Last night’s Premier League match may have brought doom and gloom for Manchester City, but it’s only fair to devote some attention to Crystal Palace after a terrific performance, BBC reckons. The Eagles are only three points behind tenth-placed Stoke, and manager Alan Pardew believes his side can finish in the top half. “You’ve got to set goals and adjust them to how you perform and we’re performing really well,” he said. Some are even tipping Pardew himself for Manager of the Season after a campaign in which he took Newcastle into the top 10 and has revitalised Palace’s fortunes. The Eagles moved up to 11th after their third successive win with goals from Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon. Palace were in the relegation zone when Pardew took charge but have now taken 22 points out of a possible 33 since. “You’ve got to set goals and adjust them to how you perform and we’re performing really well,” he said. “We’ve had three wins in a row now, QPR here, Stoke away, which is never easy and Man City – they’re big games to win.”

China’s 2004 Olympic Games 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang announced his retirement on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, on Tuesday (7). Liu became China’s first Olympic men’s champion in athletics when he won in Athens, equalling what was then the world record of 12.91. He then improved the world record to 12.88 in Lausanne, Switzerland, in July 2006 and won the gold medal over the barriers at the 2007 IAAF World Championships. Liu, one of his nation’s highest profile sports stars, is one of the official ambassadors for the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, and will now be spending his time in the next few months helping to promote the championships. “I’m retiring. I want to start a new journey,” Liu said in a message posted to his blog, blaming injury for his decision. He added that he was, ”truly unwell and old and can no longer run and jump with you. Although it’s sad, although it’s painful, I really have no other choice.” The Shanghai native, now 31 hasn’t competed since failing to finish in his heat at the London 2012 Olympics after rupturing his Achilles tendon. He pulled out of the 2008 Games in front of a home crowd with a similar injury. Liu had talked about the possibility of making a return to competition this year, with the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, as his target. “My foot told me no again and again, and there was no way it was going to be able to handle intense training and competition,” Liu commented on Tuesday. ”I hate my foot, I love my track and my hurdles so much, and if I hadn’t injured my foot … but then there are no ifs in this world. I injured myself, and can only accept it silently.” He added that hopes now to contribute to Chinese sports development and help increase China’s influence within the athletics world.

Former number one Tiger Woods believes he is in the right shape to win a 15th major as he declared himself ready for the Masters, which begins on Thursday. Woods, who is now world 111, has been working on his game since carding a career-worst score of 82 at the Phoenix Open, before injury saw him withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open. “I felt like I had to get my game into a spot where I could compete to win a golf tournament,” said the 39-year-old. “And it’s finally there.” Woods has not won a major since the 2008 US Open and the last of his four Masters wins was a decade ago, with the Californian only confirming on Friday that he would compete at Augusta. He impressed in his practice round on Monday, showing no signs of the chipping “yips” which blighted his performance in Phoenix. Woods completed the front nine at Augusta alongside long-time friend Mark O’Meara, before playing the 10th and 18th alone.

Manchester City slip to a 2-1 loss at Crystal Palace, a fourth straight away defeat and one that deals a potentially terminal blow to their hopes of retaining the title. City are now fourth, nine points off Chelsea’s lead. The side expected to provide the sternest challenge for Jose Mourinho’s team are ending the season with a whimper rather than a bang. Last season saw one of the closest title races on record. This season – with seven games still to go – is it already done and dusted?

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.

Continue reading →

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.

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.

Continue reading →

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.”

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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

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’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.

Continue reading →

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.”

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

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.

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.

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.

Continue reading →

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.

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.”