English Premier League side, Arsenal FC, have celebrated their youngster, Alex Iwobi, who scored Nigeria’s solitary match winner against the Chipolopolo of Zambia in Saturday’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Iwobi, who came in for Moses Simon in the tension soaked match at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo, scored the winning goal in 73rd minute to send Nigeria to Russia 2018.
He repeated his feat of being the thorn in the Zambians’ side once again, having scored in the first Group B game between the sides.
Iwobi came off the bench in the second half to end Zambia’s hope of creating a final day climax on Nov. 6, only for the Super Eagles to book a spot in the finals.
The Gunners celebrated the Nigerian on their official Twitter handle.
“#BIG17 scores the winner as @NGSuperEagles beat Zambia in World Cup qualifying,” the Gunners tweeted.
The club also congratulated Nigeria for becoming the first African side to book a place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The club tweeted: “QUALIFIED! ?Congratulations, ??Nigeria!
“ The Super Eagles are the first African side to reach ??Russia!
“This looks sweet for @NGSuperEagles fans!#WCQ.”
The Super Eagles will now go into the match against Algeria with calm nerves, having earned an unassailable lead at the top of Group B.
Nigeria have amassed an unassailable 13 points after the 1-0 win against Zambia who maintain second position with seven points.
Seen by many as the toughest group of the continent’s five qualifying tables, Nigeria have been dominant, remaining unbeaten throughout and only dropping points to a Cameroonian penalty in Yaounde.
The 4-0 win a few days earlier against the reigning African champions was a spectacular highlight.
Led by the seasoned Mikel Obi, who made his belated World Cup debut at Brazil 2014, Super Eagles will be hoping to better their Round of 16 exit from the World Cup three years ago. (NAN)
Nigeria international and Super Eagles forward Alexander Iwobi could be one of the danger men in the second leg qualifier against Zambia if he makes Nigeria’s starting eleven on Saturday in Uyo.
The Super Eagles players are already in top shape for the must win match as they had a closed door training on Thursday ahead the Saturday game.
Recall that Iwobi and Moses Simon plays the right side of the mid-field and both are currently among the top shape 25-man squad of the Super Eagles for the 2018 World Cup qualifier against the Zambians.
The Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Arsenal marked his return to the Gunners with a goal against Brighton this past weekend, and Zambia will be hoping that form does not translate to the Super Eagles. The youngster missed a few matches due to injury in September.
The Chipolopolo still remember that the last time they faced the Arsenal starlet, in October 2016 in an earlier qualifying round in Ndola, the attacking midfielder sizzled imperiously and opened the scoring for his side. His short passing, direct running, and intelligent movement proved too much for the host defenders to handle as the Super Eagles ran out 2-1 winners.
His return now, after missing last month’s two-legged fixture against Cameroon, will leave Chipolopolo cursing their luck and this fixture’s timing. Incidentally, that goal remains his only strike for the Super Eagles in 10 appearances, since making his international debut in a 2-0 defeat against DR Congo friendly in Belgium nearly a year ago.
Iwobi’s partnership with Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho can bring the party home fro Nigeria as both players on and off the pitch have developed this sort of telepathic understanding that defenders get nightmares about.
When they play together, Iwobi is always looking to give-and-go with Iheanacho; his tendency to pinch into the middle complementing the Foxes man’s own inclination to drift out wide on occasion in search of the ball.
Even without Iheanacho, Iwobi not only has the ability to link play with whichever central striker is ahead of him, but also to find gaps in defensive positions and thread excellently-weighted passes through them. Whether he starts or not, Iwobi’s return presents all sorts of trouble for this particular opposition.
With Victor Moses, Moses Simon and Ahmed Musa, the Super Eagles are already spoiled for choice in the wide forward areas. Throwing in the 21-year-old Gunner just makes the competition even stiffer.
With Chelsea’s Moses out injured previously, Gernot Rohr had settled on Iwobi and Simon as his starting wide forwards. But the Chelsea man is a dead cert to start, leaving competition for the other spot down to the other three men.
Whoever gets to start does so knowing he has two more champing at the bit, waiting to come in, and mistakes will be harshly judged.
Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has made £525m bid for Alisher Usmanov’s 30% stake in club as fans’ group urges Uzbek billionaire not to sell up
The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust will continue to oppose any moves to take the club into single ownership and urge Alisher Usmanov not to sell his 30 per cent stake to majority shareholder Stan Kroenke.
Reports suggest Kroenke Sports Enterprise UK are set to offer some £525million to buy the 18,695 shares held by Usmanov’s Red and White Securities Limited.
While Usmanov has always stated he would not be willing to part with his stake in the Premier League club, the second largest individual shareholder has not been given a seat on the board and it appears unlikely that situation will change.
Russian businessman Usmanov has previously made a formal £1billion bid to buy Arsenal, which led to a statement from KSE UK in May 2017 re-affirming their position that the ‘shares are not, and never have been, for sale,’ adding Kroenke’s organisation was ‘a committed, long-term investor in Arsenal and will remain so’.
The AST has already initiated contact with Usmanov’s representatives following recent reports he may now be set to sell up and will stress the importance of his role in providing accountability.
Should American Kroenke ultimately obtain Usmanov’s significant stock, then the remaining minority shareholders, which include the AST, have concerns over the possibility of Arsenal becoming a privately-owned company, so therefore not required to hold an Annual General Meeting, the next of which is set for October 26.
The 2016 policy statement on the AST website reads: ‘The AST continues to believe that Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one person. The best ownership model for Arsenal will always include supporters being represented and involved in the ownership structure as shareholders.
‘We understand the reality that any stake in Arsenal is available to buy at any time should someone make an acceptable bid, but we will oppose any attempt to buy the club outright and take it into single ownership.’
The Uzbekistan billionaire has previously stated he is unwilling to part with his Arsenal stake.
Former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has admitted once and for all it was he who threw pizza into the face of legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in October 2004, the match which became known as the Battle of the Buffet.
An infamous tunnel brawl between Arsenal and United players at Old Trafford followed a controversial 2-0 win for the hosts, which ended the Gunners’ historic 49-match unbeaten run, Wayne Rooney having been awarded a contentious penalty.
Players from both sides were scrapping after the match before Ferguson was left with pizza all over him after a member of the away dressing room threw it in his direction.
Fabregas, now of Chelsea, had previously been the rumoured culprit after a hint from former team-mate Martin Keown, but has finally confirmed his guilt 13 years after the game, although he insists he had not meant to hit Ferguson.
Asked to confirm he threw the pizza on Sky’s ‘A League of Their Own’, Fabregas said: “Yes!
“Martin Keown is a liar because I saw him in front of me just, like, punching people so he didn’t see anything.
“All of a sudden, I heard noises and I thought what’s happening?
“So I go out with my slice of pizza and I saw Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown – everyone pushing each other.
“I was like I want to get in but I don’t know how to and I threw – peeew – just threw it.
“Once I saw it was hitting, like, who it was hitting, which I didn’t mean… I apologise Sir Alex, really didn’t mean to do that!”
Fabregas then gestured to confirm the pizza had hit Ferguson on the side of his face.
Tensions were extremely high between Arsenal and United at that time. The previous year Ruud van Nistelrooy’s last-gasp penalty miss led to him being angrily surrounded by Gunners players, prompting an on-field scuffle.
Ferguson himself had written about the incident in his autobiography. After detailing a head-to-head confrontation with Arsene Wenger, he wrote: “The next thing I knew I had pizza all over me. We put food into the away dressing room after every game. Pizza, chicken. Most clubs do it. Arsenal’s food was the best.
“They say it was Cesc Fabregas who threw the pizza at me but to this day, I have no idea who the culprit was.”
It was goal thrillers in some of the Europa matches played on Thursday
Theo Walcott scored twice and Olivier Giroud notched his 100th Arsenal goal as the Londoners notched a second successive Europa League win, 4-2, at BATE Borisov.
After 10 minutes, Wenger’s side had the advantage when Jack Wilshere burst into the box and Theo Walcott’s header was half-stopped by Denis Scherbitski before he made sure from point-blank range.
The home side burst into life after 20 minutes when Giroud lost possession and Mirko Ivanic shot narrowly wide from outside the box when a cross was half cleared.
Within three minutes, however, they were two down as Walcott struck again, accepting a gift when Scherbitski’s terrible attempt to pass the ball out of his area gave him the chance to roll a finish inside the post.
After 25 minutes it was 3-0 when Borisov failed to deal with the resulting corner and Per Mertesacker’s header went in off Rob Holding for his first Arsenal goal.
But out of the blue Borisov pulled one back within two minutes, Alexei Rios sending in a good cross from the right that was headed home by Ivanic.
Three minutes into the second half, Giroud had his landmark goal and Arsenal their fourth when what looked like the softest of penalty awards for a challenge by Stanislav Dragun on Shkodran Mustafi gave him the chance to roll home from the penalty spot.
And with a little over 20 minutes remaining, the hosts were on the scoresheet again, Mikhail Gordeichuk taking advantage of defensive confusion to hammer home from close range.
They should have made it 4-3 only for Aliaksandr Volodko, unmarked near the penalty spot, to blaze a first-time effort over the top.
But as the game entered its final 10 minutes, Borisov’s belief faded and Giroud and Wilshere threatened to add further goals for Arsenal.
Everton failed to hold their late lead against Apollon at Goodison Park, despite the visitors being reduced to 10 men.
Everton were pegged back late by 10-man Apollon Limassol to remain at the foot of the Group E table after a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.
Wayne Rooney cancelled out Adrian Sardinero’s 12th-minute opener in the 21st, when he ran onto an awful back-pass to Apollon keeper Bruno Vale and finished into the empty net.
Nikola Vlasic’s goal looked to have given Ronald Koeman’s men their first points of the campaign, and the win looked further cemented when Valentin Roberge was send off four minutes from time.
However, Hector Yuste snatched the equaliser for the visitors just two minutes later, heading home Joao Pedro’s cross from a set piece much to the dismay of the Goodison faithful.
Rijeka fought back late at the San Siro, but Patrick Cutrone’s stoppage-time goal led Milan to victory in the Europa League.
AC Milan lost a 2-0 lead at the San Siro but found an injury time winner to earn a 3-2 victory over Croatian champions HNK Rijeka in the Europa League.
Milan were in front with 14 minutes on the clock as Andre Silva struck, making room for himself inside the area after cutting in from the left and arrowing a fine finish past Simon Sluga.
And Rijeka were made to pay once more when, after 53 minutes, Milan struck again as a corner fell for defender Mateo Musacchio, who scored from close range.
Milan seemed set to control the rest of a low-key second half — but with six minutes remaining, things changed when substitute Maxwell Acosty halved the deficit.
It seemed that Milan would be denied but, in the third of five added minutes, Cutrone steered home a fine finish to break the visitors’ hearts
Alassane Plea and Allan Saint-Maximin scored the goals as Nice beat Vitesse 3-0.
Meanwhile, Nice made it two wins from two rounds in Group K with a 3-0 victory over Vitesse Arnhem on a night the lights temporarily went out at the French club’s ground — a brace from Alassane Plea and a further strike from Allan Saint-Maximin doing the damage for Lucien Favre’s side.
Lazio edged past Zulte-Waregem 2-0 to join Nice at the top of the group. Felipe Caicedo scored the decisive goal in the 18th minute, while Ciro Immobile added insurance at the death.
Marseille’s European unbeaten run ends at six matches following a 1-0 defeat to Salzburg.
In Group I, Marseille fell to RB Salzburg 1-0 in Salzburg to end their unbeaten run in Europe at six matches. Moanes Dabour bagged the winning goal from the spot in the 73rd minute.
In the group’s other match, Konyaspor dumped Guimaraes 2-1 through goals from Musa Araz and Deni Milosevic in either half. Paolo Hurtado got the consolation goal for the visitors.
Aleksandr Kokorin netted two goals to lift Zenit to a 3-1 victory over Real Sociedad in St. Petersburg.
In Group L, Zenit St Petersburg saw off Real Sociedad 3-1 in St Petersburg. A brace from Aleksandr Kokorin and a further strike from Emiliano Rigoni paced the Russians, while Diego Llorente collected the consolation goal for the visitors.
In the other match, Rosenborg raced past Vardar by the same scoreline — ex-Arsenal man Nicklas Bendtner scoring from the spot to start the rout in the 25th minute.
Cologne couldn’t find an equaliser as Red Star Belgrade ran out 1-0 winners in Group H’s other match. Richmond Boakye’s 30th-minute goal carried the visitors across the finish line, putting them two points behind Arsenal in second.
In Group J, Athletic Bilbao fell to FC Zorya Luhansk 1-0 in Bilbao thanks to a goal from Ihor Kharatin in the 26th minute, while Ostersunds FK similarly stunned German side Hertha Berlin 1-0 in Sweden to assume the group lead.
Astana extend their European home unbeaten run to 16 matches after a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague.
Astana maintained their strong home record with a 1-1 draw against Slavia Prague in Group A.
Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui put the visitors ahead in the 18th minute before Marin Tomasov answered three minutes before half-time.
In Group G, Steaua Bucharest edged FC Lugano 2-1, while Viktoria beatHapoel Be’er 3-1.
New signing Alexandre Lacazette scored twice as Arsenal beat West Brom at the Emirates on Monday night On an evening when Alexis Sanchez, widely expected to leave at the season’s end when his contract expires, made his first league start since his attempt to join rivals Manchester City, the striker continued to justify his club-record transfer fee.
Spoiling the occasion of Gareth Barry’s record 633rd Premier League appearance, his two goals also ensured a continuation of Arsenal’s 100 percent record at the Emirates so far this season and wider run of eight consecutive home league wins.
In only the fifth minute, having been brought down by Craig Dawson on the edge of the area, Sanchez bent a free kick just wide of the right post.
The visitors swiftly responded when a classy through-ball from Barry sent Jay Rodriguez into space on the left. The forward was unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty when brought down by Shkodran Mustafi’s cumbersome challenge, but after returning to his feet he forced Petr Cech into a fine save when the goalkeeper tipped his low shot onto the post.
Mohamed Elneny, starting his first Premier League fixture since the season’s opening day in perhaps a demonstration of Arsene Wenger’s wariness of West Brom’s physical threat, then briefly took responsibility for Arsenal’s creativity. His ball wide was volleyed by Hector Bellerin towards Aaron Ramsey, who despite space at the near post could only head high and wide.
The midfielder was then brought down by Jonny Evans, among Wenger’s summer transfer targets, also on the edge of the area, to win the 20th-minute free-kick that produced their opening goal. On this occasion Ben Foster tipped Sanchez’s curling effort away, but with the goalkeeper on the floor, Lacazette was the quickest to respond and instinctively headed low into the near open goal.
West Brom, largely outclassed by their composed hosts, were unfortunate not to level in the 38th minute, again through Rodriguez. After Grzegorz Krychowiak broke down the left and hooked a cross towards the forward, Rodriguez succeeded in heading past Cech but could only watch as the recovering Nacho Monreal cleared off the goal-line and out for a corner.
The £52million Lacazette had had another dangerous, goal-bound shot blocked early in the second half before, in the 67th minute, the opportunity presented itself to him to seal all three points.
Allan Nyom clumsily brought down Ramsey inside the area and, with Sanchez still on the pitch, Lacazette stepped up to finish into the bottom-right corner beyond the diving Foster.
He was eventually replaced by Olivier Giroud in the 83rd minute, by which point victory appeared secure, but after Arsenal’s inconsistent start to the season the striker had taken his side up to seventh, with his fourth goal in five league starts.
Defeat also meant West Brom fell to 12th, but if Tony Pulis felt frustrated, Wenger had been rewarded by the 26-year-old Lacazette vindicating the hosts’ long-term pursuit
Chelsea defender David Luiz was sent off for an ugly foul on Sead Kolasinac as Arsenal finally emerged unscathed from a trip to Chelsea with a 0-0 draw against the champions on Sunday.
The Brazilian saw red in the closing minutes at Stamford Bridge and he could have no complaints about his dismissal after lunging into a crude two-footed challenge on Arsenal defender Kolasinac.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it was the third sending-off for a Chelsea player in their last three meetings with Arsenal.
Nigeria’s Victor Moses got his marching orders in last season’s FA Cup final, while Pedro was dismissed in the Community Shield.
The Luiz flashpoint – Chelsea’s fourth red card this season – was the most memorable moment of a hard-fought London derby that was high on perspiration but low on inspiration.
“We have great respect for officials, but it is strange to finish a third game in a row against Arsenal with 10 men,” Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said.
“You need to see what happened before the tackle.”
After losing on their last five visits to Chelsea, Arsene Wenger’s side had the better of the few clear-cut chances.
But Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette all squandered good opportunities to hand Arsenal their first win at the Bridge since October 2011.
Luiz’s moment of madness came too late for Arsenal to capitalise on their numerical advantage, so they had to settle for a first clean sheet at Chelsea since 2005.
“It was about mentality and a response from our last away game. We could have won it. It was an intense game,” Wenger said.
It was another frustrating encounter with Arsenal for Conte’s men, who were beaten in both the FA Cup final and the Community Shield.
Arsenal weathered an early storm before Welbeck wasted a golden opportunity when Hector Bellerin’s cross picked out the unmarked forward, who couldn’t adjust quickly enough to keep his header on target.
Wenger’s men threatened again when Ramsey’s pass left Marcos Alonso isolated and put Bellerin in behind the Chelsea defence.
Bellerin crossed low for Lacazette, but the France striker’s shot was too close to Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Arsenal were sweeping forward with real purpose and Kolasinac tested Courtois with a stinging drive that the Belgian parried away.
The Gunners’ rearguard remained as creaky as ever and Cesc Fabregas sprung their offside trap with a precise pass to Pedro, whose tame shot at Petr Cech let the visitors off the hook.
Encouragingly for Wenger, Arsenal were still picking holes in Chelsea’s usually rock-solid defence.
They should have taken the lead just before halftime when Ramsey had only Courtois to beat after weaving his way past Cesar Azpilicueta and David Luiz.
However, Ramsey stabbed his shot against the far post before Lacazette somehow contrived to scuff the rebound over from close range.
Chelsea continued to lack a cutting edge after the break and Willian shot straight at Cech, then blazed over from long range as another attack petered out.
Shkodran Mustafi had the ball in the net for Arsenal, but the defender’s header was correctly ruled out for offside.
As Chelsea’s frustration mounted, Luiz shrugged off Alexis Sanchez – on as a substitute – and launched into a needless lunge on Kolasinac in the 87th minute. He was immediately shown a red card by referee Michael Oliver.
In another EPL Super Sunday encounter, Romelu Lukaku scored against his former club as Manchester United thrashed Everton to move joint-top of the Premier League.
Captain Antonio Valencia’s early thunderbolt put Manchester United en route to a 4-0 Premier League victory over Everton, but they needed a flurry of late goals to finally subdue their unfortunate visitors.
The result sent Everton into the bottom three and meant Wayne Rooney’s return to Old Trafford ended in a dismal defeat.
“I think the performance was very good, especially int the first 30-35 minutes, it was probably our best performance of the season.
“We pressed them and they did not have a chance to get out, they did not have a shot, it was very impressive. After that, Everton’s good players came out and showed their qualities.
“They gave us difficulty but I looked behind me on the bench and saw alternatives.
“The Premier League now is becoming very trendy with five at the back, so the best way to play against that is to play five at the back yourself,” Chelsea’s Coach Jose Mourinho said in his post match reaction. (NAN)
Arsenal has held Chelsea to a goalless match at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
There were a some rough time among the players few minute to the end of the game.Red Card was given to David Luiz in the 87th minute. Andreas Christensen replaces Alvaro Morata has.
Some substitutions have been made by both side in the last 15 minutes.
In the 80th minute, Mohamed Elneny was brought in to replace Nigerian Alex Iwobi.
Olivier Giroud replaced Welbeck who sustained injury
Alexis Sanchez replaced Alexandre Lacazette. Sanchez was brought in in the 66th minute.
Eden Hazard was brought in two minutes after to replace Williams
Remember that Tiemoue Bakayoko was brought in Pedro at the start of the second half.
There is however no goal yet Stamford Bridge.
Welbeck and Lacazeth had better chances in the first half but they were unlucky.
Arsenal played very well with so much pressure on Chelsea.
The visitor missed a clear-cut chance of getting the first goal of the match in the fourth minute.
From the mid-field Ramsey decides to creep forward and hits the inside of the post and bounces out to Lacazette, who promptly volleys over the empty net and high into the stands, almost like he was clearing it for a corner.
Chelsea are obviously still very good at this football business, but they do lack a bit of a spark without Hazard on the pitch.
Victor Moses has been making great impact in the game despite being injured earlier in the match.
in the seventh minute the referee had to stop for the match for Moses to get medical attention.
The Nigerian had a collision with Lacazette, the pair of them went down after clashing knees.
The Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal started at 1:30 pm
Liverpool has completed the £35million signing of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal.
The 24-year-old passed a medical on Wednesday after the Gunners accepted Liverpool’s bid for a player who made it clear he would not extend his contract beyond next summer, Sky Sports reports.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has since agreed personal terms on a long-term deal, and the transfer was confirmed at 12:00 p.m. on Deadline Day.
It is understood the fee could eventually reach £40million with appearance-based add-ons.
Speaking from England’s St George’s Park base, Oxlade-Chamberlain said: “I’m delighted to have signed for Liverpool and a big thank you to everyone here at the FA that has made this possible, using the facilities. It has been a massive help.
“I’m not going to say too much. I’m here with England and we’ve got two big games coming up, so I want to focus on them. But I can’t wait to get to Melwood.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain was used at wing-back in his final few months at Arsenal, and his desire to establish himself in central midfield was a motivating factor in his departure.
Jurgen Klopp told the Liverpool website: “I hear a lot of talk about positions but let’s talk about the player. He is someone with really good abilities who always gives everything for his team. A player that is positive and willing to take risks to try and make positive things happen.
“He may still be young but he has a lot of experience in the Premier League, Champions League and for his country. Already he is a very, very good player and I think he has the mentality and desire to get even better – and that excites me.”
With less than 30 hours to go in the transfer market Liverpool have reportedly agreed a £40m deal to sign Arsenal and England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has started each of Arsenal’s four games so far this season despite telling manager Arsene Wenger he would not sign a new contract.
He has made 198 appearances for Arsenal since joining them from Southampton in August 2011.
The fee would have been Liverpool’s club record deal, but the Reds have agreed to sign RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita next summer for £48m.
Chamberlain, 24-year-ol, rejected a move to Chelsea on Tuesday after a fee had been agreed.
