The Carabao Cup descended into fresh farce with Arsenal and Manchester City dragged into a substitutions probe. Arsenal needed extra-time to beat Norwich 2-1 and City saw off Wolves in a penalty shootout but both are waiting to discover if they broke rules over subs. The Premier League giants made four changes — two in extra-time — and the Canaries will demand clarification from the Football League. Four subs are a novelty for cup ties this season but the rules imply only one can be used after 90 minutes. When asked if Arsenal’s subs had been within the rules, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said: “Yes.”

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Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan is about starting a new business venture as he launches own airline. The striker, nicknamed Baby Jet, became the Sunderland’s record signing when he arrived from Rennes for £13million in 2010. Gyan scored 11 goals in 37 games before leaving for UAE club Al Ain. He has since played for Shanghai SIPG, and joined Turkish club Kayserispor in July.

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Nigeria’s Kelechi Iheanacho scored his first Leicester goal since his £25m move from Manchester City. His goal was the equalizer as Leicester came from behind to beat Leeds Unied 3 – 1 in a Carabao Cup game played last night at the Leicester’s King Power Stadium. The win enabled Leicester to qualify for the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup. Other quarter finalists so far are Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Bournemouth and Bristol City. Iheanacho, who also provided the assist for his team’s second goal, played for 81 minutes before being replaced by Jamie Vardy.

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Togolese striker Francis Kone has been honoured by FIFA for his life-saving actions in a Czech league match. He was given a Fair Play award at the FIFA “Best” ceremony in London on Monday night. Kone saved the life of goalkeeper Martin Berkovec back in February, after he nearly swallowed his tongue following a collision. Slovacko’s Kone acted after Berkovec had clashed with his Bohemians 1905 team-mate Daniel Krch. He used his fingers to move Berkovec’s tongue and stop him suffocating, after the player had been knocked out.

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Cristiano Ronaldo was named the world’s best male player at the 2017 Best Fifa Football Awards in London. The Real Madrid and Portugal forward beat Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Paris St-Germain’s Neymar to the honour. Ronaldo, 32, helped Real to a Champions League-La Liga double in 2016-17. Lieke Martens of Barcelona and the Netherlands won best female player, Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane was named best men’s coach and Netherlands’ Sarina Wiegman the best female coach. Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud received the Puskas award for the best goal of 2017 for his ‘scorpion kick’ against Crystal Palace in January. Celtic won the fan award after they honoured the club’s 1967 ‘Lisbon Lions’ with a stunning 360-degree card display on the 50th anniversary of their historic European Cup win.

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Chelsea fear the latest victim of the club’s hamstring curse, Victor Moses, will miss at least four weeks. Moses became the third Chelsea player in two weeks to suffer a hamstring injury, following striker Alvaro Morata and midfielder N’Golo Kante. Morata is hoping to return for Wednesday night’s Champions League clash against Roma, but Kante is set to miss the rest of October and Moses is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Chelsea’s initial diagnosis put the recovery time of Moses at a minimum of four weeks, meaning he could miss the Premier League clash against Manchester United on November 5. Head coach Antonio Conte is worried that injuries are threatening to ruin his team’s season after being frustrated that Chelsea did not sign more players in the summer.

Leicester City and Super Eagles of Nigeria star Ahmed Musa opens his own petrol station in native Nigeria as he looks ahead to life post-football. It is not uncommon for footballers to dip their toes into the world of business to set themselves up for life post-retirement. After all, the playing career of a footballer is a short one… but not many can boast a business portfolio like Leicester forward Ahmed Musa’s. The Nigeria star is only 24, but he has just opened a petrol station in Kano, 500km north of his native Jos. Continue reading →

Iceland became the smallest nation to progress to a World Cup after beating Kosovo to win their qualifying group for Russia 2018. The Euro 2016 quarter-finalists have a population of about 335,000. They are the only country to qualify for a World Cup with a population of fewer than one million. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Gudmundsson got the goals on Monday evening. Sigurdsson settled his side’s nerves with a neat finish just before half-time then turned provider for Gudmundsson to ensure victory with a close-range strike. Iceland have won seven of their 10 Group I games in World Cup qualifying.

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Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi scored as Nigeria beat a stubborn Zambia 1-0 to become the first African side to seal a place at next year’s World Cup in Russia. The win put them on an unassailable 13 points at the top of Group B. Chances were missed at both ends by the time Shehu Abdullahi provided the cut-back for Iwobi to finish from inside the box in the 73rd minute. Odion Ighalo, John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Moses Simon went close for the Super Eagles but failed to score. Zambia goalkeeper Kennedy Mwenne produced an acrobatic save to deny Wilfred Ndidi in the second half in a pulsating end-to-end encounter.

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Barcelona midfielder and captain Andres Iniesta has signed a “lifetime contract” with the La Liga giants. The Spain international, 33, has made 639 appearances for the Catalan club – second on their all-time list – and scored 55 goals. Iniesta came through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, after joining in 1996 at the age of 12. He made his first-team debut in October 2002 and has won eight Spanish league titles and four Champions Leagues.

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The Ivory Coast could move closer to World Cup qualification tonight if they win their tie away in Mali (8pm Nigeria time). The side have played in the last three tournaments and their squad currently includes five British-based players – Serge Aurier (Tottenham), Eric Bailly (Manchester United), Lamine Kone (Sunderland), Wilfried Bony (Swansea) and Jonathan Kodjia (Aston Villa). Ivory Coast have two qualifiers left and are currently one point clear of second-placed Morocco, who entertain Gabon tomorrow, with only the group winners advancing to Russia.

Nigeria could book their spots at next year’s World Cup in the penultimate round of African qualifiers this weekend. The Super Eagles can clinch a place in Russia with a win over visiting Zambia on Saturday. Nigeria will face second-placed Zambia in Uyo with their World Cup fate in their own hands. Zambia are they only side who can overhaul Nigeria at the top of Group B after Cameroon and Algeria’s World Cup chances were ended last month. The Nigerians, who are aiming for a third straight World Cup finals, won 2-1 in Zambia in October in the opening game of the group stage.

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England U21 boss Aidy Boothroyd admits he faces a fight to hang onto England young guns Tammy Abraham and Sheyi Ojo. Chelsea striker Abraham recently had to publicly reaffirm his commitment to the Three Lions after it was revealed he met the president of the Nigerian Football Federation, who is a friend of his father. The three-time African Champions are keen to persuade the pair to switch allegiance, which remains possible due to their family heritage. Both players can opt to represent the Super Eagles before they feature for England at senior level. Until then, Boothroyd expects the charm offensive towards the highly-rated Premier League duo to continue. Liverpool winger Ojo is out for three months with a dislocated shoulder suffered while on loan at Fulham. Abraham, who is spending the season at Swansea, hopes to lead the line as England Under-21s host Scotland in a Euro 2019 qualifier at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.

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The Brazil team including Gabriel Jesus, Neymar and Dani Alves recovered from their 0-0 draw against Bolivia at high altitude with oxygen tanks.

Group A: Villarreal, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Astana, Slavia Prague

Group B: Dynamo Kiev, Young Boys, Partizan Belgrade, Skenderbeu

Group C: Braga, Ludogorets, Hoffenheim, Istanbul Basaksehir

Group D: AC Milan, Austria Vienna, NK Rijeka, AEK Athens

Group E: Lyon, Everton,Atalanta, Apollon Limassol

Group F: FC Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sheriff Tiraspol, FC Zlin

Group G: Viktoria Plzen, Steaua Bucharest, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, FC Lugano

Group H: Arsenal,BATE Borisov, Cologne, Red Star Belgrade

Group I: Salzburg, Marseille, Vitoria Guimaraes, Konyaspor

Group J: Athletic Bilbao, Hertha Berlin, Zorya Luhansk, Ostersunds

Group K: Lazio, Nice, Zulte Waregem, Vitesse Arnhem.

Group L: Zenit, Real Sociedad, Rosenborg, Vardar Skopje

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as Uefa’s Player of the Year, beating Lionel Messi and Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon to the prize. Ronaldo, 32, helped Madrid to a second consecutive Champions League title and finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 12 goals last season. The Portugal international has now won the award three times, one more than Barcelona’s 30-year-old forward Messi. Barca’s Netherlands midfielder Lieke Martens, 24, won the women’s prize. Martens was instrumental in her country’s European Championship victory this summer, where she was named player of the tournament. She beat Wolfsburg striker Pernille Harder and Lyon midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan to claim the prize. There was also a special ‘President’s Award’ given to Francesco Totti, who retired from football in July after 24 years at Roma, the only club he played for. The 40-year-old is now a director at the Italian club.

Manchester United have re-signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a one-year contract. The 35-year-old former Sweden striker made 46 appearances and scored 28 goals for United last season. Ibrahimovic was released by the club in June after his season was ended prematurely by a knee injury, but he is expected to be fit again in December. “After his contribution last season he deserves our trust and we will be patient waiting for him to return,” said manager Jose Mourinho. Ibrahimovic, who initially joined the Red Devils on free transfer in July 2016, had been recuperating at United’s training ground after knee surgery.

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Group A: Benfica, Manchester United, Basel, CSKA Moscow

Group B: Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Anderlecht, Celtic

Group C: Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Qarabag

Group D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos, Sporting

Group E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, Maribor

Group F: Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli, Feyenoord

Group G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, RB Leipzig

Group H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Apoel

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Manchester City are set to sign Nigeria international Olarenwaju Kayode from Austria Vienna on a four-year deal and send him on a season-long loan to Spanish side Girona. The 24-year-old striker finished as the top scorer in Austria’s top flight last season with 17 goals in 33 games. Kayode had been linked with a move to Newcastle United. Four other City players are to spend the 2017-18 season at newly-promoted La Liga side Girona. Brazilian £10.7million midfielder Douglas Luiz, right-back Pablo Maffeo, midfielder Aleix Garcia and Colombian winger Marlos Moreno have all signed loan deals with the Spanish club.

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Spain’s Garbine Muguruza won her first Wimbledon title with a straight-set win over five-time champion Venus Williams. The 23-year-old saved two set points and won the last nine games in a 7-5 6-0 victory under the Centre Court roof. Muguruza denied the 37-year-old a first major title for nine years, which would have made her the oldest female Grand Slam champion in the Open era. It is 14th seed Muguruza’s second Grand Slam title after her French Open triumph over Serena Williams in 2016.

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