Football
Victor Osimhen voted best African player in Ligue 1
Victor Osimhen has picked up the award for the best African Player in Ligue 1 for the year 2020. The award which is named after the late Cameroonian midfielder Marc-Vivien-Foe is organised by Radio France International and France 24. Osimhen beat his international team-mate Moses Simon and eight other African star to the prestigious award. Algerian Islam Slimani (Monaco) and Morrocan Yunis Abdelhamid (Stade de Reims) came second and third respectively. Osimhen, who was also voted Lille player of the season scored 18 goals and recorded six assists in 38 appearances across all competitions during the campaign. Six players from the club have won the award in the past. Ivory Coast forward Gervinho won it in 2010 and 2011, Vincent Enyeama picked up the prize in 2014, while Sofiane Boufal was th...
Victor Osimhen voted best African player in Ligue 1
Victor Osimhen has picked up the award for the best African Player in Ligue 1 for the year 2020. The award which is named after the late Cameroonian midfielder Marc-Vivien-Foe is organised by Radio France International and France 24. Osimhen beat his international team-mate Moses Simon and eight other African star to the prestigious award. Algerian Islam Slimani (Monaco) and Morrocan Yunis Abdelhamid (Stade de Reims) came second and third respectively. Osimhen, who was also voted Lille player of the season scored 18 goals and recorded six assists in 38 appearances across all competitions during the campaign. Six players from the club have won the award in the past. Ivory Coast forward Gervinho won it in 2010 and 2011, Vincent Enyeama picked up the prize in 2014, while Sofiane Boufal was th...
Stefano Pioli: Zlatan Ibrahimovic not ready for Roma
AC Milan coach, Stefano Pioli, has said that Zlatan Ibrahimovic won’t be in the squad for today’s meeting with AS Roma.’ Pioli concedes Milan need victory to keep their European hopes alive. He said, “Every game is different. It also depends on the attitude of our opponents. In this end of the season, it’ll be important to understand the moments of the match. “It’ll be hot tomorrow, so we’ll have to pace ourselves. We’ll have to be aggressive but also careful. “We did well at Lecce and we must also do that against Roma. They know how to defend but could give us space to work in. “Our attackers have always moved around. With Ibra up top, we have different characteristics, but even he likes to come deep for the ball. “Now, we must insist on mobility in attack. We need to make the most of the...
Timo Werner bids Leipzig farewell with double in victory over Augsburg
German striker Timo Werner marked his RB Leipzig swansong with two well-taken goals to guide his side to a 2-1 victory at Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Leipzig full back Nordi Mukiele and midfielder Emil Forsberg spurned glorious opportunities before Werner, who will depart for Chelsea at the end of the season, put his side in front in the 28th minute. The 24-year-old latched on to a defence-splitting pass from Amadou Haidara before rounding Augsburg goalkeeper Tomas Koubek for his 27th league goal of the season. Augsburg, who had a red card for Philipp Max overturned by VAR in the second half, hit back through Ruben Vargas, whose long-range effort proved too powerful for Yvon Mvogo to keep out. Werner added a second eight minutes from time, latching on to Angelino’s cross-field ...
Anthony Ujah, Suleiman Abdullahi end the season with goals for Union Berlin
Anthony Ujah and his compatriot Suleiman Abdullahi were the score sheet as Union Berlin wrapped up their 2019/2020 German Bundesliga campaign with a 3-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday. The victory helped Union Berlin to retain their place in the German Bundesliga for next season, despite enduring disappointing results for the most part of the campaign. Anthony Ujah gave Union Berlin lead in the 26th minute and it was his third Bundesliga goal of the season. Christian Gentner added the second in the 54th minute with a fantastic finish, before Suleiman Abdullahi wrapped up the three-point with another goal. The defeat sent Fortuna Düsseldorf to relegation playoffs, while Union Berlin completed the campaign in 12th position. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make M...
Liverpool face ban after winning Premier League title
Newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool face being banned from playing their remaining home games at Anfield unless fans stop partying on the streets. The Reds joined Merseyside Police, the City Council and Mayor Joe Anderson in condemning some of their own supporters for “wholly unacceptable” behaviour, which “risked public safety” as thousands swarmed into the city centre to celebrate the end of their 30-year wait for a league title, despite repeated warnings over the spread of coronavirus. The iconic Liver Building was set on fire by a firework on Friday as fans ignored social-distancing rules and dropped tons of litter while celebrating. A joint statement from Liverpool, the police and the council said: “Several thousand people turned up at the Pier Head on Friday and some cho...
Zinedine Zidane unconcerned by Real Madrid’s fixture list complaints
Zinedine Zidane has claimed Real Madrid will accept the congested fixture list for what it is, despite the club complaining to La Liga. Los Blancos issued a complaint to top-flight officials on Monday after the schedule for matchdays 33 and 34 of the season left them with less than 72 hours between fixtures against Getafe and Athletic Bilbao. Madrid felt this left them at a disadvantage compared to title rivals Barcelona, who were given five days of rest between games against Atletico Madrid and Villarreal. However, it has since emerged that Madrid will have accumulated more rest – approximately 26 hours in total – than Barca until matchday 35, and asked if he felt the club’s complaints to La Liga were fair, Zidane insisted he is fully focused on preparing his side for the fixture list as ...
Sergio Ramos becomes LaLiga’s all-time top scoring defender
Sergio Ramos’ goal in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Real Sociedad means the Real Madrid captain has become the highest-scoring defender in all of LaLiga history. Ramos’ seventh goal of the current LaLiga Santander season saw him pass Barcelona legend Ronald Koeman and move to 68 career goals in the most demanding league tournament around. The Andalusian has also scored against all 20 current LaLiga teams and his total includes an impressive range of finishes, from towering headers to long-range pile-drivers, and more recently a dead-eye from the penalty spot. Such a talent for goal-getting has been a constant for the center-back, who often featured further up the field while he was developing through his teenage years at boyhood club Sevilla. His first LaLiga goal came in September 2004, in a 2-1 ...
La Liga: Barcelona boss questions use of VAR
Barcelona boss Quique Setien believes that officials in La Liga are not using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system correctly. It follows on directly from Real Madrid’s victory at Real Sociedad being marred by controversial officiating decisions surrounding key incidents in the clash. Los Blancos opened the scoring in Anoeta from a penalty decision before an equaliser for La Real was controversially ruled out by handball and Karim Benzema’s strike – Madrid’s second of the game – appearing to have been controlled initially by a handball. It was a result which took Madrid to the top of La Liga for the first time since the resumption of Spanish football as they leapfrogged Setien’s Blaugrana – who were to a scoreless draw at Sevilla on Friday – on goal difference. “There are things that we...
Five Red Star Belgrade players test positive for coronavirus
Five players from Serbian club Red Star Belgrade have tested positive for coronavirus after playing a match attended by 16,000 people, the club said Monday. The announcement came 12 days after Red Star faced city rivals Partizan Belgrade in front of a crowd of around 16,000 people, the largest gathering of that kind in Europe since the beginning of the pandemic. The Serbian government has been loosening lockdown rules and earlier this month it announced that open-air gatherings with an unlimited amount of people would be allowed. But coverage from television channel RTS appeared to show little sign of health guidelines in place in the match with Partizan as well as at other league matches. Following the final match of the season against Proleter on Saturday, Red Star Belgrade celebrated wi...
Ederson credits Pep Guardiola with improving his game
Ederson has credited Pep Guardiola with making him a better goalkeeper and says the Manchester City boss “sees football in another way” to others. Brazil international Ederson has spent three seasons working under the Catalan coach, playing a key part in two Premier League title successes and four domestic cup triumphs. The 26-year-old is well known for his ability to command the box and start attacks from deep, but he was at fault for both goals in March’s derby defeat to Manchester United. However, Ederson insists that taking risks is something that is expected of him under Guardiola, who he credits for taking his game to the next level. “The role of a goalkeeper in Pep’s team is like the 11th outfield player on the pitch, in terms of the build-up, the pressing,” he told Sky Sports. “I t...
Brendan Rodgers hails Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho impact despite draw at Watford
Brendan Rodgers says he’s satisfied with the performance of Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, and the rest of the team in Saturday’s EPL fixture with Watford. The Super Eagles duo both featured for the team and unfortunately, their best was not enough to help the foxes clinch all the three for the champions league chasing Foxes. Leicester took the lead through Ben Chilwell towards the end of the game, but Dawson hit a sumptuous volley and equalised with the last kick of the game. Speaking after the game, Rodgers said his boys gave their all and deserved to win the game, but believed they luck eluded his side. “I felt we were deserving of the win, especially as the game went on. We showed a really good level of fitness. I thought we had spells where we had great control, Ben Foster made a g...
