Sports
City Out To Ruin Chelsea’s Title Stroll
Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho believes his side can reignite their Premier League title ambitions tonight against a Chelsea team rocked by a shock 2-1 defeat against Crystal Palace.
Ten points clear following the international break, Chelsea saw their lead trimmed to seven points after they crashed at home to Palace at the weekend and second-place Tottenham Hotspur won 2-0 at Burnley.
City could not follow Spurs’ lead, drawing 2-2 at Arsenal on Sunday, but victory at Stamford Bridge will leave them eight points below Chelsea with eight games of the season remaining.
“The Premier League is still open,” Fernandinho told the City website.
“We have a tough game against Chelsea away. To be close to them, we have to win that game and we will see what will happen at the end of the season.”
Chelsea came from behind to record a clinical 3-1 victory when the teams last met at the Etihad Stadium in December.
But while Antonio Conte’s side remain overwhelming title favourites, failure to beat City would give hope to the chasing teams who have spent much of the season trailing in their wake.
Chelsea failed to avoid defeat against Palace despite boasting full-strength team and having almost 80 minutes in which to turn the game around.
However, although neutrals will be crossing their fingers for another slip-up against Pep Guardiola’s City, Conte has urged his players to think of the pressure in positive terms.
“There is big pressure, but it is normal when you are in a great club and you are very good,” the Chelsea manager told the club website.
“When you are lucky enough to fight for the title there is the pressure, but not only for us, for a lot of teams.
“Don’t forget, the other teams were candidates to win the title, but instead we stay top of the table and we try to keep this position.”
City were one of the teams expected to challenge for the title, particularly after Guardiola’s much-trumpeted appointment, but as the draw at Arsenal highlighted, they remain vulnerable in defence.
The result extended their current unbeaten run to eight league games — the longest such sequence of Guardiola’s tenure — but the last three of those matches have all been drawn.
City twice took the lead at Arsenal, only to be pegged back on both occasions, and Guardiola believes his team struggle psychologically when they have a lead to defend.
“When the team is down, we react because everything is lost and we react in a good, good way,” he told reporters at the Emirates Stadium after the stalemate against Arsenal.
“To handle a situation at 1-0 (up), we are not comfortable, not yet. But we will be better. We will improve in the future.”
With Bacary Sagna expected to miss out again due to a groin strain and Pablo Zabaleta short of fitness, Guardiola may have to decide whether to persist with Jesus Navas at right-back.
The Spanish winger looked ragged at times against Arsenal and in Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, he would be up against one of the most lethal attacking players in the division.
City received some good news on Monday when Gabriel Jesus returned to training after breaking his foot, but the Brazil starlet is not expected to be available for selection for several weeks.
Chelsea wing-back Victor Moses is a major doubt after missing the Palace game with a calf strain, which saw Pedro fill in on the right flank.
City won 3-0 on their last visit to the Bridge a year ago, with Sergio Aguero plundering a hat-trick in a game that saw Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sent off for upending Fernandinho.
Neither side came close to challenging champions Leicester City last season, but a similar outcome on Wednesday could have major repercussions for this season’s title race.
In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him, more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.
By: Tonye Orabere
The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were converted, it would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game, we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.
By: Kiadum Edookor
A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).
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