Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino reduced his side’s title chances after they closed to within four points of the Premier League summit by crushing West Ham United 4-1. Harry Kane scored twice, his seventh and eighth goals in five games, and defenders Toby Alderweireld and Kyle Walker were also on point at White Hart Lane on Sunday as Pochettino’s enterprising young team equalled the club record of 12 consecutive Premier League games without defeat. With leaders Leicester City untested and Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United showing signs of vulnerability – not to mention floundering Chelsea – Spurs currently look…
Author: David Folami
Eden Hazard has been criticized for some weak performances and was benched by Jose Mourinho during Chelsea’s awful start to the campaign, but the Belgian says there is no problem with his manager and backed him to turn things around. Chelsea, who raced to the title with an eight-point margin last season, are currently 15th in the Premier League with 13 games played, 14 points adrift of leaders Leicester City as at last week. Mourinho has also come in for his share of criticism, and speculation about his future swirled with each poor result, but Hazard hopes Chelsea have turned…
Manchester United winger Memphis Depay appreciated assistant manager Ryan Giggs with helping him rediscover his form after scoring his first goal since late September in Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League win over Watford. Memphis joined United in June from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven after ending the season as the Dutch league’s top scorer with 22 goals. He made a promising start at Old Trafford, making 13 appearances in a row but he suffered a dip in form. Memphis made his first league appearance on Saturday after being substituted at halftime during the 3-0 loss to Arsenal on Oct. 4. The 21-year-old,…
Javi Martinez scored his first goal for Bayern Munich for two years on Saturday in his side’s 3-1 win at Schalke 04 which opened an eight-point gap between them and the next team. After second-placed Borussia Dortmund’s shock 3-1 defeat at Hamburg on Friday, Pep Guardiola’s Bayern took their chance to extend their lead. David Alaba’s early goal was cancelled out by Schalke’s Max Meyer before Martinez, then Thomas Mueller found the back of the net for Bayern. They took a fortuitous lead in Gelsenkirchen when Alaba’s long-range shot clipped Leon Goretzka’s heel and flew into the Schalke net with…
Bayern Munich will find a “great coach” to replace Pep Guardiola, should the Spaniard not renew his contract which expires next June, says captain Philipp Lahm. “If Guardiola leaves one day, for sure another excellent coach will come along, but first we have to see what happens,” Lahm told German magazine Kicker. Guardiola, 44, is in his final year of his current contract and has said he will announce his future plans before Christmas with the Bundesliga set to start the winter break on December 20. The Spaniard has won 19 titles as coach of either Bayern or Barcelona and…
French legend and Real Madrid reserve team coach Zinedine Zidane has reacted negatively to suggestions he could be set to replace the under-pressure Rafael Benitez in the top job at the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid were disgraced 4-0 at home by Barcelona on Saturday to increase the pressure on Benitez after just 16 games in charge. Zidane has been coaching Real Madrid Castilla for the last 18 months, but was deemed not ready for the step up after a disappointing first season in charge. “I am coach of Castilla and Benitez of the first team. Things are fine at the moment.…
Far from having a big ego after his team’s 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique warned on Monday that “flattery weakens” and said the club still had not won jack this season. “Flattery weakens. We are in a phase of flattery but the team is intelligent enough and the players know that playing football and achieving objectives is difficult,” he told reporters. The reigning European champions are targetting to confirm their place in the last 16 of the Champions League when Roma visit the Camp Nou on Tuesday. And they are in a good place – not…
Real Madrid key defenders Marcelo and Sergio Ramos will not play in Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine due to injury, the club said on Monday. After undergoing a series of tests, Brazil left-back Marcelo was diagnosed with a thigh injury, said the club, still recovering from a 4-0 defeat to arch rivals Barcelona in Saturday’s Clasico. Ramos, meanwhile, is still suffering from a dislocated left shoulder that forced him to play with a painkilling injection on Saturday. Real Madrid are already through to the last 16 of the Champions League, although a victory against Shakhtar in…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has ordered Uefa change their rules on doping because he claims the current regulations don’t do enough to cancel out drug cheats. Wenger has been vocal against doping and questioned why Uefa rulings means there is no way of disqualifying a team from continental competition unless more than two players fail a test. His frustration has come to the fore this week as Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Arijan Ademi was handed a four-year ban for failing a drugs test after the Croatian side beat Arsenal in the Champions League in September. Zoran Mamic’s side won 2-1 in…
Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea will start doing their season any good by turning around their troubled season if they can seal qualification for the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday. Mourinho’s side have travelled to Israel to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in their crucial Group G fixture knowing a victory combined with a draw or defeat for Dynamo Kiev against Porto would guarantee their progress to the knockout stages. That would be a significant boost for Mourinho, who has come under fire following Chelsea’s woeful form in the Premier League. Buoyed by Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Norwich on Saturday, the…
Chelsea Football Club incurred a loss of £23.1 million last season, the Premier League champions announced on Monday. The west London club revealed their annual financial results until June 30, 2015 and reported the deficit kept them within Financial Fair Play limits. The Blues, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, announced revenues of £314.3m, marginally down on the 2013-14 high of £319.8m. The figures may lead to some concern, with Chelsea 15th in the Premier League and with an unprecedented run required to secure the riches which accompany Champions League action next term. Chelsea in November 2014 announced a profit…
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Monday gave troubled coach Rafael Benitez his full backing, just two days after a horrific 4-0 home defeat to arch rivals Barcelona. “The coach Rafael Benitez has our full support and confidence. He was picked for his professionalism, his achievements, his experience and his ability,” said Perez. Perez, 68, acknowledged “we had a very bad match” against Barcelona, saying he “understood the anger of the fans,” but insisted: “let him (Benitez) work, the victories will come”. Perez said he had spoken with Benitez, 55, immediately after the game and given him his backing, and…
Former Liverpool star Steven Gerrard will wear the famous Reds shirt once again after accepting to play for the club’s ‘Legends’ side in Australia next year. Gerrard is currently on a post-season break from his Los Angeles Galaxy commitments after joining the MLS club from Liverpool earlier this year. The ex-Liverpool captain has spoken with Anfield manager Jurgen Klopp about training at Melwood while he is back on Merseyside. But the 35-year-old midfielder will also be in a Liverpool shirt at the Sydney ANZ on January 7 alongside former teammates including Jamie Carragher, Dietmar Hamann and John Arne Riise as…
On wednesday, Nigerian rapper Olamide revealed the artwork and tracklist of his forthcoming 5th studio album titled ‘Eyan Mayweather’. Immediately, the rapper started trending on social media with countless of fans, colleagues sharing and re-posting the album art. Nigerian born American rapper, Wale also joined the party. Wale re-posted the album art on Instagram with the caption, ‘My brother #Baddo on his fifth album, plenty reasons to #behappy . Abi?. All my naija niggas wit me!’. The duo have a yet to be released song together titled ‘Be Happy’, the video for the song has already been shot in Los…
South African rapper, AKA is set to launch his own set of headphones and speakers. The rapper who recently won ‘Best African Collaboration’ award at the just concluded AFRIMA is thinking huge money by taking his brand to a whole new height. AKA announced on his Instagram page that his very own Bluetooth connect headphones and speakers ‘3rd WorldBoss Rocka’ will be released soon and made available to his fans across Africa. Just like Nigerian singer D’banj, who has his own set of customized Beats by Dre headphones, AKA hopes this will be a commercial success and also help promote…
Former BBA winner, Uti Nwachukwu shared a picture, which suggests he has abandoned his signature dreadlocks for a low cut. The Jara presenter posted sliced cuts of his hair asking if anyone knows where he can donate his hair, preferably to a cancer patient going through Chemotherapy and experiencing hair loss. While most of his fans expressed their disappointment by commenting, a fan said ‘Finally @siruti can’t wait to see ur new look am pretty sure u will look better.’
Alariwo of Africa recently confirmed rumours of his ill health were true when he granted an interview to Punch saying he’s indeed been diagnosed with a disease known as Varicocele, an enlargement of veins inside the scrotum. To undergo a surgery to take care of the ailment, the Crossover singer needs $130,000 for surgery abroad, an amount he’s been trying so hard to raise. He already has a reason to smile courtesy of a donation from Nigerian comedian, Julius Agwu who recently survived a brain surgery in America. ‘Julius is the only entertainer that has volunteered to donate the sum…
After making us happy us with dope movies like ‘Guilty Pleasures’, ‘Bursting Out’, ‘Kiss & Tell’ and many more, fans of Nollywood actor turned politician, Desmond Elliott will have to wait for the next four years to see another movie from the actor who ia also a filmmaker. Speaking at a recent event, the lawmaker who represents Surulere constituency 1 at the Lagos State House of Assembly disclosed that he will not be acting or releasing any movie for the period of his stay in the house as he is focused on the act of lawmaking. ‘There is nothing acting…
Real Madrid go into Saturday’s blockbuster battle with Barcelona on the verge of crisis and in need of the world’s two most expensive players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, to prove their quality. Madrid are behind Barcelona by three points who at the top of La Liga as their “Galacticos” have failed to hit the ground running, while Barca have hardly skipped a beat despite losing four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi to injury for the past two months. When Madrid president Florentino Perez added Bale to a star-studded squad over two years ago, the Welshman and Ronaldo…
Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal applauded football’s solidarity after the Paris terror attacks as he admitted Friday that his players had been shaken. United had three players involved in the match between France and Germany at the Stade de France a week ago which was targeted in the attacks across Paris in which 129 people were killed. Anthony Martial will not play for United at Watford on Saturday because of a foot injury sustained in France’s 2-0 defeat to England at Wembley on Wednesday night. Teammate Morgan Schneiderlin is available but van Gaal plans to further assess him and…