The Nation Newspaper

Tag: arsenal

  • Ozil ruled out of Bayern Munich clash

    Ozil ruled out of Bayern Munich clash

     

     

    Arsenal will be without German playmaker Mesut Ozil when they bid to turn a 5-1 deficit around against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

    The Gunners must score at least four goals against the German champions if they are to have any chance of progressing in the Champions League, following their humbling during the first leg in Bavaria, but will have to do so without Ozil.

    The midfielder missed Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Liverpool through illness but manager Arsene Wenger has now revealed he will not be ready in time to face Bayern.

    ‘Ozil is not in the squad, he only had one session and isn’t physically ready to be in the squad,’ Wenger said during his pre-match press conference.

    The Gunners boss also insisted he has yet to decide whether to restore Alexis Sanchez to the starting line-up, after he was benched for the Anfield loss amid reports of a training ground bust-up – which Wenger has since denied.

    Regardless of the team he picks, the Frenchman is keen for his players to make a fast start and try and worry their German opposition.

    ‘That’s the ideal situation but we want to give ourselves a chance by attacking and scoring goals,’ he said. ‘But no matter what happens it’s about our honour and pride to speak for 90 minutes.

    Defender Per Mertesacker wants to see a response from his players when they take on Bayern as they bid to win back the support of their fans.

    ‘We have shown we are not up for a fight and that’s what I want to see tomorrow. We need to come around. Against Liverpool we had a real chance to push it and show we are a real unit.

    ‘It’s hard for the manager to select but he does it with his best knowledge and we trust him.

    ‘We need to make the first step to get the fans on board again. We need our fans. We’ve done something wrong in the last few games and we have to learn from our mistakes quickly.’

  • Arsenal FC partners MTN Nigeria

    Arsenal Football Club has entered into a partnership with MTN, Nigeria’s largest mobile network operator.  MTN will become Arsenal’s Official Mobile Telecommunications Network partner in Nigeria.

    The partnership will see MTN offer a number of exclusive Arsenal related benefits to the club’s large following in Nigeria as well as to MTN’s vast subscriber base.  MTN will offer its customers access to a range of match and player exclusive content including match highlights, club news, interviews and club imagery.

    Arsenal’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vinai Venkatesham, said: “Arsenal has huge support in Nigeria, in part due to Kanu Nwankwo and the recent emergence of Alex Iwobi into the first team.  This partnership with MTN will really help us engage with these passionate fans on a regular and personal basis.  We are expecting MTN’s Arsenal exclusive content to be very popular among our supporters, as well as followers of football generally. This is our second regional partnership in Nigeria and fifth in Africa.  It really underlines our commitment and the level of support we have on the continent.”

    Also speaking on the partnership, MTN’s General Manager, Consumer Marketing, Richard Iweanoge said that the partnership is another way MTN is connecting with the passion of Nigerians.

    “We are excited to announce our partnership with Arsenal and look forward to engaging with sports enthusiasts beyond the current traditional broadcast of matches.  Not only this but also digitally with access to exclusive contents that will be delivered via our network.  This partnership is a demonstration of our long-standing support of sports which fosters unity amongst Nigerians.

    “This partnership will also contribute to sports talent development across the country and we look forward to welcoming Arsenal-trained coaches to Nigeria soon in this regard.  Football lovers across the country can be rest assured of an exciting partnership that will bring unrivalled money can’t buy international football experience to Nigeria,” he declared.

  • Anelka grabs Roda’s consultancy role

    Anelka grabs Roda’s consultancy role

     

    Anelka has joined Roda JC as a consultant following new investment in the Eredivisie club.

    Former Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka has joined Eredivisie club Roda JC in a consultancy role.

    Anelka, whose playing career also featured stints at Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Juventus, has been appointed by new co-owner Aleksei Korotaev.

    Russian-Swiss investor Korotaev acquired a minority share in the club last week.

    A Roda JC statement indicates Anelka will focus on the academy, although the precise details of his role will be discussed over the coming weeks.

    Technical director Ton Caanen said: “When I met with Nicolas in Dubai and had conversations with him about football, I immediately had the idea that I was not only dealing with a former footballer, but also with someone who has a very interesting idea about football in general.

    “We are proud that we can add someone of his calibre to our organisation.

    “We will now discuss with Aleksei Korotaev how we are going to give precise details on his role.”

    Anelka will also recommend players from the French market, with Lyes Houri already recruited on loan from Bastia.

  • Journey man Akpom joins Brighton

    Journey man Akpom joins Brighton

     

     

    Nigeria born Chuba Akpom has joined Championship leaders Brighton on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season.

    The 21-year-old striker has enjoyed loan spells at Brentford, Coventry and Nottingham Forest in his fledgling career and helped Hull to promotion back to the Premier League last season, scoring seven goals in 22 starts.

    Akpom will have to wait until Burton’s visit on February 11 for the chance to make his home debut. The England Under 21 international has scored four goals in three appearances for other clubs at the Amex.

    Seagulls boss Chris Hughton wants to beef up his forward options as his side look to secure place in the top flight for the first time since 1983.

    Hughton told seagulls.co.uk: ‘As soon as we allowed Elvis Manu to go out on loan we knew we wanted to add to the forward area, so we are delighted to bring in someone of Chuba’s calibre.

    ‘He is a young talent who gained valuable experience with Hull in the Championship last season, will give us really good pace in the forward areas and complement the other strikers at the club.

    ‘We fought off competition from other clubs to sign Chuba and we would like to thank Arsenal for the opportunity of working with him for the rest of the season.’

    Akpom  made one start and nine substitute appearances for Arsenal’s first team.

  • Sanchez’s late penalty earns Arsenal victory

    Sanchez’s late penalty earns Arsenal victory

     

     

     

    Alexis Sanchez’s dramatic late penalty has earned   Arsenal a dramatic late 2-1 win over Burnley at the Emirates Stadium.

     

    Though Arsenal went into this game knowing anything but a win would be regarded as a calamity. They dominated the ball but lacked the requisite calmness to turn opportunities into goals. They snatched at chances, shot from distance and got in each other’s way.

     

    The second half saw a rise in their tempo and they were rewarded when Shkodran Mustafi scored his first goal for the club. The home fans’ confidence did not last long, though. Just six minutes after going a goal up, they were a man down.

     

    Xhaka flew in on Steven Defour and was shown a straight red card — his third of the season for club and country. Burnley’s confidence surged as Arsenal retreated deeper into their own half.

     

    The Daily Mirror reports that  Clarets looked to have snatched a point when Francis Coquelin handed them a penalty, coolly converted by Andre Gray, three minutes into added time. But more drama was to follow.

     

    With just seconds remaining on the clock, an offisde Laurent Koscielny was taken down in the Burnley box and Sanchez slotted the subsequent penalty.

  • AFCON: Arsenal teenager gets Algeria call-up

    AFCON: Arsenal teenager gets Algeria call-up

    Arsenal’s Algerian midfielder, Ismaeil Bennacer, has been called up to play in the African Nations Cup finals after a knee injury ruled Saipher Taider out of the tournament, the country’s football federation said on Friday.

    The 19-year-old Bennacer won his first cap for Algeria last year in Nations Cup qualification and has yet to make a league debut for the Gunners.

    Bologna midfielder Taider, 24, hurt his knee in training earlier this week.

    Defender Ramy Bensebaini is recovering from a knee injury suffered in Algeria’s warm-up win over Mauritania on Tuesday, the federation added.

    Algeria plays their opening Group B match in Franceville on Sunday against Zimbabwe.

  • FA Cup 2016-17: Fourth-Round Fixtures

    Home vs. Away
    Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wycombe Wanderers
    Derby County vs. Leicester City
    Oxford United vs. Birmingham City or Newcastle United
    Sutton United or AFC Wimbledon vs. Leeds United
    Liverpool or Plymouth Argyle vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
    Norwich City or Southampton vs. Arsenal
    Ipswich Town or Lincoln City vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
    Chelsea vs. Brentford
    Manchester United vs. Wigan Athletic
    Millwall vs. Watford
    Rochdale vs. Huddersfield Town
    Sunderland or Burnley vs. Bristol City or Fleetwood Town
    Blackburn Rovers vs. Blackpool or Barnsley
    Fulham vs. Hull City
    Middlesbrough vs. Accrington Stanley
    Bolton Wanderers or Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City

     

  • Arsenal stop Iwobi from Glo-CAF award

    Arsenal stop Iwobi from Glo-CAF award

    Officials of English Premier League (EPL) side, Arsenal, have stopped Super Eagles attacking midfielder, Alex Iwobi, from attending Thursday’s Glo-CAF Player of the Year awards in Abuja because of club commitment.

    The 20-year-old is listed for the Young Player of the Year award alongside Eric Ayiah (Ghana) and Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire).

    “Alex (Iwobi) is not coming for the CAF award tomorrow,” the player’s uncle, Emmanuel Okocha, told allnigeriasoccer.com.

  • IWOBI LAMENTS: Arsenal took foot off the gas

    IWOBI LAMENTS: Arsenal took foot off the gas

    • Explains why Gunners lost to Man City

    Arsenal took their foot off the gas against Manchester City and they were punished for it, Nigeria international Alex Iwobi has revealed.
    “I guess you could say we took our foot off the gas,” Iwobi told the club’s website.
    “Man City took advantage very well in the second half. We were up against a tough side, we were just unfortunate to not keep the win. We started off very well but we weren’t able to keep it up in the second half and we were very unfortunate.”
    “We’re gonna keep on going, fight until the end and see where we go. We’ll just have to continue how we were playing at the start of the season. We just have to continue the way we were playing at the start of the season. We just have to get that back and kick on now and prepare well for the next game,” he said.
    Arsene Wenger’s men bowed 2-1 to fellow title challengers on Sunday, despite taking the lead at the Etihad Stadium.
    The Gunners took the lead after five minutes through Theo Walcott, but the hosts clawed back to secure maximum points in the second half courtesy of Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling’s strikes.

  • Sheyi Ojo: I perfected my goal against Arsenal in training

    Sheyi Ojo: I perfected my goal against Arsenal in training

    SeYI Ojo is delighted to power Liverpool U-23 team to a 3-2 win over Arsenal at Anfield on Monday night.
    The 19-year-old said he had practiced the move that led to his goal with his teammates during training adding that he has been working on improving his movement in the opposing team’s defence.
    “It was great to score and that was what we have been talking about because for me one of the things I can improve on is movement in behind [the opposition defence],” Ojo told Liverpool Media.
    “I worked on it during training with the boys and thankfully the goal came from me running in behind, and it was a great pass from Pedro.
    “It was good to get another 90 minutes again under my belt, I’m happy that the team won and it was nice to play at Anfield again.
    “It’s great to be back playing again. I was getting a bit of cramp in the last five minutes but I’m feeling stronger every game and long may that continue.
    “In the second half we didn’t play as well as we could have but we battled on and we managed to see it through.
    “I had some special moments and I’ll never forget that goal, and every day in training and in these matches for the U23s I’m striving to get back to that place again, and hopefully it will come soon.
    “It was a great 2016 for me and I’m looking for another special year next year and I’ve just got to keep my head down and keep working hard.”