The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Aribo

  •  Aribo, Onuachu suffer relegation with  Southampton

     Aribo, Onuachu suffer relegation with  Southampton

    Super Eagles duo of Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu watched in disbelief as their beloved Southampton agonisingly slipped to the English Championship yesterday after their 3-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

    The Saints are last in the table with 10 points from 31 games and the defeat in London marked their exit from the EPL just a season after returning from the lower league.

    Read Also: Beyond the game: 10 Super Eagles players with academic degrees

    Aribo started the game before he was substituted in the 64th minute in his 30th game of the season in the league alone. He has three goals to his credit.

    While Onuachu came on in the 73rd minute for his 21st game of the season under head coach, Ivan Juric. He has four goals and one assist.

  • Eagles Tracker: Free fall for  Ilenikhena, Aribo, Onuachu in mid-week duels

    Eagles Tracker: Free fall for  Ilenikhena, Aribo, Onuachu in mid-week duels

    George Ilenikhena made a cameo appearance for  Monaco who were beaten 4-2 at home by French Ligue One leaders, Paris Saint Germain  yesterday.

    Ilenikhena who joined Monaco from Royal Antwerp at the beginning of the season,  was introduced in the 89th  minute for  Mohammed Salisu of Ghana. 

    The Nigerian played his 20th game of the season yesterday and has scored two goals and made two assists in all competitions.

    His club, Monaco has slipped to the third spot with 30 points from 16 games and are 10 points behind runaway leaders, PSG.

    Read Also: First Lady applauds Nigerian stars on CAF Awards

    In England, Super Eagles duo of Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu impressed in the second half with Southampton but they still fell 2-1 to the superior firepower of Liverpool who bundled them out of the Carling Cup at the quarter final stage.

    Onuachu who played his second game in the competition was brought on in the 73rd  minute to salvage the game having trailed 2-0 at halftime to Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliot’s goals but he could not convert the few chances he had. The towering hitman has played additional six league games too but has not scored nor assisted this term.

    His compatriot, Joe Aribo played for 84 minutes before his coach called on former Liverpool midfielder, Adam Lallana to replace him. Aribo who has played 18 games in all competitions has complemented it with two goals for the Saints who are last on the EPL log. 

    The two Nigerians will hope to help Southampton return to winning ways when they face Fulham at the Craven Cottage on Sunday in a league game. They will come face to face with Cottagers’ Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey who returns after a game suspension.

  • SUPER EAGLES TRACKER: Aribo scores for Saints as Aina, Ajayi shine for Nottingham

    SUPER EAGLES TRACKER: Aribo scores for Saints as Aina, Ajayi shine for Nottingham

    Super Eagles duo of Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey were in action throughout for Fulham FC but their spirited efforts were not enough as the Cottagers got dazed 3-0 by Bournemouth.

    Iwobi got his 15th game of the season while Bassey bagged his 14th game of the campaign in the away loss at the Vitality Stadium.

    Fulham FC are 13th on the log with 21 points from 19 games.

    At the Saint James Park, Newcastle United were beaten 3-1 by Nottingham Forest with Super Eagles defender, Ola Aina in the thick of action for his 13th game of the season.

    Alexander Isak put Newcastle United a goal up from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute but a hat trick from Chris Wood in the 45th , 53rd and 60th minutes. The Reds win was the first since Nuno Espirito Santo took over.

    Read Also; A ticking bomb

    The Reds are now 16th on the league table with 17 points from 19 games.

    Aina’s teammate and countryman, Taiwo Awoniyi is just recuperating from an injury which has already ruled him out of the 2023 African Cup of Nations.

    Semilogo Ajayi came on in the 61st minute for West Brom who won 1-0 at home to Norwich City courtesy of Thomas Asante in the 50th minute.

    Joe Aribo scored the opening goal as Southampton whitewashed Swansea City 5-0.

    The win lifted the Saints to the third spot with 48 points from 24 games as they also went 16 games unbeaten to equal the club’s record for the longest stretch with a league defeat since 1921-22 season.

    In Belgium, Toluwalase Arokodare got a brace as Genk defeated Royal Antwerp 3-0 at home.

    Arokodare who was substituted in the 69th minute in place of Christopher Bonsu Baah scored twice within two minutes in the 75th and 77th minutes after Alieu Fadera’s opener in the 10th minute. Arokodare has scored six goals from 19 games. He has only started four of those games.

    Yira Sor who was replaced in the 88th minute accounted for the assist to Arokodare’s first goal of the night. Sor has played in 13 games with four goals to his credit.

  • St Mary ready for Aribo’s imminent exit

    St Mary ready for Aribo’s imminent exit

    Southampton’s Joe Aribo could be the next player to leave St. Mary’s with interest rising as we approach the end of the window.

    A window which has seen the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Tino Livramento, Romeo Lavia and Mohammed Salisu depart, Joe Aribo could be the next big name to leave the club.

    After a first taste of senior football with non-league outfit Staines Town, he moved to Charlton Athletic in 2015 where he played more than 80 times in south-east London, helping the Addicks secure promotion to the Championship in his final year at the club.

    His next chapter saw him move to Scottish giants Rangers, scoring 18 times in the league while registering more than 100 appearances across domestic and European competitions.

    The 27-year-old helped the Gers secure the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup in his three years in Glasgow, while also finishing runners-up in the Europa League to Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.

    Read Also: Guardiola to miss two Man City games after back surgery

    Promising showings caught the eye of Southampton with Aribo moving to the south coast last summer for a reported initial fee of £6 million.

    A season to forget for the Saints, however, presented a disappointing debut season for the midfielder while his time at St. Mary’s may be short-lived with a move elsewhere on the cards.

    According to Football Insider, Italian side Hellas Verona are interested in bringing in the Nigerian international to the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.

    The Serie A outfit are looking at a potential loan deal with the option to buy, providing Aribo the opportunity to have another shot at one of Europe’s top leagues.

    This comes after game time has been far from what he would have been hoping for since joining the club – recording 13 starts in his debut top-flight campaign while he is yet to start this season.

    The midfielder has made two late substitute cameos against Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle while coming on at half-time in the 3-1 EFL cup defeat to Gillingham, highlighting his drop down the pecking order under Russell Martin.

    Even with the departures of Ward-Prowse, Lavia and Ibrahima Diallo, Aribo has struggled to force his way into the starting eleven. Martin has opted to go for new recruit Shea Charles, Stuart Armstrong, Carlos Alcaraz and Stuart Armstrong from the off instead of Aribo so far this season making it clear that a move may be the best opportunity to earn regular playing time.