Sports

Chelsea, Man Utd Go Goal-Wire In Premiership …Thumps Villa 7-1, Bolton 4-0, Respectively

Published

14 years ago

March 27, 2010

English Premier League title contenders, Chelsea and Manchester United yesterday made it a goal harvest in their respective league matches against Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers.

While Chelsea thumped Aston Villa 7-1 at the Stamford Bridge to go top of the table, United responded in an almost like manner against Bolton, 4-0 away, to reclaim top spot in one of the tightest race to the premier league title in recent time.

Frank Lampard passed the 150 goal mark for Chelsea as they threw the gauntlet down to Premier League pace-setters Manchester United by destroying Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard’s four goals made him the third-highest scorer in the club’s history eclipsing legends Roy Bentley and Peter Osgood with 151 goals.

His efforts, two from the penalty spot, were the centrepiece of an emphatic Chelsea victory as they followed up their 5-0 midweek win at Portsmouth with another goal-laden attacking display.

And as coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted the disappointment of their Champions League exit at the hands of Inter Milan may yet aid their attempts to regain the title, Chelsea’s embarrassing superiority over a Villa side with sights set on the top four provides the perfect tonic for next Saturday’s visit to Old Trafford.

It was a win made all the more impressive because it was achieved without main marksman Didier Drogba, who was rested on the substitutes’ bench after picking up a knock in the victory at Fratton Park. To say he was not missed is an understatement.

Lampard gave Chelsea an early lead when he converted Florent Malouda’s cross at the far post, but John Carew quickly put Villa level after good work by Ashley Young.

The game took a crucial twist right on half-time when Lampard put Chelsea back in front from the spot after Yuri Zhirkov was brought down by James Collins – and there was no way back for Villa as Ancelotti’s side cut loose after the interval.

Malouda took advantage of more fine work from Zhirkov to beat Friedel, and Lampard completed his hat-trick with another penalty. He made his mark in Chelsea history by slipping his spot-kick comfortably past Villa keeper Brad Friedel after another run from the rampant Zhirkov drew a foul from Dunne.

Villa crumbled and Malouda piled on the agony after he was set up by Lampard and substitute Salomon Kalou made it six when he shot low past Friedel after Nicolas Anelka had been given what seemed like an age to turn in the area.

It was fitting that Lampard rounded off the rout with his fourth goal in the dying seconds, turning home his effort inside the area as Villa gave every impression of a side who simply could not wait for the whistle to sound.

And as if this was not enough to ignite ecstasy around Stamford Bridge, the roars were deafening as news of Birmingham City’s late equaliser against Arsenal filtered through.

Barely one hour later at the Reebok stadium, Dimitar Berbatov scored twice as Manchester United returned to the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 win away to Bolton Wanderers

Jlloyd Samuel opened the scoring with an unfortunate and somewhat absurd own goal on 38 minutes, Berbatov provided two cool finishes after the break and substitute Darron Gibson completed the rout.

United leapfrogged Chelsea to go a point clear, and they are now four ahead of Arsenal who drew at Birmingham. It completed a satisfactory evening for United that began amid injury worries over two of their leading players.

Fears over the state of Wayne Rooney’s knee inflammation appear to be well-founded after the England striker was left out of United’s match squad altogether despite having a week to recover since their last game against Liverpool.

Less surprising was the omission of Rio Ferdinand, following his umpteenth back twinge of the season – both absences will cause major concern for fans of both United and England with the World Cup less than three months away.

The first half initially offered little in the way of excitement before exploding into life late on. Ryan Giggs returned from a broken arm and was deployed through the middle to replace some of Rooney’s spark, but the Welshman failed to assert himself.

United carved out some half-chances, with Berbatov volleying at Jussi Jaaskelainen and Jonny Evans thrashing a left-foot shot over following a corner.

But Bolton came closer, bringing two world class saves from Edwin van der Sar. First Johan Elmander raced onto an exceptional through ball from Jack Wilshere, but saw his shot repelled by the Dutchman’s strong wrist at the near post.

Then Van der Sar had to be at his acrobatic best to leap and tip over a Fabrice Muamba shot that appeared destined for the top-left corner.

But between those two saves came Samuel’s aberration. Giggs sent in a low cross from the left and Samuel met it at the back post, planting the ball back across goal into the far corner, giving Jaaskelainen no chance. A great finish, if only he had meant it.

It was the 11th own goal scored in United’s favour in the Premier League this season – the previous record for any side is six.

Sports

Expert Wants Parents To Enroll Children In Vector Programme

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

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

Sports

NLO: Khana FC Coach Blames Players For Missing Chances

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

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

Sports

Wilkins Backs Rivers Hoopers To Spring Surprises At 2024 BAL

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

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).