Sports
Spurs sack interim head coach Stellini after Newcastle demolition
Tottenham have sacked acting head coach Cristian Stellini and placed Ryan Mason in charge following the club’s 6-1 thrashing at top-four rivals Newcastle.
The Italian stepped up from his role as assistant head coach to replace Antonio Conte until the end of the season when Conte left the club at the end of March, but has not seen an improvement in results with Spurs six points adrift of the Champions League places.
A statement from chairman Daniel Levy read: “Sunday’s performance against Newcastle was wholly unacceptable. It was devastating to see. We can look at many reasons why it happened and whilst myself, the board, the coaches and players must all take collective responsibility, ultimately the responsibility is mine.
“Cristian will leave his current role along with his coaching staff. Cristian stepped in at a difficult point in our season and I want to thank him for the professional manner in which he and his coaching staff have conducted themselves during such a challenging time. We wish him and his staff well.
“Ryan Mason will take over head coach duties with immediate effect. Ryan knows the club and the players well. We shall update further on his coaching staff in due course.
“I met with the player committee today – the squad is determined to pull together to ensure the strongest possible finish to the season. We are all clear we need to deliver performances which earn your amazing support.”
Tottenham are fifth, six points behind third-placed Newcastle and fourth-placed Manchester United, who have games in hand.
Tottenham interim head coach Cristian Stellini said the first 25 minutes of their 6-1 defeat to Newcastle was the worst he had ever seen
The news comes after Stellini switched Spurs to a back four for their trip to top-four rivals Newcastle on Sunday – and saw his side concede five goals in the opening 21 minutes.
After the game he took responsibility for the result, describing the first 25 minutes as the worst he’d ever seen in football.
Sports
Incredible, Ronaldo keeps writing his own scripts – Morgan
British Broadcaster, Piers Morgan has heaped praises on Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo after the forward led his team to beat Scotland in the Nations League on Sunday.
Portugal came from a goal down to beat Scotland 2-1 following Scott McTominay’s goal for the visitors.
Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes scored the goals for the host in Lisbon.
Reacting, Morgan, in a tweet on X after the game, said Ronaldo keeps writing his own scripts, branding the Al Nassr forward as ‘incredible.’
“RONALDO!!!!! His first-ever goal against Scotland. His 901st in professional football,” Morgan tweeted.
“He keeps writing his own scripts. Incredible @Cristiano.”
Sports
Sinner savours US Open win after ‘difficult’ build-up
Jannik Sinner says it “means so much” to win the US Open after a “very difficult” period following the controversy over his positive tests for a banned substance.
The world number one stormed past American Taylor Fritz in Sunday’s final to claim his second Grand Slam of the year.
It was revealed six days before the tournament began that Sinner had been cleared of any wrongdoing after twice testing positive for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol – a steroid that can be used to build muscle mass – in March.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled the Italian was inadvertently contaminated with the substance by Giacomo Naldi, his physiotherapist.
“This title means so much because the last period of my career was not easy,” the 23-year-old said.
“It [the investigation] was and still is on my mind. It’s not that it’s gone, but when I’m on court, I try to handle the situation the best possible way.
“I’m happy how I handled this one. I’m just excited to have this trophy with me.”
Sinner subsequently parted ways with the physio and his fitness trainer – but questions remained about whether Sinner’s case had been handled differently to those of other players because of his status as world number one.
Sinner added he felt “more pressure” in New York than he did when he won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
“Here it was difficult because also the pre-tournament circumstances weren’t easy,” Sinner said.
“I felt like that I have grown, you know, match by match and that my confidence level went higher and higher at some point.”
Sports
Oluwafemiayo wins gold as Nigeria claims 7th medal, set para-powerlifting record
Folashade Oluwafemiayo, the Nigerian athlete, has broken her world record in the women’s over 86kg para-powerlifting category.
The Team Nigeria captain at the 2024 Paris Paralympics ended the country’s participation in the games by winning a gold medal in the para-powerlifting category.
The 39-year-old Tokyo 2020 champion is now the first para-athlete in history to lift 167kg.
Deng Xuemei of China took silver with a 155kg lift while Egypt’s Nadia Ali won the bronze medal with a 145kg lift.
Oluwafemiayo’s achievement brings Nigeria’s overall Paralympic medal to seven — two gold, three silver and two bronze.
Onyinyechi Mark won Nigeria’s first gold medal after outlifting her opponents in the para-powerlifting finals on Friday.
On Wednesday, Esther Nworgu secured the silver medal in the women’s 41kg para-powerlifting event.
Eniola Bolaji also won a bronze medal in the women’s singles SL3 badminton event on September 2.
On Saturday, Flora Ugwunwa won silver for Nigeria in the women’s javelin F54 final while Isau Ogunkunle secured bronze in the para-table tennis category.
Bose Omolayo also won the silver medal in the 79kg para-powerlifting category.
Sports
EPL: Haaland set to replace De Bruyne as highest-paid player
Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland, is set to topple his team-mate, Kevin De Bruyne as the highest-paid player in the Premier League.
According to Marca, Haaland is close to signing a new contract with the champions.
De Bruyne is currently the best-paid player in the English topflight, reportedly taking home £425,000 a week.
As it stands, Haaland’s basic salary is £375,000 per week, which already places him among the club’s top earners.
However, the structure of Haaland’s contract includes a series of performance-related bonuses, which could potentially increase his weekly earnings beyond £850,000.
Nonetheless, the new deal could see him earn €24 million, £20.5m/$27m net per season.
Sports
Lookman, Osimhen score as Nigeria start AFCON qualifiers with win over Benin
Ademola Lookman scored once in each half as the Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated Benin Republic 3-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifying encounter at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Saturday.
The Atalanta winger punished a sleeping Benin defence and was joined on the scoresheet by Victor Osimhen who was a second-half substitute.
The victory is revenge for a 2-1 reversal suffered by the Eagles in Abidjan as interim coach Austin Eguavoen started Nigeria on a good path to Morocco 2025 qualification.
The Super Eagles created the better openings but a combination of wasteful finishing and good goalkeeping denied Nigeria.
Victor Boniface could not find the target when found from corner kick deliveries while Samuel Chukwueze’s free-kick was pushed over the bar by Marcel Dandjinou, Benin’s goalkeeper.
Dandjinou also saved at the feet of Boniface after good work from Lookman on the wing before the Atalanta winger would eventually break the deadlock on the stroke of halftime.
Lookman pounced on a loose ball and dribbled his way into the box before slotting into the bottom corner to ensure Nigeria went into the break 1-0 ahead.
The attacker failed to double the lead after the interval as he could not get a shot away despite dribbling the goalkeeper and the visitors almost made Nigeria pay for the missed chance.
Nwabali, who had expertly tipped a free-kick around the post in the first period, was however on hand to prevent Gernot Rohr’s side from taking the lead with two quick saves to deny Steve Mounie.
The striker’s fierce shot was stopped before another strike was easily gathered by the Chippa United goalkeeper.
A flurry of changes included Osimhen and the crowd favourite did not disappoint. The Galatasaray striker scored a volley into the net for 2-0 to end a six-game drought with the national team.
Lookam completed his brace on 85 minutes to seal the well-deserved win. Nigeria top Group D of the AFCON qualifiers with all three points from the first match of the series, while Benin Rebuplic are rooted to the bottom.
Sports
Nigeria’s Ugwunwa wins silver in Javelin at 2024 Paralympic
Nigeria’s Flora Ugwunwa has won a silver medal in women’s Javelin F54 at the ongoing Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
She finished 2nd in the event with a throw of 19.26m behind Uzbekistan athlete Nurkhon Kurbanova who set a world record with a throw of 21.12m.
Ugwunwa’s feat has made Nigeria rake in the first medal in women’s Javelin category, with a total medal of four so far.
The 40-year-old Nigerian has continued to shine, having now won three consecutive Paralympic medals – two golds (Rio, Tokyo) and now Silver (Paris).
The bronze medal was won by Elham Salehi of Iran who threw 16.24m.
Other athletes who have won medals for Team Nigeria are Onyinyechi Mark, Eniola Bolaji and Esther Nworgu.
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