Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that the club’s “lucky” period will come and other sides will eventually suffer from refereeing mistakes. United have been denied penalties in their last two home games — a 1-1 draw with Arsenal and 0-0 draw against Burnley. Matteo Darmian fell against Burnley after an attempted challenge by Jon Flanagan, while Antonio Valencia went to ground after Arsenal’s Nacho Montreal put an arm across him. Mourinho was visibly upset at both decisions, receiving a touchline ban for his reaction to the Burnley incident. “Some of the teams who are having everything in their…
Author: David Folami
Arsene Wenger has urged Arsenal to send a statement out to their European rivals with a victory over French champions Paris St Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday. Wenger, whose team have been eliminated at the last-16 stage for the past six seasons, said the competition was more open this year, citing Manchester City’s 3-1 defeat of Barcelona in the last round of fixtures as an example. “When you play at home against a big team, you want to win. It sends a statement out,” the Frenchman told a news conference. “I think we are ready to compete. We…
Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admits Bayern Munich are now the hunters – rather than the hunted – as they attempt to reclaim top spot from surprise new Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig. Bayern flew to Russian side Rostov for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with the Bavarian giants already through to the last 16, but needing a win to challenge Atletico Madrid for top spot in Group D. Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Dutch winger Arjen Robben are both out with injury, while Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal, Spain’s Javi Martinez and French winger Kingsley Coman are also set to miss out with knocks.…
Marco Reus was delighted to have netted a hat-trick on his comeback in Borussia Dortmund’s record 8-4 hammering of Legia Warsaw in the Champions League after six months out. “That was an important step for me, it’s how you imagine your first day back will go,” said Reus with a grin. “I’ve worked hard for this moment and I am pleased that I could help the team.” The Germany winger led the way in a record-goal haul for a Champions League game. The 12 goals in Dortmund on Tuesday bettered the competition’s previous record of 11 set when Monaco beat…
Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale will miss his side’s blockbuster clash with Barcelona next weekend due to an ankle injury, Spanish media reported on Wednesday. Bale was forced off just before the hour mark of Real’s 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday as the European champions secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League for a record 20th consecutive season. “Gareth Bale…has been diagnosed with a traumatic dislocation of the peroneal tendons in his right ankle,” Madrid said in a statement on Wednesday without stating how long Bale will be sidelined. However, Madrid sports dailies Marca…
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane praised their battling display against Sporting Lisbon as they claimed a place in the Champions League knockout stages with a scrappy 2-1 win on Tuesday. Karim Benzema’s 87th minute header gave Real victory after they let 10-man Sporting back into the game following Joao Pereira’s red card – the third time in five Champions League games this season a late goal has got them out of trouble. “We had difficult moments but that’s what you expect and what we knew could happen, but once again we refused to give up,” said Zidane. “We kept playing…
His team had been sucker-punched by Arsenal, but Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho could not resist one last dig at his opposite number Arsene Wenger. “Finally, I lost against Arsene,” Mourinho declared as he left the Old Trafford press conference room following a 1-1 draw he said felt “like a defeat”. “Finally, I lost against Arsenal.” Saturday’s result in fact extended Mourinho’s unbeaten run against Wenger’s Arsenal to 12 league games, but that was of little consolation after a contest United dominated. Juan Mata gave them a deserved 69th-minute lead, but with a minute to go, substitute Olivier Giroud headed…
Manchester United will trigger an option to extend Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract by a year, manager Jose Mourinho told a press conference on Wednesday. Ibrahimovic, 35, joined United from Paris Saint-Germain in July on a one-year contract with an option for an extra year. “Zlatan’s situation is simple,” Mourinho told reporters at Old Trafford ahead of United’s Europa League meeting with Feyenoord on Thursday. “He has one plus one. We are happy with him. We are going to execute the option of a second season. After that he can do what he wants.” Mourinho previously spent a season working…
Jose Mourinho’s announcement that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will stay at Manchester United for a second season was a bold statement of faith in a striker still trying to prove himself in England. United’s manager swatted away questions about the 35-year-old’s pace and suitability, effectively tying their fates together as they seek a way to turn around United’s season. “We are going to execute the option of a second season,” said Mourinho. “After that he can do what he wants.” While it is not hard to see why Ibrahimovic would re-sign a one-year deal reported to be worth £260 000 a week,…
Burnley must recover quickly from Monday’s 4-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion to prepare for Manchester City’s visit to Turf Moor this coming weekend, midfielder Johann Gudmundsson said. Burley, however, can take encouragement from their previous encounters against the top sides in the Premier League, having beaten Liverpool at home, drawing at Manchester United and only losing to Arsenal due to a controversial last-minute goal. “We need to pick ourselves up. It’s a massive game next weekend and hopefully we can get some points from that. This was definitely our worst game of the season,” Gudmundsson told the club’s website…
Ahmed Makarfi, the caretaker committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told newsmen in Abuja on Monday, November 21, 2016, that the party is determined to capture power in 2019. Makarfi also highlighted the steps which the PDP has taken to ensure that they achieve their 2019 goal. According to Punch, the caretaker Chairman said the party is working hard to rescue Nigerians from the clutches of hunger. Makarfi said this after a meeting with former Federal Government ministers from the party in Abuja. He also revealed that the leadership of the party has resolved to zone the presidency…
Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau on Monday said the South West All Progressives Congress governors who were absent at the Saturday APC Mega Gubernatorial rally in Akure, Ondo, had sent in their apologies. Lalong, who is the Chairman of Ondo APC Governorship Campaign Council, made this known to State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Akure APC rally, which was witnessed by President Muhammadu Buhari, Senate President Bukola Saraki, and other prominent members of the party, was attended by only Gov.…
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to attend the 4th Africa-Arab Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday, November 23. The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, disclosed this on Monday, November 21. He said the summit will be attended by Heads of State and Governments from Gulf and African countries. Adesina also said the summit is expected to endorse the Malabo Declaration and Action Working Plan for 2017-2019 to promote trade and economic ties. The two-year plan seeks to implement priority projects in trade, investment, transportation, communication and energy in Africa. He said: “In Malabo, President…
Former Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has described former Goodluck Jonathan as one of the greatest presidents Nigeria has ever had. Moro said Jonathan contributed immensely to the development and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria and Africa. Moro said Jonathan created a solid foundation in the country’s electoral system by conceding defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. He said: “Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a great icon and hero of democracy in Nigeria, Africa and the entire world. He subordinated personal interest to the national interest when, even before the votes for the presidential election were tallied,…
The Senate has rejected a recommendation by the Nigerian Law Reform Commission to jail people hoarding foreign currencies. The Commission had recommended the review of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Act to empower the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to jail any bureau de change operator who holds on to foreign currency for more than 30 days. It recommended two years jail term or 20 per cent fine of the amount of the currency held in their possession for one month. The Senate’s spokesperson, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, said the measure is counter-productive and will undermine many of the reform efforts already…
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed has sued the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for N100m. According to Punch, Mohammed is claiming damages for his continued detention by the anti-graft agency. A 15 page affidavit deposed at the High Court in Abuja, the former minister’s counsel, Umar Usman said the EFCC invited Mohammed for a chat on October 24, 2016 and arrested him till date. The affidavit also claims that Mohammed “…has suffered substantial deterioration of his health and untold psychological trauma and mental torture.” The former minister wants the court to declare that his…
The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) did not reach an agreement on Earned Allowance due to lecturers despite the Senate’s intervention. The meeting, which was held on Monday, November 21, was convened by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETfund and chaired by its chairman, Senator Jibrin Barau. It was gathered that the Committee adjourned the meeting indefinitely after the two parties failed to reach an agreement on the matter. In attendance at the meeting were the national leadership of ASUU led by its national president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi; the executive secretary of the…
The Presidency has dismissed the assertion that the masses will desert President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. Reacting to the statement by Alhaji Buba Galadim that the masses will abandon Buhari in 2019, the official spokesman, Garba Shehu described the statement as “unfounded and utterly ridiculous.” Galadim, a former national secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) had said ordinary Nigerians were the backbone of Buhari’s mandate “and the only reason he ran for the office is to protect them against the rapacious merchants of corruption who held Nigeria back for decades.” Shehu, however, said Galadima’s calculation and prediction “is…
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday, inaugurated a 330KV power switching station in Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom. The minister, at Ikot Inyang village in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, said that the switch on of the station would boost electricity supply in the country. He said that the station was expected to evacuate electricity from power plants in Alaoji, Afam, Calabar and Ikot Abasi and route same to Ugwuaji in Enugu up to Jos. Fashola said that the development would solve the problem of stranded power as the generating plants would have…
The Ebonyi Government is to enforce its ban on the sale of foreign rice in markets and other outlets in the State. Gov. David Umahi made the disclosure when participants of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Senior Course 39, Jaji, visited him in Abakaliki on Monday. According to the governor, the order would soon be enforced to ensure that the residents patronise home-grown Ebonyi Rice. “I will personally lead a task-force, consisting of the State Executive Council members to various markets and enforce the order. “Individuals who are selling the produce will provide certification of its quality because…