New signing, Christian Benteke scored a controversial goal to give Liverpool maximum 3points in their second league game against newly-promoted side, Bournemouth. The £32 million summer signing from Aston Villa struck from close range after 26 minutes at Anfield but debate raged over whether Philippe Coutinho was offside.
This came after the Cherries had earlier had a Tommy Elphick goal harshly ruled ruled for a push in the area by referee Craig Pawson. Brendan Rodgers, watched by Liverpool owner John W Henry, fielded a side unchanged from the laboured opening victory at Stoke.
They started in much the same sluggish manner as the visitors made the early running. Max Gradel looked dangerous on the left, Andrew Surman and Eunan O’Kane provided drive and strikers Callum Wilson and Josh King were threatening. It was the 24th minute before Liverpool finally posed a serious threat with Benteke driving narrowly over from distance.
The questionable goal moments later as Jordan Henderson swung in a deep cross from the left.
Coutinho was offside and clearly played at the ball as it bounced past him on the way to Benteke, who turned home at the far post. The goal, Benteke’s 50th in English club football, sparked strong debate over the latest interpretation of the offside rule. Coutinho did not have to make contact to be flagged, as he would have done in previous seasons, but his action had to impact on an opponent.
There were no Bournemouth players near him as he moved for the ball, but goalkeeper
Artur Boruc may have anticipated a touch.
Liverpool did enough to hold on and Benteke almost snatched a second in the closing moments when a deflected shot struck the bar.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has shrugged off criticism of Wayne Rooney’s form and said he cannot understand suggestions his captain should be moved from the main striking role.
Rooney spent much of last season in midfield, but Van Gaal has installed the 29-year-old as his first-choice centre- forward after the departures of Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao.
However, the England captain has had only had two shots in as many fixtures for United this season in their 1-0 wins over Tottenham and Aston Villa — both of them off target — and recorded just one touch in the Villa penalty area on Friday.
However, Van Gaal, who feels he was pressured to pick Rooney as a central attacker, says he still has his backing. And while United have not bought a striker this summer he feels he has enough options in the position, with Adnan Januzaj, Javier Hernandez and James Wilson offering competition for places.
He said in a news conference: “All the media has advised me for one year that I have to put him [Rooney] in the striker’s position, so it is very amazing that after two matches you are doubting your own opinion. I cannot understand that. “I have always confidence in my players but we don’t have only Wayne Rooney in the striker’s position. We have Adnan Januzaj. He played in the USA [on United’s pre-season tour] in the striker’s position. I have given him that chance and he has shown he can do that. “We have Chicharito [Hernandez] and we have Wilson, so I don’t think we have a lack of strikers.”
Rooney was United’s 14-goal top scorer last season but has not struck in his last eight appearances for his club. Van Gaal was asked whether he should consider using Juan Mata, who has played as a right winger and set up Januzaj’s winner at Villa, as a No. 10 to improve the supply line.
“Maybe you can ask the board of Manchester United if you are the trainer-coach or the manager and then you can discuss it with your staff,” he replied. “I don’t discuss it with the media.”
1. When she gives you one bad side eye when you look at her to ask if you can eat out of your visitors’ food. (Meanwhile it’s the visitor who invited you o) and then twist your ears when the visitors leave and you eat the food.
2. When you ask her where you should drop an item and she replies, “drop it on my head.”
3. When you say “mummy, I’m Sorry” and she replies “Sorry for yourself”
4. When she brings food wrapped in a polythene bag from a party.
5. When you say: “mummy, I have malaria” and she replied: “why won’t you have malaria when you have been pressing phone since morning”
6. When you say: “I came 2nd in my class” and she replies: “so the person that came first has two heads, abi?”
7. When she locks the DSTV remote control in her room just to punish you.
8. When you’re watching TV with her and then she sleeps off and still doesn’t want you to change the channel.
9. When you tell her you are going to friends’ houses and she replies, “when last did they come here to play with you?”
10. When she asks you if the food is enough and you reply no and she says go and drink water
11. When she forces you to drink “agbo” and holds a cane on one side so you won’t vomit it.
12. When she takes a pot off the fire without a napkin
13. When she sends you on an errand and ask for her N5 balance and you say, “mummy but it’s N5 now” and then she replies “N5 no be money?”
14. When you say: my wedding will be baad and she replies: God forbid. Your wedding will not be bad in Jesus name
15. When she tells you: ‘I didn’t kill my mother, so you cannot come and kill me’
16. When she calls you from your room upstairs and then sends you back upstairs to bring her purse.
17. When you ask her to help you with your home work and she directs you to go and meet your brother. You then say, so you don’t even know it and she replies: “it is your father’s family members that are dullards”
18. When you ask her to refund the money you lent her and she tells you “all the food you’ve been eating at home nko?”
19. When she removes her gele and ties it on her waist before fighting whoever beats you unjustly.
20. When she finds out you didn’t finish your breakfast and she says, “so you want to waste this en, keep it, you will eat it in the afternoon or night. I work for my money.”
21. When as a child you tell her, mum that place is paining me and she deliberately scrubs the spot.
22. If she sends you on an errand and before you step out she calls you back and says, “the place I sent you isn’t far. If you like, walk round the town and come back by 6pm, you will come and meet me hia (here).
23. When she sends you to the market to get pieces of fish and you come back with 3 pieces for N300 and she says, “if na me na 10 I go buy for N300. Dem don rob you”.
24. When she storms your room to switch off your audio player because the volume is too loud.
25. When she prices an item in the market and you start feeling bad for the seller.
Nigerian Mum: How much be this meat?
Seller: N5000
Nigerian Mum: Wetin, this one wey go shrink and disappear for pot, N500 Oga.
Noye & Emmanuel have emerged winners of WED Expo’s My Big Nigerian Wedding Season 2 (Lagos) contest. Noye, a Doctor, and Emmanuel – an Engineer were childhood friends. Their interesting love story and journey from being childhood friends to the altar will warm your heart.
HOW WE MET BY THE BRIDE:
Our meeting unlike the typical meeting at an eatery or one of such places was to me divinely orchestrated. We met at a very tender age precisely when we were both in Primary school and that was the moment for me. We were classmates, attended same church, lived in same neighborhood and both families were very close. Little did he know that that I had developed that tingling sensation for him because he was this very neat, gentle, soft spoken (he still is), dark complexioned handsome little boy with impeccable mannerism.
Unlike me, he made his feelings known by all means even though his friends and mine made a mockery of him. He would always send his younger sister to make his intentions known with his sister affirming his feelings too imagine! On one of such occasions, he told my cousin to come tell me that “he was going to marry me” and he got whooped the next day in school for such utterance.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR BY THE GROOM:
The road to September 11th for us has not been a smooth one. We have had our ups and downs ranging from my inability to woo Noyenum earlier on to distance when her family left our neighborhood and relocated far away and we stopped seeing each other. I got someone who attended same Secondary school with her in my neighborhood to play the middle man for me which was a great plus for us, but again we lost contact after secondary school as we attended different higher institutions and we never contacted each other for a while. We ended up dating different people but as fate would have it, it didn’t diminish the love we had for each other.
She went abroad and I moved on with my life with other ladies but each time anyone mention the name Noyenum, my heart skips. Fortunately for us, Facebook came into limelight and the first contact I searched for was her. Immediately I saw her, I added her up and she accepted. The first question I asked was, “are u dating anyone? Her answer was “No” that she had broken up with her ex. I smiled inside of me and said, “thank God”. We got chatting on all social media platforms available to the extent that my colleagues at work called me “gist manufacturer” because we always had something to gist about and for long hours because of the time difference.
We had our periods of breakup and reconnection due to distance and finally in 2013, she came home on Holiday after about 5years absence and so I decided to go see her straight from work (as e dey hot)though she gave me attitude but I held on. There I told her I still loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
Today, all that is history now, because come September 11th, she will be mine and mine forever. You know what, “I can’t wait”!!!
HOW HE PROPOSED BY THE BRIDE: That is one question everyone keeps asking me. The truth is that he had already proposed earlier on (wink) and so there was no formal proposal since we and both families already knew it was going to be and if he had still proposed, it wouldn’t have come with any surprise.
Real Madrid player, Sergio Ramos will not be leaving Madrid or signing a new deal with the club until 2020. The 29-year-old’s new deal with the Spanish giants will end in 5 years time.
The Spanish defender brought his wife, Pilar Rubio, and his family to a special event put together by the club.
“I want to stay at this club and enjoy it as long as I can. My heart and my head has always been with Real Madrid. My extension was never a money issue. I have never said I wanted to leave Real Madrid. Money has never been my motivation, my family is. I always wanted to retire here at Real Madrid. The truth is clear: I never wanted to leave Real Madrid.” He said.
Super Eagles’ Head Coach Sunday Oliseh has invited 18 overseas-based professionals for next month’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. First –choice goalkeeper and skipper Vincent Enyeama headlines the list that also has defenders Godfrey Oboabona, Leon Balogun and Kenneth Omeruo, midfielders Rabiu Ibrahim, Lukman Haruna and Joel Obi, and forwards Ahmed Musa, Emmanuel Emenike and Anthony Ujah.
There are a number of surprises, in line with Oliseh’s earlier pledge to make current form and first –level football key indices for selection. There are goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, midfielder Izunna Ernest Uzochukwu and forwards Emem Eduok, Sylvester Igboun and Moses Simon. All the 18 players, who will join up with the 23 home boys who arrived camp in Abuja on Monday, are expected in Abuja on Monday, 31 st August, 2015 at the latest.
THE FULL LIST
Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Lille OSC, France); Carl Ikeme (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England)
Defenders: Leon Balogun (FSV Mainz 05, Germany); Kingsley Madu (AS Trencin, Slovakia); Godfrey Oboabona (Caykur Rizespor, Turkey); William Troost Ekong (FK Haugesund, Norway); Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa SK, Turkey)
Midfielders: Joel Obi (Torina FC, Italy); Izunna Ernest Uzochukwu (FC Amkar Perm, Russia); Obiora Nwankwo (Coimbra FC, Portugal); Lukman Haruna (Anzhi Machatsjkala, Russia); Rabiu Ibrahim (AS Trencin, Slovakia)
Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Emem Eduok (Esperance ST, Tunisia); Emmanuel Emenike (Al Ain, UAE); Anthony Ujah (Werder Bremen, Germany); Sylvester Igboun (FC UFA, Russia); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium).
The Bundesliga returned last weekend and fans are already treated to fantastic football, great tecnique/style of play and most importantly – barrage of spectacular goals. The league may not exactly be brimming with quality or fierce title competition as opposed to other top leagues in Europe but fans are assured one thing each time they step into the stadium to watch a match – Entertainment.
Bus parking or pragmatic play seem like a taboo in the league and all teams regardless of how precarious the situation they are in may seem always come out to play unlike what applies in some other leagues where teams settle for a boring draw even before the blast of the whistle.
The first week of the Bundesliga produced 28goals – and that’s just from 9 matches! That brings us nicely to an average of 3 goals per game. Massive. Bayern Munich got things started with a 5nil whitewash of Hamburg courtesy of goals from Benatia, Muller, Lewandoski and Douglas Costa while other teams like Schalke 04, Borrusia Dortmund and FC Cologne followed suit with emphatic victories.
Whatever the league lacks in competition, it makes up for in entertainment and that is the whole essence of football. Fans deserve intriguing games that would keep them on their feet, not games that would rock them to sleep.
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The most beautiful cars ever made are all in one place today
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The beauty of the past
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1970’s Lancia in all its glory. Photo by Nadine A. Gardner
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Timeless classic
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Retro car with “Farmer Boy” plate
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Smart investment
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Sed massa nulla, ultrices ac nisl eget, pretium tincidunt ante. Donec ultrices aliquam convallis. Cras luctus lectus nec diam interdum ultricies eu quis nunc. Pellentesque quis lacinia ex, id posuere quam.
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Mauris lobortis, quam ut hendrerit pellentesque, velit urna gravida justo, eget euismod dui est eget arcu. Curabitur congue, lectus tincidunt ornare pharetra, elit metus faucibus massa, rutrum volutpat orci nunc eget ante. Donec eu sem vel mauris ultrices gravida.
Matches, goals, victories and defeats, here are three things I picked up from the English Premier League over the weekend.
1. MANCHESTER CITY MEAN BUSINESS: Manuel Pelligrinni’s side had a disappointing run last season given their stand as the defending champions and the pedigree of players they paraded. Their failings in Europe was very much still obvious and they failed to pick points in the league when it mattered. All of these contributed to them losing out in the title race and having an all round underwhelming season.
Going into the new season, Pelligrinni promised some reshuffling and resurgence, and indeed, it appears he meant every word. Manchester city have been very active in the transfer market; laying off unwanted players in order to free up space and lighten financial burden and also making credible additions. Prominently, they have snapped up Fabian Delph from Aston Villa and Raheem Sterling from Liverpool. In the midst of these, they have also managed to keep their key players.
All of these show seriousness and clear mindset of set goals and objectives.
So far, Manchester city have gotten maximum 6points from two games, scoring 6 and conceding none. They are defending well, scoring freely and offering a pleasant style of play.
Yesterday’s bashing of the defending champions, Chelsea, is a big statement! City are in town and they are taking no prisoners!
2. MANCHESTER UNITED HAVE A PROBLEM SCORING GOALS: A slim 1nil win over Tottenham courtesy of an own goal from Kyle Walker in the opening game and another victory in similar fashion against Aston Villa (courtesy of Janujaz’s strike) has opened a new and genuine concern at Manchester United – scoring goals.
Sergio Romero looks solid in goal which makes De Gea’s absence largely unfelt, the defence is rock solid (Matteo Darmian is a beast!!) and the midfield looks sorted although the style of play has not fully established but the primary problem is upfront which is where victory is affirmed or denied. Memphis Depay is yet to replicate the kind of feat that attracted the club to him and Rooney is also yet to find his feet.
6points from two games and two clean sheets may look good on paper, however, it must be considered that they are yet to face a stiff opponent (due respect to Spurs and villa) and an own goal doesn’t happen in every game. This is a league where title race goes down to the wire and something ‘little’ like the goal difference may end up determining who goes home with the trophy.
3. CHELSEA NEED TO SPEND: Weeks into the transfer window, Chelsea’s odd silence was surprising to me given the club’s penchant for spending. Jose Mourinho must have thought that he has enough players to prosecute the entire season but results are however proving him wrong. Very wrong.
The embarrassing defeat yesterday at the Etihad affirms the initial fears that majority of the players are jaded, uninspired and tired. Worse still, the bench isn’t exactly filled with options. Good options.
Half fit first choice striker who fights more than he scores these days, creative but not so solid midfield, overplayed and slow defence – All of these are definitely not features of a team that wants to be crowned champions of the EPL or a team that intends to take anything out of the season.
Chelsea’s consistency has been replaced with poor performance and lack of will. The defeat against Arsenal in the community shield, 2all draw against Swansea and the drubbing against city are clear indicators.
Mourinho might need to stop talking (nonsense) and bring out the cheque book while there is still time because games are not won in a press conference, they are won on the field with players. Good, inspired and well rested players.
Somebody tell Jose Mourinho to wake up and smell the coffee. The Chelsea boss has described his side’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City as “a fake result”. Coming from the Special One, it has to be a fake result.
Speaking shortly after the game yesterday. The Portuguese claimed Chelsea were the better side during the second half and that City’s decision to bring on Martin Demichelis handed them their emphatic victory.
He told Sky Sports. “The best team in the first half won the game. The best team in the second half was Chelsea for sure. We had a difficult first half, we didn’t create a lot and our goalkeeper made a few important saves.
“Second half everything was different. If the 1-0 was a doubtful result at minute 70, 3-0 is completely fake. At 1-0 Chelsea were the best team for the whole second half.”
They make a change because they feel 1-0 is in danger and we concede a second goal. If 1-1 a different story, their team is in trouble.
Their decision to bring on (centre-back) Martin Demichelis is an intelligent change, the sort of change I get criticised for all the time.
“Their midfield was in trouble, probably they should finish the game with nine men. In the end I have to be happy with the second half we did. That is not enough to win the game.”
Pellegrini’s reply to the ‘fake result” taunt”.
“In the first half we deserved at least three goals. It was more equal in the second half. Chelsea played better but I just remember Joe [Hart] making one save at 3-0. Our team played better and three is the least we deserved.”
