Author: Oluwatosin Ologun

Newcastle United ended their 56-year trophy drought in dramatic style as defender Dan Burn and forward Alexander Isak sealed a 2-1 win against Liverpool in the League Cup final on Sunday. Eddie Howe’s side made history at Wembley with a superb display that left the runaway Premier League leaders shell-shocked. Burn put Newcastle ahead late in the first half and Isak’s 27th goal in all competitions doubled their lead after the interval. Federico Chiesa got one back in the closing seconds, but Newcastle held on for their first major silverware since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. That success in the…

Kylian Mbappe brace helped Real Madrid climb top of La Liga with a 2-1 win at Villarreal on Saturday despite coach Carlo Ancelotti’s complaints that his team was “exhausted”. Los Blancos moved three points clear of rivals Barcelona, having played two extra games, with the Catalans visiting third-place Atletico Madrid on Sunday in a key clash in the Spanish title race. Madrid were unhappy the game was taking place fewer than 72 hours after their Champions League win on penalties against Atletico on Wednesday. “The team has something special, character, commitment,” Ancelotti told reporters, insisting Madrid would refuse to play…

Manchester City suffered another defeat after twice blowing the lead to draw 2-2 against Brighton, while third-placed Nottingham Forest thrashed Ipswich 4-2 on Saturday. Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush put City in front, but high-flying Brighton extended their unbeaten run to seven games thanks to Pervis Estupinan’s free-kick and an Abdukodir Khusanov own goal. City boss Pep Guardiola said on Friday that just reaching the Champions League next season would be a “big success” after a difficult season for a side used to lifting the league title. The English champions’ early exit from Europe’s top competition to Real Madrid had…

Nigeria’s Flamingos took a giant step towards qualification for the 2025 U-17 Women’s World Cup on Saturday, beating South Africa 2-0 at the Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne, Ogun State. The Flamingos defeated the Bantwana 3-1 in the first leg of the clash last week, meaning they soared to the next phase of the qualification race with a whopping 5-1 aggregate victory. The game produced no goal after the early exchanges. But two-goal heroine in the first leg, Harmony Chidi coolly nodded home from an acute angle in the 37th minute on Saturday, to compound the fixture for the visitors. Shakirat…

Manchester United are through to the Europa League quarter-final after Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad on Thursday night. For United fans, it was enough for a 5-2 win on aggregate and a night which looked set to be filled with nerves and anxiety ended in a party atmosphere. A pair of converted penalties either side of half-time — after the hosts had gone behind early on via another spot kick — and a smart finish late in the game meant the United captain took away the match ball. Diogo Dalot put the icing…

Arsenal completed an outstanding 9-3 aggregate victory over PSV Eindhoven in the knockout stage to set up a mouthwatering Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. Holders Real beat capital rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties – and Arsenal will likely have to find top gear against the Spanish giants in the last eight after cruising past their Dutch opponents. Leading 7-1 from the first leg in the Netherlands, the Gunners took the opportunity to make wholesale changes to their starting XI. While there were also huge swathes of empty seats around a subdued Emirates Stadium, those in attendance were treated to a sumptuous opening goal…

Real Madrid have reached a Champions League quarter-final tie with Arsenal after beating city rivals Atletico in a highly controversial penalty shootout. Defender Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive spot-kick in a 4-2 shootout win after two Atletico players missed. Marco Llorente’s shot struck the bar after Julian Alvarez slipped and had his penalty strike disallowed after a VAR check ruled that the Argentine had touched the ball twice. Former Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez fired home his kick, and Atletico’s second, to make the score in the shootout 2-2, but he was judged to have touched the ball twice when officials scrutinised…

United States President Donald Trump Tuesday announced massive new tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium while threatening to “shut down” its auto industry and saying the best way to end the trade war was for Washington’s ally to be absorbed into the United States. Trump’s shock new threats came hours before a midnight deadline for ramping up the Republican’s increasingly global trade offensive. On his Truth Social platform, Trump announced that he would double the planned 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50 per cent for imports of the metals from Canada. A 25-percent levy is still…

Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle listed his final 23-man squad for the crunch 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, however, Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho were missing from the list. In the final list for the games billed for next week, the Malian gaffer who will be leading the Super Eagles out for the first time yanked off the Kano Pillars man and Iheanacho of Middlesbrough. Although Musa was part of the Super Eagles side that went to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire early last, he did not play a minute. Iheanacho also featured…

Some Manchester United players are “not good enough” and some are “overpaid”, the club’s co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says. Midfielder Casemiro, striker Rasmus Hojlund, goalkeeper Andre Onana, and wingers Antony and Jadon Sancho – who are on loan at other clubs – were namechecked by the billionaire in an interview with BBC Sport as players his regime had “inherited”. Ratcliffe, a lifelong Manchester United fan, is the chairman of petrochemicals company Ineos, which has a strong sports investment arm. The 72-year-old last year spent £1.3bn for a 28.94% stake in the club in a deal which saw Ineos take control…