Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun has announced the appointment of Tobi Amusan as Youth Ambassador in Ogun State together with a donation of a house and five million Naira in recognition of her historic achievements in global athletics.

Amusan made history in July as the first Nigerian track and field athlete to win a world outdoor title when she stormed home first in the 100m hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA.

She is also the first Nigerian athlete to set a world outdoor record after scorching to a 12.12 seconds finish at the semifinal stage at the championships.

The 25 year old has had a rollercoaster year in the sport as she triumphed in all the major competitions she participated in in the outgoing year.

She began her season with the successful defence of her African Championships title and only missed setting a new Championships record by an illegal tail wind.

Amusan returned home from Mauritus, venue of the African Championships to break the Nigerian Championships 100m hurdles record, running 12.54 seconds to consign to history book the 12.63 seconds Angela Atede ran in Lagos in 1997.

This was preceded by the petite high hurdler’s breaking of her 12.42 seconds African record at the Paris Diamond League meeting.

The Nigerian proceeded to the World Champioinships where she achieved legendary status with her historic win and run.

She returned to the Commonwealth Games stage thereafter to set a new 12.30 seconds Games record on her way to becoming the first Nigerian track and field athlete to successfully defend a Commonwealth Games title.

Amusan ended her season with another successful defence of the Diamond League title she first won last year.

Alex Iwobi opened his Premier League goal account for the season and the Nigerian chose man United, a team he has neither scored nor bagged an assist against in his previous 11 games to do so.

The 26 year old Nigeria international has been in fine form for the Toffees and his goal was a reward for his performances so far this season.

The Nigerian pounced when Casemiro lost possession inside Manchester United’s half at the Goodison Park, drives forward and bends a beautiful effort high into the top corner past David De Gea.

The sixth minute goal lasted for only 11 minutes as Anthony Santos drew man United level.

Bruno Fernandes robs Idrissa Gana Gueye of the ball on the halfway line and slips in Diogo Dalot who moves forward with pace. Dalot plays in Antony to the right who opens his body, and dinks past Jordan Pickford.

The Brazilian has now become the first Man United player to ever score in their first three Premier League matches – a stunning record for the new arrival to break!

Eberechi Eze scored a fine goal as Crystal Palace came from behind to beat Leeds at Selhurst Park and end their winless run in the Premier League.

The visitors had deservedly taken the lead early on when Pascal Struijk drove in after Brenden Aaronson hit the post following excellent work inside the box.

Crystal Palace were struggling to impose themselves and Patrick Bamford, making his first Leeds start since August, forced a save out of Vicente Guaita.

But the hosts equalised midway through the first half when Odsonne Edouard headed in from Michael Olise’s free-kick.

Jordan Ayew was unable to put Palace ahead in the second half when he appeared in on goal, only for Rasmus Kristensen to make an excellent last-ditch challenge.

But Eze secured the three points with a superb individual strike, running across the edge of the area before firing low into the back of the net.

The win – Palace’s first in five Premier League games – moves them up to 15th and three points clear of the relegation zone, level on nine points with Leeds, who are 14th.

Palace started the day in a relatively precarious position, just one point above the bottom three after winning one of their first seven league games.

The caveat, however, was that they had faced four of the traditional ‘big six’ in that run, so boss Patrick Vieira would have looked to this game as more of an indicator of how they could perform this season.

Initially, the assessment would have been concerning as they struggled to cope with the Leeds press, making sloppy mistakes at the back while passes went astray.

But the Eagles improved after getting the equaliser, and in the end were good value for their win.

While Eze will take the headlines for his excellent goal, just as important to the victory was centre-back Joachim Andersen, who almost singlehandedly repelled anything the visitors had to offer in the second half.After avoiding relegation on the final day of last term, Leeds are hoping for a less stressful time in what is boss Jesse Marsch’s first full season in charge.

The West Yorkshire side made an excellent start to the campaign with wins against Wolves and Chelsea in their first three games, but they are now without a win since late August.

They began this match in dominant form as Palace struggled to deal with them, with Aaronson looking lively and Bamford sharp on his return to the starting XI.

But set pieces have been a point of concern, and once again they were Leeds’ undoing as they failed to pick up Edouard for Olise’s free-kick.

Since the start of last season, they have conceded 20 goals from set pieces, with only Southampton (21), Everton (23) and Leicester (25) letting in more.

After conceding the equaliser, Leeds rarely looked like scoring again as their struggles on the road continued, and they have now taken just one point in four away games so far this season.

Carney Chukwuemeka was thrilled to make his Chelsea debut in victory over Wolves.

With less than five minutes to go, Chukwuemeka took his first steps onto the pitch as a Chelsea player and made his debut for the club. His league debut came two years ago for Aston Villa, and he made 12 appearances last season as well. But this was Chelsea.

“It feels amazing,” he said afterwards. “I’ve dreamed of playing for the club I supported growing up, so for it to happen is a dream come true.

“I thank God, all my team-mates, my family and the gaffer for trusting me. Hopefully it’s the first of many. The Chelsea fans have been really supporting me since I joined the club and the reception from them today definitely gave me a boost.

“Before coming on he [Graham Potter] told me to express myself, to play how I have been in training and to play with a smile on myself. I think I did that so it was good.”

Holders Wydad Casablanca of Morocco lost 2-1 to Nigerian champions, Rivers United at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt on Sunday night.

The CAF Champions League first round, first leg tie lived up to expectations with both teams contributing to the spectacle.

Senegal forward, Bouly Junior Sambou gave Wydad the lead on 32 minutes.

The lead lasted only two minutes before Malachi Ohawume levelled for the hosts.

Ghanaian midfielder, Paul Acquah put Rivers United in front for the time in the game with a clinical finish in the 53rd minute.

The reverse fixture will take place in Casablanca next week Friday.

Nigeria’s other representative in the competition, Plateau United also rallied back to beat Tunisian club, Esperance, 2-1 at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

Esperance took the lead on 27 minutes through Anice Badri.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel equalised for the home team in the 34th minute after the Tunisians failed to deal with Daniel Itodo’s long throw-in.

Mustapha Yuga netted the winning goal late in the first half.

The second leg is billed for next week Sunday in Tunis

Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has said “a couple of things went against us” as they lost 3-2 to Arsenal on Sunday.

The Reds went behind after 75 seconds, as Gabriel Martinelli finished off Martin Odegaard’s pass.

Darwin Nunez made it 1-1, but Bukayo Saka gave the Gunners the lead with the last kick of the half.

Although Roberto Firmino pulled one back in the second half, Saka’s penalty won it for Mikel Arteta’s men.

“We created, we were really dangerous, we scored our goal, wonderful goal. Then concede last second of the first half. Obviously we made a mistake, counter attack is the goal.

“We wanted to carry on the good stuff but unfortunately we didn’t do that. We equalised, it was a really open game then. The situation around the penalty of course we should have cleared it.

“Couple of things went against us but we are not blind, we see we could have done better in moments. We caused them a lot of problems but stand here with no points,” Klopp told BBC Sport.

The result means Liverpool are now 14 points behind leaders Arsenal on the table.

Mikel Arteta’s men again climb above Manchester City, one more point above the champions.

Arsenal confirmed their new status as Premier League contenders with a gutsy win over Liverpool on Sunday

Arsenal’s prominence in the 2022/23 English Premier League season was confirmed on Sunday when the Gunners defeated Liverpool 3-2 at the Emirates.

The celebrations from Mikel Arteta, the crowd, and the Arsenal players at the end proved what a big test they had passed by defeating Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team—which won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020.

Arsenal had not won a Premier League match against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team since July 2020, when they won 2-1, and in the last five meetings in all competitions before Sunday’s match, the Gunners had failed to score while conceding 11.

On Sunday, however, Gabriel Martinelli gave Arsenal the lead right away, and Arteta’s men did not look back.

Klopp started the same 11 that beat Rangers 2-0 in the Champions League in midweek, but Trent Alexander-recent Arnold’s weaknesses on the right flank were exposed right away as Martinelli had a free run into the Liverpool box to beat Alisson.

Darwin Nunez equalised for the Reds after a sustained period of possession and a mistake from Gabriel Magalhaes and Luis Diaz got ahead of William Saliba to cross for Nunez to poke past Aaron Ramsdale. Diaz went off injured, with Roberto Firmino coming on in the 42nd minute.

Arsenal wrestled back the possession and struck on the cusp of halftime through Bukayo Saka, who capped a flowing counterattack instigated by Martinelli.

Against the run of play, Firmino equalised in the 54th minute and when it looked like both teams would settle for a draw, referee Anthony Taylor awarded Arsenal a penalty for a foul on Gabriel Jesus by Thiago. Liverpool felt harshly treated, but after a VAR check, the kick was taken by Saka, who stroked the ball to Alisson’s right to cap a wonderful evening.

Arsenal followed up their 3-1 win over Tottenham with another statement win and are back on top of the league table with 24 points from nine matches, 14 points better off than Liverpool whose early season wobble has become a major worry for the fans.

While Rivers United and Plateau United won 2-1, Kwara United take a two-goal lead into the second leg

The three Nigerian clubs on the continent staged dramatic comeback victories over their respective opponents on Sunday in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.

While Rivers United and Plateau United won 2-1, Kwara United will take a two-goal lead to Morocco for the second leg.

Kwara United came from a goal down to defeat Confederations Cup defending Champions, RS Berkane, 3-1 in a dramatic encounter at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos.

Second-half goals from substitutes Taofeek Ahmed, Wasiu Jimoh, and Barnabas Daniel handed the Afonja Warriors a victory over Berkane who got an early goal from Cheick Ouattara.

It took the visitors just seven minutes to break the silence after Ouattara’s header from a corner beat Adewale Adeyinka.

Chisom Samuel’s chance to draw the home team level from a long-range shot went off target a minute later. Berkane, who settled fastest, almost scored a second goal through Burkinabe defender, Dayo Issoufou, but the shot went wide in the 11th minute.

Two minutes later, another attempt by Jimoh’s shot was saved by Goalkeeper Hamza Hamdani.

Berkane kept frustrating the hosts with a rigid defence as another attempt from Jimoh was parried for a corner kick after he had earlier saved Jide Fatokun’s header in the 26th minute.

Berkane missed a great chance to double their lead through Adama Ba, who received a pass from Ouatarra in the 44th minute.

The second half breathed new life into the Afonja Warriors who came back with two goals.

At the start of the second half, Kwara United sent on Ayobami Junior and Taofeek Ahmed for Chisom Samuel and Paul Samson, respectively.

In the 57th minute, the combination of Taofeek and Ayobami produced a chance that smashed against the woodwork.

Taofeek made another attempt in the 68th minute from Jimoh’s pass, but the ball went wide.

Their efforts eventually paid off four minutes later with a Taofeek strike off Issa Gata’s assist.

Kwara United then added two more goals in the 79th and 87th minutes from the duo of Jimoh and Barnabas Daniel.

Elsewhere, Esperance were punished by Plateau United 2-1 at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja.

Plateau who came back from Badri’s 27th-minute goal struck back with first-half replies from Ifeanyi Emmanuel and Mustapha Ibrahim.

The Peace Boys didn’t take long before restoring parity as Emmanuel connected a header to Daniel Itodo’s long throw in the 35th minute.

Ten minutes later, Daniel Itodo again provided another assist via a long throw for Mustapha Ibrahim, who scored Plateau United’s second off another header.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers United stunned Champions League defending Champions, Wydad Casablanca, in a comeback 2-1 victory.

First-half and second-half goals from Malachi Ohawume and Paul Acquah, were enough to take the win as Bouly Sambou got the consolation for the visitors.

Sambou opened the goal chart for Wydad from a 33rd-minute tap-in. Two minutes later, Rivers United equalised through Ohawume. Rivers United took the lead eight minutes into the second half from Acquah’s finish.

All the return legs are scheduled for next weekend.

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has commended the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Nigeria Cricket Federation(NCF) for the excellent organisation of the just concluded ICC Under 19 Men Africa Division 2 World Cup Qualifier held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

The minister said the pace and the dedication of the NCF to youth development and facility upgrade are commendable.

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has commended the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) for the excellent organisation of the just concluded ICC Under 19 Men Africa Division 2 World Cup Qualifier held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the qualifier on Saturday, Mr Dare praised the NCF for being a focused and strategic federation that is carrying out the vision of the government for sports development to the letter.

He said the pace and the dedication of the NCF to youth development and facility upgrade are commendable, stating particularly that he is impressed with the investment in and upgrade of the twin cricket ovals at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

Mr Dare said: “The facility here and what it means to sports development, especially cricket is a major win for the country and I commend the Nigeria Cricket Federation  for the vision and the investment. I also commend the ICC for the quality of administration and the trust in Nigeria to host this event. We look forward to working with them on the development of the game in Nigeria.”

The minister encouraged the Nigerian U19 team who lost the keenly contested final of the qualifier to Kenya to bounce back from the loss and put the lessons learned from it to good use during next year’s Division 1 World Cup playoffs in South Africa.

Kenya, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone will join Uganda, Tanzania, and Namibia in next year’s U19 Cricket World Cup playoffs in South Africa.

President of Nigeria Football Federation,  Ibrahim Musa Gusau has challenged Rivers United, Plateau United and Kwara United to ensure progress into the group stages of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup respectively, following battling performances against North African opponents in Nigeria on Sunday.

All three clubs came from behind to win their matches, with Confederation Cup contenders Kwara United trouncing Cup holders RS Berkane of Morocco 3-1 at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos. Plateau United and Rivers United, in the CAF Champions League, edged Esperance of Tunisia and Cup holders Wydad Casablanca of Morocco 2-1 in Abuja and Port Harcourt respectively.

“Our teams have done well in the first leg matches, but I want them to go all out in the return games because North African playgrounds are usually difficult ones for most teams. They showed the Nigerian spirit in an excellent way to come from behind and win their matches at home, but they will need to show this spirit in an even more pronounced manner in the second leg matches.

“The NFF is backing all three teams to reach the lucrative group stages of their competitions,” said Gusau who, in company with Plateau State Governor, Rt. Hon. Simon Lalong and Youth and Sports Minister, Hon. Sunday Dare watched Plateau United come from a goal down to defeat the Blood and Gold at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja. Both teams meet in Tunis next week.

Kwara United were a goal down to Cup holders RS Berkane after only seven minutes in Lagos, but they flowed with strong current in the second period at the arena formerly known as Onikan waterfront.

Rivers United also played manfully against one of the most experienced campaigners in African club football and got a narrow win that could stand for something when both teams clash again at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca next week.