NIGERIA
Nine-time Nigerian league winners Enyimba have been eliminated from the CAF Champions League after their encounter against Al Ahli Benghazi of Libya.
Enyimba played a 0-0 draw against the Libyan team at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba, on Sunday.
Popularly known as ‘The People’s Elephants,’ Enyimba lost to Al-Ahli by a 4-3 lead in the first leg.
The Aba-based team needed two goals to qualify to the next round of the competition but were unable to find the back of the net before the full-time whistle was blown.
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Ghanaian side Medeama have defeated Remo Stars via penalties to reach the next round of the CAF Champions League.
While Medeama saw off the Nigerian team 1-0 in the first-leg game in Ghana, Remo Stars won the return fixture by the same margin in the preliminary round of the tournament.
That left both sides heading to the spot to decide who advance to the next phase of Africa’s elite club competition.
But Medeama emerged winners, claiming a 3-2 victory to silence the home fans at the Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State on Sunday evening.
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Benin Arsenal, Bendel Insurance, defied the odds to beat Aso Chlef of Algeria via penalties to qualify for the second round of the Confederation Cup.
Not many people tipped Bendel Insurance to survive in Algiers following their laboured 1-0 win in the first leg at home in Benin; but the boys showed their unbeaten run in the Nigerian Premier Football League last season was no fluke.
Although they lost the return leg by the same 1-0 margin, they held their nerves to win the ensuing penalty shootout 4-3 to the dismay of Algerian fans, who trooped out en masse to cheer the home team.
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Finnish heavyweight boxer Robert Helenius says he did not cheat against Anthony Joshua when the two faced in the ring at the 02 Arena twelveth August.
Matchroom Boxing reported that a pre-fight doping test conducted before Helenius faced the British-Nigerian returned an ‘adverse analytical finding’ for a non-steroid substance.
Helenius had just come off a low-level third round knockout in his home country, and took Joshua into the seventh round before being knocked out clean with a right hand.
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British boxer, Anthony Joshua, drops a cryptic quote, warning about a change in situation despite good deeds or intentions
The two-time former unified world heavyweight champion shared the cryptic message on his Instagram story.
This comes after reports say Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois is a bigger puncher than Joshua. Dynamite allegedly knocked over the Nigerian behind closed doors.
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World 100m women hurdles’ record holder, Tobi Amusan, has assured Nigerians of a better outing at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Amusan could not defend her world title at the 19th World Athletics Championships in Budapest, but her world record of 12.12 secs set at the Oregon, U.S. edition of the championship last year, is still intact.
Amusan, who is the Commonwealth, Africa and Nigerian record holder in the 100m hurdles thanked the government and people of Nigeria for the support given to athletics.
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Teenage sensations, Tobi Adebakin and Favour Ojo emerged as new champions of the fourth edition of the Adegboyega Efunkoya Cadet Table Tennis Championships at the National Stadium in Lagos on Sunday.
The U-15 tournament had players drawn from 12 States and 36 clubs competing in five events – (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles).
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IN WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
An internal investigation has been launched by Spain’s football federation after its sexual violence protocol was activated.
Federation president Luis Rubiales has been suspended by Fifa after kissing forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain’s Women’s World Cup win.
Hermoso, 33, said the kiss after last Sunday’s game was not consensual.
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Meanwhile, Several coaching staff of the Spanish Women’s national team have dropped their resignation following Luis Rubiales’ controversial kiss of star player Jenni Hermoso.
Rubiales kissed midfielder Hermoso on the lips during the medal ceremony after Spain won the Women’s World Cup final, The player said the kiss was not done through her consent.
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ENGLAND
Southampton forward Nathan Tella has joined Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in a reported £20m deal.
The 24-year-old, who was born in England to Nigerian parents, starred for Burnley on loan last season, scoring 19 goals as the Clarets won the Championship title.
He has signed a five-year deal with the German club.
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His trademark prowl along the touchline may have been absent, but Pep Guardiola’s influence on Manchester City was there for all to see as they ground out a battling victory at Sheffield United.
Guardiola had to watch Sunday’s game in Barcelona as he recuperates from minor back surgery, with coach Juanma Lillo leading the side at Bramall Lane.
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Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney has joined La Liga side Real Sociedad on a season-long loan.
The 26-year-old Scotland international joined the Gunners for £25m from Celtic in 2019.
Tierney has gone on to feature 124 times for the club, scoring five goals.
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West Ham have completed the signing of Ajax midfielder Mohammed Kudus in a deal worth at least £38m.
The 23-year-old scored a hat-trick in Ajax’s Europa League play-off win over Ludogorets in Bulgaria on Thursday.
He will cost 44.5m euros plus add-ons and is relishing the prospect of elite level football in England.
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Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score twice in the final 10 minutes as 10-man Liverpool came from a goal down to stun Newcastle 2-1 at St. James’ Park on Sunday.
Anthony Gordon had pounced on a Trent Alexander-Arnold mistake to put the Magpies in front before Virgil van Dijk was sent off for bringing down Alexander Isak inside half an hour.
But Newcastle failed to make the man advantage count and were punished when Nunez produced two moments of quality rare so far in his Liverpool career to turn the game on its head.
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Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes inspired a magnificent comeback victory and scored the winner in a thrilling 3-2 defeat of Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal were held at home by Fulham and Everton’s woes continued in the English Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their impressive start to the campaign under new manager Ange Postecoglou with a 2-0 victory at Bournemouth to top the table on seven points.
Forest took the lead with a lightning counter-attack from a Manchester United corner after two minutes.
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The windscreen of Aston Villa’s team bus has been hit by a brick as the side were travelling back to the Midlands following their victory at Burnley.
The incident took place at junction 10 of the M65 after Sunday’s Premier League match, which Villa won 3-1.
Police said the brick was thrown from a footbridge as the bus travelled along the motorway.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Athletics; Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Josh Kerr will be among the British athletes targeting Olympic glory in Paris after delivering spectacular golden moments at a thrilling World Championships.
Johnson-Thompson’s stunning second heptathlon title and Kerr’s shock 1500m victory were among the standout GB performances over nine dramatic days.
Rising star Keely Hodgkinson’s 800m silver was her third global medal at the age of 21, while Matthew Hudson-Smith went close to capturing 400m gold in Budapest.
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In Formular one; Red Bull’s Max Verstappen survived losing the lead in early rain and a red flag for a late torrential downpour to win a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix.
Verstappen equalled the all-time record of nine victories in a row and took his 11th win of the season to extend his championship lead to 138 points.
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In Cricket; Southern Brave finally won the women’s Hundred by outclassing Northern Superchargers in the final at Lord’s.
Brave lost to Oval Invincibles in the previous two finals but this time made no mistake, beating Superchargers by 34 runs.
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In Tennis; Ahead of the draw for the US Open on Thursday, Novak Djokovic jumped to second in the men’s tennis rankings after outlasting world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz to win the Cincinnati Open.
In his last warm-up event for the season’s final major, Djokovic took some revenge on Sunday on the 20-year-old Spaniard who won their final at Wimbledon on July 17.
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In Golf; World number 394 Todd Clements shot a stunning nine-under-par 63 to claim his first DP World Tour title at the Czech Masters near Prague.
The Englishman, 26, had three clusters of three successive birdies in a bogey-free round to win on 22 under.
Compatriot Matt Wallace missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the last as he signed for a 67 and 21-under-par total.
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In Rugby; France completed preparations for their home World Cup with a classy win as Australia’s troubles continued.
Damian Penaud scored twice in the second half after Jonathan Danty’s early try at Stade de France in Paris.
Gabin Villiere also crossed for France, who will begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand on 8 September.
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OTHER LEAGUES
Defending La Liga champions Barcelona emerged 4-3 winners in an all-action encounter at Villarreal.
Robert Lewandowski’s goal sealed the win for Barca, three minutes after Ferran Torres’ equaliser.
Villarreal came back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 after 50 minutes, with goals from Juan Foyth, Alexander Sorloth and Alex Baena.
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England captain Harry Kane scored twice on his home Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich as the champions continued their winning start to the league season.
Kane became the first English player to score in his first two Bundesliga games when he clipped a penalty down the middle just before half-time.
The ex-Tottenham forward wrapped up the 3-1 win after the break with a lovely finish with the outside of his foot.
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Roberto Mancini has been named as the new manager of Saudi Arabia two weeks after he resigned as Italy head coach.
The 58-year-old led Italy to victory at Euro 2020, beating England on penalties in the final at Wembley.
The team went on a world record 37-game unbeaten run but failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
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Luke McCowan’s wonderful winner was no surprise to Dundee boss Tony Docherty as his side crept past Hearts to secure their first Scottish Premiership victory since promotion.
Winger McCowan’s delightful 30-yard chip also gave Docherty a maiden league win at the helm, and the manager was full of praise for the 25-year old.
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Lionel Messi inspired Inter Miami to come back from 2-0 down to beat Cincinnati on penalties after their thrilling US Open Cup semi-final ended 3-3 after extra-time in Ohio.
Miami, who won the Leagues Cup on penalties against Nashville, are now one win away from their second trophy since Messi joined the club last month.
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RESULTS
SUNDAY
Burnley 1 3 Aston Villa
Sheff Utd 1 2 Man City
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SATURDAY
AFC Bournemouth 0 2 Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal 2 2 Fulham
Brentford 1 1 Crystal Palace
Everton 0 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manchester United 3 2 Nottingham Forest
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 3 West Ham United
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TODAY’S THOUGHT
“Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible.” ….words from Frank L. Gaines.
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