Monday, April 27, 2015
Mikel Obi Enjoys Bicycle Ride With His Russian WAG
Super Eagles midfielder John Obi seems to be enjoying his injury-free self as he enjoys a bicycle ride with his Russian girlfriend Olga Diyachenko.
Olga who is reportedly engaged to the Chelsea midfielder took to her Instagram to post a photo of both of them enjoying a bicycle ride together. "Swim, jog, cycle... We are so triathlon ready!," she wrote alongside the photo.
Olga Diyachencko reportedly met Mikel in London where her millionaire father runs a chain of businesses. She is also reportedly related to Chelsea's Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich.
Ibrahimovic Gets Another Beautiful Edifice Named After Him
The Zlatan Suite in Clarion Hotel, Malmo, Sweden |
Zlatan
Ibrahimovic has attained almost godlike status in his home city of Malmo and now one
hotel has paid him the ultimate compliment by rebranding their presidential
suite as ‘The Zlatan Suite’.
The Clarion
Hotel’s gigantic 1,076 square-foot suite, which has ‘monstrous views’ of the
harbour opens on May 2 and will have portraits of the Paris Saint-Germain
striker adorning its walls.
However, if
guests want to experience a slice of Zlatan-related culture then they will have
to dig deep in their pockets. One night in the Ibra-like shrine will set you back £690 i.e. (About N210k)
Hazard And Kane Scoop 2014/15 PFA Awards, stars in PFA team, while Fabregas and Aguero are left out
The 24-year-old Belgian poses with the trophy after collecting the gong at a glittering award ceremony at London's Grosvenor Hotel |
Didier Drogba posted this picture on Instagram of Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Hazard, John Terry and Cesc Fabregas |
Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard was the toast of the English game as he carried off the PFA Player of the Year award.
The
24-year-old Belgian has scored 18 goals across all competitions for his
club this season, helping the Blues win the Capital One Cup and putting
them on the brink of a first Premier League title since 2010.
Hazard has dazzled for Chelsea this season as the Blues look certain to
win the first Premier League title of Jose Mourinho's second stint |
Hazard (front) skips past the challenge of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney as the Chelsea man launches another attack prior to scoring the only goal of the game |
He was rewarded for his sterling performances with the top individual award of the night at the Grosvenor Hotel in London.
Victory in their next two games - at Leicester and at home to Crystal Palace - would see Chelsea wrap up the championship
He took the Young Player of the Year prize 12 months ago, and has rapidly progressed to the top award.
Hazard's goal last weekend earned Jose Mourinho's men a 1-0 win over Manchester United.
He picked out that moment as one of his best of the campaign.
Asked to describe his season in a single word, Hazard struggled.
'I don't want to say 'amazing' because it is not finished yet - maybe amazing!' he said.
Mourinho has long sung the praises of the
24-year-old, believing he is rivalled by only Lionel Messi and Cristiano
Ronaldo in the global order.
Hazard has already won silverware this season, with the brilliant Belgian clutching the Capital One Cup with countryman Thibaut Courtois |
The PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the 2014-15 season was announced ahead of Hazard being named Player of the Year |
Hazard was
earlier on Sunday named in the PFA Premier League team of the year - for
the third time in his three seasons in England.
He
was one of six Blues players in the XI, along with captain John Terry,
Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa.
Harry Kane capped a tremendous breakout season by walking away with the Young Player of the Year award |
Kane was only handed a starting spot by Spurs in November, with the 21-year-old hitting 30 goals in all competitions this season also scoring on his debut for England |
Tottenham's Harry Kane - the only English
attacking player in the team of the season - took the 2014/15 Young
Player of the Year award.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed a remarkable
rise to stardom, scoring 30 goals for Spurs in all competitions this
term despite not being given a regular starting slot until November.
Ji So-yun (left) won the PFA Women's Player of the Year, while Leah Williamson won the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year
Elsewhere, Ji So-yun of Chelsea Ladies won the PFA Women's Player of the Year, while Leah Williamson of Arsenal Ladies won the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year.
WRAPPED UP! Bayern Clinch Record 25th Title In Germany
Bayern Munich clinched their third consecutive Bundesliga title courtesy of Wolfsburg's 1-0 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach.
Pep Guardiola's side beat Hertha Berlin 1-0 on Saturday to put them within sight of the title. Wolfsburg had to beat Gladbach, who move up to third, to make Bayern wait another week for their 25th title, but lost to an injury-time Max Kruse goal. Treble-chasing Bayern are in the Champions League and German Cup semis.
They will have little time to celebrate this success as they face rivals Borussia Dortmund in the last four of the domestic cup on Tuesday. Bayern are bidding for their third consecutive domestic double, and second treble in three years.
Guardiola has won five domestic titles in his six years as a manager; three out of four with Barcelona and now two in two for Bayern. The Bavarians face Barca in the Champions League semi-finals in May.
Europe Review: PSG Put Six Past Enyeama, Aubamenyang Scores, Premier league action Plus More!
Team mates celebrate Lavezzi's goal |
Winger
Ezequiel
Lavezzi grabbed a hat trick and striker Edinson Cavani scored twice as
Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from its lackluster performance against
Barcelona by thrashing Lille 6-1 which had Super Eagles captain Vincent
Enyeama in goal to move three points ahead of Lyon at the top
of the French league on Saturday.
PSG also
boosted its goal difference to close that gap on Lyon, which has a marginally
better goal difference but Lyon moved back to the top after a win away at Reims on
Sunday. Though PSG still has a game in hand.
PSG will be
looking to plunder more goals on Tuesday when it plays its game in hand at home
to 19th-place Metz.
Borussia
Dortmund winger Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored an audacious penalty and set
up another goal in a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to keep
their Europa League hopes alive.
The Gabon
international took over the penalty duties with Marco Reus on the bench and
chipped his 24th minute spot kick down the middle of the goal with keeper Kevin
Trapp diving early.
He then
charged down the wing and cut back for Shinji Kagawa to tap in as Dortmund,
last season's runners-up, moved up to eighth place on 39 points, three behind
Augsburg in sixth with four games left in the season.
Pinzi holds the ball well against AC Milan |
Second-half
goals by Giampiero Pinzi and Emmanuel Badu gave Udinese a 2-1 win over Milan in
Serie A on Saturday, further diminishing their slim hopes of playing in
European competition next season.
Milan moved down to
ninth on the log after an unexpected loss at Udinese with 43 points and six games to go, six points adrift of
sixth-placed Fiorentina who also more surprisingly lost at home to relegation threatened Cagliari. Udinese dominated from the start with Antonio Di Natale testing goalkeeper Diego Lopez's reflexes after 42 seconds.
Antoine Griezmann celebrates another goal for Atletico |
Antoine
Griezmann took his Liga tally for the season to 21 with a double as Atletico
Madrid bounced back from Champions League disappointment to beat Elche 3-0.
Diego Simeone’s side suffered defeat to rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, and looked somewhat lethargic early on in the first half - as Atletico struggled to contain Elche on the counter attack.
The Argentine coach watched from the stands after being sent from the touchline in Atletico’s last Liga game against Deportivo La Coruna.
Diego Simeone’s side suffered defeat to rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, and looked somewhat lethargic early on in the first half - as Atletico struggled to contain Elche on the counter attack.
The Argentine coach watched from the stands after being sent from the touchline in Atletico’s last Liga game against Deportivo La Coruna.
Barcelona and Real Madrid continued their excellent form and tight
race for the liga tittle with respective wins in their Spanish primera
league matches defeating Espanyol and Celta Vigo respectively. Neymar and Messi were the goalscorers as Barcelona ran out two nil winners with both teams receiving a red card each.
Messi celebrates his goal |
Hernandez celebrates another goal for Real |
And Javier Hernandez continued his first team starts with two goals on Sunday as Real saw of the threat of Celta Vigo to remain in contention for the Primera liga tittle.
In the premier league, Tottenham managed to hold Southampton to a draw as both teams played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Gabriel Pelle scoring a brace for Southampton. Four other matches in the Premier league also ended in draws this weekend with Liverpool - Westbrom among them, so also the highly anticipated Arsenal vs Chelsea match. The match ended in an anti-climax with neither team able to break the deadlock. So Arsene Wenger still continues to search for that much needed win over counter-part Jose Mourinho.
But the biggest talking point remain the total demolition of Manchester United by Everton at Goodison Park.
Goals from James McCarthy, John Stones and
Kevin Mirallas condemned United to their third successive Premier
League loss at Goodison Park as well putting their hopes of a top-four
finish at risk.Man United players looking Hapless as their team is mauled by Everton |
United coach, Louis Van Gaal looking on helplessly as his team fall to another defeat at the weekend |
But the biggest talking point remain the total demolition of Manchester United by Everton at Goodison Park.
United need to step up their game in the few remaining matches to be able to confirm eligibility for Europe's elite club competition.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Chelsea fans called 'The C-Team' storm Emirates Stadium to turn Arsenal sign blue ahead of London derby
The group of prankster called themselves the 'C-Team' as they carried out their 'mission' |
The four practical jokers carry the blue and white letters as they look to make their mark in north London |
The group of Chelsea fans set off blue smoke bombs and covered the Arsenal sign outside the Emirates |
One of the men, wearing a Diego Costa mask, celebrates as blue smoke hits the red side of London |
A man in a Jose Mourinho mask looks to the camera during the Chelsea Fans Channel prank |
A group of
Chelsea fans stormed Arsenal's Emirates Stadium this week in a
lighthearted attempt to lay a blue marker down as the Premier League
clubs prepare to do battle on Sunday.
The
four fans labelled themselves the 'C-Team' while wearing Jose Mourinho,
Diego Costa, Didier Drogba and Cesc Fabregas masks to hide their
identity before parking up outside Arsenal's north London home.
As
the famous A-Team soundtrack kicks in, a narrator claims: 'In 2004, a
Portuguese general known as the special one put together a crack
commando unit.
Unfortunately
for the pranksters, their hard work was on show for all of 10 minutes
before club staff came out and took the 'Chelsea' boards down.
The Chelsea Fans Channel prank comes just days before Mourinho's side travel to the Emirates in search of what will be a crucial three points.
The
Blues know victory against Arsenal on Sunday will all-but secure the
Premier League title with Mourinho's side needing two wins from their
next two games.
UEFA Champions League Semi-Final draw
The draw was made at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday morning |
Pep
Guardiola will be reunited with Barcelona after his Bayern Munich were
paired with the Catalan giants in the Champions League semi-finals.
The
manager is to return to the Nou Camp for the first time since leaving
in 2012. Real Madrid face Juventus in the other semi-final.
The first legs will take place on May 5/6 with the returns the following week.
But it is the match-up between Bayern Munich and Barcelona, Coach Pep Guardiola returns to the club where he made his name and that throws up the most exciting prospect.
The Bayern side swept Porto aside this week, hammering them 6-1 after suffering a surprise defeat in the first leg.
Barcelona,
meanwhile, were relentless in their pursuit of a last-four place,
beating Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Paris Saint-Germain comfortably.
Pep Guardiola is to return to the Nou Camp as Bayern Munich face Barcelona in the Champions League |
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique will be going up against their former boss Guardiola in the last four |
Carlo
Ancelotti's Real Madrid side secured their place in the last four by
sneaking past city rivals Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, thanks to Javier
Hernandez's last-gasp winner.
That saw
Real through to the semi-finals for a fifth year in a row, although
Juventus will look to halt their quest to become the first side to
retain the Champions League.
The
'Old Lady' have the best record of all the semi-finalists, having
progressed to the final on seven of their 10 appearances at this
juncture.
This
is the first time Juventus have made the last-four of UEFA's flagship
club competition since 2003, when a Pavel Nedved-inspired side won the
second leg against Real 3-1 - 4-3 on aggregate - overturning a 2-1
first-leg deficit.
Javier Hernandez scored a last-gasp winner for Real Madrid against Atletico to put them into the semi-final |
JUVENTUS vs REAL MADRID -
HEAD TO HEAD
Champions League only:
Juventus wins - 5
Draws - 1
Real Madrid wins - 5
BARCELONA vs BAYERN MUNICH -
HEAD TO HEAD
Overall in Europe:
Barcelona wins - 1
Draws - 2
Bayern Munich wins - 5
Champions League only:
Barcelona wins - 1
Draws - 1
Bayern Munich wins - 4
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Sunderland star charged with having sexual activity with a 15 year old
Adam Johnson leaves Peterlee police station after being charged with three offences of sexual activity |
Johnson was accompanied by his lawyer as the Sunderland winger arrived at the police station on Thursday |
Adam Johnson has been charged with three offences of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl and one of grooming.
The
27-year-old – who answered bail at Peterlee police station in County
Durham on Thursday – will now appear at Peterlee Magistrates Court on
May 20.
A
statement from Durham Police said: ‘Adam Johnson, a professional
footballer aged 27 from Castle Eden, County Durham has this afternoon
been charged with three offences of sexual activity with a child under
16 years old, plus one offence of grooming.
Johnson was
initially arrested on Monday, 2nd March and was charged after he
answered his police bail today (Thursday) at Peterlee police station.
‘He will appear at the magistrates court in Peterlee on the morning of Wednesday, May 20th.’
Gerry
Wareham, CPS Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North East, said he
believed there was a realistic prospect of conviction and it was in the
public interest for him to be charged.
'Following
an investigation by Durham Police, I have today authorised police to
charge Adam Johnson, aged 27, with four offences under the Sexual
Offences Act 2003. The offences are alleged to have been committed on
one girl aged 15 at the time,' he said.
'Adam Johnson was arrested on 2 March this year.
'We
have reviewed the available evidence in accordance with the Code for
Crown Prosecutors and concluded that there is a realistic prospect of
conviction and it is in the public interest to charge Adam Johnson with
one offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, contrary to
Section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and three offences of sexual
activity with a child, contrary to Section 9 of the Sexual Offence Act
2003. The alleged offences date from 30 December 2014 to 26 February
2015.
He was driven to the police station in a silver 4x4 before entering to answer his bail |
Durham Police have charged the defendant accordingly and he is due to appear before Peterlee Magistrates on 20 May.
'May
I remind all concerned that the defendant has a right to a fair trial.
It is very important that there should be no reporting, commentary or
sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these
proceedings.
'I
would also remind people that the complainant in this case is entitled
to lifelong anonymity under the law. For these reasons, it would be
inappropriate for me to comment further.'
The
former England international was suspended by Sunderland pending the
outcome of the police investigation after he was initially arrested at
his £1.85million mansion on March 2 on suspicion of sexual activity with
a 15-year-old girl.
The £1.85million house in the North East where Johnson was arrested in March |
Johnson pictured with his girlfriend Stacey Flounders in 2012 after Manchester City won the Premier League |
The "Little Pea'' settles bitter champions league Madrid derby
The Real Madrid team bus greeted by thousands of supporters outside the ground ahead of kick-off in the European tie |
Fans show their support for the Real Madrid squad as they arrived at the Bernabeu for the UCL match with rivals Atletico |
Diego Simeone and Carlo Ancelotti embrace amid the Madrid derby as both teams went head to head at the Bernabeu |
In the end
it took a Mexican to end this utterly absorbing stand-off, the
irrepressible, if rather unimpressive, Javier Hernandez scoring the goal
that ended almost 180 minutes of deadlock between these fierce city
rivals.
Only
here on loan from Manchester United for a season, it was a goal that
means Hernandez will be adored at the Santiago Bernabeu long after he
has gone.
Chicharito scores the only goal of the two legs in the Champions League quarter-final between the Madrid neighbours |
Hernandez celebrates as he became the hero for Real Madrid late on during the Champions League quarter-final 2nd leg |
Cristiano Ronaldo joins in with the celebrations at the Bernabeu as Hernandez sneaked the winner against their rivals |
But
it was also a reward for ambition over the more conservative approach
of Diego Simeone and his well-drilled side; for the team that enjoyed
twice as much of the ball and the better of the chances that were
created in this tense, niggly Champions League quarter-final tie.
It was hard
to see what Atletico were trying to achieve at times. A victory on
penalties perhaps. But when Arda Turan was dismissed in the 75th minute
for what looked like a harsh second yellow card for a challenge on the
all-too theatrical Sergio Ramos, an opportunity suddenly presented
itself to Real.
Ronaldo reflects after a missed chance during the Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid tie in the Champions League quarter-final second leg |
A
frustrated figure until Atletico were reduced to 10 men, Cristiano
Ronaldo made a jinking, purposeful run into the penalty area before
executing the all-important pass. Hernandez had missed his earlier
chances. One of them a clear cut opening thanks to a wonderful
reverse-pass from Isco. But this time he delivered, the Little Pea
scoring arguably the biggest goal of his career with a sweeping effort
from 12 yards.
Arda Turan is sent off by German referee Felix Brych in the 76th minute as Atletico were forced to play with 10 men |
Turan receives a pat on the back of the head by Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao after the Turkey international was sent off |
In
the starting line-up only because of an injury to Karem Benzema,
Hernandez performed much as he has all season here. Committed and
energetic but just lacking the class of his temporary club-mates.
But
with this contest only two minutes from moving into extra-time,
goalless if far from gutless, Hernandez made no mistake when it mattered
most.
Real Madrid striker Hernandez had been having a frustrating evening for Real Madrid up until his goal in the 88th minute
Hernandez couldn't quite believe how he missed his chance to give Real
Madrid the all-important lead at the Bernabeu before his goal.
Ancelotti
seems to beat Atletico when it matters most. In last year’s Champions
League final. Here on Wednesday night. Seven times already this season
these two teams had met and seven times Real had failed to conquer their
less glamorous neighbours. But there is a reason why Ancelotti is the
only living manager to have lifted the European Cup on three occasions,
and today he is a significant step closer to winning the greatest club
competition of all for an unprecedented fourth time.
But this was
extra special. This was a Madrid derby with a difference and the
deafening roar that greeted the end of the Champions League anthem said
as much. You could barely hear yourself think never mind what the person
sat next to you was saying, and it was no different when Turan was
dismissed and when Hernandez then struck the decisive blow.
For
Ancelotti it must have come as something of a relief after the tactical
juggling he had to perform in the absence of key personnel.
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