Nigerian international and FC Cologne striker Anthony Ujah has taken his apology one step further. Today happens to be Hennes’s birthday, and Ujah has been to visit him to smooth things over with a bunch of carrots.

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Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane says manager Louis Van Gaal must be given “two or three years” to rebuild the club, following the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal. Keane said on BBC Match of the Day: “They should have given David Moyes more time but didn’t. What are they going to do? Chop and change again? Van Gaal has been in the door two minutes. It takes time. It’s literally a rebuilding job. “It would be a disaster [if United don’t finish in top four]. The big problem with people at the club and ex-players is they keep looking back comparing teams from 10 years ago. They have got to look forward. Focus on the players, focus on the manager… get right behind him. I still think they have enough to get in that top four.”

Who agrees with Roy?

Championship strugglers Millwall have sacked manager Ian Holloway. The 51-year-old, who was appointed in January 2014, had his contract terminated with the Lions second from bottom after five defeats in six games. Ex-Millwall striker Neil Harris will take charge for the rest of the season. “This was a hard decision to take because we very much hoped that Ollie would prove to be the man to take us forward and on to the next level,” said chairman John Berylson.

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Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini is interested in taking Manchester City’s Yaya Toure to the San Siro if the Italian club can make a deal within financial fair play rules. Mancini, who managed Toure at Manchester City, returned for a second spell at Inter in November of 2014. “It’s a question mark, we’ll have to see what financial fair play brings,” he told Gazzetta TV in an interview. “I’m sure we’ll do some good business. Yaya Toure? He’s played in almost every league, except for Germany and Italy. “If, as seems to be the case, he wants to try Serie A we’ll look into the possibility, but it won’t be easy. He’s a player with incredible technical ability. I’ve not come across many like him.”

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has spoken exclusively to BBC World Service and defended Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria, stating the winger’s sending off against Arsenal was out of character. Di Maria received two quick-fire bookings in FA Cup defeat to Arsenal on Monday, the second for pulling the shirt of referee Michael Oliver. Asked if Di Maria showed such a temper in Spain Calderon says: “No he wasn’t like that, I was really surprised to know what he did. “He was a really good player with good behaviour here, never anything like this. Maybe he’s a bit nervous because up to now his change (to Manchester United) hasn’t been the right one. “I know him, he’s not a player who does things like that and I’m sure he will be regretting it.”

Burnley have signed Norwegian midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad on a three-year deal. Ulvestad was a free agent but had previously played at Aalesunds FK, scoring 14 goals in 106 appearances. He made his international debut for Norway in August.

Three French sports personalities are among 10 people killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina, the French presidential office confirms. Eight French nationals and their two Argentine pilots died when two helicopters collided in La Rioja province in the country’s north-west. Yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine all died, BBC reports.

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Tuesday 10 March 2015:

FC Porto v FC Basel 8:45 pm

Real Madrid v Schalke 8:45 pm

Wednesday 11 March 2015:

Chelsea v PSG 8:45 pm

Bayern Munich v Shakhtar Donetsk 8:45 pm

Saturday 18 April 2015:

Aston Villa v Liverpool/Blackburn 4 pm

Bradford/Reading v Arsenal 4 pm

Zola

Gianfranco Zola has been sacked as manager of Cagliari after just 10 games in charge, with the Serie A club reappointing Zdenek Zeman as coach. Former Chelsea striker Zola replaced Zeman as manager in December but won just eight points from a possible 30.

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Cologne’s Anthony Ujah has apologised for grabbing the club mascot Hennes VIII the goat by the horns when the striker celebrated a goal on Sunday. The 24-year-old Nigeria international struck his side’s fourth goal in their 4-2 win against Eintracht Frankfurt. He then ran to Hennes VIII, grabbed the animal by the horns and tried to drag it on to the pitch. “Sorry Hennes. I was a bit too rough on him,” Ujah wrote on his Twitter page  next to a picture of the incident. The animal’s handler was initially taken by surprise by Ujah’s actions but managed to quickly recover and pull the goat back before the forward returned to the pitch as Cologne celebrated their first home win since October. Cologne sports director Joerg Schmadtke said: “Hennes is used to such stuff. He may have a bit of a sore neck.”

Below is the top twenty ATP ranking released this morning:

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Lionel Messi scored a record-breaking 24th La Liga hat-trick and Luis Suarez struck twice as Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 6-1 at the Nou Camp to return to the top of the table in emphatic style. The Uruguayan got the ball rolling with an early goal and Gerard Pique doubled the lead shortly after the break, before Messi scored a treble inside 12 minutes which took him one hat-trick clear of Cristiano Ronaldo. And Messi’s hat-trick – his sixth of the season and 32nd for Barca in all competitions – takes him level with Ronaldo at the top of the league’s scoring charts with 30 goals from 25 starts.

Saturday 7 March 2015:

Bradford 0 – 0 Reading

Aston Villa 2 – 0 West Brom

Sunday 8 March 2015:

Liverpool 0 – 0 Blackburn

Monday 9 March 2015:

Man Utd 1 – 2 Arsenal

Monday 16 March 2015:

Reading v Bradford (replay) 9pm

Tuesday 7 April 2015:

Blackburn v Liverpool (replay) 8:45 pm

*Time = Nigerian

English Premier League Result:

Saturday 7 March 2015:

QPR 1 – 2 Tottenham

Nigeria’s dominance in athletics on the African continent has again been proven as the country’s contingent to the 12th edition of the Africa Junior Athletics Championships which ended Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, finished tops in the four-day event, premium times reports.  The Nigerian team, led by Ese Brume and Divine Oduduru, finished top of the medals table with 12 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze medals.

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Sunday March 8:

Senegal 1 – 3 Nigeria

Congo 1 – 1 Ivory Coast

Taiwo Awoniyi scored the first two goals for the Flying Eagles of Nigeria in the 10th and 13th minutes respectively while Sidy Sarr pulled one back for hosts Senegal in the 27th minute. Ifeanyi Matthew made it 3 – 1 for Nigeria in the 44th minute.

Yakou Meite scored for Ivory Coast in the 37th minute while Silvère Ganvoula M’boussy equalized for Congo in the 75th minute.

AFTER allowing South Africa and host Ethiopia to dominate proceedings on Day one of competition at the on-going Addis Ababa 2015 African Junior Athletics Championship, Team Nigeria rose to the occasion Friday, picking four gold medals to jump to the top of the medals table, Guardian reports.

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The Football Association has banned Manchester United’s Jonny Evans for six games and Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse for seven matches for spitting. Defender Evans, 27, had denied the charge which related to an incident with striker Cisse in the Red Devils’ 1-0 win over the Magpies on Wednesday. Cisse, 29, has been suspended for an extra game as he has already received a ban this season. There is no right of appeal and the bans will take immediate effect. As a result, Northern Ireland international Evans will miss Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. “Mr Evans denied the charge but it was found proven,” said an FA statement. The flashpoint between the two was not seen by referee Anthony Taylor or his assistants, but was caught on video. A three-man panel of former referees reviewed the footage on Thursday and agreed the players should have been sent off, prompting the FA to bring a charge. Evans’ statement on Thursday said: “I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse. Having woken up this morning, I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night’s match.” Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal said: “I don’t think Jonny Evans is a spitter. He was not aware he was spitting. He has said that also. I believe him. For me, the matter is done.” After accepting the charge for his role in the altercation, Senegalese Cisse, who accepted the charge, issued an apology, adding: “I reacted to something I found very unpleasant.” An independent regulatory commission heard the charge and decided both players should be banned.

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has accepted a Football Association charge for making abusive comments towards a Tottenham fan on Twitter. The 31-year-old reacted to a comment on social media after a 2-2 draw between the sides on 22 February, where he went off injured having been subbed on. An FA independent commission will now meet to decide his sanction. In April 2011, he was fined £20,000 by the FA for comments he made on Twitter during England’s friendly with Ghana. On that occasion, he wrote: “Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap!” before deleting the comments. “The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St George’s flag!” He later apologised for the comments, describing them as a “light-hearted joke”. Cole has made 17 appearances for the Hammers this season and scored three goals.

The thing is they get charged all the time yet they wont learnt. I wonder o. Sorry o brother Cole (has a Nigerian father and a Sierra Leonean mother). His full names are Carlton Michael George Cole Okorie. His dad is from Omoku in Rivers state but he played for England at youth and senior levels.