IN UEFA CHAMPION LEAGUE
Arsenal goalkeeper, David Raya made an unbelievable double save from a penalty as Arsenal drew at Italian side Atalanta in
their Champions League opener.
The Spaniard got down low to his right to keep out Mateo Retegui’s spot-kick and somehow got across his goal to scoop the
striker’s follow-up header off the line.
Chances were at a premium, with Raya not needing to pull off any other saves outside of that two-second spell.
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Benfica have begun their Champions League campaign with a two-one victory away at Red Star Belgrade.
Turkish forward Kerem Akturkoglu marked his first European appearance for Benfica with a goal, latching on to Alexander Bah’s
looping cross to finish at the back post.
Orkun Kokcu scored Benfica’s second goal, while Red Star’s only goal was scored by
Felicio Milson.
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Nigerian striker George Ilenikhena scored on his Champions League debut as Monaco produced an upset against 10-man
Barcelona.
Monaco took the lead soon after when Maghnes Akliouche slotted past Ter Stegen who was rooted to the spot.
Barcelona’s own teenage star Lamine Yamal equalised with his first Champions League goal when he latched on to a long ball
and cut inside before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner.
Ilenikhena’s goal, his first since signing from Royal Antwerp in the summer, condemned Barcelona to an opening defeat.
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Atletico Madrid has defeated RB Leipzig two-one in their Champions League opener.
Antoine Griezmann and Jose Maria Gimenez scored a goal each for Atletico Madrid, while RB Leipzig’s only goal was scored
by Benjamin Sesko.
While RB Leipzig host Juventus next in the competition on 2 October, Atletico Madrid are away to Benfica on the same date.
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French side Brest won the first Champions League match in their history against Sturm Graz with goals from Hugo Magnetti and
Abdallah Sima.
Magnetti chested the ball down and crashed a shot into the bottom corner on the half-volley to open the scoring for the home
side midway through the first half.
Edimilson Fernandes turned into his own net to provide the equaliser for the Austrian visitors on the stroke of half-time.
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IN NIGERIA
Super Eagles have maintained their 39th spot in the latest FIFA world ranking.
This comes after the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers where Nigeria bashed Benin Republic 3-0 and played a stalemate
with Rwanda in Kigali.
These results however still saw Nigeria retain their spot in the top 40 best football-playing nations in the world, per the latest
FIFA ranking.
In Africa, Nigeria is ranked the sixth strongest, topped by Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, and Tunisia.
Direct rivals, Ghana are ranked 70th while South Africa is ranked 59th.
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Players in the Nigeria Premier Football League say they are looking forward to being invited to the Super Eagles B ahead of the
African Nations Championship (CHAN 2024) qualifiers, which begin next month.
The Confederation of African Football announced a new date for the 2024 tournament, fixing 1st to 25th February 2025, for the
championship meant for African footballers based in their countries.
The Nigeria Football Federation has yet to confirm the country’s participation amid the absence of a substantive coach for the
Super Eagles B, the players are fancying donning the colours of the country.
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Ex-international Mutiu Adepoju, has called for more grassroots female football competitions in the country to enable more girls
embrace the sport.
Adepoju said in Ibadan that this would help in more talent discovery and skills’ sharpening.
According to the former Real Madrid player, our projection over the years has been to improve the female football.
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Team Delta have emerged as the winner of the 8th National Youths games in Asaba, Delta amidst widespread allegations of
age cheating.
The defending champion won a total of 41 gold, 27 silver and 30 bronze to emerge as the winner of the games.
According to the final table released by the Local Organising Committee of the games, Team Lagos came second with 25
gold, 19 silver and 18 bronze medals.
Team Edo scooped 53 medals to emerge third on the medal table with a total of 17 gold, 12 silver and 21 bronze medals.
While Team Bayelsa came a distant fourth on the medal table with 52 medals, comprising 14 gold, 17 silver and 21 bronze.
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The President Nigeria Wrestling Federation , Daniel Igali, says the federation will invite top six wrestlers discovered at the 8th
National Youth Games to the national camp in Yenagoa,Bayelsa.
Igali who said this in Abuja, advised for proper planning and intensive training of athletes for successful events in future.
According to the president, it was important to discover raw talents that would make the country proud in future encounters.
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Chairman of Anambra Sports Development Commission, Patrick-Estate Onyedum, has given cash rewards of six hundred and
fifty thousand naira to medal winning athletes and teams at the 8th National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta.
Onyedum, who gave the incentive, commended the youthful state athletes for their spectacular performances at the games.
Athletics got two hundred thousand naira, chess, scrabble, Taekwondo and Volleyball would recieved one hundred thousand
naira, while fifty thousand naira for cricket.
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D’ Tigress star at the 2024 Olympics, Ezinne Kalu has signed for WNBA side Atlanta Dream on a seven-day hardship contract.
The basketball side announced the Nigerian star and their motives for signing her via the official club website.
Ezinne Kalu’s signing comes under the hardship contract, a specific type of contract that allows teams to temporarily replace
injured or ill players.
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Nottingham Forest are planning to offer Nigeria defender Ola Aina a new contract.
Aina signed a one-year contract extension at the club during the summer.
Forest now want the former Chelsea player to sign a longer deal.
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ENGLAND
Leicester manager, Steve Cooper says the club have met with the Premier League to discuss an awful human error which gave
Crystal Palace a goal in last weekend’s two-all draw.
Cooper said the club have shown evidence to the Premier League but have not received an apology.
Leicester are without a win in their opening four games back in the Premier League and face pointless Everton at home on
Saturday afternoon.
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Professional footballer, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has appeared in court after he was charged with orchestrating the attempted
importation of drugs.
The 33-year-old striker, who plays for Greenock Morton, was arrested at his home in Gourock, near Glasgow, on Wednesday
and taken to Carlisle for questioning.
The father-of-two did not enter a plea to the charge at Carlisle Magistrates court but his lawyer said he strenuously denied
involvement in any plan to import drugs to the UK and he wanted to clear his name at trial.
It comes after officers from the National Crime Agency discovered sixty kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of six
hundred thousand pounds in suitcases arriving at Stansted Airport from Bangkok.
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St Johnstone owner Adam Webb is being treated for cancer of the head and neck.
In an open letter, American lawyer Webb shared his health news and said his prognosis was very good.
The club sacked manager Craig Levein earlier this week and majority shareholder Webb intends to lead the appointment of a
new boss before taking medical leave, aiming to return in December.
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Former Manchester United and England star Jesse Lingard has been fined one hundred and forty-three dollars for riding an
electric scooter in Seoul without a licence.
The 31-year-old midfielder, who now plays for FC Seoul, was “investigated and was subsequently fined one hundred and ninety
thousand won.
In an Instagram post earlier this week, Lingard said he was unaware of South Korea’s regulations on electric scooters, including
having to wear a helmet.
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Partial owner of Man United, Jim Ratcliffe has begun a £2 billion plan to demolish and rebuild their iconic home ground, Old
Trafford.
The British businessman has made it a top priority that the stadium gets an upgrade, the ground had been dismayed by the lack
of proper maintenance.
Reports say the plans are to boost the current capacity of 74,000 to hold up to 100,000 fans, potentially making it the biggest in
Europe.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Basketball; the Brooklyn Nets will honor the career and Nets’ legacy of NBA legend Vince Carter with the retirement of his
number 15 jersey in a ceremony on 25th January, 2025, during a matchup with the Miami Heat at Barclays Center.
This marks the seventh jersey retirement in franchise history, with Carter’s number 15 set to join Dražen Petrovic (#3), Jason
Kidd (#5), John Williamson (#23), Bill Melchionni (#25), Julius Erving (#32) and Charles “Buck” Williams (#52) in the Barclays
Center rafters.
Tickets for the 25th January game are available now at brooklynnets.com/tickets.
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In Boxing, Daniel Dubois has slammed the table in mild frustration and refused to engage with Anthony Joshua as the two
British heavyweights met in an understated news conference in London.
The pair will clash in front of a reported post-war British record crowd of 96,000 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Dubois won the interim IBF title in June and was elevated to world champion status when Oleksandr Usyk vacated.
The 27-year-old appeared eager for the news briefing to end, while the conversational Joshua, 34, remained focused and
respectful towards his opponent.
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In Tennis, Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu has moved through to the quarter-finals at the Korea Open by beating China’s Yue
Yuan in straight sets.
Raducanu seized control of the match by winning six successive games to wrap up the opening set and then take charge of the
second.
The 2021 US Open champion, ranked 70th in the world, eventually took her seventh match point to win 6-4, 6-3 and reach the
last eight in Seoul.
Raducanu will play Daria Kasatkina for a place in the semi-finals on Friday after the Russian top seed beat American Hailey
Baptiste 6-4 6-2.
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Stil on Tennis, the All England Club has received a boost to its plans to build thirty-nine new tennis courts on Wimbledon Park.
Officers at the Greater London Authority (GLA) have recommended the Deputy Mayor should grant conditional planning
permission at a public hearing next Friday.
Merton Council approved the plans, but the proposal was referred to the GLA after Wandsworth Council rejected the scheme
last November.
Officers say the proposal complies with most relevant planning policies and there are “no material considerations that are
considered to justify the refusal of consent”.
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In Formula one, Lewis Hamilton has accused FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem of using stereotypical language with a
racial element in his attempts to stop the broadcast of swearing during Formula 1 races.
The head of motorsport’s governing body, Ben Sulayem, said F1 had to differentiate between their sport, motorsport and rap
music.
Hamilton said ‘rappers’ was very stereotypical.
The FIA has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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In Cricket, Travis Head scored a stunning unbeaten one hundred and fifty-four as Australia claimed a convincing seven-wicket
win over England in the first one-day international at Trent Bridge.
After England had collapsed from 213-2 to 315 all out, Head’s magnificent innings helped Australia to knock off the runs with 36
balls to spare.
The 30-year-old opener put on an unbroken 148 with Marnus Labuschagne as he made the top ODI score by an Australia batter
in England, to take the tourists to their highest successful ODI chase in England.
A comprehensive victory extends the world champions’ winning streak in ODIs to 13 as they took a 1-0 lead in the five-match
series.
England will attempt to level the series in the second game at Headingley on Saturday.
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In Golf, Rory McIlroy overcame the weird feeling of breaking a club mid-shot during his five-under-par opening 67 at the PGA
Championship at Wentworth on Thursday.
Despite the bizarre incident on the par-five 12th, where the clubhead flew off on impact, the world number three went on to pick
up a shot at the hole.
It was one of seven birdies he recorded in round one of the tournament, with only dropped shots at seven and 18 denying him
a bogey-free round.
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In Rugby, Flanker Georgia Brock and second row Lilli Ives Campion and have been selected in England’s thirty player squad
for the WXV campaign.
Campion and Brock won their solitary Test caps during the wins over France and New Zealand this month.
There is no place for former captain Poppy Cleall, who was a key part of England’s past two World Cup campaigns.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
IN SPANISH LA LIGA
Deportivo Alavés vs Sevilla
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IN ITALIAN SERIE A
Cagliari vs Empoli
Hellas Verona vs Torino
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SOCCER ACTION CONTIUNES THIS WEEKEND
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IN NIGERIA PREMIER FOOTBALL LEAGUE
ON SATURDAY
Lobi Stars vs Rivers United FC
ON SUNDAY
Plateau United vs Niger Tornadoes
Heartland Owerri vs Katsina United
Sunshine Stars vs Abia Warriors
Kano Pillars vs Remo Stars
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IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
ON SATURDAY
West Ham United vs Chelsea
Aston Villa vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Fulham vs Newcastle United
Leicester City vs Everton
Liverpool vs AFC Bournemouth
Southampton vs Ipswich Town
Tottenham Hotspur vs Brentford
Crystal Palace vs Manchester United
ON SUNDAY
Brighton vs Nottingham Forest
Manchester City vs Arsenal
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IN SPANISH LA LIGA
ON SATURDAY
Real Valladolid vs Real Sociedad
Osasuna vs Las Palmas
Valencia vs Girona
Real Madrid vs Espanyol
ON SUNDAY
Getafe vs Leganés
Athletic Club vs Celta de Vigo
Villarreal vs Barcelona
Rayo Vallecano vs Atlético Madrid
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IN ITALIAN SERIE A
ON SATURDAY
Venezia vs Genoa
Juventus vs Napoli
Lecce vs Parma
ON SUNDAY
Fiorentina vs Lazio
Monza vs Bologna
Roma vs Udinese
Inter Milan vs AC Milan
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward…words from Vernon Law.
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