Sports
UCL: Real Cruise Into Last 16 – As Ronaldo Scored Brace
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as holders Real Madrid thrashed APOEL 6-0 in Cyprus to reach the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, while Liverpool blew a three-goal lead in a thriller at Sevilla.
Zinedine Zidane’s Real bounced back from their 3-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur last time out by crushing APOEL, with four of the goals coming before half-time.
The record 12-time winners had to wait until the 23rd minute to take the lead through Luka Modric, but a run of five goals in 15 minutes either side of half-time sent them through in style.
Karim Benzema put worries about his recent form to bed with a double either side of a Nacho effort, before Ronaldo got in on the act after the break.
The Portuguese climbed highest to power a header into the corner from an inviting Marcelo cross.
And the 32-year-old, who has only scored once in eight La Liga appearances this season, scored his eighth Champions League goal this term with an excellent left-footed finish from a tight angle.
Tottenham sealed top spot in Group H with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Borussia Dortmund.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the hosts ahead, but with Real’s thumping win sending Dortmund out, Spurs levelled through Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min curled in a 76th-minute winner.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur won Champions League Group H after goals from Son Heung-min and Harry Kane brought Spurs back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
Kane and Son struck in 49th and the 76th minutes to take already-qualified Tottenham to 13 points and the Group H summit, after Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had broken his five-game goal drought to give Dortmund the lead in the 31st minute.
Spurs are three points ahead of second-place Real Madrid and are guaranteed to top Group H with a game to spare despite Real’s 6-0 drubbing of APOEL in Nicosia.
Their win in Germany ends Dortmund’s thin hopes of reaching the last 16 and piles pressure on Dortmund’s head coach Peter Bosz, whose team are winless in their last five games.
Dortmund, third but level on two points with bottom club APOEL, must now hope to hold onto a place in the Europa League knock-out stages, when they face Real away in a fortnight while Spurs host APOEL.
Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino made four changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Arsenal at the weekend.
England internationals, Danny Rose and Harry Winks started alongside South Korea forward Son while Serge Aurier slotted in at right-back.
Dortmund boss Bosz brought in French teenager Dan-Axel Zagadou at centre-back, replacing Sokratis, who is out with a rib injury.
Aubameyang returned from a club suspension for coming late to training and an unauthorised video shoot.
Both teams had half chances in the opening 20 minutes, with Dortmund winger Andriy Yarmolenko firing weakly at Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris before Zagadou snuffed out a cross aimed for Kane, who was bursting into Dortmund’s area.
Aubameyang broke his drought when he tucked away the first clear chance after Yarmolenko’s superb backheel put him in behind the defence.
The Gabon hotshot coolly rolled his shot past Lloris on for his first goal since October 14.
Only a superb reflex save by Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki blocked Kane’s volley with half-time approaching, but the England star showed his class when he netted the equaliser four minutes into the second half, pouncing on a mistake after Dortmund right-back Jeremy Toljan lost the ball and tucking his shot past Burki.
Spurs’ tails were up and they took a deserved lead with 14 minutes left when Dele Alli laid the ball into the path of Son, whose side-footed effort hit the top corner of the net.
Only a brave save from Burki denied Tottenham substitute Fernando Llorente from scoring Spurs’ third with time almost up.
Heartland Technical Manager, Emmanuel Amuneke has praised his players for not losing focus at the crucial moment in Sunday’s 2-1 home win over Shooting Stars in a NPFL Matchday 24 fixture in Owerri.
The Naze Millionaires defeated the Oluyole Warriors through Chukwuma Agor and John Bassey goals in the 31st and 88th minutes with Mustapha Adam’s 80th minute spot kick a mere consolation for the visitors.
Amuneke while speaking to journalists shortly after the encounter, said his boys showed the zeal and determination to seal the three points and that despite the shenanigans of the centre referee, Kolawole Emmanuel, the boys were never troubled.l
“We were eager to get the three points and we were aware Shooting Stars are a good side and won’t allow us to have our way easily,” Amuneke told journalists in Owerri.
“We planned for them and almost throughout the entire game, they were never a threat to our team. We were able to control the game from the beginning. It was unfortunate how the game ended. We were just focussed on the three points and we are thrilled we got it. It was a very good game from both sides but we subjected them to constant pressure almost throughout the game.”
While he was asked if he believed his boys could finish the season impressively, Amuneke was evasive but noted that he and his players would continue to work harder.
“Everything in line is possible but we know that nothing happens without hard work. We will continue to work harder and continue to see how we can grow as a team. We have a lot of young players in the team. Some of them just got their topflight breakthrough.
“We didn’t lose focus at the time of the controversies. We continued to do the same thing we have been doing and taking the game to them.”
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, turned the sod of the new Olympic-standard 25,000-capacity Bayelsa Stadium project at Igbogene, Yenagoa, as part of the activities marking the fifth anniversary of the Senator Douye Diri administration.
The former Nigerian leader performed the ground-breaking ceremony as Governor Diri restated his appeal to the federal government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), oil firms operating in the state and the private sector to join hands with his administration to develop sporting talents.
The Federal Government through the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) equally thumped up Governor Diri for initiating the project.
Dr. Jonathan expressed delight over the project, saying as a Bayelsan, he was duty bound to celebrate with the state government for the progress so far achieved.
He lauded Diri’s developmental strides, urging him not to rest on his laurels and that the contractor and the state government should ensure the project met the highest standards.
Jonathan also called on the state and federal governments to set up a sports fund to cater for sportsmen after their active days and encourage younger ones to be involved in sports.
He said: “This is my state and I have to celebrate with the government for the progress so far made. This is an iconic project that will develop the state. Please do not rest on your laurels as we want this stadium to meet the best standards.
“I am happy with the presence of relevant federal government officials. I hope they will guide the state well and support where necessary.
“As a country, we must have a fund to care for sportsmen. The federal and state government can think about it so that the younger generation will be interested in sports.
“I am happy that you gave a target of 24 months and I hope that by that time I will escort President Tinubu to Bayelsa to inaugurate it.”
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has condoled the family of former Nigeria international midfielder, Ayo Ogunlana, who died in Kaduna on Friday after observing his early-morning walk.
NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, showered tributes on the departed midfield pearl, who was a star attraction during a number of important Nigeria FA Cup battles in the 1980s and held sway in the middle for the Super Eagles in the late 1980s, and at the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Algeria.
“We are very sad to learn of the sudden passing of Ayo Ogunlana, only a couple of weeks after the demise of another former Eagle, Moses Effiong (a member of the 1980 AFCON-winning Green Eagles squad, in far-away USA). Ogunlana was a great midfielder who made playing football look so easy with his majestic touches and turns, and his magnificent free-kicks.
“We pray that the Almighty will grant both of them eternal rest and grant the families they have left behind the fortitude to bear the losses.”
Ogunlana was magisterial in the midfield as Nigeria overhauled Guinea and Zimbabwe to qualify for the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations, and was imperial against Cameroon in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Ibadan that the Super Eagles won with an emphatic 2-0. He also played in the 1990 ECOWAS Cup competition that Nigeria hosted in Kaduna.