge for persuading him to run the presidential race,” the governor said. “If he had not asked me to run for the governorship, I wouldn’t have stood before you today as the governor of Kaduna…
Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary in Ekiti State, Tope Aluko has accused Governor Ayo Fayose of threatening his life. Aluko made the allegation on Thursday, April 7, 2016, while addressing a press conference in Lagos, Vanguard reports. “I have not fled the country and equally on bail from the agencies while snippets of issues ensuing from these statements are filtering into the ears of the actors/beneficiaries such that attack are now coming from all direction targeted at me,” Aluko said. “While the army council sacked their officers as a result of the investigation, it is unfortunate that the civilian…