Saturday 5th November, 2016:

Bournemouth 1 – 2 Sunderland

Burnley 3 – 2 Crystal Palace

Manchester City 1 – 1 Middlesbrough

West Ham 1 – 1 Stoke

Chelsea 5 – 0 Everton

Victor Anichebe scored Sunderland’s equalizer against Bournemouth in his first league start since February.  Sunderland responded by sending out a tweet in reference to a tweet that the Nigerian forward sent out recently. If you missed it, click here.

Jorge Costa has been removed as coach of Gabon just two months before the country hosts the Africa Cup of Nations. According to the official website of the Gabon’s football federation, Costa has been replaced on a temporary basis by technical director Jose Antonio Garrido. No reason has been given for what appears to be a sudden change at the top of the national team. Former international defender Costa was only reappointed in August on a six-month deal. His original contract as Panthers coach expired on 30 June and Gabon initially sought a replacement. Garrido has just over a week to prepare the team for their next assignment – a World Cup qualifier in Mali. The Nations Cup hosts will then play a friendly against the Comoros in Tunis three days after their showdown with the Eagles. Gabon face debutants Guinea-Bissau in the opening match of the Nations Cup on 14 January. The other teams in Group A are four-time winners Cameroon and Burkina Faso, runners-up in 2013.

The EFL Cup will be known as the Carabao Cup from June after a sponsorship agreement worth £18m was reached with the Thai energy drinks firm. The Football League (EFL) announced on Friday that Carabao would become the competition’s new title sponsor from 2017, with the deal running until 2020. The competition has been without a sponsor since the deal with credit card service company Capital One ended at the conclusion of last season. Carling had also sponsored the cup at which time it was known as Carling Cup.

Luis Figo (Football) – Former Inter Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Portugal winger, born 1972.

Nigel Worthington (Football) – former Northern Ireland defender and manager, born 1961.

Mario Melchiot (Football) – Former Wigan, Birmingham, Chelsea and Holland defender, born 1976.

Devin Hester (American Football) – Baltimore Ravens wide receiver who holds the NFL record for the most returning touchdowns, born 1982.

The Premier League has announced the nominees for its Player of the Month award:

• Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City)
• Joe Allen (Stoke City)
• Diego Costa (Chelsea)
• Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
• Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
• Tom Heaton (Burnley)
• N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)

The nominees for Manager of the Month are:

• Antonio Conte (Chelsea)
• Mark Hughes (Stoke City)
• Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
• Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)

The winner will be announced on Friday 18 November.

Former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is set to earn a reported £11m a year after taking over Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG. He replaces former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, who left the club on Thursday after two years in charge. Shanghai finished second and third in the league under the 68-year-old Swede. “Andre Villas-Boas is the leading young manager in European football, with a huge amount of passion and coaching experience,” a Shanghai statement said. “We are convinced his arrival will enrich the tactical nous of the team, unearth the potential of our young talents and guide our club to scale new heights.” Portuguese Villas-Boas, 39, had been without a job since leaving Russian side Zenit St Petersburg at the end of last season.

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has apologised to the club over comments made by his agent Dimitri Seluk, which has led to the midfielder not playing since 24 August and not featuring in any Premier League game this season. Seluk said Toure had been “humiliated” when he was not included in City’s Champions League squad. City boss Pep Guardiola then said: “I cannot accept as a coach, when his player doesn’t play, going to the media to speak and speak and speak.” In a statement on Facebook, Toure wrote: “I wish to apologise – on behalf of myself and those who represent me – to the management team and all those working at the club for the misunderstandings from the past.”

Continue reading →

Super Eagles goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi said he is determined to keep a clean sheet and justify his call up to replace injured first choice keeper Carl Ikeme for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Algeria in Uyo. Akpeyi said he considers the late call up as a rare honour and privilege even though he was cocksure he merited the early invitation. “Of course, I consider it always an honour and privilege to serve my fatherland, I’m happy with the call up as I’m 100 percent fit and determined to justify my inclusion in the game against the Algerian side.

Continue reading →

Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan will miss the 2018 World Cup showdown against Egypt on 13 November. The Black Stars captain is not expected to recover in time from the knock he picked up while training with his UAE club, Al Ahli on Tuesday. The 30-year-old is Ghana’s all-time top scorer with 48 goals but has had a rough time with injuries recently. Black Stars coach Avram Grant was hoping to have Gyan back for the must-win game against the Pharaohs. Egypt will host the Black Stars at Alexandria’s Borg El-Arab Stadium.

The 19-year-old goalkeeper of Gambia’s national women’s football team has drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. Fatim Jawara was on board a boat that ran into trouble last month while crossing from Libya to Europe, the country’s football association says. Her family confirmed news of her death, according to association president Lamin Kaba Bajo. Many of the undocumented migrants who arrive in Italy are Gambians. Jawara made her debut with the women’s side a year ago, after playing in the national junior team. “She will be remembered for saving a penalty kick in a friendly encounter involving the national soccer team and the Glasgow Girls from Scotland,” Mr Bajo told AFP news agency. More than 4,200 migrants fleeing conflict and poverty have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean this year, figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) show.

The nominees are:

• Camille Abily (France) – pictured.
• Melanie Behringer (Germany)
• Sara Däbritz (Germany)
• Amandine Henry (France)
• Saki Kumagai (Japan)
• Carli Lloyd (USA)
• Dzsenifer Marozsán (Germany)
• Marta (Brazil)
• Lotta Schelin (Sweden)
• Christine Sinclair (Canada)

Gerd Muller (Football) – former Germany and Bayern Munich striker, born 1945.

Roswitha Krause (Swimming/Handball) – former German Olympian, born 1949

Larry Holmes (Boxing) – former world heavyweight champion, born 1949.

Ian Wright (Football) – former Arsenal and England striker, born 1963.

Dwight Yorke (Football) – former Aston Villa, Manchester United and Trinidad & Tobago striker, born 1971.

Colin Kaepernick (American Football) – San Francisco 49ers quarterback, born 1987.

West Ham striker Andy Carroll was held at gunpoint after training on Wednesday, Sky reports. A club statement said later on Wednesday night that the police were investigating an incident involving one of their players, believed to be Carroll. The statement said: “West Ham United can confirm an incident targeting one of our players on Wednesday November 2. The matter is now being handled by the police.” Carroll has not played for the Hammers since the Europa League qualifier against Astra Giurgiu on August 18, a game in which the England international sustained a knee injury. The problem was only meant to sideline Carroll for six weeks, but he has only just returned to training this week. The Hammers’ next game is against Stoke City at the London Stadium on Saturday.

Wednesday 2nd November, 2016:

Monaco 3 – 0 CSKA

Tottenham 0 – 1 Bayer Leverkusen

Borrusia Dortmund 1 – 0 Sporting Lisbon

Legia Warsaw 3 – 3 Real Madrid

FC Copenhagen 0 – 0 Leicester

FC Porto 1 – 0 Club Brugge

Juventus 1 – 1 Lyon

Sevilla 4 – 0 Dynamo Zagreb

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been given a one-match touchline ban for being sent off against Burnley. The Portuguese was sent to the stands by referee Mark Clattenburg for an incident “in or around the tunnel area during half-time” of the goalless draw. The Football Association also fined him £8,000 and he will serve the ban for the game against Swansea on Sunday. In a separate offence, Mourinho has been fined £50,000 for comments he made about referee Anthony Taylor who officiated Man United’s game with Liverpool at Anfield.

FIFA have released their shortlist for the coveted ‘Best FIFA Men’s Coach’ award for 2016, with a number of strong contenders that may prove difficult to separate. The ten-man list in full is:

• Chris Coleman (Wales/Welsh national team)
• Didier Deschamps (France/French national team)
• Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich/Manchester City)
• Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Liverpool)
• Luis Enrique Martínez (Spain/FC Barcelona)
• Mauricio Pochettino (Argentina/Tottenham Hotspur)
• Claudio Ranieri (Italy/Leicester City)
• Fernando Santos (Portugal/Portuguese national team)
• Diego Pablo Simeone (Argentina/Atlético Madrid)
• Zinédine Zidane (France/Real Madrid)

The winner of award will be determined through a voting process which combines the choices of those involved in the game, as well as a public vote. 50% of the decision will be based on the choices of all captains and head coaches of national teams around the globe, while the other half of the vote will be split between the result of an online public ballot and submissions from a group of over 200 media representatives from the six continents.

Stevan Jovetic (Football) – Montenegro and former Manchester City striker, currently at Inter Milan, born 1989, 27 today.

Ken Rosewall (Tennis) – Australian who won eight grand slam singles titles, born 1934, 82 today.

Dario Silva (Football) – former Malaga, Portsmouth and Uruguay striker, born 1972, 44 today.

Liverpool striker Danny Ings has received another injury setback, as he requires surgery on cartilage damage in his right knee that will rule him out for up to nine months. Ings, 24, sustained the injury during the EFL Cup victory against Tottenham last week – his comeback from a cruciate ligament injury in his left knee last year. Liverpool say that the striker will make a full recovery. Coach Jurgen Klopp is “gutted” for Danny Ings, who will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. “To say we are gutted would be an understatement; he is such a great boy and has worked so hard that he deserves better luck than this,” he said. “It is typical of Danny’s personality, on and off the pitch, that he picked up this injury to his knee when courageously trying to win the ball back for his team by making a tackle. “But it is this same personality that means he will come back as good and as strong from this latest setback as he has done in the past.”