Tag: win

  • Burna Boy, Rema win 2023 Billboard Music Awards

    Superstar singers, Burna Boy and Rema won the inaugural Afrobeats categories at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, November 19. Burna Boy won the Top Afrobeats Artiste, while Rema’s…

    The post Burna Boy, Rema win 2023 Billboard Music Awards appeared first on The Nation Newspaper.

  • More hard work needed in spite of 4-1 win — 3SC coach, Ogunbote – Sporting Tribune

    More hard work needed in spite of 4-1 win — 3SC coach, Ogunbote – Sporting Tribune

    Technical Adviser of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan, Gbenga Ogunbote says his team still need to work harder in spite of Sunday’s thumping home win.

    Ogunbote told newsmen on Sunday in Ibadan after their 4-1 defeat of Niger Tornadoes Football Club of Minna that they still needed to address some recurring problems.

    Shooting Stars won in emphatic fashion the Match Day 7 fixture in the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

    But the match at the Lekan Salami Stadium still highlighted the team’s recurring problem of conceding at least a goal, especially at home.

    They have conceded in six of their seven matches so far in the league, keeping a clean sheet only against Akwa United in Uyo on Match Day 4.

    The Shooting Stars had suffered a 0-2 loss to hosts Bendel Insurance of Benin on Match Day 2, and lost 0-3 to Remo Stars on Match Day 6 in Ikenne. But they have conceded in all four matches played at home.

    They won 2-1 against Plateau United on Match Day 1, 2-1 against Gombe United on Match Day 3, 3-1 against Doma United on Match Day 5 and 4-1 against Niger Tornadoes.

    “We still need to work harder because a team that wants to make a statement in the league must ensure it does not concede goals anyhow, either in home or away matches,” Ogunbote said.

    ”We just have to stop conceding the way we have been doing, in order not to have cause to regret this in the long run in the competition,” he added.

    The coach however pointed that the Match Day 7 victory against Niger Tornadoes on Sunday was a good comeback for the team after the 0-3 loss in Ikenne on Wednesday.

    “The loss to Remo Stars was a slap on our faces and a disappointment to the fans.

    “We needed to make it a very good outing against Niger Tornadoes so that the fans can forgive and forget easily.

    “We needed to look for a way to make things up, and our win today was a good comeback for the team. It is always good when the players make up their minds to play.

    “Our loss to Remo Stars brought out the best from the team today (Sunday) because we realised that we need to give our all and redeem our name,” he said.

    Speaking also on their Match Day 7 game, Hamza Abara, the Niger Tornadoes Chief Coach, said his team got their calculations of the match wrong from the beginning of the match.

    He said this led to their conceding an early goal.

    “We studied Shooting Stars’ style of play and came up with a game plan, but the players failed to follow the plan,” the coach said.

    Abara, however, stated that he and his technical crew colleagues were not going to put their players under pressure as a result of the outcome of this game.

    “We are only going back home to adjust from where we made mistakes,” he said.

    READ ALSO FROM SPORTING TRIBUNE 

     


  • Unlikely Hollywood star hails Guardiola over Champions League win

    Unlikely Hollywood star hails Guardiola over Champions League win

    Hollywood icon Julia Roberts has congratulated Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for winning the 2023 UEFA Champions League.

    Roberts, who Guardiola revealed as one of his three idols, in a post on Instagram said, “Congratulations @pepteam for leading your team to be UCL champions. #pep #soccermom.”

    Guardiola’s Man City defeated Serie A’s Inter Milan 1-0 in a hard-fought final on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

    Hollywood star and Guardiola’s idol, Julia Roberts

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    Guardiola had earlier in a press conference revealed Roberts as one of his three idols, lamenting the fact that she visited cross-town rival Manchester United as opposed to his team.

    “I have three idols in my life. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Julia Roberts. These are my three idols.

    “Julia Roberts years ago came to Manchester – not in the 90s when Sir Alex (Ferguson) was winning titles and titles and titles. She came in the period where we were better than United, in these four or five years, right?

    “And she went to visit Man United. She didn’t come to see us. That’s why even if I win the Champions League it will not compare for the fact that Julia Roberts came to Manchester and didn’t come to see us.

    “Even if I win the Champions League it will not compare to this disappointment I had.

  • ‘F**king trophy is so difficult to win’, Guardiola reacts to Man City’s Champions League win

    ‘F**king trophy is so difficult to win’, Guardiola reacts to Man City’s Champions League win

    Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, heaved a sigh of relief as his team secured a long-awaited victory in the UEFA Champions League.

    The Cityzens emerged victorious against Inter in the final held at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Turkey, with a decisive second-half goal from Rodri sealing their triumph over the Nerazzurri.

    Throughout the years, despite possessing immensely talented squads and the financial capacity to make significant transfers, Manchester City has consistently fallen short in European competitions. Guardiola, often criticized for overcomplicating tactics in crucial matches, has shouldered much of the blame for these disappointments.

    Their first appearance in the Champions League final in 2021 ended in defeat against the underdogs, Chelsea, leaving a bitter taste. However, Man City has now avenged that shocking loss, claiming the ultimate prize two years later while accomplishing the remarkable feat of securing a treble along the way.

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    Speaking to BT Sport post-match, Guardiola was asked how he felt after winning his first Champions League in 12 years.

    “Tired, calm, satisfied of course. This f***ing trophy is so difficult to win! It’s impossible,” Guardiola said.

    “It could be different, we knew it. First, because they [Inter] are good, really good. Antonio Conte will learn a lot with what they do, it’s quite similar – they bring you up, they find strikers, they link really well, can keep it, and then run to the other side.

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    “The first time, we were so anxious, so the man free was John Stones. We couldn’t find him. But it’s a question to be patient. I said it at half-time, last time we were 1-0 down in Porto [against Chelsea in 2021], now it is 0-0 which is something.

    “And we have to be lucky. This competition…they did it at the end, the same, Ederson [makes a save] or they miss it or they could draw. Phil [Foden] could have scored a second one. It’s a coin [flip]. But we were there and I think it was written in the stars. It belongs to us and we did it.”

    When asked what makes this Man City team different to previous iterations, Guardiola replied: “I think we defend a little bit better in the box, we have four central defenders, these guys are proper defenders. Even if we make mistakes, I have the feeling we are more solid.

    “We didn’t make a bad game, in general, it was not bad. The momentum started winning the Premier League, the FA Cup, and now we finish here.

    “We were not frustrated [with form in the first half of the season], maybe it was not our best level and Arsenal was beyond exceptional. But after the World Cup, the team made a step forward.

  • Manchester City win first Champions League trophy

    Manchester City win first Champions League trophy

    Manchester City tasted Champions League glory at last on Saturday as a second-half Rodri strike gave the favourites a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in a tense final, allowing Pep Guardiola’s side to complete a remarkable treble.

    Rodri fired in from a Bernardo Silva cutback midway through the second half at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium to decide a game in which City were knocked out of their usual rhythm and lost Kevin De Bruyne to injury.

    Erling Haaland, scorer of 52 goals this season, went a fifth straight match without finding the net, but City still had enough to edge out opponents who had never been expected to get this far in the first place.

    Having already claimed a fifth Premier League title in six seasons, and added the FA Cup, City are the first English club to win such a treble since Manchester United in 1999.

    That same month 24 years ago, City won the English third-tier play-off final on penalties against Gillingham.

    Now they have established themselves as England’s dominant side and have finally added the biggest prize in European club football, two years after losing to Chelsea in their first final.

    The match was watched by owner Sheikh Mansour, who made a very rare appearance at a City game as his team capped their rise from also-rans to superpower in the years since he bought the club in 2008.

    – Guardiola’s third title –

    Twelve years after last lifting the trophy with Barcelona, meanwhile, Guardiola joins an elite club of coaches to have won the Champions League three times.

    Yet having brushed aside RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to reach the final, City did not have it easy against Inter, who saw Federico Dimarco and substitute Romelu Lukaku both almost equalise late on.

    Inter had hoped to spring a surprise and lift the trophy for the fourth time. It was not to be, but Simone Inzaghi’s side will be back in the competition again next season.

    Victory for Guardiola’s men, to go with the three titles of rivals United, means Manchester becomes just the second city to produce two different winners of the competition, after Milan.

    The occasion did not match the drama of the last Champions League final held at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

    Liverpool triumphed here in 2005, recovering from a three-goal deficit against AC Milan to draw 3-3 before winning on penalties.

    However, it also passed off without serious incident, a year after chaos overshadowed the final at the Stade de France in Paris, even if the stadium’s location some 25 kilometres west of central Istanbul did not make access simple for supporters.

  • SUPER 6: Agoye impressed with Sunshine Stars despite no win in three matches

    SUPER 6: Agoye impressed with Sunshine Stars despite no win in three matches

    Sunshine Stars head coach, Edith Agoye, has said that he’s impressed with his team’s performance in the NPFL Super 6, despite their second bottom position on the log.

    In an interview with ACL sports, Agoye stated that his team have demonstrated their resilience by securing score draws against Bendel Insurance and Remo Stars, both of which were considered stronger opponents.

    Sunshine Stars find themselves in the second bottom position with two points from a possible nine. They are currently three points behind Enyimba who sit at the top of the table.

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    After suffering an initial defeat to Rivers United on the opening day, Sunshine Stars managed to bounce back and hold their ground against formidable teams.

    “Among the six sides in this tournament, Sunshine Stars are the underdogs. We are underdogs because this is a new team.

    “This is a team that is built for seven months and we’re playing against teams who have been together for about three years, some clubs four years. It’s not always easy.

    “We’ve been able to show that we can play and we can compete against any other side in the tournament,” he said.

    He further stated that there is gulf in quality among the teams competing in the Super 6 tournament.

    “I think there is no gulf in class and gulf in form among the six teams,” said Agoye.

    “The are games have been closely fought. We can can see that most of the time what determines the winner or the loser boils down to little details. A little mistake here, a little mistake there, what we’ve seen so far is that there is no gulf in class among the six teams playing in this tournament,” added the Shooting Stars legend.

    Sunshine Stars will have their hands full as they square off against leaders Enyimba FC in their next game on Friday at 7pm.

  • Mbappe, Messi guide PSG to record 11th Ligue 1 win

    Mbappe, Messi guide PSG to record 11th Ligue 1 win

    Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have been crowned champions of Ligue 1 for an unprecedented 11th time, as their title victory was officially confirmed following a draw against Strasbourg.

    Lens, their closest competitors, now trail by four points with only one matchday remaining.

    Despite an impressive and unbeaten start to the season, PSG faced challenges in their title defense after the World Cup. A turbulent period, including early exits from the Coupe de France and the Champions League, raised doubts about their ability to retain the title. Lens and Marseille emerged as strong contenders, poised to give PSG a run for their money.

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    However, PSG displayed resilience in the final stretch of the season, winning six out of their last seven matches. The team was led by top scorer Kylian Mbappé, who netted 28 goals, and Lionel Messi, who bids farewell to France as a two-time Ligue 1 champion after scoring his 16th goal and providing 16 assists.

    Neymar, despite missing half of the season due to ankle surgery, finished as the team’s third-highest goal scorer with 13 strikes.

    PSG’s ninth title in 12 years under Qatari ownership surpasses the previous record set by Saint-Étienne, who won ten Ligue 1 titles between 1957 and 1981 when they were the dominant force in French football.

    PSG have already surpassed the title counts of Marseille, Monaco, and Nantes, who have each won eight titles.

  • U20 World Cup: Flying Eagles advance to Round of 16 with 2-0 win over Italy

    U20 World Cup: Flying Eagles advance to Round of 16 with 2-0 win over Italy

    In a thrilling encounter, the Flying Eagles of Nigeria secured their Round of 16 spot in the ongoing 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup by defeating Italy with a convincing 2-0 win.

    The Italian team started the game strongly, hitting the woodwork in the fifth minute through Cesare Casadei. However, the Flying Eagles gradually settled into the match and began troubling the Italian defense with several long-range efforts.

    Ten minutes before the break, Solomon Agbalaka handled the ball inside the box, creating a tense moment for Nigeria. Fortunately, luck was on their side as the referee, after consulting with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), ruled that an Italian player had also made contact with the ball during the build-up.

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    Goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso displayed outstanding skill by making a superb save late in the first half, denying the Italians an opportunity to equalize.

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    At the start of the second half, Flying Eagles head coach Ladan Bosso made two strategic substitutions, bringing on Tochukwu Nnadi and Umeh Emmanuel in place of Samson Lawal and Ibrahim Mohammed, respectively.

    The Nigerian team took control of the game in the second half; however, their final ball often let them down, preventing them from extending their lead. Nonetheless, in the 61st minute, Salim Fago scored a brilliant header after receiving an excellent cross from Nnadi, breaking the deadlock and giving Nigeria the lead.

    Deep into stoppage time, winger Jude Sunday sealed the victory by netting the second goal for the Flying Eagles.

    In their final group game, the Nigerian team will face Brazil on Saturday in La Plata, setting the stage for an exciting and crucial match.

  • ‘Top goalkeeper’, Erik ten Hag hails De Gea for Premier League Golden Glove win

    Despite making some costly mistakes this season, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has reiterated his belief in David de Gea’s abilities, emphasizing that he remains a top goalkeeper.

    De Gea secured the Premier League Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets this season after achieving his 17th shutout during United’s victory over Bournemouth. The Spanish goalkeeper played a crucial role in the win, making an impressive save to deny David Brooks.

    De Gea’s achievement puts him ahead of other top goalkeepers in the league, including Alisson who finished with 14, and Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale, who recorded 13 clean sheets each.

    This is the second time De Gea has won the Golden Glove, with his previous success coming during the 2017/2018 season when Manchester United finished as runners-up under the management of Jose Mourinho.

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    However, it is worth noting that De Gea has faced criticism for some high-profile errors this season. Notably, he was responsible for gifting West Ham a goal in a recent defeat, and he also endured a disastrous night as Manchester United were eliminated from the Europa League by Sevilla.

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    Despite these setbacks, Ten Hag remains confident in De Gea’s abilities and continues to view him as a top-class goalkeeper. The manager’s support indicates that De Gea’s position as the first-choice goalkeeper for Manchester United is likely to be maintained, despite any scrutiny he may have faced throughout the season.

    “Football is a game of mistakes and, of course, it was a really bad moment [against West Ham],” Ten Hag commented following the Bournemouth game.

    “But, on the other hand, I also have to stay that we defend with 11 [players] and that’s why we have so many clean sheets.

    “In the end, we have a top keeper, who saves great opportunities from the opponents, so killing the game. First half [against Bournemouth], he had a great save, and second half, just before the end.

  • BUNDESLIGA: Title race blown open as Leipzig come from behind to win Bayern Munich

    BUNDESLIGA: Title race blown open as Leipzig come from behind to win Bayern Munich

    Bayern Munich’s bid for an 11th consecutive Bundesliga title suffered a significant setback as they were defeated by Leipzig.

    The loss leaves Bayern vulnerable, and if Borussia Dortmund secures a victory against Augsburg on Sunday, they will move two points ahead at the top of the table heading into the final day of the season.

    In the match against Leipzig, Bayern took the lead in the first half through a goal from Serge Gnabry, capping off a well-executed attacking move. However, Konrad Laimer equalized for Leipzig in the second half, shifting the momentum of the game.

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    The turning point came when Christopher Nkunku converted a penalty after being fouled in the box by Benjamin Pavard.

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    Dominik Szoboszlai then capitalized on another penalty opportunity, with Noussair Mazraoui handling the ball, to secure Leipzig’s come-from-behind victory.

    With this defeat, Bayern Munich’s hold on the top spot has weakened, and Borussia Dortmund now has the chance to seize the title.

    Dortmund needs to win their remaining matches against Augsburg and Mainz to secure their first Bundesliga title since 2012. Meanwhile, Leipzig’s comeback win guarantees them a third-place finish, ensuring their participation in the Champions League for the next season.

    Dortmund will face Koln in their final fixture, hoping to capitalize on Bayern’s stumble. As the season approaches its climax, the battle for the Bundesliga title promises to be an exciting and closely contested affair.