Nigeria’s coach Nduka Ugbade has said he was relieved to see his side come off the right side of a 3-2 thriller against South Africa and qualify to the quarter finals of the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Constantine on Saturday.

The victory saw the Golden Eaglets finish second in Group B and earn an available automatic qualification slot.

“It was a really tough match because South Africa were really good team and they gave us a tough time. They have three players that are really good; Mabena (Siyabonga), Mkhawana (Vicky) and Dokunmu (Michael). They are very talented players and I was honestly scared of them at first,” Ugbade said after the match.

He was delighted to see his side finally firing well to score three goals, having struggled to find the back of the net in their first two games despite creating so many chances.

“We worked a bit in training and we did some corrections. We realized that it was purely psychological and we talked to the players and we saw an improvement. We might have conceded two but I am glad we scored three,” said the tactician.

Nigeria will now await the second placed team from Group C, either Burkina Faso or Cameroon, in the quarter finals in their quest to quench a 16 year wait for the title and earn a record extending third crown.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has warned off any interested parties looking to buy Victor Osimhen this summer. The Nigerian striker is set to be the centre of mass interest from some of Europe’s top clubs.

Having scored the goal that helped his side secure the Serie A title for the first time in over 30 years, Osimhen is the top marksman in Italy and has attracted attention of Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich with his red hot form.

He wasn’t able to help Napoli to bypass AC Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals despite his best attempts in the second leg but is still valued at well over £100m, according to reports in Germany.

According to their president, though, there isn’t a price that would result in the 24-year-old being sold at the end of the season. “I will not sell Victor Osimhen this summer — no way,” De Laurentiis said.

He also passed comment on the future of Luciano Spalletti, a manager that Chelsea have considered for the vacant head coach role themselves.

Frank Lampard has uttered four words that will worry Todd Boehly and the Chelsea owners. The 44-year-old had lost six out of six since taking over as interim manager before facing Bournemouth and has only gone to show why the club is in such a mess.

Although the club legend has struggled to turn things around on the pitch and the atmosphere within the camp appears no better either, Lampard has taken a strong line when assessing the malaise.

“In the time I’ve been here it’s clear to see behind the scenes, on the training ground, the reasons why. If you’re going to be a nice team to play against all the time it doesn’t matter where you go,” he said after the loss to Arsenal.

Given his stance on things, ‘it’s clear to see’ appears to be something that new owners are yet to realise and that only makes things worse.

Benoit Badiashile proved Frank Lampard’s decision to start him right with a stellar performance as Chelsea picked up a crucial win against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. The Frenchman completed a £35million move from Monaco to Stamford Bridge in the January transfer window.

The Blues took an early lead after Conor Gallagher latched on to a brilliant N’Golo Kante cross to nod the ball past Neto. Matias Vina equalised just minutes later as the two sides went into the half-time break level at 1-1.

Badiashile restored Chelsea’s lead with his first goal for the club, volleying the ball past Neto after getting on the end of a Hakim Ziyech free-kick. Substitute Joao Felix sealed the win after Raheem Sterling set the Portuguese forward up to slot home as Lampard breathed a sigh of relief to finally pick up his first three points since returning as caretaker manager.

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets will now face either defending champions Cameroon or Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals after they defeated South Africa 3-2 on Saturday night.

The West Africans finished in second position in Group B, with six points, behind the Atlas Cubs of Morocco.

The two-time champions will know their opponent later tonight when Burkina Faso and Cameroon battle in a winner-takes-all Group C clash at the May 19 Stadium, Annaba.

The Golden Eaglets defeated Burkina Faso 2-1 to win the WAFU Cup in Niger Republic last year.

On Saturday night, Nduka Ugbade’s side rallied twice to beat South Africa.

South Africa took an early lead through Vicky Mkhawana, while Charles Agada equalised for Nigeria on 34 minutes.

The Amajimbos went into the half-time with a goal advantage after Siyabonga Mabena gave them the lead for the second time in the game.

The Eaglets fought back again with Light Eke equalising a few minutes into the second half.

Abubakar Abdullahi then netted the winner for Nigeria with Emmanuel Micheal providing the assist.

Harry Kane moved ahead of Wayne Rooney into outright second in the all-time list of Premier League goalscorers to give Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of clinging on to a European place a boost.

A header from Kane on the stroke of half-time – his 209th in the top-flight – gave Ryan Mason his first victory as caretaker manager and Spurs their first win in six games.

Kane’s goal came courtesy of a cross from Pedro Porro, who was Tottenham’s most dangerous player, and set another record as the striker became the first player to score 10 headers in a Premier League season.

The victory and Porro’s contribution vindicated Mason’s decision to revert back to a back four and drop Eric Dier to the substitutes’ bench.

Tottenham also hit the crossbar through Cristian Romero, while Heung-Min Son wasted a great chance to double Tottenham’s lead after being sent clean through by the Argentinian.

Son looked to have rounded Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone, but the goalkeeper recovered brilliantly to get a hand to his goalbound shot.

Michael Olise forced Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster to make a first-half save, while Wilfried Zaha went close with a chipped effort that dipped just over the bar shortly after the break.

While this was a far from scintillating performance from the home side, it was largely a comfortable victory and will be a very welcome clean sheet.

Tottenham had not kept a clean sheet in the League since beating Chelsea in February and had conceded 20 goals in the previous seven games, dating back to Antonio Conte’s final game in charge against Southampton.

Palace defender Joachim Anderson gave Spurs a late fright when he rolled the ball across the six-yard box, but Kane was back to clear the danger.

The Eaglets came from behind twice before beating South Africa 3-2 in an entertaining clash at the Stade Mohamed-Hamlaou.

The Nigeria U-17 team, the Golden Eaglets have booked their place in the quarter-final stage of the ongoing U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.

The Eaglets showed great tenacity in their final group game on Saturday as they came from behind twice before beating South Africa 3-2 in an entertaining clash at the Stade Mohamed-Hamlaou.

The victory sees the Eaglets secure six points (two wins and a loss) and thus qualify for the quarter-final.

Shaky start

The final group game between fierce rivals South Africa and Nigeria kicked off with a bang as Vicky Mkhawana netted the opening goal for the Amajimbos just six minutes into the match.

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets were quick to respond but saw Abubakar Abdullahi miss a golden opportunity from close range.

The Eaglets believed they had equalised in the 10th minute when Charles Agada found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside call.

The first half continued as a tense, back-and-forth battle, with Nigeria relentlessly searching for an equaliser but unable to break through South Africa’s solid defence.

In the 34th minute, the pressure finally paid off, with Charles Agada levelling the score for the Eaglets, heading the ball into the net with pinpoint accuracy.

However, just before the halftime whistle, Mabena fired South Africa back in front with a thunderous strike that rattled the crossbar before crossing the line.

Second half

Nigeria began the second half with renewed determination, and Light Eke found the equaliser within the first minute of play, finishing off a brilliant run by Agada.

Golden Eaglets

The Golden Eaglets maintained the pressure on their opponents, and their efforts were rewarded in the 65th minute when Emmanuel Michael set up Abubakar Abdullahi for a clinical finish, giving Nigeria a well-deserved 3-2 lead.

Despite creating numerous chances in the remaining minutes, Nigeria could not extend their lead, either due to the South African goalkeeper’s heroics or their own lack of finishing prowess.

Nonetheless, the Golden Eaglets held on to their one-goal advantage, securing a thrilling 3-2 victory that has taken them closer to their first target of qualifying for the U17 World Cup

In the other Group B clash, Zambia secured a shock 2-1 win over Morocco.

Chelsea are still 11th in the Premier League with four games left.

Chelsea’s interim manager Frank Lampard on Saturday expressed his happiness to see his side finally playing like a team.

The former English Premier League (EPL) champions snapped a nine-match winless run in all competitions with a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth on Saturday.

Chelsea have looked like a fractured outfit after a number of arrivals in the last two transfer windows and three different managers this season.

But they showed glimpses of finally gelling together as a unit to end a six-match losing run.

Chelsea are still 11th in the Premier League with four games left.

But Lampard said the win would be a boost as they look to end the season on a high after just their second away victory of the year.

“I’m happy. We came in off the back of a tough run. It’s been a tough year and there is a lot of work to do,” he told reporters.

“But the performance and the result in isolation are really good, we deserved to win the game.

“It’s a nice step forward for the lads. To work hard and come to a place that has been very hard for a lot of teams this year… I’m very happy.

“In the modern game, those changes are huge. It’s important with the squad that we have that people feel like they can come in and affect the game.

“We’ve worked towards that and I think every one of them did.”

Lampard said there were still a lot of players finding their feet, especially youngsters, and urged them to “grasp” confidence from the performance.

“Typically at Chelsea, one or two have fed into the group and now we have more. It’s understandable that as a group finding rhythm and confidence can be difficult,” the former Chelsea player added.

“This is a first step. It won’t be plain sailing, but there is talent there and the players need to come together to get us to where we want to be.”

Chelsea’s next game is at home against relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest next weekend.

Assar who is the defending champion proved to be a hard nut to crack for Aruna as he romped to a 4-1 victory.

The hopes of Nigerian table tennis star Quadri Aruna upstaging his arch-rival Omar Assar of Egypt at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Cup have been dashed again.

Assar, who is the defending champion, proved to be a hard nut to crack for Aruna as he romped to a 4-1 victory in the thrilling contest that took place at the Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Saturday encounter saw Aruna, the highest-ranked African player, lose all but one of the five sets played.

Assar breezed to an 8-11, 13-15, 7-11, 11-9, 7-11 victory to show his prowess on the continent yet again.

Despite the setback, Aruna demonstrated great skill and sportsmanship throughout the tournament.

To secure his place in the final, Aruna had previously triumphed over another Egyptian player, Mohamed Youssef, in the semi-finals with a score of 4-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-3, 12-10).

The victory had increased expectations of Aruna in the final match.

In the women’s event final, 15-year-old Egyptian prodigy Hana Goda successfully defended her title, defeating compatriot Dina Meshref in a nail-biting 4-3 finish to clinch the trophy.

Aside from Aruna, three other Nigerians, Fatimo Bello, Taiwo Mati and Tosin Oribamise were also in action in Kenya but none was able to achieve a podium finish.

The ITTF Africa Cup, which began on Thursday, climaxed on Saturday, showcasing the best table tennis talent the African continent has to offer.

The 2023 ITTF Africa Cup had countries like host Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Djibouti, Uganda, Burundi, and Congo Brazzaville among others competing in the women’s and men’s singles event.

Meanwhile, this year’s Africa Cup has been described as a dress rehearsal for the first World Championships taking place in Africa in 84 years, which is due to take place in Durban, South Africa from 20 to 28 May.