Sports

Not GUNNER catch us! Arsenal beat Leicester 1-0 to secure huge three points

Published

3 years ago

February 25, 2023

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Arsenal were resilient in the face of late Leicester pressure to secure a huge three points with a 1-0 win.

While Manchester City failed to hold on to their own 1-0 lead just up the road against Nottingham Forest last week, Arsenal managed it.

The Gunners made the trip to the King Power knowing a win would drastically help their title charge given it would extend the gap between Manchester City and themselves to five points, albeit briefly.

While it wasn’t a trademark blistering start from the visitors, Arsenal dominated possession in the opening exchanges. The Gunners thought they had opened the scoring when Leandro Trossard fired home a stunner, but VAR intervened to chalk it off after a foul on Danny Ward in the build-up.

The decision seemed to suck the life out of what was an intruiging first-half, though the Gunners felt they should have been awarded a spot-kick soon after.

The second-half started in dramatic fashion though, with Gabriel Martinelli guiding the ball home but sustaining an injury in the process after Wilfred Ndidi stood on the Brazilian’s knee-cap in the process of the winger scoring.

Arsenal’s 1-0 win means the Gunners extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to five point, for the time being at least.

With City not playing until the evening away at Bournemouth, Arteta can watch Arsenal’s title rivals in a more relaxed manner now that his men got the job done.

The Gunners now gear up for two home games in succession, with the first coming in the form of a second meeting with Everton in four weeks on Wednesday followed by the visit of Bournemouth next weekend.

As for 14th-placed Leicester, Brendan Rodgers should harbour some concerns with his side so blunt in attack for so long.

Just weeks after the Arsenal boss was left seething over the fact Brentford’s equaliser was allowed to stand, he may feel hard done by once again.

The first flashpoint came when Trossard thought he had scored the game’s opening goal with a fantastic finish from the edge of the ara, but VAR told referee Craig Pawson to take another look at it.

Upon multiple viewings, the official spotted that Arsenal right-back Ben White had held Foxes’ goalkeeper Danny Ward’s arm and prevented him from catching the ball.

Just minutes later, Saka was sent tumbling down in the penalty area by Harry Souttar who seemed to fall onto the Arsenal attacker as he was about to leap for a header.

This time, however, VAR did not intervene and deemed the incident not enough to warrant a penalty for the visitors. Arteta cut a bemused figure on the touchline.

With Eddie Nketiah resigned to a role on the bench as a result of a minor knock and Gabriel Jesus still recovering from knee surgery, Arteta had to think outside the box when it came to his forward line.

He opted to deploy January signing Leandro Trossard from the start for the second successive game and entrusted the former Brighton man to cause havoc in the false nine role.

The Belgian showed some lovely link-up play, often dropping deep to then find Saka in a threatening position out on the right-flank. Trossard thought he’d fired his side in front, but it wasn’t to be after VAR’s ruling.

What Trossard did manage was an assist, sending Martinelli through on goal with a fantastic nutmeg pass through the legs of Leicester defender Souttar.

Shortly after, he was replaced by Nketiah with 20 minutes left to play.

Sports

Nine African teams in World Cup last-32 round

Published

2 weeks ago

June 28, 2026

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Following the conclusion of the group stage, nine African countries have confirmed their places in round 32 of the 2026 World Cup.

Algeria and DR Congo are the latest teams from the continent to seal their last-32 ticket at the ongoing competition.

They join Morocco, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Cape Verde, Ghana and Senegal in the business end of the competition, breaking the previous record of just two African teams at a World Cup knockout round.

Tunisia is the only country on the continent to qualify for the World Cup, but failed to progress beyond the group stage.

DR Congo qualified after earning their first-ever World Cup victory, 3-1 over Uzbekistan, in their last group stage match on Saturday in Atlanta. Yoane Wissa’s brace and Fislon Mayele’s strike helped the Leopard turn around a game that started disastrously for them.

The victory takes DR Congo to the top of the eight best third-placed teams, and they will face England next on Wednesday.

Algeria also managed to squeeze into the last 32 through the best losers’ route. A 3-3 draw against Austria in their final group game ensured they displaced Iran for the final slot.

Ghana also clung to the third-placed ladder to advance despite their 2-1 loss to Croatia in their last Group game. The Black Stars will face Colombia in the next round on July 3.

ROUND OF 32 FIXTURES (All Nigerian time)

South Africa vs Canada — June 28 — 8 pm — Los Angeles Stadium

Brazil vs Japan — June 29 — 6 pm — Houston Stadium

Germany vs Paraguay — June 29 — 9:30 pm — Boston Stadium

Netherlands vs Morocco — June 30 — 2 am — Estadio Monterrey

Ivory Coast vs Norway — June 30 — 6 pm — Dallas Stadium

France vs Sweden — June 30 — 10 pm — New York New Jersey Stadium

Mexico vs Ecuador — July 1 — 2 am — Mexico City Stadium

England vs DR Congo — July 1 — 5 am — Atlanta Stadium

Belgium vs Senegal — July 1 — 9 pm — Seattle Stadium

United States vs Bosnia and Herzegovina — July 2 — 1 am — San Francisco Bay Area Stadium

Spain vs Austria — July 2 — 6 pm — Los Angeles Stadium

Portugal vs Croatia — July 3 — 12 am — Toronto Stadium

Switzerland vs Algeria — July 3 — 4 am — BC Place, Vancouver

Australia vs Egypt — July 3 — 7 pm — Dallas Stadium

Argentina vs Cape Verde — July 3 — 11 pm — Miami Stadium

Colombia vs Ghana — July 4 — 2:30 am — Kansas City Stadium

Sports

Athletics Open: Amusan wins gold, sets new record in Taiwan

Published

1 month ago

June 6, 2026

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Nigerian and world women’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan,on Saturday won the women’s 100m hurdles gold at the New Taipei Athletics Open in Taiwan.

Amusan struck gold ahead of Taiwanese duo Bo Ya Zhang, who settled for second place in 13.17s, and Yi Po-an took third place in 13.37s.

The 29-year-old’s winning time of 12.72s is also a new meeting record, chalking off 0.08s off the previous mark of 12.80s held by Nia Ali, US Olympic silver medalist and former world champion.

Amusan was dominant in the qualifiers for the final, blowing away the field in Heat 2, and continued the form in the final to deliver a swashbuckling race that thrilled the crowd.

She took the lead outright after the fourth hurdle, leaving Zhang behind.

The three-time Senior Africa Athletics Championship winner crossed the finish line before the last competing athlete cleared the final hurdle, to the amazement of screaming spectators.

It is the second consecutive race Amusan will break a meeting record this athletics season, she also broke her meeting record in the women’s 100m hurdles event at the Rabat Diamond League.

She has won three of five races this season, and has not failed to claim a podium finish.

Sports

Arsenal win EPL title after 22 years

Published

2 months ago

May 19, 2026

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Arsenal are English Premier League (EPL) champions after Manchester City failed to win at Bournemouth.

Pep Guardiola’s Man City drew 1-1 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium to hand Arsenal an unassailable four-point lead with just one match remaining to the end of the season.

The Gunners win the EPL title for the first time in 22 years, since the legendary Invincible side won it in the 2003/04 season.

In the club’s 100th season without relegation from the EPL, the club will celebrate its centenary participation with a league title won on the back of a record 28 EPL wins that surpassed the 26 wins recorded by the Invincibles. The defence prevented opponents from registering a shot on target in six matches, equaling a 23-year league record, and also scored a record 17 goals from corner kicks.

Mikel Arteta’s tough side has led the table for most of the season before a late mini-collapse, and Man City’s late surge in form nearly threatened their title ambition for a second season in a row.

City’s late resurgence, however, was initially stunned by Everton in early May and completely collapsed against Bournemouth.

Guardiola’s side visited the Vitality Stadium aware that any result other than a victory would seal Arsenal’s title. But they lacked the execution for the mission after falling to a wonderful strike from Junior Kroupi in the first half.

City were only kept in the game by Bournemouth’s profligacy in front of goal. When Erling Haaland’s equaliser was squeezed home in the eleventh hour of the game, even the most faithful City supporter knew it was too little, too late.

Arsenal and Arteta secured the league earlier than they would have predicted, giving City a prodigious title run-in.

The league triumph is Arteta’s second major title with the North London club since joining in December 2019, adding to the English FA Cup trophy won within six months of his tenure in May 2020.

The 44-year-old Spaniard wins his fourth title overall and can win his fifth — and third major trophy — with victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final next weekend.