Archive | April 2015

Emmanuel Emenike in shock after Fenerbahce bus shooting….

Fenerbahce's Emmanuel Emenike

Nigeria striker Emmanuel Emenike says he and his Fenerbahce teammates were left in shock after their team bus was shot at by a gunman on Saturday night in Turkey. The Turkish league leaders were travelling to Trabzon airport to fly back to Istanbul, following their 5-1 victory over Rizespor, when the shooting happened. The driver was taken to hospital, but no players were injured in the attack which Emenike described as a ‘scary moment’. “The incident left several players in shock on a day we should be celebrating a big away win,” Emenike told BBC Sport.

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Oshoala hits Super Falcons camp….

Liverpool Ladies striker Asisat Oshoala has arrived the Super Falcons camp ahead of the crucial final qualifying round, second leg clash of the 2015 All Africa Games against Mali.  Oshoala, who got her first English Women’s Super League goal a few days ago, joined her colleagues yesterday evening after six hours flight from Heathrow Airport, London to the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos before later connecting to Abuja. Still expected in camp is France-based Desire Oparanozie who plays for elite division side En Avant de Guingamp, and will join next week after playing a rescheduled league match on Saturday April 4. Super Falcons were held to a 1-1 draw in Bamako and will hope to silence their Malian counterparts at the National Stadium, Abuja on April 10.

Rodgers hopeful over Sterling….

Raheem Sterling: Brendan Rodgers sure forward will stay at Liverpool this summer

Brendan Rodgers is hopeful Raheem Sterling’s contract situation at Liverpool will be resolved in the summer. The Reds manager feels the forward will be best served by remaining at Anfield and developing his career with the club for whom he has been a player since leaving QPR’s academy as a 16-year-old. Any talks over an extension to Sterling’s contract, which is due to expire in the summer of 2017, have been put on hold until the summer, with rumours circulating that the player is reluctant to agree to an initial offer which would put him on more than £100,000-per-week.

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Van Gaal not ruling out title….

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal refused to rule out a late title charge after his side’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa. Two goals from Ander Herrera and a superb Wayne Rooney strike gave Van Gaal’s men victory on Saturday afternoon as they moved up to third in the Premier League table. Chelsea’s win over Stoke means United are eight points behind the league leaders with seven games left to play, but Van Gaal believes their fixtures in their run-in will keep them in the hunt. “We have to play against the first three in the league (Chelsea, City and Arsenal) and normally when you play against better teams with more points it’s not done yet,” he said. “We are looking up and we have to win every week but anything is possible. “We have made a big gap to fifth and we can suffer a defeat. “Liverpool is now eight points behind us and we are eight points behind Chelsea. We probably won’t be champions but we can give pressure.”

Diego Costa faces two weeks out….

Diego Costa: Striker played just 11 minutes of Saturday's 2-1 win over Stoke

Chelsea striker Diego Costa is set to miss the next fortnight after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring injury, according to manager Jose Mourinho. The Spain forward was forced off after just 11 minutes of action as a second-half substitute during the Blues’ 2-1 victory over Stoke at Stamford Bridge. Costa was introduced at half-time by Mourinho as a replacement for Oscar, with the score at 1-1, but had to replaced himself with Didier Drogba coming on.

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Kano Pillars crash out of Champions League….

Kano Pillars have been knocked out of the Champions League

Kano Pillars were only able to win 2-1 and were eliminated 5-2 on aggregated by Moroccan side Moghreb Tetouane in Saturday’s return leg in Kano. Nigerian champions Kano Pillars failed to win big against Mohgreb Tetouan and have crashed out of the Caf Champions League before the group stages for a third straight year. The Nigerian champions beat the Moroccans 2-1 at the Sani Abacha Stadium, but failed to overturn a 4-0 deficit suffered two weeks ago in Tetuouan.

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English Premiership results….

Saturday 4 April 2015:

Arsenal 4 – 1 Liverpool

Everton 1 – 0 Southampton

Leicester 2 – 1 West Ham

Man Utd 3 – 1 Aston Villa

Swansea 3 – 1 Hull

West Brom 1 – 4 QPR

Chelsea 2 – 1 Stoke

Sunday 5 April 2015:

Burnley 0 – 0 Tottenham

Sunderland 1 – 0 Newcastle

Monday 6 April 2015:

Crystal Palace 2 – 1 Man City

Tuesday 7 April 2015:

Aston Villa 3 – 3 QPR

Happy Easter to everyone….

Today, Christians all over the world celebrate the Easter Sunday to commemorate the day that Jesus Christ rose from death after dying for our sins. We wish everyone peaceful celebration. Let’s share agape love today and always.

Fenerbahce team bus attacked by gun man….

Fenerbahce team bus

Fenerbahce’s team bus was shot at by a gunman after the Turkish Super Lig leaders’ 5-1 victory at Rizespor. The driver was taken to hospital but no players were injured in the attack, which happened while they were travelling to Trabzon airport. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said an investigation was under way.

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Serena wins Miami Open….

Serena Williams is presented with the Miami trophy by Martina Navratilova

World number one Serena Williams thrashed Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro to win her eighth Miami Open title. The 33-year-old raced to a 6-2 6-0 victory in 56 minutes to secure her third straight title at Crandon Park. The American won the final 10 games as she outclassed Suarez Navarro, who will make her top-10 debut next week. Williams said: “It feels really good to have eight under my belt. I’d like to believe the older I get, the better I get.”

Nigeria Premier League fixtures….

Saturday 4 April 2015:

Kano Pillars vs Enyimba 4pm

Bayelsa United vs Taraba 4pm

Kwara United vs Heartland FC 4pm

Sunday 5 April 2015:

Lobi Stars vs Sharks 4pm

Akwa United vs Ifeanyi Uba FC 4pm

Enugu Rangers vs Giwa 4pm

Abia Warriors vs Wikki Tourist 4pm

Nasarawa United vs Shooting Stars 4pm

Djokovic and Murray will play Miami Open finals….

Andy Murray will face world number one Novak Djokovic in the final of the Miami Open on Sunday. Third seed Murray beat Czech eighth seed Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-4 to reach the final for a fourth time. The 27-year-old Scot, who reached 500 career wins this week, won the title in 2009 and 2013. Defending champion Djokovic overcame USA’s John Isner 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to set up a meeting with Murray, whom he beat in Indian Wells last week.

Tiger Woods to play Masters….

Tiger Woods

Four-time winner Tiger Woods has confirmed he will play in the Masters at Augusta, which starts on Thursday. Woods, a former world number one, has not played in a tournament since 5 February. The world number 104, withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open after just 11 holes with a back injury. “I’m playing in the Masters,” said Woods, 39. “It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there.” Woods played a practice round at Augusta before making the announcement on his website. He added: “I’ve worked a lot on my game and I’m looking forward to competing. I’m excited to get to Augusta and I appreciate everyone’s support.” Woods, a 14-time major winner, has missed the cut in the only two tournaments he has played this season. He posted the worst score of his professional career earlier this year, with an 11-over-par 82 at the Phoenix Open.

Mourinho says every player has a price….

Jose Mourinho of Chelsea

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says “every player has a price” after being asked about Raheem Sterling’s contract wrangle at Liverpool. The Portuguese said he understood the stance of Reds boss Brendan Rodgers, who said Sterling would not be sold. But Mourinho said: “I don’t like players that don’t want to play for me and my club, clearly.” Chelsea are among the clubs linked with the England forward,  20, after he rejected a £100,000-a-week contract.

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Arsenal’s Wenger and Giroud win monthly awards….

Arsene Wenger and Oliver Giroud win monthly awards for March

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has been named Premier League Manager of the Month for March and Olivier Giroud has made it a double for the Gunners by winning the Player of the Month award. Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League by Monaco in March but won all four for their Premier League matches against Everton, QPR, West Ham and Newcastle. Giroud bounced back from being substituted just an hour into Arsenal’s Champions League first-leg defeat against Monaco by scoring six goals in all competitions, averaging a goal every 78 minutes from 17 shots.

Van Gaal says Fellaini is undroppable….

Marouane Fellaini and Louis van Gaal of Manchester United

Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini is in such good form that he cannot be dropped, says manager Louis van Gaal. The 27-year-old, a £27.5m signing from Everton in 2013, was jeered by some United fans  during pre-season. He has started the last four games, and scored three goals in two matches for Belgium during the recent international break. “When he is playing like he is now, I cannot change him,” said Van Gaal. Fellaini did not score in 21 matches in an injury-interrupted first season at Old Trafford and said he felt like a scapegoat for the club’s struggles under then manager David Moyes. Since Van Gaal took charge, Fellaini has scored five goals in 23 games for United in all competitions this term and was given a standing ovation after the 3-0 victory over Tottenham in March. “From the first training session, he did what I asked of him,” said Van Gaal, who said he is “not surprised” by Fellaini’s form. “I said, ‘you have to do this, or do this differently’ and he was open and wanted to perform that. “He’s had an unlucky season because he was injured and ill a lot of times, but when he’s been fit he’s always played for me, more or less. “I was looking for balance in the team and he can bring that.”

 

African Champions League: Nigerians & South Africans at risk of elimination….

African Champions League trophy

All four Nigerian and South African contenders are in danger of being eliminated from the African Champions League this weekend at the last-32 stage. Nigerians Enyimba defend a precarious 1-0 lead over Egyptians Smouha on Sunday in Mediterranean city Alexandria. And Kano Pillars must stage a miraculous comeback in northern Nigeria on Saturday to survive having crumbled 4-0 away to Moroccans Moghreb Tetouan. South Africans Mamelodi Sundowns are in a similar position to Enyimba after establishing only a 1-0 lead over Democratic Republic of Congo visitors TP Mazembe. Soweto side Kaizer Chiefs are much worse off as careless defending at a free-kick led to a 1-0 home defeat by Moroccans Raja Casablanca three weeks ago. Sundowns play on Sunday afternoon in mining hub Lubumbashi and Chiefs go into action five hours later in the Moroccan commercial capital. Nigeria and South Africa are the economic giants of Africa and boast two of the most competitive domestic leagues on the continent. But both nations have struggled to make their mark in the premier Confederation of African Football club competition with back-to-back victories by Enyimba a decade ago the only Nigerian triumphs. South Africa have been even less successful with a lone Champions League – then called the African Champions Cup – triumph coming through Orlando Pirates 20 years ago. While Enyimba, Pillars, Sundowns and Chiefs face tasks of varying difficulty, the quartet were speaking optimistically this week. Kadiri Ikhana, who coached Enyimba to 2003 Champions League glory, said he had a plan to combat the cold evening weather expected in Alexandria. “Our preparations will include lots of running and I do not envisage the cold having a negative effect on us,” he said.

CAF refuses to confirm Morocco’s place at Afcon 2017….

Caf president Issa Hayatou and Royal Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa

The Confederation of African Football has refused to confirm whether Morocco will play in the qualifiers for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. On Thursday the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned CAF’s ban on Morocco from the 2017 and 2019 events. But on Friday CAF’s director of communications Junior Binyam told BBC Sport: “There are many meetings to be held before the way forward is known. “Let’s see what will happen. The draw is supposed to take place on 8 April.” CAF is set to hold its annual general congress next week in Cairo and Binyam said the matter will be discussed there by its executive committee. Morocco were suspended from the next two editions of the Nations Cup after they did not host the 2015 event because of their fears over the outbreak of Ebola on the continent. The Royal Federation of Moroccan Football (FRMF) asked for the finals to be postponed but CAF refused. The tournament was relocated to Equatorial Guinea, only two months before it began, and Morocco were excluded. In addition Morocco were fined US$1m (£675,000) and ordered to pay 8m euros (US$8.7m, £5.85m) in compensation. CAS reduced the fine to US$50,000 (£34,000) and said the separate claim for damages “may be examined by another jurisdiction”. When asked about the decision by CAS relating to the financial penalties, Binyam insisted Morocco “still have to pay the compensation”.

English Premier League fixtures….

Saturday 4 April 2015:

Arsenal vs Liverpool 12:45 pm

Everton vs Southampton 3 pm

Leicester vs West Ham 3 pm

Man Utd vs Aston Villa 3 pm

Swansea vs Hull 3 pm

West Brom vs QPR 3 pm

Chelsea vs Stoke 5:30 pm

Sunday 5 April 2015:

Burnley vs Tottenham 1:30 pm

Sunderland vs Newcastle 4 pm

Monday 6 April 2015:

Crystal Palace vs Man City

Tuesday 7 April 2015:

Aston Villa vs QPR 7:45 pm

Oshoala scores debut English Women’s Super League goal….

Asisat Oshoala

Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala scored her first goal in English football to help defending Women’s Super League One champions Liverpool overcome Birmingham City. Oshoala was lively before meeting a Gemma Bonner cross to volley home just before the break. Oshoala cut the ball back for Fara Williams to make it 2-0 before Aoife Mannion gave Birmingham late hope. The match ended 2 – 1 in favour of Liverpool Ladies. Oshoala said: “I feel very happy and excited about the goal and the victory for the team. “It’s very nice for me hearing them singing my name. It’s a crazy atmosphere. I have never seen supporters like this and I have been playing football for quite a long time now. The supporters here are awesome, they are great people. “It’s been a difficult start to the season but I believed we would bounce back. We showed the spirit here is very high, and we are really giving everything.”