The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Chelsea

  • Moses puts Chelsea back on top

    Moses puts Chelsea back on top

    NIGERIA winger, Victor Moses confirmed his great form by netting Chelsea winning goal against Tottenham Saturday.

    Spurs may have got their tactics spot on to grab a early goal, even before Chelsea settled in, but on two occasions they’ve lost their concentration and Chelsea have punished them on both.

    Spurs overload the midfield and Eriksen picks up the ball on the edge of the box, after the referee waves play on following a foul, allowing Dele Alli to find the Dane in space. He turns towards goal and lashes the ball past Courtois and into the top corner.

    Spurs, for all their dominance, allowed Chelsea back in the game with the equalizer. No one picks up Pedro as he received the ball just outside the penalty area with ample space and the Spanish winger turns, composes himself, then curls a delightful 25-yarder past Hugo Lloris’s outstretched palm.

    Great work by Diego Costa and Moses provided the winner. Costa started the onslaught, when he latched on to the ball up on the left, beat his man and play a teasing cross to the far post, and Moses to make the gut-busting 60-yard rush to be in the right place at the right time.

    After a quiet start, Costa has grown into the game, and he could go home with the best man of the game after creating the second goal and after being involved in the build-up to the first as well.

    Hazard also showed his fangs getting involved and their wingbacks are seeing plenty of the ball in very advanced areas.

    With the win, Chelsea is back to the top of the Premier League by a point. Tottenham stay fifth, five ahead of Manchester United but facing the prospect of a four-point gap to Arsenal by the end of the weekend.

    Chelsea continued to mount pressure and almost made it three in the 55 minutes with Moses drifting wide to allow Hazard space centrally. Costa also heads out to the right flank, and he gets the ball to squeeze a cross into the area for Alonso, who leans back and puts it over.

  • Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea: Moses grabs Man of the Match Award

    Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea: Moses grabs Man of the Match Award

    • Excited to be in Blues first XI

    Super Eagles forward Victor Moses continued his splendid form for Chelsea as he was named the Man-of-the-Match in the Blues 1-0 win against Middlesbrough at the weekend.

    Chelsea went through the month of October without a defeat or conceding a goal and had the incentive of going top with a victory at the Riverside after Arsenal dropped points against Manchester United.

    The Blues got the job done with a poacher’s strike from Diego Costa to record his tenth goal of the premier league season and the win left Moses delighted.

    “We showed good character from the start, we had a few chances in the first half which we should have taken,” Moses told Skysport just before he was presented the Man-of-the-Match Award by teammate Gary Cahill.

    “In the second half, they came at us and we were strong at the back. We did very well today.

    Moses also revealed his excitement on becoming a super regular under Antonio Conte after going on three different loans at the start of his Blues career.

    “I am delighted and excited to be in the first 11, the new manager wants to give the youngsters an opportunity to express themselves.

    “The top is very tight. The Premier League is a hard season and we want to take each game as it comes.”

    Chelsea are now top of the premier league log with 28 points after 12 round of matches.

  • Conte, Hazard scoop PL October awards

    Conte, Hazard scoop PL October awards

    Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte and midfielder, Eden Hazard have been rewarded for the Blue’s stunning form in October by scooping the Premier League manager and player of the month awards respectively.

    Under the Italian tactician’s guidance, the Blues won all four of their top-flight games following a winless September.

    Among those results was the stunning 4-0 win over former manager Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United side, a victory which has helped the Blues climb into the top four.

    Former Italy boss Conte said: ‘It’s a great honour and I will share this with my players and the club.

    ‘It is the first time I work in another country with a different culture, and when you want to bring your own philosophy it is not easy, but now I am glad for this choice.’

    The stunning form came after Conte adopted his familar 3-4-3 formation which brought 11 goals, four clean sheets and a maximum return of 12 points.

    Conte becomes the sixth Chelsea manager to win the award after Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez.

    Hazard, the Belgian playmaker, was in exceptional form last month and netted three goals for the Stamford Bridge outfit.

    The 25-year-old grabbed a goal in the victories over Leicester, Manchester United and Southampton and has followed up that goalscoring form by netting a brace in the 5-0 win over Everton earlier this month.

  • Mikel should quit Chelsea now, Ikpeba advises

    Mikel should quit Chelsea now, Ikpeba advises

    Ex-International Victor Ikpeba has expressed concerned over John Obi Mikel’s lack of playing time at Chelsea.

    Mikel has fallen way down the pecking order since Antonio Conte took control in the summer.

    The former African Footballer of the Year advised Mikel to swallow his pride and move to another club to save his career.

    Ikpeba observed that Mikel was too tired during Saturday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Algeria at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State before he was substituted.

    “I am concerned that Mikel is not getting playing time at Chelsea. He needs to have enough playing time. On Saturday (during World Cup clash against Algeria) he was very tired because he lacked playing time in Chelsea. Mikel should know better why he is not playing at Chelsea.

    “I can understand the support he is getting from fans and coach but the truth is that he needs to play regularly even if it is with reserve team. When I played in Belgium and I didn’t get enough playing time with first team I played with reserve team to keep myself fit. He should forget about pride and go to another club,” Ikpeba said.

  • Fifth consecutive defeat: Moses hails Chelsea backline

    Fifth consecutive defeat: Moses hails Chelsea backline

    Nigeria international Victor Moses was delighted with Chelsea’s clean sheet in their 5-0 hammering of one of the best defensive sides in the Premier League, Everton on Saturday night.

    Antonio Conte’s side have not conceded a goal in the English top-flight since they were humiliated 3-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates on September 24, and Moses has been instrumental to the shutouts posted by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

    “Fantastic win today! Great team performance and another clean sheet too #CFC, ”Victor Moses remarked on Twitter last night.

    The 25-year-old Moses has started each of the last five games contested by Chelsea in the Premier League, logging 434 minutes.

  • Victor Moses is sensational – Phil Neville

    Victor Moses is sensational – Phil Neville

    Manchester United legend Phil Neville has described Super Eagles winger Victor Moses as a sensational player following his recent form for Chelsea in the premier league.

    The 25-year-old has been a super regular for the London outfit as new Blues manager Antonio Conte has converted him to a wing-back this season.

    With the Nigerian playing a key role Chelsea went through the month of October winning all their premier league fixtures without conceding a goal and that resulted in the Italian being nominated for his first manager of the month award in England.

    “Since Conte switched to the 3-4-3 formation, Victor Moses has been sensational for Chelsea and has helped freed up the likes of Eden Hazard, William, and Diego Costa,” Neville said.

    The form of Moses will gladden the heart of Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr who will hope he replicates it for the national team when they square up against Algeria on November 12 in the 2018 World Cup qualifier.

  • Chelsea thrash Everton 5-0 to move top

    Chelsea thrash Everton 5-0 to move top

    Eden Hazard scored twice as Chelsea moved to the top of the Premier League with a scintillating 5-0 victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge.

    Not since winning the 2014-15 title have Chelsea led the top flight, but they took advantage of Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough earlier on Saturday to do so, though Arsenal or Liverpool could displace them by winning their respective matches on Sunday.

    Antonio Conte’s team, unchanged for the fourth straight league match, ran riot and punished visiting manager Ronald Koeman for his decision to switch to a three-man defence.

    That surprise tactical change came despite Everton having ended a run of five games in all competitions without a win at home to West Ham last time out.

    Hazard opened the scoring in the 18th minute, converting for the fourth successive league game for the first time in his career, before Marcos Alonso opened his Chelsea account with his maiden goal for the club just 70 seconds later.

    Koeman sent Kevin Mirallas on for Bryan Oviedo in a bid to add stability through a more familiar formation, but the hosts continued to dominate and Diego Costa fired home three minutes before the interval.

     

  • This hotel named Chelsea

    It is unclear why the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the corruption-tainted former governor of Bayelsa State, named the hotel Chelsea. The name, of course, evokes thoughts of the well-known Chelsea Football Club, which competes in the Premier League of England. Perhaps Alamieyeseigha was a fan of the English professional football club based in Fulham, London.

    Another possibility, of course, is that the ex-governor might have been a fan of Chelsea London Dry Gin. Maybe he loved his gin.

    Anyway, he named this Abuja-based hotel Chelsea. Of course, there was nothing wrong with that naming. But certainly there was a lot wrong with how Alamieyeseigha came to own the hotel. Indeed, his ownership of the hotel was a wrong among several wrongs. Chelsea Hotel was linked with stolen money, that is, money stolen from Alamieyeseigha’s oil-rich state by Alamieyeseigha.

    Before the unexemplary Nigerian politician died suddenly in October 2015, he had been stripped of some of his stolen assets and some of his assets acquired by stealing, which included the hotel.

    Now this alarming September 5 report: “Almost seven years after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) handed over the N2.8billion Chelsea Hotel to the government of Bayelsa State, the hitherto money-spinning edifice is rotting away in Abuja.”  According to the report: “A Federal High Court, Lagos in 2007 ordered the forfeiture of the hotel by Alamieyeseigha after the ex-governor was sentenced for corruption. Besides the hotel, the EFCC sold other Alamieyeseigha’s assets in Nigeria and realised N3, 128, 230, 294.83billion; $441,000; E7, 000 and £2,000.”

    The report continued: “The money was remitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in accordance with the law, for onward delivery to the state government as ordered by the court. Former EFCC Chairman Mrs. Farida Waziri on September 7, 2009 handed over the hotel to ex-Governor Timipreye Sylva in Abuja. The thinking was that it would be a source of revenue for the state.”

    On the contrary, the hotel has become a source of embarrassment not only to the state, but also to the country. The report said: “Seven years after the asset was returned to the state government, the hotel has become a haven for miscreants, men of the underworld, rodents and reptiles. Shady activities are being perpetrated at the abandoned hotel, which poses danger to some shopping malls and banks in the Central Business District of Abuja.”

    Who is to blame for this scandalous absurdity?

  • Mikel compares Chelsea and Nigeria roles

    Mikel compares Chelsea and Nigeria roles

    Chelsea defensive midfielder Mikel Obi has said he enjoys a more attacking role with Nigeria and hence his goals for his country.

    A holding midfielder at Chelsea, Mikel has popped in with a couple of goals with Nigeria and he said that is on account of the more attacking position he plays for his country’s team.

    “I always do (score) when I play for the national team! I tend to push a bit further forward and express myself a little bit more, so there is more responsibility to create chances, and if I can get one or two goals here and there it’s great,” he told the Chelsea official website.

    While narrating his experience at the rio Olympics, he said he was proud to help out despite the many problems that beset the team in Brazil.

    “It wasn’t a great experience in the build-up in Atlanta (training camp). There was no food for the guys, no bus to go to training, no pitch to train on,” he recounted.

    “Coming into the team I tried to help as much as I can. The boys had suffered for two years, working very hard trying to play in Rio. I wanted to help as much as I could and they all say they owe me. It’s a great achievement that we managed to go there and win a medal (a bronze).”

  • Omeruo returns to Chelsea for pre-season training

    Omeruo returns to Chelsea for pre-season training

    Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo, will return to his parent club Chelsea following the expiration of his loan agreement with Turkish Super Lig side, Kasımpaşa S.K.

    “Kenneth Omeruo is definitely returning to England. He will have pre-season training at Chelsea, then weigh the options available to him,” the player’s representative told allnigeriasoccer.com.

    “He doesn’t know where he will play next season, whether he will remain at Chelsea or be loaned out again.”

    Despite securing a work permit that enables him to play in the English Premier League, Omeruo has not represented Chelsea competitively following his transfer from Belgium Jupiler League side, Standard Liege, in 2012.

    The defender has enjoyed loan spells at ADO Den Haag (Holland), Middlesbrough and Kasımpaşa.