Sports
Rooney Inspires Man Utd Steamroll Over Leverkusen …As Day 1 Records 30 Goals
David Moyes began his Champions League campaign as Manchester United manager with victory against Bayer Leverkusen on a night Wayne Rooney scored his 200th goal for the club.
Rooney’s early volley opened the scoring but Simon Holfes levelled via a Michael Carrick deflection.
Robin van Persie restored United’s lead before Rooney pounced on a defensive lapse to coolly finish for his brace.
Antonio Valencia added the fourth but then Omer Toprak halved the deficit.
Bayern Munich also got their European title defence off to a winning start as they recorded a straightforward 3-0 victory at home to CSKA Moscow.
A win for the hosts never looked in doubt and they found themselves ahead within the opening five minutes as the talented David Alaba fired a free-kick in from a central position, while Mario Mandzukic added a second with a header just before half-time.
Arjen Robben wrapped up the three points 22 minutes from time after a lovely assist by Alaba, thus securing a win in Pep Guardiola’s first UEFA Champions League outing in charge of the German club.
Guardiola’s men strolled to a similarly comfortable 2-0 win over Hannover at the weekend and the coach made only one change to that team as Dante replaced Daniel Van Buyten at centre-back.
The Russians also came into the game fresh from a domestic victory over Rostov, but the win came at a cost as Alan Dzagoev and Zoran Tosic both picked up injuries, meaning Aleksandrs Cauna and Steven Zuber took their respective places.
Manchester City got their Champions League campaign off to a confident start as they beat Czech side Viktoria Plzen 3-0 thanks to strikes by Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.
After a nervous first half, Manuel Pellegrini’s side went ahead when Dzeko finished a break after 48 minutes.
Within 10 minutes City were 3-0 up as Toure curled in from 25 yards and then Aguero fired in after a smart turn.
Plzen came closest when Tomas Horava hit the post from a corner.
Aguero also hit the post in the first half, while Dzeko and Toure should both have headed in, but it was a welcome victory for City who recorded their first win in seven Champions League games.
In Greece, Thiago Motta’s second-half brace helped Paris Saint-Germain to an impressive 4-1 win away to Olympiacos at the Karaiskakis Stadium.
Vladimir Weiss cancelled out Edinson Cavani’s opener with a fine individual effort in the first half, before Motta headed home from two Ezequiel Lavezzi corners to put the visitors in control.
Young debutant Marquinhos added a fourth in the remaining few minutes, in what was eventually a convincing win for Laurent Blanc’s side in their UEFA Champions League opener.
Olympiacos made three changes from the side that beat Xanthi at the weekend, with Javier Saviola, Kostas Manolas and Leandro Salino making way for Giannis Maniatis, Alejandro Dominguez and Dimitrios Siovas.
The Ligue 1 outfit handed a debut to 19-year-old Marquinhos, who was drafted in for the injured Alex.
Javier Pastore was ruled out with a foot injury, while Cavani was welcomed back to the starting line-up having been named on the bench for the weekend win over Bordeaux.
Jorge Jesus’ UEFA Champions League dream got off to a solid start as Benfica beat Anderlecht 2-0 in Group C on Tuesday.
First-half goals from Filip Djuricic and Luisao gave the home side an early advantage that they were not prepared to relinquish, and they now find themselves comfortably off the mark in a tough group.
With Paris-Saint Germain and Olympiacos still to come, Anderlecht now face a tough task to bounce back after struggling against their hosts.
For Jesus, who watched his men fall to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the competition in 2012, the result represented an ideal home start.
Despite a number of injuries, the 59-year-old named a strong line-up, with 19-year-old Lazar Markovic, who was heavily linked with Chelsea in the close-season, leading their attack.
Meanwhile, Anderlecht manager John van den Brom also opted to showcase youth in his side, with 16-year-old Youri Tielemans named on the bench.
Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to an opening-day UEFA Champions League triumph as they beat Galatasaray 6-1 in Istanbul.
The Portugal international scored a second-half hat-trick to seal an emphatic win, with Isco and a Karim Benzema double completing the three points.
Isco opened the scoring after controlling a perfect pass from Angel di Maria before netting his fourth goal in nine Champions League starts.
Benzema added a second early in the second half after more good work from Di Maria, the France international emphatically firing past Fernando Muslera to end the game as a contest.
Ronaldo’s quick double came just before Benzema added his second from close range, while Umut Bulut added a late consolation for the visitors before Ronaldo sealed the win following a mazy run.
Five players – including Wesley Sneijder and Muslera – returned to the Galatasaray starting line-up having been rested for the draw with Antalyaspor on Friday, with Fatih Terim partnering Burak Yilmaz and Didier Drogba in attack.
Carlo Ancelotti also made changes to his side from the 2-2 draw with Villarreal, recalling experienced goalkeeper Iker Casillas while Di Maria replaced Gareth Bale.
Unfortunately for Casillas, his game came to a premature end when he clashed with Sergio Ramos. The Spain goalkeeper tried to carry on but had to be replaced by Diego Lopez in the 14th minute with a back injury.
Lopez was called upon just before the half-hour mark as Melo got to a left-wing cross in front of his marker. His header looked destined for the bottom corner, only for Lopez to dive to his left to keep it out.
Juventus had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Copenhagen after dominating much of their opening UEFA Champions League encounter in Denmark.
Nicolai Jorgensen gave the hosts the lead in the 15th minute in the Group B clash before Fabio Quagliarella levelled the scores 10 minutes into the second half.
It was scant reward for a Juventus side that enjoyed much more of the ball and created far better chances, only for wasteful finishing to deny Antonio Conte’s side.
Stale Solbakken made one change from the side that drew 1-1 with Esbjerg at the weekend, Igor Vetokele making way for Daniel Braaten.
Conte made three changes from Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Inter, with Angelo Ogbonna, Federico Peluso and Quagliarella coming in for Andrea Barzagli, Kwadwo Asamoah and Mirko Vucinic.
The Italian champions had the first effort of note in the fifth minute, Carlos Tevez meeting Andrea Pirlo’s cleverly-taken corner but firing wide of the right-hand post from an angle.
In a bid to make the Pillar of Associations Rivers state football tournament to become a permanent annual feature in Rivers state football calendar and a veritable platform for alternative career opportunity for Pillar members and members of Rivers football community, the Chairman of the tournament’s Organising Committee, Comrade Franklin Obute has stated that they were open to welcoming sponsorships from corporate entities and well meaning individuals.
Comrade Obute in an interview with news men on a match day at the ongoing competition at the Rivers State University’s ground said that the Pillar of Associations were ready to partner interested parties, who would be willing to invest in the competition through sponsorship towards elevating the quality and standard of the tournament.
According to him, “The Pillar of Associations tournament, due to the opportunities available, owing to the sheer number of businesses and members obtainable in the Pillar, would be a very attractive opportunity to exploit through sponsorship”.
He stated that there would be a conscious efforts toward sensitising the corporate and private environments to buy into the vision and objectives of the tournament. He explained that due to the open nature of the competition, whereby members of the association are allowed to engage any footballer from across the country, whether a business man or not, any sponsor would be able to enjoy unimaginable mileage.
“Every multinational company, private businesses should aspire to be part of the sponsorship of this tournament because there are so much benefits derivable therein, the coverage is very wide. You know that organising a football tournament of this nature is capital intensive, so, any sponsorship to add more value is welcomed”, he said.
The 2025 edition is currently ongoing and has reached the second round stage where matches are now being played on knockout basis, beginning from Friday.
By: Gabriel Nwanetanya
The 2025 edition of OML 58 football tournament kicked off last weekend with plans to develop more talents.
According to the Executive Director JV Asset of Total Energies, Mr. Obi Imemba, the tournament has improved in the past 13 years and has discovered several football talents, three of whom are currently undergoing training at a football academy outside the country.
Speaking through the General Manager Community Affairs Dornu Kogam, the JV Asset director said that this year’s theme is geared towards promoting peace and harmony among the selected communities, adding that two teams that defaulted were dropped from the competition.
He urged the 18 teams participating in this year’s competition to focus on the theme of the event by displaying camaraderie and love among themselves.
Imemba said that,” my advice to the participating teams is that you should not be preoccupied with winning, rather focus on the theme of the event”.
Earlier, Chairman of the Organising Committee, Saheed Ogunsanya stated that the competition had evolved over the years and has become an under 18 competition, witnessing total elimination of over aged players.
“With this, he said, ‘talent hunt and development of youngsters have become a major goal of the competition, which goes beyond sowing peace and harmony to improving and providing career platforms for youths for the future”.
Meanwhile, at the opening match last weekend at Obite Civic Centre in Ogba/ Egbema /Ndoni Local Government Area defending champions, Odiemerenye FC and Abarikpo FC locked horns to kickstart this year’s edition. The match was scoreless as at half time.
Recall that Odiemerenye FC were 2024 champions, and they were the first Ekpeye community to lift the OML 58 trophy since the inaugural edition in 2002.
By: Kevin Nengia
Some of the best golfers across Africa are expected to converge on the Ikoyi Club 1938 Golf Section for the three-day Ikoyi Ladies Golf Tournament holding from November 11 to 13.
The star-studded amateur open tournament is part of the activities lined up by the leadership of the club to celebrate the ladies’ tournament’s 50th anniversary.
Speaking at a world press conference at the Club’s headquarters in Ikoyi, the Ladies Club Captain, Mrs Peggy Onwu, explained that the tournament will offer opportunity for leading amateur golfers across 11 countries of the world to showcase their skills on the green lawn.
According to her, over 150 golfers have already registered for the open tournament, which will attract mouth-watering prizes, including a trophy, a premium ticket to the United States of America, among others.
The event will be preceded by ‘Twilight evening,’ which will see the participants play the golf game towards dawn, in a relaxed atmosphere with cocktails, networking and good music.
She thanked the various sponsors of tournament, including PWC, Delta Airline, Western Star, First EGP, among others, for identifying and keying into the Club’s goals and aspirations as part of their corporate social responsibilities.
Mrs. Onwu added that the event was not only a celebration of resilience, commitment, dedication and sacrifice, but a rare display of exemplary team spirit by all members of the Ladies Golf Section.
Thrilled by the presence of a Nigerian-born Italy- based golfer and fashion icon, Bali Lawal, as well as other professionals expected to grace the tournament, she promised that the tournament will be a memorable outing aimed at mentoring ladies keen on honing their golfing skills.
Speaking in the same vein, Vice Lady Captain, Annie Eimiakhena, explained that the tournament will entail three days of competitive outing showing skills, professional dexterity.
She added that participants and golfers will use the opportunity of the event to network among themselves, while a Masterclass will be held to educate would-be golfers on the dynamics of the game.