Sports

Bukayo Saka fires in from outside the box to give Gunners another three points in the race for top four

Published

4 years ago

March 19, 2022

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It was another impressive outing by the Gunners on Saturday at Villa Park. Arsenal took to the field without regular No 1 Aaron Ramsdale (hip) and Gabriel Martinelli (illness), but it didn’t stop them showing the initiative.

Bukayo Saka was the standout player as the Gunners secured a sixth win from seven games to move four points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United with a game in hand.

The England international scored the only goal in the first half with a low drive from the edge of the area after Villa failed to properly clear a cross into the box.

Villa improved after the break and went close when Ollie Watkins’ deflected shot clipped the outside of the post, before substitute Danny Ings sent a looping header on to the roof of the net.

Arsenal’s jubilant celebrations at the final whistle showed just how significant they feel this result could be as the north London club seek to return to the Champions League for the first time in five years.

The win was based on a vibrant first-half display, followed up by a resilient defensive performance after the break.

Saka was excellent during the opening 45 minutes, tormenting 39-year-old Ashley Young who was in the Villa side for the injured Lucas Digne.

Saka got in behind Young inside the opening two minutes to create a chance for Emile Smith Rowe, while another cross struck Ezri Konsa and needed a fine stop from Emiliano Martinez to prevent an own goal.

The goal came from a quickly taken free-kick that caught Villa out down the right, with Cedric’s cross only cleared to Saka at the edge of the box, who fired home through a crowd of players for his 10th goal of the season in all competitions.

Arsenal tired after the break which allowed Villa to get more of a grip on the game, but they prevented the home side from having a shot on target until the final minute of stoppage time, when Philippe Coutinho’s free-kick was pushed away by Bernd Leno.

Steven Gerrard’s side went into this game having lost nine of their 11 top-flight fixtures this season against the current top eight, most recently a 2-1 defeat at West Ham last week that brought a run of three successive wins without conceding to an end.

The gap between the Midlands side and those above them again looked significant during a poor first half that saw them fail to muster a shot on or off target.

They improved after the break but failed to put the Arsenal backline under any sustained pressure, with the attacking threat of forwards Coutinho and Emiliano Buendia stifled by the visitors.

Sports

BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

Published

3 days ago

March 17, 2026

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The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and declare MOROCCO the winner of the title.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in the final on 18 January in a match which was overshadowed when the Senegalese players refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of around 17 minutes, the players did eventually return and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

However, that result has now been overturned by CAF.

A statement by the African Football’s Governing Body said that Senegal are “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.

Sports

FG fulfils promises as D’Tigress receive national honours, house documents

Published

4 days ago

March 17, 2026

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The Federal Government has fulfilled its outstanding promises to the senior women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, delivering National Honour certificates and title documents for houses in Abuja.

The presentation took place in Lyon, where the African Champions are currently participating at the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.

The move follows a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aimed at clearing a backlog of promises made to the team following their 2023 Afrobasket victory in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, led the delegation alongside the Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade. Speaking during the handover, Dikko characterized the prompt delivery as a “clear departure” from previous administrations, where state-promised rewards often faced multi-year delays.

“This is a prompt fulfilment of promises made by a President who leads with action,” Dikko stated. “Mr. President is giving every Nigerian athlete a renewed confidence that sports is a serious business capable of changing lives.”

While the physical assets (housing and honours) have been delivered, the NSC Chairman confirmed that the cash rewards promised to the squad are currently in the final stages of administrative processing. He assured the players that disbursement into their respective bank accounts is imminent.

The Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, noted that the current administration of President Tinubu is institutionalizing a “reward system” modelled after developed sporting nations to ensure high-performance outcomes.

President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr. Musa Kida, credited the Presidency for prioritizing athlete welfare, citing it as a “legacy of a lifetime” for the sports sector.

Head Coach Rena Wakama and Captain Amy Okonkwo formally accepted the documents, affirming that the timely delivery of these incentives would serve as a catalyst for the team’s upcoming international qualifiers.

Sports

BREAKING: Ex-Eagles captainHenry Nwosu dies aged 62

Published

7 days ago

March 14, 2026

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Henry Nwosu, a former Nigerian international footballer and member of the 1980 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winning team, has passed away.

He was 62.

His death was confirmed by fellow ex-international Segun Odegbami in a Facebook post on Saturday.

According to Odegbami, Nwosu passed away at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja after a five-day battle for his life.

He also revealed the details of Nwosu’s final days, stating that the man he fondly called “Youngest Millionaire” died at 4:00 a.m. after being in intensive care since Wednesday.

“After 5 days in hospital battling for his life, the one I call ‘Youngest Millionaire’ passed on at 4:00 am this morning at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos where he had been in Intensive Care since Wednesday,” he wrote.

“It is with deep pain in my heart that I have to be the conveyor of the news of the death of Henry Nwosu MON. May he rest peacefully with our Creator in Heaven.”