SportsNews

Why Mainoo’s goal was extra special

Published

1 year ago

February 2, 2024

Ekwutos Blog

Mainoo

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Manchester United fans just cannot stop watching Kobbie Mainoo’s brilliant winner against Wolves.

After the Reds had been pegged back to 3-3, due to Pedro Neto’s equaliser on the break, our newly crowned Player of the Month picked the ball up from substitute Omari Forson and tricked his way into a shooting position.

There was still much to do but he displayed exquisite technique to steer his finish wide of Jose Sa to send the away supporters crazy and clinch an eighth 4-3 victory of the Premier League era.

Although the strike came in the 97th minute, there was more injury time to be played out before three important points could be celebrated.

A goal in successive games for Kobbie kept him very much in the spotlight and manager Erik ten Hag explained afterwards why he is a role model for other youngsters in the Academy, as he is able to keep his feet on the ground.

“There can be a lot about him,” admitted the boss in one of his post-match interviews with the official broadcasters. “He is a great kid. Only in his head is football.

”He wants to progress every day. He is really an example for a lot [of others] and he has abilities. He has talent but talent has to work hard to progress, and that is what he is doing.

“I hope and I wish push him to keep going.”

Opta also produced an interesting stat, stating that this was only the second goal since the formation of the league in 1992 to be both assisted and scored by teenagers.

With Forson’s pass leading to the strike, Opta revealed the other time this happened was back in January 2005.

That memorable occasion was at Anfield, when Wayne Rooney’s low shot beat Jerzy Dudek, from a Cristiano Ronaldo set-up, to earn a sweet 1-0 success against Liverpool.

Rooney was 18 at the time, with Ronaldo only a year older.

Everybody of a United persuasion was naturally buzzing, and it was nice to see Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill’s reaction to the goal at Molineux from their seat in the stand.

Former midfielder Ander Herrera perhaps summed up the general mood when posting on Instagram: “What a player, what a future this Mainoo [has].”

Well done, and thank you, Kobbie – as we look ahead to seeing you at Old Trafford on Sunday, against West Ham United.

SportsNews

Unity Cup 2025: Chelle hints on inviting new players

Published

20 hours ago

April 10, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

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Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle says the Unity Cup will provide him the opportunity to beef up his team with new players.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria, Black Stars of Ghana, Reggae Boys of Jamaica and Soca Warriors of Trinidad and Tobago will compete in the 2025 edition of the competition.

Chelle kept faith with majority of the regular stars for the last month’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe.

The Malian declared that he will call up new players to strengthen the team.

“We are looking forward to taking part in the Unity Cup as it will give us the chance to try out a few new players in different roles, helping us to strengthen our squad before the matches in September and October,” the 47-year-old told thenff.com.

The Unity Cup will run from May 27 to May 31, 2025.

All the matches will be played at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium in London.

SportsNews

Champions League: Nigerian singer, Joeboy loses N3million bet as Arsenal thrash Real Madrid

Published

2 days ago

April 9, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

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Nigerian singer, Joeboy, lost a N3million bet after Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

Seven hours before kick-off, Joeboy posted a betting slip with the caption, “Cashing out on Arsenal tears tonight!”

The Controller crooner could have won N10,345,000 if Madrid has won at the Emirates.

But Declan Rice curled in two beautiful free-kicks to give the Gunners the lead, before Mikel Merino added a third.

The result left Joeboy short of words, as he could only tweet “Goodnight” at full time.

Arsenal will be looking to book their place in the semi-final when they travel to the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg next Wednesday.

Before that game, Mikel Arteta’s men host Brentford in the Premier League.

SportsNews

Champions League quarter-final: Arsenal thrash Real Madrid as Inter beat Bayern

Published

3 days ago

April 8, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

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Arsenal on Tuesday night thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg tie.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium.

However, in the second half, Declan Rice’s brace and a goal from Mikel Merino gave Mikel Arteta’s side a first leg advantage ahead of the return leg next week.

Meanwhile, in the other Champions League last-8 first leg tie played, Inter Milan defeated Bayern Munich 2-1.

Lautaro Martinez gave the visitors the lead in the first half.

But Thomas Muller equalized for the hosts.

However, Davide Frattesi scored few minutes later to give the Serie A side a first leg advantage ahead of the return leg next week.

Meanwhile, the remaining quarter-final fixtures will continue on Wednesday.

Aston Villa will face Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona will clash with Dortmund.