Manchester United playmaker, Christian Eriksen, has said he and his team mates can “only blame ourselves” following a 6-3 thrashing in the hands of Manchester City on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s men took a four-goal lead into the break, with Phil Foden and Erling Haaland scoring twice each.

Foden and Haaland both completed their hat-tricks in the second half, while Anthony Martial (twice) and Antony scored for United.

Eriksen, speaking to Sky Sports, said: “It came very heavy. Everyone feels it was a very bad day at the office. We started on the wrong foot. They had chances straight from kick-off. We can only blame ourselves.

“We missed a bit of courage to play out from the back and we let them be at their strength. The main focus from this game will be on ourselves.

“There are a lot of things we need to change and a lot of things we need to do better. Today was far from acceptable from what we should be doing.”

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, has singled out three players who played key roles in his side’s Premier League 6-3 derby victory over Manchester United on Sunday.

Guardiola watched as Man City defeated Man United at Etihad Stadium, thanks to Erling Haaland and Phil Foden’s hat-tricks.

When asked about Haaland’s impact, Guardiola hailed Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne.

The Spaniard said he was very pleased with his players, adding that they are humble.

Guardiola said at his post-match press conference (via Viaplay): “Not just him. Look at Jack Grealish today, how good he played. Kevin, and Gundogan – come back in his position as holding midfielder that he started years ago.

“They are humble and they follow us, saying ‘okay, let’s try to go and do it again after four or five years of success’. I’m very pleased. It’s not about winning or losing, of course, we want to win all the time. The way in the two or three days how they train, how they focus. It’s good.”

The shirt worn by Diego Maradona when he scored his famous “Hand of God” goal will be on display as part of an exhibit that will open ahead of this year’s World Cup, the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum said on Saturday.

The blue jersey, which sold at auction in May for a then-record $8.93 million, is on loan to the Doha-based museum where it will headline the World of Football exhibit opening on Sunday and running until April 1, 2023.

Maradona wore Argentina’s No. 10 shirt in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England in Mexico. Six minutes into the second half he put his team ahead by punching the ball into the net for what became known as the “Hand of God” goal.

Four minutes later Maradona dribbled from his own half to score a goal widely considered one of the greatest in World Cup history.

Maradona, regarded as one of the world’s best ever footballers, died in November 2020 aged 60.

he new jersey design for Algeria’s football team was revealed earlier this week

Morocco’s culture ministry has accused Adidas of appropriating Moroccan culture in its new jerseys for Algeria’s football team.

Adidas said the design was inspired by the Mechouar Palace in Algeria.

However the geometric blue, teal and yellow design is a pattern called zellige, which is common in Moroccan mosaics, the ministry’s lawyer said.

The neighbouring nations have a long history of tensions, as they continue to dispute Western Sahara.

Lawyer Mourad Elajouti wrote that he had issued a legal warning to Adidas, on behalf of Morocco’s Ministry of Culture.

In a letter to the company’s chief executive Kasper Rorsted, Mr Elajouti said the new design was cultural appropriation and “an attempt to steal a form of Moroccan cultural heritage and use it outside its context”.

He has demanded the German sportswear brand remove the design within two weeks.

Mr Elajouti added that Algeria’s 2022-2023 season kit “contributes to the loss and distortion of the identity and history of these [zellige] cultural elements”.

Algeria and Morocco share a nearly 2,000 km (1,242 miles) border, which has been a source of tension since independence from French colonial rule.

In 1963, they had the Sand War over Morocco’s claim to territory in Algeria.

Later on, Algeria backed the Polisario Front’s campaign for Western Sahara’s independence from Morocco, leading to the 1975-1991 Western Sahara War.

The border was then closed in 1994 for security reasons after militant Islamists bombed a hotel in the historic Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

More recently, in 2021 Algeria cut diplomatic ties with its neighbour, accusing Morocco of “hostile acts”. Morocco called the move “completely unjustified”.

IOC president Thomas Bach 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is considering a return to competition of Russian athletes who do not support the country’s invasion of Ukraine, IOC president Thomas Bach said on Friday.

The IOC issued guidance to sports governing bodies in February to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from competition. Belarus has been used as a staging ground for Russia’s invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.

“It is not about necessarily having Russia back. It’s about having athletes with a Russian passport who do not support the war back in competition,” Bach told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

“Here comes our dilemma – this war has not been started by the Russian athletes. But we saw that some governments did not want to respect anymore the autonomy of international sports…

“This is why we’ve had to take these protective measures to be at least still a little bit in the driving seat and not lose all autonomy.

“And this is why, on the other hand, we also have to see, and to study, to monitor, how and when we can come back to accomplish our mission to have everybody back again, under which format whatsoever.”

The German stressed that the current guidance on Russian athletes was still standing but added that the IOC also needed to think about the future. Some qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympics have already taken place

“There is no change in the recommendations… We are very grateful to the International Federations that they are following them,” Bach added.

“The Olympic Movement has as a mission to contribute to peace, so we have to see how we can contribute to peace.

“I think our major contribution is to have the Olympic Games, and to have sport in general, as something that still unifies people and humanity.”

Manchester City’s Erling Braut Haaland scores their fifth goal past Manchester United’s David de Gea

 Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scored hat-tricks to fire champions Manchester City to a rampant 6-3 thrashing of local rivals Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

City put United to the sword in a ruthless display of attacking football in the first half at the Etihad Stadium, as the visitors, who had won their last four leagues games, were blown away by the champions.

Foden got the scoring underway inside eight minutes, sweeping home Bernardo Silva’s low cross, before Haaland headed his first in the 34th minute to put City in command.

Haaland has made a mockery of settling into life in the Premier League and the Norwegian struck again in the 34th minute on the stretch before Foden added the fourth three minutes later.

Big-money signing Antony curled a stunning strike into the net early in the second half to give United faint hope of a remarkable comeback, before Haaland fired home his 17th goal of an incredible season to notch up his third hat-trick in eight Premier League games.

Foden completed his first Premier League treble to finish off the perfect afternoon for irresistible City, before United substitute Anthony Martial added a late consolation double to make the scoreline more respectable.

Pep Guardiola’s side moved to within a point of Arsenal at the top of the standings and a bruised United stayed sixth.

James Ewruje

With an unusual smile playing across his face as he held the silver trophy high above his head, James Ewruje on Saturday confirmed his new status as the champion of the newly rebranded Lekki Scrabble Classics.

The Master player claimed the overall title and emerged the best among  the 100 players who competed over 12 games at the one-day tournament.

Ewruje shrugged off the challenges of tournament top favourite Tega Okiemute of Delta State in the last round to cement his pole-position on the log with 11 wins, one defeat and a spread of 599 cumulative points.

The defeat would be costly as Okiemute tumbled to the fourth position at the end.

Ogun State-based Gbadebo Olufemi rallied to second position with 10 wins and two defeats plus 466 cumulative points after a win over a highly impressive Monday Christopher on Table 2 in round 12. 

Coming on his heels was Khaleel Adedeji who recorded the same number of wins and defeats but dropped to third position with an inferior cumulative points of 370.

The impressive Dynamite Warriors’ engine room also revved up to snatch the intermediate category title.

Other players in the top 20 which included former African champion Jimoh Saheed, John Aiyedun and Opeyemi Oloro recieved various cash prizes for their efforts. 

In other spot prizes won, Bukunmi Afolayan picked the Best Female title while Philip Akhabue was rewarded with a complete scrabble kit as the youngest player.

David Ogedengbe got a surprise cash gift from the organisers for putting on a green and white shirt in commemoration of the 62nd Independence Day Anniversary.

Speaking at the tournament which was held in an atmosphere of conviviality, a trademark of the club’s events, Captain of Lekki Scrabble Club Ebikeme Adowei said the Lekki Scrabble Classics was able to tick some critical boxes due to the quality of minds who share the same vision with one another at the club.

“We are all commonly bonded in our passion for scrabble” he confessed, “and so we decided to have this periodic event, which is a bi-annual event so that we can gather the creme-de-la creme of scrabble in Nigeria to compete, have fun and win prizes.”

“I’m glad we have this level of competition to offer scrabble players and we hope to sustain this. We are hoping that corporate organisations will key into this initiative to grow the game of scrabble not only football,  basketball but mental sports like scrabble and chess.”

South-West Zonal Coordinator of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF) Emmanuel Egbele who incidentally is a member of the club said the tournament has met his expectations considering the huge number of players, the ambience, the high level of competition and friendly feeling amongst the players.

He said the Classics has impacted on the players’ mind skills as they prepare for the National Sports Festival and the Africa Scrabble Championship (ASC) taking place in Lusaka, Zambia this month. 

Lagos State Scrabble and  Monopoly Association  Chairman  Engr. Dipo Akanbi said the Lekki Scrabble Classics has become a kind of Mecca for players around the country due to the offerings available.

He said the open nature of the event was critical in solidifying the sports as newbies will tend to play the more established players in all categories.  

He highlighted the strategic role the LSC as a competition has played in preparing some of the players who will represent the country at the Africa Scrabble Championship (ASC) in Zambia this month.

In the same vein, NSF Players Representative, Segun Durojaiye said the tournament’s role in the development of players cannot be over emphasised. 

He observed that the open status of the tournament has been a training ground for the younger ones as well as those who have been out of the circuit for sometime to get back in the game including students who have been at home due to the prolonged strike by the Association  Staff Union of University (ASUU) to get involved after studying for a long period of time.

He added that high number of entries in Lagos as well as the plenty players who registered for the Abuja National Opens which was held simultaneously, signified that the growth of the sports was not abating.

Both tournaments served as testing grounds for some of the players who will be in Lagos for Finale Matchday of the Mindgames Scrabble Premier League and the Patrons Cup.

The Lekki Scrabble Classics had players from different clubs from Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Delta and Niger States who participated at the successful event.