Nigeria Premier League

Brentford shock Chelsea to make Premier League history

Published

11 months ago

October 28, 2023

Chelsea’s revival came to a grinding halt in a 2-0 West London derby defeat to Brentford, who have become the first-ever visiting team to win each of their opening three Premier League games at Stamford Bridge.

Mauricio Pochettino’s team dominated the possession and shot counters, but Thomas Frank’s side defended admirably and drew first blood through Ethan Pinnock’s powerful header, before Bryan Mbeumo doubled the Bees’ tally with seconds remaining, making the Blues pay for their worrying profligacy.

With neither Enzo Fernandez nor Mykhaylo Mudryk making the hosts’ squad due to fresh knocks, the door swung open for Noni Madueke to make his first Premier League start, and the ex-PSV Eindhoven man almost justified Pochettino’s decision with just 10 minutes gone.

While both sides enjoyed forays forward in the earliest exchanges, Chelsea countered with pace after every Brentford set piece, one of which ended with Madueke cutting in from the right and curling a sumptuous strike onto the bar with 10 minutes gone.

Pochettino’s side continued to make inroads at will, as Mark Flekken got down to his right to beat away a Conor Gallagher drive in the 12th minute, before Cole Palmer picked out the run of Marc Cucurella with a delightful inswinging delivery in the 19th minute, but the Spaniard’s tame volley landed straight into the arms of the Bees goalkeeper.

Brentford’s besieged defence continued to hold out, although Mads Roerslev was arguably fortunate not to give away a penalty for a shove on Raheem Sterling in the 24th minute, which neither Simon Hooper nor VAR official Craig Pawson deemed spot-kick worthy.

For all of Chelsea’s first-half dominance, Robert Sanchez was forced into the first meaningful action of the second half, as Mathias Jensen’s cutback into the penalty area landed at the feet of Vitaly Janelt in the 50th minute, but the German could only shoot straight at the Blues goalkeeper.

However, the hosts’ early profligacy would eventually come back to haunt them, as with 58 minutes gone, Mbeumo lifted an inviting delivery to the back post, where Pinnock surged beyond a jumbled Chelsea defence and directed a bullet header past a stranded Sanchez.

The same old story befell Chelsea as the Blues searched for an equaliser, with Pochettino’s men stringing together several slick passing sequences in and around the Brentford box before a mishit final ball killed the attack, although the visitors’ defensive masterclass more than played its part too.

Chelsea frustrations soon boiled over on the sidelines, as Pochettino’s assistant Jesus Perez was given a red card – seemingly for something he said towards the Brentford dugout – and his dismissal would only mark the beginning of a chaotic 90th minute.

As Chelsea failed to make the most of a set-piece again, Brentford launched a four-on-one counter-attack, which ended with Sanchez bravely thwarting substitute Yegor Yarmolyuk before Mbeumo fired just wide of the post a few seconds later.

Sanchez then came up for a last-minute corner as Chelsea rolled the dice one last time, but the goalkeeper’s risky endeavour backfired and then some, as Neal Maupay broke away on the counter-attack, shook off the backtracking Sanchez and slid in Mbeumo to tap home into an empty net.

Brentford and their ecstatic fans celebrated with a few Jurgen Klopp-esque fist pumps, as the Bees snapped their six-game winless run in all tournaments to rise to 10th in the table, leapfrogging Chelsea – who have only won one of their last 13 league home games – in the process.

The Bees have a week to recuperate before they tackle another London counterpart in West Ham United next Saturday, while Chelsea seek a spot in the EFL Cup fourth-round when they battle Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday.

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Nigeria Premier League

Rangers Unveil Nwosu As Youth Team Coach

Published

1 week ago

September 3, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Rangers Unveil Nwosu As Youth Team Coach

In its effort to make Rangers International F.C a true professional side and meet up with one of its cardinal strategic plans of community social impact, the management of the ‘Flying Antelopes’ have engaged and unveiled coach Felix Nwosu as the head coach of Rangers Youth Team.

The widely travelled young gaffer put pen to paper, Tuesday, September 3, 2024 at the club’s corporate head office with the mandate to comb the nook and crannies of the state to build a strong team of young talents that can graduate into the main team already with playing culture and philosophy of the club.

Coach Nwosu, who has a CAF C coaching licence, had earlier in his career, handled such clubs as; F.C Talanta of Kenya, Heegan S.C of Somali, Ambassador Youth Club of Enugu, DreamStars Ladies F.C of Lagos, Right2Win S.C of Umuahia, BYT Academicals F.C of Lagos, GreenFoot Ladies of Enugu and Delta Force F.C of Asaba.

Speaking after his contract signing, coach Felix Nwosu, said, “I am happy to be here. Everyone knows that Rangers is a very big club in Africa and beyond and I am so delighted to be part of what is happening and there is already progress in Rangers. I am just here to solidify the great things that has been happening and make sure that I get more things into the team and make sure that the name of the team is sustained.”

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Nigeria Premier League

Ebi Egbe Lauds Elegbeleye, Aluo On Improved Fortunes Of Nigerian Football

Published

3 months ago

June 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Renowned sports facility construction expert, Ebi Egbe, has expressed his satisfaction with the improved standards of the Nigerian football league, particularly, the NPFL and the NNL, ably led by Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye and George Aluo respectively.

According to Egbe, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Monimitchelle Sports Facilities Company, Elegbeleye, has turned the NPFL to an attractive brand and with huge crowds coming back to watch the matches.

“I’m very impressed with what Hon. Elegbeleye is doing with the NPFL. Standards of matches have improved tremendously and importantly, the crowds are coming back to the stadium to watch their favourite teams.”

Egbe was equally effusive in praises for the Chairman of the NNL, George Aluo, who he commended for bringing vitality and improved organisation to the NNL.

“And without a doubt, George Aluo, has improved the organisation and standard of the league. The ongoing NNL Super 8 is a testament to the fact that the league can only get better,” Egbe said.

He went ahead to admonish well placed individuals and corporate organisations to give more supports to the Nigerian local football bodies.

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Nigeria Premier League

10th Nigeria Pitch Awards: Sanwo-Olu, Elegbeleye, Soname, Finidi in the spotlight as ceremony holds on Saturday

Published

3 months ago

June 6, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

There will be real pomp and pageantry in the city of Uyo on Saturday as the tenth edition of Nigeria Pitch Awards comes to town. The Ibom Hotel and Golf Resorts is the venue.

Shina Phillips, chief organizer of the awards, said on Thursday that all is set for a ceremony that will be full of panache, glitz and glamour.

“As I said a couple of weeks ago, we are leaving no stone unturned to ensure a memorable tenth edition of the awards. All is set, and we are in Uyo not only to put up a super-show, but to mobilize resources within our capacity to support the Super Eagles to victory in tomorrow’s match. As an organization, we will continue to genuinely appreciate the NFF, the Super Eagles, all our friends, enablers, affiliates and commercial partners, for their support over the past 10 years, and to promise that the values of transparency, integrity and credibility will never depart from the Nigeria Pitch Awards.”

Nominees have been picked in all 18 award categories, with the winners to be unveiled on Saturday. The award categories include Goalkeeper of the Year, Defender of the Year, Midfielder of the Year, Striker of the Year, Queen of the Pitch, King of the Pitch, Sam Okwaraji Award, Football Pitch, Football-Friendly Governor, Corporate Sponsor, alongside several honours for media representatives.

Goalkeeper of the Year: Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars); Amas Obasogie (Bendel Insurance); Ojo Olorunleke (Enyimba FC)

Defender of the Year: Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC); Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce SK)

Midfielder of the Year: Alhassan Yusuf (Royal Antwerp); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City); Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC)

Striker of the Year: Robert Mizo (Bayelsa United); Victor Osimhen (Napoli SC); Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen)

Queen of the Pitch: Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico de Madrid Femenino); Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC); Asisat Oshoala (Bay FC)

King of the Pitch: Victor Osimhen (Napoli SC); Emeka Obioma (Enyimba FC); Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen)

Team of the Year: Super Falcons; Enyimba FC; Remo Stars

Coach of the Year: Daniel Ogunmodede (Remo Stars); Finidi George (Enyimba FC); Randy Waldrum (Super Falcons)

Sam Okwaraji Award: Victor Osimhen (Napoli SC); Ahmed Musa; Kunle Soname (Proprietor, Remo Stars)

State With The Best Grassroots Football Development Programme: Edo State; Delta State; Lagos State

Football Pitch of the Year: Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos; Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne; Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo

Football-Friendly Governor of the Year: His Excellency Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom State); His Excellency Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos State); His Excellency Godwin Obaseki (Edo State)

Corporate Sponsor of Football: Bet9ja (Sport Betting); GTI (Financial Services); MTN (Telecom)

Sportsmanship Award: Hon. Kunle Soname (Proprietor, Remo Stars); Victor Osimhen (Napoli SC); Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye (Chairman, NPFL Board)

Football Journalist of the Year (Print): Christian Okpara (The Guardian); Charles Diya (New Telegraph); Johnny Edward (Punch Newspapers)

Football Journalist of the Year (TV): Miyen Akiri (TVC); Mozez Praiz (SuperSport); Cecilia Omorogbe (Channels TV)

Football Journalist of the Year (Radio): Olawale Adigun (Mainland FM); Yinka Oyedele (Brila 88.9 FM); Anthony Bekederemo (Brila 88.9 FM)

Football Journalist of the Year (Online): Samuel Ahmadu (Savid News); Tobi Adepoju (Oganla Media); Kunle Solaja (sportsvillagesquare.com)