Sports

Elanga Wonder-goal Condemns Man Utd To Another PL Defeat

Published

1 year ago

April 1, 2025

Nottingham Forest moved a step closer to qualifying for the Champions League as Anthony Elanga’s superb solo goal sealed a 1-0 win against Manchester United on Tuesday.

Elanga returned to haunt his former club with a dazzling effort that took the winger over half the length of the pitch before he delivered a clinical finish.

The 22-year-old Swede was sold by United for £15 million ($19 million) in 2023 after being deemed surplus to requirements by then manager Erik ten Hag.

Forest have been the beneficiaries of that mistake and Elanga’s stunning strike at the City Ground helped Nuno Espirito Santo’s side cement their grip on third place.

Sitting eight points clear of fourth-placed Chelsea, who face Tottenham on Thursday, with eight games left, Forest are within touching distance of reaching the Champions League for the first time since 1980-81.

Just a year after battling to narrowly avoid relegation, Forest are enjoying an unexpected fairytale season that also includes progressing to the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 34 years.

Although his players were drained by Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Brighton, which they won on penalties after extra-time, Nuno said Forest would adopt a “no excuses” policy against United.

Despite the absences of leading scorer Chris Wood and winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, Forest rose to Nuno’s challenge.

Forest have completed their first league double over United since 1991-92.

The last time they avoided defeat against the Old Trafford club twice in the league in a single season was 1994-95, when they finished third.

It was a first defeat in eight games in all competitions for United, who still haven’t won successive league matches this term.

United won at Leicester in their last game before the international break — their second consecutive victory after beating Real Sociedad 4-1 in the Europa League.

But they reverted to the spluttering form that has frustrated Ruben Amorim since his arrival in November, leaving them languishing in 13th place ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester City.

– Dream season –

In a raucous atmosphere by the banks of the River Trent, Elanga raised the decibel level even louder with his memorable strike in the fifth minute.

When United failed to make the most of a corner, Elanga seized possession deep inside his own half and launched a blistering break, covering 85 metres in just nine seconds.

With United’s under-manned defence fatally backing off too long, Elanga shrugged off Alejandro Garnacho’s tackle, advanced to the edge of the area and drilled a fine low finish past Andre Onana.

Only lowly Leicester have conceded the opening goal more often than United among Premier League sides this season.

Amorim’s men almost mounted an immediate response through Bruno Fernandes, but his header from Diogo Dalot’s pin-point cross was straight at Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

Casemiro wasted an even better chance to equalise when the Brazilian headed wide from Fernandes’ corner.

Dalot was inches away from hauling United level, the defender meeting a corner with a looping header that hit the bar and fell to Matthijs de Ligt, whose attempt from the rebound was saved by Sels.

Amorim sent on Rasmus Hojlund at half-time, but the much-maligned striker did little to improve United’s cutting edge.

Garnacho carried more menace, curling just over from long range and then smashing a 25-yard blast past the post.

On his first United appearance in 2025, injury-plagued Mason Mount fired narrowly wide before Harry Maguire’s close-range effort was cleared off the line by Murillo as Forest celebrated another memorable moment in their dream season.

AFP

Sports

Fernandez Named In Scottish Premiership Team Of The Season

Published

5 days ago

April 17, 2026

Editor

Emmanuel Fernandez has been named in the Scottish Premiership Team of the Season, according to DAILY POST.

Fernandez was recognised by his fellow professionals for an outstanding campaign at the the heart of the Rangers defence.

The 24-year-old has made 28 appearances across all competitions for the Light Blues.

The centre-back is the only Rangers players in the selection.

He arrived the Ibrox from English League One club, Peterborough United last summer.

The defender also made his debut for Nigeria against Iran last month.

Sports

Super Eagles: How I Chose Nigeria Over England – Iwobi Opens Up

Published

5 days ago

April 17, 2026

Editor

Alex Iwobi, has talked about how he chose to play for the Super Eagles.

On the Beast Mode On podcast, Iwobi talked about how former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger told him to think carefully about his choices, like maybe waiting to play for England’s senior team.

Although Iwobi played for England in various youth teams, his development slowed because he didn’t get much chance to play for Arsenal’s main team.

However, his career changed when Nigeria invited him to join their Olympic team. After talking with his family, Iwobi decided to look into the opportunity.

He said, “I began playing for Nigeria when I was 19. I was playing for the England Under-16, Under-17, and Under-18 teams, but then my opportunities slowed down because I wasn’t getting regular first-team action at Arsenal, which is tough.

“Everyone else who played for the England U21 team was usually playing first-team football in the Championship or League One regularly, starting games and building their reputation. And I wasn’t really that person back then.

“Then I started playing for Arsenal. At that time, Gareth Southgate was the manager of the U21 team. The Arsenal first-team manager talked to him and said, ‘We are considering bringing you up to the first team, but we want you to play for the U21s.’

“That’s when Nigeria got in touch, saying they wanted him to play in the Olympics. I talked to my dad and uncle, and they said at least give Nigeria a try. If you don’t enjoy the training or the facilities, you can just say you tried it out.”

The former Everton midfielder talked about his first experiences in the Nigerian team, mentioning that the conditions were basic but that he felt a strong sense of being part of the group.

“I then went to Nigeria… you have to wash your own kit. The pitch was half grass, and the AstroTurf was outside the playing area, as if it had just been set up. The coach, if you make one bad pass, he’ll say, ‘What’s wrong with you now?’ I remember one guy passed the ball off the pitch and they made him run two laps. I was thinking, “This is mad.”

“I was having a good time. The food was clearly jollof rice; we had yam and egg for breakfast. I just felt I was at home. I hadn’t even established a reputation at Arsenal, but they already knew about me. I was stopped at the airport and celebrated. The love for the game was high.”

The key moment happened when he got called up for a match against Egypt.
Wenger, according to Iwobi, let him make the final decision.

“I was still working on getting the FIFA clearance sorted. I wasn’t able to play in the knockout games to get a spot in the Olympics, but I still went to watch and be part of the team. The away fans came with instruments and started making a lot of noise. I felt like I was back home—this is where I’m meant to be,” he said.

“There came a point when I was needed for Nigeria’s senior team, so they invited me to play against Egypt. Wenger said, ‘What do you want to do? You can delay it so you can think about England, or you can go and represent Nigeria.’

“Because of the experience I had, I wanted to go and represent Nigeria. He (Wenger) said they would support me and wished me all the best.

“I enjoy playing for England because the team has a strict system, stays disciplined, and has some of the top players in the world. But Nigeria is always fun. You never know if something will turn out well or not.”

Iwobi first played for the Super Eagles in October 2015, during a friendly match against the DR Congo national team in Visé, Belgium.

Since that time, he has become an important player for Nigeria, playing 98 matches and scoring 10 goals.

Sports

EPL: Arteta Confirms Two Arsenal Players That Will Miss Man City Clash

Published

5 days ago

April 17, 2026

Editor

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has revealed Bukayo Saka will be unavailable for their Premier League trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

Saka has been out of action since the Gunners lost 2-0 to the Gunners in the Carabao Cup on March 22.

The 24-year-old winger is yet to recover from a suspected achilles problem and will not face City this weekend.

Mikel Merino will also not make a return from a broken foot, even though he is no longer wearing a protective boot.

“Bukayo is out. That is for sure,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.

“With B, we are handling it to protect the play first of all and then to perform as well as he possibly can.

“He’s just starting to do some stuff so let’s see that progression, how quickly we can go through it and then wait. But at the moment it’s not available.

“Bukayo is out, that’s for sure, Mikel is out as well.

“We will have a solution, whatever happens. We are so used to this, this season. Whatever happens, we will have the right solution.”