Sports
B’ball League: Islanders Continue Winning Streak, Top Table
Lagos Islanders Basket
ball Club has so far continued its winning streak in the ongoing 2014/2015 Dstv Men’s Basketball League
The team walloped Oluyole Warriors of Ibadan, 86-62 in the week seven encounter of the Atlantic Conference.
The match played at the weekend at the famous Adamasingba Stadium, in Ibadan saw the star studded Islanders showing class in every department of the game.
Islanders’ victory put an end to the Oluyole Warriors clean slate at home since the 2013/2014 season.
The victory also kept Islanders on top of the Atlantic Conference table having recorded six straight victories, losing only to Kwara Falcons in week one of the league.
Coach Lateef Erinfolami of Islanders told newsmen on Monday in Lagos that the team was beginning to attain its potential.
‘’We are looking good after every match, and most importantly, the team is turning out the good results. However, going by the calibre of players in the squad, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
‘’We have the quality that can deliver, but we must continue to work hard on building a stronger team chemistry.
“Certainly, there will be tougher matches as the season progresses,” Erinfolami said.
In another match played in Lagos, Union Bank of Lagos beat Police Batons, 68-52.
The police batons continue at the bottom of the Atlantic Conference league.
The Batons have only won one match in the season so far, losing six and this has kept the police team in relegation zone.
Eight teams in the conference will scale through after the final season match which is just seven games away.
Coach Mark Balogun of the Batons team said that he was very optimistic of his team swimming out of relegation waters.
He said that poor officiating contributed to his team’s losses.
‘’We were robbed on many occasions by bad officiating on the part of the match referees and this is affecting most of our results.
“However, we are positive of escaping relegation at the end,” Balogun said.
With seven rounds of matches remaining in the league, Islanders top the Atlantic Conference table with 13 points, having won six games and lost one.
Dodan Warriors of Lagos is second with 12 points, winning five matches and losing two.
Customs of Lagos, Oluyole Warriors and Union Bank are placed third, fourth and fifth respectively.
The teams are on 11 points; they all recorded four wins and lost three matches each.
The sixth place team is Kwara Falcons of Ilorin, which has three wins from seven matches, earning 10 points.
Delta Force of Asaba and the Police Batons are at the bottom of the table, having lost six games from seven matches, with eight points each to their credit.
Both teams are on seventh and eighth positions on the league table.
Coach Benson Aikoroje of the Delta Force team said that his team would survive the relegation.
He said that though it would take a lot of hard work, they were capable of achieving the feat.
‘’We are new in the league and playing against teams that have been there for several years is very challenging.
‘’However, we are learning very fast from our mistakes and we hope to get it right soon,’’ Aikoroje said
The round of eight matches will commence in a fortnight due to scheduled All Stars Game of the DStv League which comes up May 23.
Andrea Cambiaso scored at both ends during the first half of Saturday’s Derby d’Italia, before Pierre Kalulu’s red card forced Juventus to play the entire second half a man light.
Substitute Francesco Pio Esposito got Inter back in front with a bullet header, then Manuel Locatelli’s pinpoint finish looked to have salvaged a point for the Bianconeri, before Zielinski struck on the cusp of stoppage time.
Juventus made the brighter start, but they were masters of their own downfall in the 17th minute, when Cambiaso deflected Luis Henrique’s cross beyond Michele Di Gregorio.
Cambiaso atoned within nine minutes, catching Henrique on his heels when Weston McKennie’s cross squirmed through to the back post and applying a side-footed finish.
But after Bremer cleared Zielinski’s dinked effort off the line, Juve’s hopes were damaged when Kalulu received his second yellow card for a 42nd-minute pull on Alessandro Bastoni, though the Inter centre-back appeared to go down theatrically.
Di Gregorio made a remarkable stop to thwart Hakan Calhanoglu, but as Juventus dropped ever deeper, they were punished when substitute Esposito guided Federico Dimarco’s searching cross into the far corner with 76 minutes on the clock.
It looked like Inter would have to settle for a point when Locatelli whipped a wonderful finish into the bottom-left corner in the 83rd minute, but Zielinski had the final say as his 20-yard drive fizzed through Locatelli’s legs and beat Di Gregorio.
A cloud of uncertainty has settled over Liverpool after comments from Hungary head coach Marco Rossi reignited speculation about Dominik Szoboszlai and Real Madrid.
Rossi, who has worked closely with Szoboszlai since his teenage years, revealed that the midfielder’s lifelong ambition is to play for the Spanish giants.
“Because of the very close and direct relationship I’ve had with Dominik since he was a child, Real Madrid has always been his dream,” Rossi said.
For a Liverpool side building around Szoboszlai as a centerpiece of Arne Slot’s project, those words landed hard.
Within hours of Rossi’s remarks, Szoboszlai interacted on social media with two Real Madrid players, applauding posts from Vinicius Junior and Trent Alexander-Arnold following Madrid’s win over Real Sociedad.
His reaction to Vinicius’ post drew particular attention. The exchange with Alexander-Arnold, his former Liverpool teammate, was seen as less surprising.
Still, in the hyper-connected world of elite soccer, even a digital thumbs-up can carry weight. On Merseyside, fans and pundits quickly began dissecting the meaning behind the interactions.
Szoboszlai, Hungary’s captain, has become one of Liverpool’s most influential players. That status is precisely why Rossi’s comments triggered such an intense reaction in England.
The midfielder had just delivered on the field as well, scoring in Liverpool’s 3-0 FA Cup fourth-round victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.
After the match, Mohamed Salah heaped praise on his teammate, calling Szoboszlai “the best player in the world.” Slot struck a slightly more measured tone but echoed the sentiment.
“I think there are many elite players in the world, but I definitely agree with Mo that he is one of them,” Slot said. “He is very important for us.”
Szoboszlai is under contract at Liverpool through 2028. However, the club is reportedly eager to open extension talks in the coming months to secure his long-term future.
The player himself addressed the situation recently with notable candor.
“There’s nothing yet, to be honest. Nothing from now on. It’s not in my hands. That’s how it works,” he said. “There’s no progress, but if the right offer comes, we’ll see.”
He was equally clear about his affection for Liverpool.
“We’ll see what happens. Hopefully everyone will be happy in the end. Of course I want to stay. I like the city, I like the club, I like playing with these guys. I love Anfield, I love the fans. Let’s see what the future brings. It’s not my fault. I’d love to stay. We’ll see.”
Inter’s dramatic victory boosted their lead over rivals AC Milan to eight points, ahead of the Rossoneri hosting Como on Wednesday. Juventus, meanwhile, could drop out of the top four as Roma visited Napoli last night.
The last four Serie A matches between Inter and Juventus have produced a total of 21 goals (an average of 5.25 per game), compared to just nine in the previous six (1.5 per game).
Cambiaso became the first player in Derby d’Italia history to score and put through his own net in the same match between these old rivals, but it was Zielinski’s fifth Serie A goal of the season that proved decisive.
Inter will argue they were deserved victors after amassing 21 shots and 1.88 expected goals (xG), while Luciano Spalletti’s visitors mustered 10 shots and 0.92 xG – though the Bianconeri actually attempted six of their shots while down a man in the second half.
Premier League strugglers Wolves overcame resolute Grimsby Town in challenging conditions at Blundell Park to reach the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of the side that eliminated Manchester United in the last round.
Santiago Bueno scored from Wolves’ only shot on target with an hour played, diverting Joao Gomes’ cross past goalkeeper Jackson Smith with his thigh to end the League Two club’s resistance.
Unrelenting rainfall caused heavy ground underfoot and one penalty area in particular- that of Grimsby’s Smith in the first half – was already a quagmire before kick-off.
Charles Vernam shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box with just 43 seconds on the clock as Grimsby sought to catch their top-flight visitors cold.
Wolves had to wait until the 17th minute for their first opportunity of note, forward Tolu Arokodare firing over with a first-time attempt.
The white paint of the pitch markings soon blended and blurred with the mud as the surface rapidly deteriorated, and both sides struggled to stitch together cohesive attacks as passes travelled unpredictably across the sodden ground.