IN UEFA EUROPA LEAGUES
Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes scored a dramatic injury-time winner to give his side victory in their all-British clash with Rangers at Old Trafford.
Rangers’ fans were still celebrating what they thought was a famous draw after Cyriel Dessers had brilliantly levelled United’s opener with an 88th-minute drive into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland scored an own goal for Manchester United.
United, now fourth, will definitely make it if they win away at Romanians FCSB.
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Tottenham star Son Heung-min scored twice as the team claimed a much-needed Europa League win at Hoffenheim to put the team in a strong position to qualify automatically for the knockout stage.
Spurs struggled domestically in a difficult season and Sunday’s defeat at Everton left the team 15th in the Premier League.
Thursday’s trip to Germany provided welcome respite, with Son’s double and an early James Maddison strike securing a victory that moved the team up to fourth in the league phase of the Europa League, before the evening kick-offs.
Hoffenheim’s two goals were scored by Anton Stach and David Mokwa.
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Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou, says the team’s striker Dominic Solanke is set to be out for around six weeks with a knee injury, as the club’s injury crisis deepens.
Postecoglou said he expected Solanke to be out until early March, meaning he will miss their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg meeting with Liverpool as well as several Premier League games.
Solanke joins a lengthy injury list that includes fellow forwards Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson.
While some players, such as Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and Cristian Romero, are close to a return, others are long-term absentees, including first-choice keeper Guglielmo Vicario.
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Manchester United has written to fans to warn them that the club are at risk of breaching spending rules and ticket prices could rise as a result.
In a letter to fan groups, United said they must act now
Under the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, clubs can lose up to one hundred and five million pounds over three years.
The club letter was in response to a letter from fans groups The 1958 and Fan Coalition fifty-eight urging United to consider the long-term implications of ticket price increases.
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Manchester City has signed Egypt forward Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt for fifty-nine million pounds.
The 25-year-old agreed a contract until June 2029, with add-ons rising to four million pounds.
Marmoush scored fifteen goals in seventeen Bundesliga games this season, second only to England captain Harry Kane’s sixteen for Bayern Munich.
City also signed 19-year-old Brazilian defender Vitor Reis from Palmeiras for thirty million pounds and Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens for thirty-four million pounds in the January transfer window.
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Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood has signed a new contract to keep him at the City Ground until 2027.
Wood has been one of the stars of the season so far, scoring fourteen goals in twenty-two Premier League appearances to help Forest to third in the standings.
The 33-year-old joined Forest on loan from Newcastle in January 2023 and completed a permanent move in June that year.
Despite only being at the club for two years he is their leading Premier League goalscorer, overtaking Bryan Roy’s record of twenty-four in December.
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Brighton women has signed Republic of Ireland defender Caitlin Hayes from Celtic.
Hayes spent four and a half years in Scotland where she won one Scottish league title, two Scottish Cups and one League Cup.
She becomes the Seagulls’ first signing of the January window, having played twenty-six times for Celtic this season in all competitions.
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IN NIGERIA
The home-based Super Eagles will now face Equatorial Guinea in Group D of the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN), after CAF disqualified Congo Brazzaville for fielding an ineligible player in the qualifiers.
Congo’s disqualification was confirmed after CAF Disciplinary Board released a verdict on Thursday.
The decision follows a formal complaint lodged by the Equatorial Guinea Football Federation and a subsequent investigation by the disciplinary board.
The Congo Football Federation was also fined ten thousand dollars.
Equatorial Guinea will now face Nigeria, Sudan and defending champions Senegal in Group D.
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The two-day scouting programme for the Golden Eaglets, Nigeria’s Under-seventeen national football team, concluded on Thursday, at the Awka City Stadium.
Organised by the Anambra State Football Association, the event attracted no fewer than 97 clubs and football academies eager to showcase their young talents.
Manu Garba, who led Nigeria to victory at the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup in Dubai, presided over the exercise.
Garba emphasised that performing well in the exercise does not guarantee a spot on the team.
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Monaco is interested in signing Nigerian international Wilfred Ndidi who plays for Leicester City star on a six-month loan with an option to buy.
The midfielder was close to leaving Leicester City last summer following the expiration of his contract.
The 28-year-old however signed a new three-year contract after much persuasion from then Leicester City manager Steve Cooper.
Leicester City is not willing to allow the Nigerian leave at this moment.
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Belgian champions Club Brugge has announced the signing of Nigerian youngster Vince Osuji.
Osuji penned a four-and-half-year contract with Nicky Hayen’s side.
The 18-year-old linked up with Club Brugge from Swedish club Kalmar FF.
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IN OTHER LEAGUES
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) says its deputy leader Veron Mosengo-Omba will not face legal action after an investigation by the Swiss Public Prosecutor’s Office into payments made to bank accounts in the country.
Mosengo-Omba, who hails from Congo but also holds Swiss nationality, had denied any wrongdoing and met with the prosecutor’s office in the canton of Fribourg in November to answer questions.
Responding to the news that Mosengo-Omba faces no action in Switzerland, Caf said it was pleased that there continues to be adherence and compliance within Caf and the Caf secretariat.
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Italian club AC Milan has agreed a deal to sign Manchester City captain Kyle Walker on loan for the remainder of the season.
The agreement includes an option to buy the defender in the summer when the loan deal comes to an end.
Walker, who made three hundred and sixteen appearances for City, will now travel to Italy for a medical.
The full-back last featured for City against West Ham on 4th January, after which he told manager Pep Guardiola he wanted to explore his options around a potential move abroad.
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Paris Saint-Germain forward Randal Kolo Muani has joined Juventus on loan until the end of the season.
The 26-year-old made fourteen appearances for PSG this campaign but has not featured since 6th December.
Premier League clubs including Tottenham and Manchester United showed interest in signing the Frenchman.
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Juventus is set to sign Chelsea defender Renato Veiga on loan until the end of the season.
The Italian club agreed to cover the Portugal’s international’s wages and pay a three point eight million pounds loan fee.
No option to buy has been included in the deal.
Veiga only joined Chelsea in an eleven point eight million pounds deal in July from Swiss club Basel.
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Turkish side Fenerbahce have signed centre-back Diego Carlos from Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee.
The Brazilian, who joined Villa from Sevilla in 2022, signed a three-and-a-half-year deal.
The Turkish club are reportedly paying eight point forty-five million pounds for the 31-year-old.
Carlos made fifty-eight appearances for Villa and scored one goal.
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IN OTHER SPORTS
In Tennis, Madison Keys saved a match point before stunning world number two Iga Swiatek to set up an Australian Open final against two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Keys claimed a shock 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek to reach the second major final of her career.
Keys’ victory came after Belarusian top seed Sabalenka earned the chance to become the first woman in 26 years to win three successive Australian Open titles with a commanding 6-4 6-2 win over close friend Paula Badosa.
Swiatek’s loss also means Sabalenka will retain the world number one ranking after the tournament.
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Still on Tennis, the Billie Jean King Cup Finals will be held in Shenzhen, China for the next three years.
China, reigning champions Italy and six qualifiers will contest the week-long Finals in 2025, with a date yet to be confirmed.
Three venues in Shenzhen are being considered – including the twelve thousand capacity Shenzhen Bay Sports Arena, which staged the WTA Finals in 2019.
Prague, Glasgow, Seville and Malaga were chosen as hosts for the first four editions, but organisers say a global event of this nature cannot stay in Europe for too long.
In the tournament, formerly called the Fed Cup, 18 teams split into six groups of three in qualifying, with the group winners progressing to the Finals.
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Formula 1 drivers face race bans, if they repeatedly swear or criticise the sport’s governing body under new rules introduced this year.
Changes to the FIA’s sporting code for the 2025 season codify the steps to a potential race ban for drivers deemed guilty of such offences.
They mean that if a driver commits three such offences they are at risk of a one-month suspension plus deduction of championship points.
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) said it had no comment on that matter for the time being.
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In Rugby, Embattled Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney says he has never contemplated resigning, saying it would be the cowardly way out.
Sweeney will face a vote of no confidence in a showdown meeting between the RFU hierarchy and its critics on 27th March.
The chief executive has been criticised for overseeing record RFU losses and a new round of job cuts in the same year that a bonus scheme pushed his pay to one point one million pounds.
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In Golf, the Old Course at Saint Andrews has been confirmed as the host of the Open Championship in 2027.
The announcement by the R&A maintains the five-year cycle the Old Course has had, with just one exception, since 1990.
Royal Saint George’s was awarded the 2020 Open so the Old Course – widely regarded as the Home of Golf – could stage the 150th edition of the game’s oldest major the following year.
The 2027 championship, from 15th to 18th July – will be the 100th anniversary of the great Bobby Jones’ victory in The Open at St Andrews, where six years earlier he had torn up his scorecard after taking four shots to escape from a bunker on the 11th.
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Cycling, Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan has signed a one-year contract with British team Ineos Grenadiers for the 2025 season.
The 30-year-old won stages at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, and has twice finished on the podium at the prestigious Milan-San Remo one-day Monument.
He joined Australia’s Team Jayco–AlUla in 2023 and won four races last year.
Ewan, who has sixty-three professional wins overall, says his move to Ineos can help him rediscover his best form.
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SOCCER ACTION CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND
IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUES
ON SATURDAY
Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest
Brighton vs Everton
Liverpool vs Ipswich Town
Southampton vs Newcastle
Wolves vs Arsenal
Manchester City vs Chelsea
ON SUNDAY
Crystal Palace vs Brentford
Tottenham vs Leicester City
Aston Villa vs West Ham
Fulham vs Manchester United
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IN SPANISH LA LIGA
ON SATURDAY
Mallorca vs Real Betis
Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal
Sevilla vs Espanyol
Real Valladolid vs Real Madrid
ON SUNDAY
Rayol Vallecano vs Girona
Real Sociedad vs Getafe
Athletic Club vs Leganes
Barcelona vs Valencia
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IN ITALIAN SERIES A
ON SATURDAY
Como vs Atalanta
Napoli vs Juventus
Empoli vs Bologna
ON SUNDAY
AC Milan vs Parma
Udinese vs Roma
Lecce vs Inter Milan
Lazio vs Fiorentina
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Life is gonna throw you curve balls and it is how you deal with them and your attitude and your work ethic…words from Kerri Strug.
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