Chelsea reached the League Cup final after Branislav Ivanovic’s towering extra-time header secured a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in a rip-roaring semifinal second leg at an electric Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. . The Serbian defender powered a header past Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet four minutes into the extra period to secure a 2-1 aggregate win for the four-times winners days after their humiliating FA Cup exit to third-tier Bradford City. . Both sides had good chances in normal time and were grateful to their keepers – Thibaut Courtois and Mignolet – for keeping the scores level in a blood-and-thunder encounter…
Author: David Folami
Bayern Munich will be without Franck Ribery when the Bundesliga resumes after the winter break with the champions taking on second-placed VfL Wolfsburg on Friday. . Ribery suffered a muscle injury in training on Wednesday and defender Rafinha injured ligaments with both ruled out for two weeks, Bayern said on Thursday. . But even without the pair, coach Pep Guardiola can choose from a growing squad with Holger Badstuber, Mehdi Benatia and David Alaba, among other, returning to full fitness after their injuries. . The Bavarians are unbeaten in the league this season and have conceded just four goals in…
Mali’s African Nations Cup fate was sealed on Thursday when FA chief Boubacar Diarra picked the “wrong” ball from a bowl and condemned them to a cruel exit as Guinea won a place in the last eight instead. . Two balls were placed in a glass bowl before the watching Confederation of African Football executive at a Malabo hotel as a rare drawing of lots was used by CAF to separate two countries that finished level in Group D. . Visibly nervous, a pair of officials from the two nations strode on to the stage after a brief introduction from…
It is hard to imagine two more different characters than Jose Mourinho and Manuel Pellegrini, so it is no surprise that the Chelsea manager and his Manchester City counterpart seem to rub each other up the wrong way. . Their simmering rivalry is set for another chapter in Saturday’s top-of-the-table Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge, with a potentially pivotal three points on offer. . Should Chelsea claim the spoils, they will lead the champions by eight points, while a City success would leave them just two points adrift with 15 games to play. . The bragging rights, however, also…
Daniel Sturridge is set to make his Liverpool return on Saturday after five months out and for manager Brendan Rodgers there is hope for what he can bring and lingering disappointment over what might have been. . When Sturridge was ruled out with a thigh injury on international duty in early September, Liverpool’s goals dried up. . Left without the services of their top two scorers from the previous season, with Luis Suarez sold to Barcelona last July, Liverpool’s season effectively imploded. . A recent resurgence has been built around a change of system with Raheem Sterling drafted in to…
Chelsea striker Diego Costa will contest the Football Association’s violent conduct charge for his alleged stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can, British media reported on Thursday. . The Brazilian-born Spain striker faces a potential three-game ban after he appeared to tread down on the 21-year-old German early in the first half of their League Cup semi-final, second leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. . Should he fail in his challenge he would miss Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City as well as games at Aston Villa and home to Everton. . Costa was later involved in a second stamping furore involving…
Nigerian striker Shola Ameobi is in talks with Barclays English Premier League club Crystal Palace. . Ameobi, currently a free agent, shocked more than a few when he joined Turkish 1 Lig (second division) club Gaziantepspor BB on August 11, 2014. . Four goals and 11 league matches later, Ameobi appears set for a return to the Premier League where he had previously turned out for Newcastle United and Stoke City (on loan). . He left Gaziantepspor in December and Sky Sports is now reporting that following talks with Palace, the 33-year-old is set to be reunited with his former…
Former England striker Peter Crouch has settled his immediate future by signing a two-year contract extension with Stoke City, the Premier League club said on Thursday. . The news ends speculation that Crouch, who has scored 37 goals in 140 appearance for Stoke, would leave when his current deal expires at the end of the season. . Crouch, who will be 34 on Friday, joined the Midlands club from Tottenham Hotspur in a club record £10 million deal in 2011. . “People will stop talking about my future now hopefully, and I can just concentrate on doing well for this…
Manager Mauricio Pochettino faces a tough decision if goalkeepers Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm are both fit to play for Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley on March 1. . He must decide whether to keep faith with number two Vorm, who has played every minute of the campaign, or give a Wembley spot to Lloris, one of the best keepers in the world and his regular first choice. . Spurs reached the final with a 3-2 aggregate win over third-tier Sheffield United on Wednesday after a late goal from Christian Eriksen gave them a…
Guinea described their progress, by the drawing of lots, to Sunday’s African Nations Cup quarterfinal against Ghana in Malabo as the “gods of football fortune” smiling down on them. . The country, devastated by the Ebola virus in the last year, was thrilled to see its national team qualify on Thursday at the expense of Mali after the two sides finished Group D level. . Chants of ‘Ebola, Ebola’ from rival fans had a sizeable impact on the players but they still ended up in the finals after winding up second in their preliminary group section behind Ghana and ahead…
Guinea will play in the African Nations Cup quarterfinals after qualifying instead of Mali by the drawing of lots at a ceremony in Malabo on Thursday. . Lots were drawn to determine second place in Group D after both countries finished level after their three opening round matches. Ivory Coast won the group. . Three successive 1-1 draws for both teams meant they could not be separated by points, their head-to-head result, goal difference or goals scored. . Guinea will now play Ghana in Sunday’s quarterfinal in Malabo at 6pm SA time. . “The gods of football fortune smiled on…
Tottenham Hotspur’s Michel Vorm is set to retain his place in goal for their Capital One Cup semifinal second leg with Sheffield United on Wednesday despite his howler in their FA Cup exit on Saturday. . Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino gave Vorm his full backing on Tuesday ahead of the last-four clash after his mistake gifted Leicester City a surprise 2-1 away win in the FA Cup. . The Dutchman let a tame effort from Jeffrey Schlupp squirm past him and into the net in the 90th minute. . “This is football. He made two big saves against Leicester. His…
Former Nigerian captain Stephen Keshi has told supersport.com that the death of his ex-teammate Wilfred Agbonavbare has left him in shock. . Keshi explained that the passing away of the former Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper is a bitter pill to swallow despite knowing he has been battling cancer for sometime. . “Wilfred is dead? No! This is a bitter pill to swallow,” began Keshi while speaking to supersport.com. “What do I say about him now? I still remember our time together as teammates while at NNB many years back. Wilfred was one goalkeeper who was good at what he did.” .…
Bayern Munich have accused senior Fifa member Theo Zwanziger of double standards after the former German soccer chief criticised the Bundesliga champions over last week’s visit to Saudi Arabia. . The team from Bavaria, a leading global football brand, played a friendly against Al-Hilal in Riyadh on Saturday in a one-day trip organised by a club sponsor. . It coincided with an uproar over the flogging in Saudi Arabia of activist and blogger Raif Badawi and Zwanziger accused Bayern of being driven by “commercial ethics”. . “If Dr Theo Zwanziger has indeed forgotten what he once said (about Bayern) then…
German champions Bayern Munich have repeatedly signalled their desire for a contract extension with coach Pep Guardiola but the Spaniard seems in no rush to sign a deal past 2016. . Guardiola led Bayern to the domestic league and Cup double in his first season in charge last year but any talk of a contract extension past his original three years will happen later in the year. . Despite their runaway lead in the Bundesliga again this season, any possible deal extension seems to largely hinge on Guardiola’s ability to land the Champions League title this season. . Last season’s…
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has said that he is optimistic regarding his side’s survival chances as they head into the second half of the Bundesliga season. . The Westphalians occupied the penultimate position in the Bundesliga at the turn of the year after a dramatic fall from grace and, rather than challenging for a place in Europe next season, their focus is on avoiding relegation. Klopp, who has presided over the worst half a season in his coaching career, remains convinced they will pull away from danger and soon be able to forget about the first half of the…
Germany midfielder Ilkay Guendogan could be sidelined with a thigh muscle injury when ailing Borussia Dortmund start the second half of the Bundesliga season on Saturday at Bayer Leverkusen. . Guendogan sustained the injury in a tune-up match in Dusseldorf last week and has not been in team training since. . Also uncertain, although back from Asian Cup and Africa Cup of Nations duty are Shinji Kagawa and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. But Japan’s Kagawa resumed team training on Wednesday. . The 2011 and 2012 champions Dortmund are second bottom after a terrible first half of the season. They now hope for…
Guinea and Mali will have to wait for the drawing of lots to take place to find out who will qualify for quarterfinals. . CAF Article 74 has come into play to be the tiebreaker as the teams are level in every category. . The rule is also used by the world governing football body Fifa. . It is not everyone’s preferred manner and most fans have actually called for penalty shootout, which is more thrilling and entertaining than a draw that basically amounts to a lottery. . This is what the Confederation of African Football (CAF) stated after the…
Didier Drogba has paid tribute to the inspirational way Chelsea teammates Frank Lampard and John Terry helped turn his career around after suffering some difficult times in his early days at Stamford Bridge. . The powerful Ivorian striker, signed in a big-money deal from Olympique de Marseille 11 years ago, was frequently criticised by reporters for the theatrical way he would go to ground but he said Lampard and Terry made him clean up his act. . “I’m very proud because I managed to push things and also that I learned from my mistakes,” Drogba told Reuters in an interview,…
Stoke City forward Bojan Krkic will miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee ligament injury against Rochdale in their FA Cup fourth round win on Monday, the Premier League club said. . The 24-year-old Spanish forward opened the scoring after four minutes in a 4-1 victory but limped off in the 32nd minute after collapsing while challenging for the ball. . “Scans have revealed he suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee and will have to undergo surgery,” Stoke said on their website (www.stokecityfc.com). . The Midlands club signed the one-cap Spain international forward from…