Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea are firmly on course to win the Premier League after extending their lead at the top to six points with a battling 3-2 victory at Hull. . The Blues, chasing their first English league crown since 2010, re-established their stranglehold on the title race thanks to Loic Remy’s late winner at the KC Stadium on Sunday. . And with Chelsea holding a game in hand on second placed Manchester City, Mourinho says they are now firm favourites to lift the trophy. . “The title race should be over,” Mourinho said. “The title race in normal conditions,…
Author: David F.
World champions Germany will wear black armbands and there will be a minute’s silence before Wednesday’s friendly against Australia to honour the victims of the French Alps air crash. . Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the German Football Association (DFB), has confirmed they will honour the victims of Tuesday’s disaster before the friendly international in Kaiserslautern. . More than half of the victims of the air crash are believed to have been German. . “It is the one clear thought which overshadows everything else,” said Niersbach. . “We owe it to the victims and their families that the football family share…
Former Flying Eagles head coach, Tunde Disu has said he was not surprise the side emerged winners of the 2015 Orange African Under-20 Championship in Senegal. . The Nigerians claimed their seventh title at the expense of hosts, Senegal with 1-0 win in the final decided on Sunday at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium, Dakar. . Bernard Bulbwa’s individual brilliant goal in the 20th minute proved adequate to hand the Nigerians the coveted African title. . Disu said the Flying Eagles made known their preparedness to claim the title after they subdued tournament favourites, Black Satellites of Ghana in the…
Nigeria defeated hosts Senegal in the final of the 2015 African U-20 Championship in Dakar on Sunday to claim a record seventh title in the competition. . Both teams met in the group stage, with the Flying Eagles triumphing 3-1 but their rematch in the final wasn’t an easy affair for the Nigerians, who nonetheless, snatched a lone-goal victory through midfielder Bulbwa Bernard after 17 minutes, and toiled to safeguard the slim lead amid hostile local fans. . The Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba attributed his team’s success over the host nation to discipline, solidarity and experience. . “We met…
Senegal coach Joseph Koto did not express any disappointment following his team’s loss to Nigeria in the final of the 2015 African U-20 Championship in Dakar on Sunday. The junior Teranga Lions were defeated 1-0 by the Flying Eagles, thus failing to break the jinx of not having won a continental title despite the huge talents the country churns out every year. . Rather, the coach said he was very happy because his team showed impressive improvement from their last game against Nigeria which they “timidly” lost 3-1. . “I said earlier that we lost heavily to Nigeria in the…
Real Madrid should focus on the positives from Sunday’s 2-1 La Liga defeat at Barcelona and remember there is still a long way to go until the end of the campaign, according to centre-back Sergio Ramos. . Real’s defeat in the ‘Clasico’ at the Nou Camp, their third reverse in their last four outings in all competitions, left them four points behind leaders Barca in second place with 10 games left. . Ramos noted that Real had dominated their arch rivals for much of the match before Luis Suarez settled the contest in Barca’s favour with a superb effort 11…
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has agreed to extend his contract with the Spanish champions by three years to 2020 and pledged to help the club cement their position back among Europe’s elite. . The deal, which runs until the end of the 2019-20 campaign, was widely expected although that did not prevent plenty of speculation a wealthy rival could try to lure Simeone away from the club he twice represented as a player. . “I have chosen to be here because I am convinced the club will continue to grow,” Simeone told a news conference. . “Because it is…
David Villa’s international career is not necessarily over and the striker could return to the squad and extend his Spain scoring record, coach Vicente del Bosque said on Tuesday. . It was widely assumed the New York City player, who has 59 goals in 97 games for La Roja, had played for the last time at the World Cup in Brazil last year although the 33-year-old never said he was quitting the national team. . Captain Villa scored the opener and set up the second goal in his club’s Major League Soccer home debut this month, a 2-0 win against…
Diego Costa’s injury could hand fellow Spain forward Alvaro Morata a chance to try to transfer his fine form for Juventus to the international stage although he knows he faces a stiff task to win a place in the team. . Morata, who has seven goals in 22 Serie A appearances this term for the Italian champions, was included in coach Vicente del Bosque’s squad for Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Ukraine and a friendly away to Netherlands four days later. . Costa has been forced to withdraw with a hamstring injury and Morata will compete for a…
Uefa has charged Barcelona over fans showing an “illicit banner” at Camp Nou during a Champions League win against Manchester City. . Uefa announced the incident on Friday but did not give details. Barcelona won 1-0 on Wednesday to advance from the round of 16 on a 3-1 aggregate score. . Uefa says its disciplinary panel will judge the case on May 21. . The two-month wait for a hearing suggests the incident is not serious. . Uefa typically fast tracks cases so it can apply sanctions at a team’s next home match. . Barcelona host Paris Saint-German in the…
England manager Roy Hodgson has bemoaned the lack of English players at the country’s leading clubs after a bleak fortnight for Premier League teams in the Champions League. . With Arsenal and Manchester City having followed Liverpool and Chelsea in crashing out of the Champions League this week, England has no teams in the quarterfinals for the second time in three years. . It has prompted fears of a lasting decline in England’s continental standing, but for Hodgson, the diminishing number of English players playing for the country’s top sides is a source of equal concern. . “When we talk…
Uefa has warned all the Champions League quarterfinal teams to stop their players harassing referees, secretary general Gianni Infantino said on Monday. . And Europe’s governing body does not support extending video technology to catch mistakes made by referees, he added. . Uefa’s refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina warned Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Monaco, Paris Saint Germain, Porto and Real Madrid at a meeting on Friday. . The meeting at the Uefa headquarters at Nyon in Switzerland came the day after the ruling body banned Paris St-Germain’s Ivorian defender Serge Aurier for three European matches for “insulting acts” towards…
Barcelona and PSG met in the group stages with both teams winning their respective home ties while they also met in the 2013 quarterfinals when the Spaniards prevailed on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw. . The French champions will be without suspended star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the first leg after the Swede was given a one-match ban following his sending off in the last-16 victory over Chelsea. . Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre knows the two sides are familiar foes. . “PSG are old foes for us and we met them in the group phase. They’re a great…
Holders Real Madrid will have to overcome city rivals Atletico in the Champions League quarterfinals, in a repeat of last year’s final, while Barcelona face familiar opponents in Paris Saint-Germain after the draw made Friday in Nyon. . Portuguese giants Porto host Bayern Munich of Germany in the first leg of their last eight matchup while Italian champions Juventus welcome the Monaco side who knocked out English side Arsenal in midweek. . Sergio Ramos equalised in the dying minutes in Lisbon last year to send the final to extra-time before Real prevailed 4-1 over Diego Simeone’s Atletico for their 10th…
Hull City manager Steve Bruce hailed his side’s performance against Chelsea as their ‘best ever’ in the Premier League but it proved in vain as substitute Loic Remy snatched a 3-2 victory for the leaders on Sunday. . Chelsea looked to be in brutal form early on and goals from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa put Jose Mourinho’s side 2-0 ahead after nine minutes at the KC Stadium. . Undeterred, Hull stormed back and scored two goals in 74 seconds as Ahmed Elmohamady slid the ball home on 26 minutes before Abel Hernandez took full advantage of an error by…
The battle for Champions League qualification in the English Premier League took another twist at the weekend with all of the contenders for a top-four finish bar Liverpool winning. . Chelsea, six points clear at the summit with a game in hand, appear destined for the title and with it a place in the Champions League, leaving six teams to fight it out for the three remaining qualifying berths. . With eight matches of the season remaining (nine for Chelsea), AFP Sport assesses the runners and riders in the race for a spot in Europe’s elite competition. . 2. Manchester…
Anfield match-winner Juan Mata warned his Manchester United teammates on Monday that they still have a long way to go in the Premier League race for Champions League qualification. .. Mata scored a superb brace on Sunday as United won 2-1 at Liverpool to move five points clear of their rivals in the battle for a top-four finish. . Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur are both two points further back, but with games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal still to come, Mata says that United must maintain their focus. . “Beating Liverpool at Anfield, being lucky to score two nice…
Long-serving goalkeeper Petr Cech says he will leave Chelsea rather than spend another season as understudy to Thibaut Courtois. . The 32-year-old Czech Republic international has lost his place to the young Belgian this term, starting only four Premier League games and being primarily used in the domestic cup competitions. . While accepting manager Jose Mourinho’s decision, Cech said the situation could not go on indefinitely. . “I don’t know what the club’s idea will be. It looks like it works well with me and Thibaut as a duo,” he told the Idnes newspaper. . “But that can work for…
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo could be sanctioned for his goal celebration when he netted the equaliser in Sunday’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ at Barcelona, the president of Spain’s professional soccer league (LFP) said. . Ronaldo, not for the first time when he has scored at the Nou Camp, appeared to be urging the Barca fans to calm down when he struck to make it 1-1 in the 31st minute. . The Portugal captain, regularly the subject of abuse himself, has gained a reputation for winding up opposing fans and was widely criticised when he tore off his shirt to celebrate…
Flying Eagles goalkeeper, Olorunleke Ojo has said his side never entertained any fear of defeat in the course of Orange African Under-20 Championship final clash against hosts, Senegal. . The Nigerians piped the Young Lions of Teranga 1-0 in the final AYC clash on Sunday at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium, Dakar to claim a record seventh African title. . Ojo said the encounter though somehow tough than they envisaged but they were determined to hang onto their hard earned lead till the end of the keenly contested clash. . “We believed in ourselves that we’ll win the clash against…