Sports
Kano Pillars Risk LMC Sanction
The League organisers are set to make a announcement on the ugly scenes which marred the playoff tie between Sai Masu Gida and the Flying Antelopes
The League Management Company (LMC) has stated that it is still comparing the notes of the match officials and others in connection with the Enugu Rangers and Kano Pillars fixture in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) Championship playoffs, which was marred by crowd violence on Monday.
The LMC opined that appropriate sanctions will be meted out to all those that directly or indirectly have a connection with the fracas at the Agege Stadium, Lagos shortly after the league encounter had ended in a 1-1 draw.
The matchday four Super Six game had ended peacefully, but fans allegedly loyal to Kano Pillars invaded the pitch at the end of game and hurled different types of objects towards the match officials and others in the stands.
The disgruntled fans are believed to have been protesting over the handling of the game by referee Adebimpe Quadri.
The problemw started when Quadri awarded a late penalty kick to the Flying Antelopes for the foul on Enugu Rangers’ Ifeanyi Egwin and a handball in the 18 yards box.
Rangers’ Godwin Aguda coolly slotted the spot kick in the 90th minute to cancel out the 58th-minute free-kick from Kano Pillars’ Rabiu Ali.
At the sound of the referee’s final whistle, Ali – who had earlier contested almost all of the referee’s calls which didn’t favour his team during the game – went straight to the referee and appeared to want to assault him, but he was repelled by some of his teammates who prevented him from getting closer to the official.
It was his continuous remonstration with the referee that irked the alleged Pillars fans, and they ran to the pitch in numbers in an attempt to accost the centre referee in solidarity with Ali, who they consider a cult hero.
The fans tore the dashboards at pitch-side into shreds and hurled them, and other objects, at the match officials and others in sight at the VIP section, and wanted to break through the barricade to gain entrance into the referees’ changing room.
The crowd was then overpowered by the security after some fans were injured.
A top official of the LMC, who craves anonymity, informed Tidesport source that the league body has begun an inquiry into the crowd violence and that the video and other evidence which could help the body in making an unbiased judgement are presently being studied, and that a pronouncement on it will be made very soon.
The official noted that Kano Pillars skipper Ali, and a few others in the club, have a case to answer for, but that they want to exhaust all the evidence before them before a decision is made to serve as a deterrent in future matches.
“We are going through the match report of all those that were involved in Monday’s game from the match commissioner to the referees and we are comparing that with the video footage available to us,” the official told Tidesports source.
Pep Guardiola has denied that Manchester City spent big in January in case the club are hit with a transfer embargo for alleged Premier League financial rule breaches.
City splashed out around £170 million ($211 million) on Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez before Monday’s transfer deadline.
They are much-needed reinforcements for a side who are well off the pace in the Premier League and who just scraped into the Champions League play-offs.
Guardiola, whose side edged third-tier Leyton Orient in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, was asked whether the club’s striking outlay was triggered by the possibility they would be hit by a transfer ban.
Brighton came from behind to beat Chelsea and reach the fifth round of the FA Cup.
The Blues took a fortunate lead early on when Cole Palmer’s volleyed cross from the left was fumbled into his own net by Bart Verbruggen.
But Albion came back and Georginio Rutter headed in from Joel Veltman’s cross.
And they took the lead when Rutter picked out Kaoru Mitoma, the subject of a rejected £54m bid from Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr before the transfer deadline, who dinked the ball over Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea felt the goal should have been disallowed, as the ball struck Tariq Lamptey’s arm in the build-up, though there are no video assistant referees in the FA Cup fourth round.
Those goals came from Albion’s only shots in the first 60 minutes.
Plymouth Argyle produced a classic FA Cup giant-killing as the Championship’s bottom club stunned Premier League leaders Liverpool at a raucous Home Park.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot made 10 changes from the side that swept Tottenham aside to reach the Carabao Cup final and paid the price as Plymouth made the most of the opportunity to secure a place in the fifth round.
A scrappy tie came to life eight minutes after the interval when Plymouth were awarded a penalty after Harvey Elliott’s handball, Ryan Hardie drilling home the spot-kick in emphatic fashion.
Hardie almost added a second shortly afterwards when his shot was turned on to the post by Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Liverpool applied some pressure in the closing stages, keeper Conor Hazard saving superbly from Diogo Jota then miraculously from substitute Darwin Nunez’s header, but Plymouth closed out a landmark win under new manager Miron Muslic.
Plymouth’s atmospheric Home Park erupted with a deafening roar as the final whistle sounded on a victory they will recall forever in Devon.
The sinking of Liverpool was a triumph for Plymouth’s charismatic manager Muslic, who has won the hearts of the ‘Green Army’ since succeeding the sacked Wayne Rooney.
In a stunning atmosphere, Plymouth sensed their chance when Liverpool’s teamsheet landed, with stellar names such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk not even on the bench.
Plymouth, as they had to, made the tie a scrap and then the decisive moment came when Elliott needlessly handled, allowing Hardie to assume the role of match-winner.
And they found a hero in keeper Hazard in those closing moments as he saved from Jota, then miraculously from Nunez’s header.
The main priority remains survival in the Championship, but the FA Cup demonstrated its enduring magic by producing a result that Plymouth hope will help their fight to stay up
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