The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FA Cup

  • Pep is EPL manager of the month

    Pep is EPL manager of the month

     

    Pep Guardiola has been named the Premier League Manager of the Month for February after three wins in three matches, but he doesn’t exactly appear ecstatic with the award.

    Posing with the gong, Guardiola couldn’t muster a smile despite being recognised for his side’s performances last month.

    Guardiola could be forgiven for the glum expression however, as his side struggled to a goalless draw at home to Stoke City on Wednesday night.

    Manchester City only played three matches in February due to FA Cup and Champions League commitments but emerged with a 100 percent record, scoring eight goals and conceding just once.

    City beat West Ham 4-0 at the London Stadium, won 2-1 at home to Swansea and beat Bournemouth 2-0 away from home.

    The Spaniard was selected for the award ahead off Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho and West Brom’s Tony Pulis – whose teams all won twice but drew once in February.

    Guardiola’s side currently sit third in the Premier League table, ten points off table-toppers Chelsea and behind second-placed Tottenham only on goal difference.

    City draw at home to Stoke City was understandably overshadowed by Guardiola’s former club Barcelona and their remarkable Champions League last-16 comeback against Paris Saint-Germain the same night.

  • FA Cup: Musa plays for 90 minutes as Leicester crash out

    FA Cup: Musa plays for 90 minutes as Leicester crash out

     

     

     

     

    Super Eagles forward Ahmed Musa was on duty for 90 minutes Saturday as Leicester Crashed out of the FA cup after losing by a lone goal to League one side Millwall.

    Despite enjoying 65% possession, Musa and his teammates failed to checkmate Millwall who ran away with a lone victory playing with one man out thanks to red card.

    The League One side had defender Jake Cooper sent off in the 52nd minute for two bookable offences.

    It was Shaun Cummings 90th minute goal that sealed the day for Millwall.

    Millwall, 33 places behind Leicester in the English football system, have reached the last eight of the competition for only the third time in 32 seasons.

    Millwall were playing their fifth match of this year’s competition and had defeated Premier League sides Bournemouth and Watford in the last two rounds.

    The Lions’ last appearance in the last eight came in 2012-13 and they will now be waiting to see who they get in the quarter-final draw

    Embattled Leicester who are racing towards relegation in the Premier league, went into the match fresh from a 2-0 defeat by

    Swansea last Sunday. The premier league defending champions have lost as many as six matches recently even as they prepare to face Sevilla away in the Uefa Champions league on Wednesday. Despite the unfavorable result however the Nigerian international still got a four star performance rating alongside teammates Demarai Gray and Molla Wague.

    Copmpatriot Winifred Ndidi was however an unused substitute in the encounter.

    Leicester Manager Claudio Ranieri expressed disappointment that the team put up good effort but failed to win, even as he admitted that Millwall deserved their victory” We are better than Millwall, but they deserved to win.”

  • Lincoln City stun Burnley to make FA Cup history

    Lincoln City stun Burnley to make FA Cup history

     

     

    Lincoln City defeated Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor Saturday to become the first non-league side since 1912 to book a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

    The Imps scored the only goal of the game in the final minute of normal time through Sean Raggett to create cup history, while at the same time becoming just the fourth team in 30 to leave the ground with victory.

    A strong Burnley side struggled to break down their opponents across the 90 minutes, setting up a dramatic conclusion in Lancashire as the National League side produced one of the all-time great results in the competition’s history.

    City started well and had a decent chance to open the scoring just a few minutes in after Jack Muldoon got on the end of a Nathan Arnold pass but blasted over the bar.

    That would prove to be the visitors’ cleanest sight of goal in a tight first half, with Burnley edging things through a scuffed Andre Gray shot down the middle and Joey Barton’s edge-of-the-box volley for Paul Farman to again easily keep out.

    Burnley named a strong side for this match in the hope of keeping their own cup dream alive, making just a few changes from the draw against Chelsea here a few days ago, but they were struggling to create any clear-cut openings.

    Burnley, whose wait to progress beyond this stage now stands at 14 years, initially looked to up the tempo and get at the National League leaders, with Gray diverting Barton’s cross wide with a first-time finish early on.

  • Tiote seals move to Beijing BG

    Tiote seals move to Beijing BG

     

     

    Cheick Tiote has completed his move from Newcastle to Chinese second tier side Beijing BG.

    The 30-year-old midfielder, who has four months left on contract, travelled to China late last week after agreeing terms on the move.

    Tiote had offers from Sporting Gijon and Premier League sides during January but has opted on a move to China instead.

    Cheick Tiote poses in a Shandong Luneng after completing his move to the Chinese Super League from Newcastle

    The Ivorian joined the Magpies in July 2010 but with his current deal running out this summer, he is now undergoing a medical at the Chinese side.

    Tiote, who was desperate to leave to secure a long-term contract away from Tyneside, made just three appearances in all competitions for Newcastle this season.

    He last featured in an FA Cup win over Birmingham on January 18, and Rafa Benitiez had blocked the sale of the midfielder until at least after the third round replay with the Blues.

  • FA CUP: Kompany ‘fit and ready’ for Palace

    FA CUP: Kompany ‘fit and ready’ for Palace

     

     

     

     

    Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is “fit and ready” to take on Crystal Place in the FA Cup, while goalkeeper Willy Caballero will replace Claudio Bravo.

     

    City boss Pep Guardiola confirmed he has the defender available ahead of Saturday’s fourth-round tie at Selhurst Park and will make a final decision on his involvement ahead of kick-off.

     

    Kompany was an unused substitute in last week’s Premier League draw against Tottenham and has not played for 10 weeks, his last appearance coming in City’s previous meeting against Palace in November.

     

    New signing Gabriel Jesus is also in contention to play, while Guardiola confirmed Caballero will start in place of the under-fire Bravo as he continues to be preferred for cup competitions.

     

    “We will see [if he plays] – but he is fit and ready,” Guardiola said of Kompany at his pre-match media conference.

     

    “The last game he was on the bench, which means he is ready.

     

    “We are going to play Willy Caballero. He [Jesus] is fit and he has already had three weeks with us. We will see on Saturday [if he will play].”

     

    Guardiola stressed Palace represent a difficult test, despite them sitting in the league’s bottom three.

     

    He said: “Of course we want to go through and win that competition. Saturday is a final for us.

     

    “Every game is complicated, so it will be tough because of the stadium, Palace’s position and because it is away.”

  • Mikel rested in Blues FA Cup win

    Mikel rested in Blues FA Cup win

    •Fourth round draw to be held today

    Nigerian international Mikel  Obi was rested by manager Guus Hiddink in the FA Cup Third round win against English League One side Scunthorpe United yesterday at Stamford Bridge.

    The Blues continued their resurgence under the Dutch caretaker manager with a comfortable 2-0 victory but Mikel who has been a mainstay for the former UEFA Champions League winners was given a deserved rest after featuring in all Hiddink’s three previous games.

    The former Lyn Oslo midfielder watched from the bench as Spaniard Diego Costa escaped Scott Laird and impressively directed Branislva Ivanovic’s cross past Luke Daniels in goal for the visitors inside the first 13 minutes.

    It did not turn out a whitewash as expected as the Blues waited until the second half to double their lead courtesy of substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek who blasted a shot past the keeper after receiving a pass from Cesar Azpilicueta.

    Chelsea won the game 2-0 and will now await the fourth round draw which will be held this evening.

  • FA Cup: Victory over Bayelsa Utd difficult, says Obuh

    FA Cup: Victory over Bayelsa Utd difficult, says Obuh

    Coach John Obuh of  Ifeanyi Ubah FC of Nnewi has described the 2-1 victory over Bayelsa United of Yenagoa in their FA Cup Round of 32 match as a hard-won victory.

    Obuh told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka yesterday that the victory had positioned his team for double title chase in the Premier League and the Federation Cup.

    He pledged to devote equal attention to the two competitions in order to ensure that his team emerged victorious.

    NAN reports that Bayelsa team opened scoring in the 22nd minute through a penalty kick while Ifeanyi Ubah drew level in the 44th minute also through a penalty by Stephen Chukwudi.

    Michael Ohanu scored the winning goal for the Anambra Warriors, in the final minutes of the game to ensure his side progressed to the next round of the competition.

    Obuh said they were already back in training in preparation for the weekend league match against Nasarawa United in Makurdi on July 12.

    “This is a hard-won victory for us, it is not easy because there were moments of protest for us but I think the victory has taken care of that.

    “We have a crucial match at the weekend so our attention is on that now; we have to travel a long distance for the game so we are tidying up everything for the match.

    “We are looking at the league shield and FA Cup, our plan is to remain top for both crowns, but one step at a time,” Obuh said.

    The match was played at Oleh Township Stadium, Isoko South Local Government, Delta state.

  • FA Cup: J. Atete beats Sunshine Star 3-1

    It was an upset for Ondo state commissioner for Sports and his counterpart in-charge of Task Force as they watched their dearly club, Sunshine Star Football club beating by newly promoted Nigeria National league J. Atete F. C of Delta state 3-1 at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, Benin.

    Madriano Tamen of Sunshine Star Football club opened the scoring chat 7th minutes into the game through a penalty.

    Onorode Friday levelled up in 28th minutes with so much hope for the premier league to come back in the second half to win the game.

    Second half pressured from J. Atete paid way for the 66th minutes and 86th minutes goals from Akpovoweire Ehribe that eventually nailed the sunshine Star Football club curfew from the FA Cup.

    Speaking to sports journalists immediately after the game, the proprietor of J. Atete FC , Julius Atete praised the efforts and resilience of his boys.

    He promised to encourage the players in order for the team to get to the last four.

  • Utum: FA Cup loss to Kwara Utd a lesson

    Utum: FA Cup loss to Kwara Utd a lesson

    Kwara Football Academy goalkeeper Solomon Godswill Utum has described his side’s defeat to Kwara United FC in the Kwara State FA Cup Final as unfortunate and a lesson to prepare them ahead for the Federation Cup.

    It was a nerve wrecking display from the academy boys against the Nigeria Professional Football League side in Saturday’s final where KFA almost acted like David to kill the Goliath of the Harmony Warriors and eventually lost 2-4 in penalty shootouts after both sides played two-all in the normal duration time.

    Utum who is known as Cech made series of saves as he made sure KFA pushed the game to the end until it was decided by shootouts.

    While describing the loss as painful, Utum noted that the defeat would make his team get even better when they face bigger challenges in the national finals.

    “It was quite disheartening losing in the finals, we fought very hard but we are so unfortunate, I want to thank God Almighty for giving us the grace to go so far and for the injury free game,” Utum told SL10.

    “Our target was to replicate what our predecessors did in 2011, we tried our best but we lost gallantly to a more experienced side, you can see that we fought from the beginning of the match to the end but they’ve been destined to be the champion.

    “We are not pessimistic because what makes a man is the ability to rise when he falls, we’ve learned  from our mistakes and we are optimistic that things will get more better, I believe that our tremendous and outstanding performance during this FA Cup would motivate us to perform well when the Federation Cup commences.

    “Our success story isn’t complete without recognising the efforts and professionalism of our coaches, the constructive and positive criticism of KFA Sole Administrator, (Mutiu Adepoju), my teammates and my guardian, Mr Shogo Shodunnke, who spotted me and identified my talents and all our indispensable and ever-loving fans who have been supporting and showing us loving from the beginning of the campaign to the end,” he concluded.

    The Cross River-born safe hand however said he would use the Federation Cup to herald himself to the world as Nigeria’s and world’s best number one.

  • Lagos FA Cup enters semi-final stage

    Lagos FA Cup enters semi-final stage

    First Bank Football Club of Lagos will take on Nath Boys as the Winners Golden Bet powered Lagos FA Cup semi final games begin on Friday, April 3 at the Agege Stadium, Lagos.

    Also on Friday, Christ Ambassador will slug it out with Eko Akete in the other men’s semifinal match at the same venue.

    The final, however, comes up at the same venue on April 6.

    In the women’s category, Young Talented Queens will host COD United Ladies.  The winner will then face defending champions, FC Robo in Monday’s final.

    The winner of this year’s edition in the men category will go home with  N750,000 while the second placed team goes home with N250,000.

    The women’s category will see the winner carting home N300,000 while the second placed team will get N200,000.

    Also, according to the sponsor, Winners Golden Bet there will also be prizes and award for the Most Valuable Player (MVP), the Highest Goal Scorer and media awards.

    Meanwhile, Lagos Football Association while assuring fans coming to watch the games a fun filled day, also promised adequate security at the venue.

    The state FA Chairman, Seyi Akinwunmi said in Lagos on Wednesday that all arrangements have been made to ensure  hitch-free semi-final and final games.

    “We are expecting a glamorous event as much as possible. We should expect good football.  If you are following the competition in the state this year, you will see that football has been organised on high quality.

    “We are expecting lots of fans at the match venue as we expect a fun-filled day. I can assure you that you will see lots of activities at the stadium,” he noted.