Folarin Balogun missed two penalties on his first Monaco start before local rivals Nice grabbed a stoppage time winner to go top of Ligue 1 on Friday.

One week after stunning champions PSG at the Parc des Princes 3-2, Nice claimed the three points again when Jeremie Boga slalomed through the Monaco defence to score ans Francesco Farioli’s team continued an undefeated start to the season.

Nice leapfrogged previously unbeaten Monaco to take top spot by one point after a third win in six games.

It was a miserable first start for US international striker Balogun who left Arsenal for Monaco in the summer on a 30-million-euro transfer.

He had penalties saved by Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka in the 12th and 54th minutes.

His first effort, awarded when Jordan Lotomba brought down Aleksandr Golovin, was tame.

His second spot-kick, which came after Morgan Sanson was penalised for a foul on Takumi Minamino, was again saved by the Polish goalkeeper.

“We were very lucky. It’s very rare to win after having conceded two penalties that were then saved,” admitted Farioli.

Balogun, who had scored off the bench in last week’s 2-2 draw with Lorient, was eventually replaced by Wissam Ben Yedder, a penalty-taking specialist.

[OpinionNigeria]

Former Belgium head coach Marc Wilmots has likened Nigerian starlet Victor Boniface to Belgian superstar Romelu Lukaku.

Boniface 23, has been in scintillating form for Bayer Leverkusen this season – scoring six goals in six matches across all competitions for the German club.

While Lukaku is considered among the best centre forwards in world football and the bulky player is currently on loan at Italy’s AS Roma from English giants Chelsea FC.

Wilmots, who coached Lukaku during his time as Belgium’s coach, discussed Boniface’s strengths and potential.

“Victor Boniface is Victor Boniface. In terms of type, you can perhaps compare him somewhat with Romelu Lukaku,” Wilmots said on Kicker.

“But Lukaku has even more power. If he starts from midfield, you can’t hold him. And Romelu is more dangerous, a real goalscorer.

“Boniface still has to prove this class. But he is only 22 years old. He can still get a lot better.”

Boniface made his debut for Nigeria against Sao Tome and Principe earlier this month. He produced an instant assist as he set up Samuel Chukwueze

[ThisDay]

Odion Ighalo was among the goal scorers as Al Wehda thrashed Abha 4-0 in their Saudi Arabia Professional Football League clash.

Ighalo was on target in the 88th minute of the encounter.

It was the 34-year-old’s fifth goal in five league appearances for Al Wehda.

The striker netted a hat-trick in his club’s previous game against Damak which they won 4-2.

Al Wehda moved to seventh position on the Saudi League table following the win.

Ighalo was the top scorer in the Saudi top flight in the 2021-22 season with 24 goals.

He scored 19 goals in 27 league appearances for his former club, Al Hilal last season.

[DailyPost]

FORMER Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann has been appointed as the new head coach of Germany.

The German football federation (DFB) announced the appointment today as Nagelsmann replaces Hansi Flick, incidentally the same man he took over from at Bayern Munich in 2021.

“Julian Nagelsmann is the new head coach of the Germany men’s national team and will be in charge for next summer’s European Championship,” the DFB announced today.

“The 36-year-old put pen to paper on a contract running until 31st July 2024 at the DFB-Campus in Frankfurt today. At a general meeting, the supervisory board of the DFB GmbH & Co. KG unanimously accepted the proposal from DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and sporting director Rudi Völler to select Nagelsmann as the 12th head coach in the association’s history.

“Nagelsmann will be the successor to Hansi Flick, who was relieved of his coaching duties on 10th September. Two days later, Rudi Völler, alongside DFB coaches Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner, oversaw a 2-1 friendly win in Dortmund against World Cup runners-up, France.”

The German federation noted that Wagner will remain as one of Nagelsmann’s assistants, along with Benjamin Glück, who was part of Nagelsmann’s coaching staff at TSG Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig and Bayern.

Germany had a torrid spell under Flick, who had led Bayern to the UEFA Champions League title in 2020, the four-time world champions getting eliminated at the group stages of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

After a string of friendly losses in preparation for Germany hosting the 2024 European Championships, Flick was sacked this month, and Nagelsmann has promised to restored the team’s pride.

“We are hosting the European Championships. This is something special, and only happens every hundred years or so,” the new coach said.

“Having a strong tournament at home is the priority. I’m very much looking forward to taking up this challenge. The game in Dortmund was just the beginning. We will become a tight-knit unit over the next year.”

Bernd Neuendorf, DFB president, added: “Next year’s European Championship is extremely significant for football in Germany. We are convinced that with Julian Nagelsmann as our head coach, the national team will be able to excite the fans and play a successful tournament. Julian Nagelsmann is an exceptional coach, who is extremely motivated for this new challenge. We will now shift our focus to next summer’s tournament and give Julian Nagelsmann our full support.”

Nagelsmann’s first matches in charge will take place during a United States of America tour during the next international break.

Germany will first face the USA on October 14 in Hartford, Connecticut and three days later take on Gold Cup champions Mexico in Philadelphia.

The team’s final match of 2023 will take place on November 21 against Austria in Vienna.

[NaijaTimes]

France national team captain, Kylian Mbappe, helped Paris St. Germain kicked off their Champions League campaign on a brighter note with a 2-0 home win against visiting Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

The French Lique 1 giant showed glimpses of what might be under new coach Luis Enrique with Mbappe opening the scoring with a second-half penalty and Moroccan international, Achraf Hakimi, doubled the lead with a fine goal.

It was only the third win in six competitive games for the Ligue 1 champions this season, and it gave them some much-needed relief after their first defeat at the weekend as they dutifully applied Enrique’s possession game.

PSG now top Group F with three points, two ahead of AC Milan and Newcastle, who drew 0-0 earlier on Tuesday.

[Leadership]

Julian Alvarez saved Manchester City’s blushes after Red Star Belgrade took a shock lead at the Etihad as the holders began their Champions League defence with a 3-1 win on Tuesday.

The visitors’ goal had been bombarded before they stunned Pep Guardiola’s men when Osman Bukari opened the scoring in first half stoppage time.

However, Alvarez continued his sparkling early season form by levelling just two minutes after the break.

The Argentine then got some help from Red Star goalkeeper Omri Glazer as he flapped at Alvarez’s free-kick to allow the ball to fly into the far corner.

Rodri rounded off the scoring with a composed finish 17 minutes from time.

Red Star were expected to be lambs to the slaughter after City followed up their treble success last season with a perfect start five games into the new Premier League campaign.

But the English champions made life difficult for themselves with some wayward finishing, while Glazer performed heroics for the Serbian giants before the break.

Rodri and Alvarez stung Glazer’s palms before Erling Haaland headed against the crossbar from point-blank range.

Phil Foden then nodded an even easier headed opportunity straight at the Israeli goalkeeper.

City’s stretched squad due to injuries was shown as they named only eight of a permitted 12 substitutes, two of which were goalkeepers.

Bernardo Silva was replaced just before half-time by Jeremy Doku in what could be another injury problem for Guardiola.

Red Star had barely been out their own half in the opening 45 minutes, but City were stunned when Bukari burst in behind and finished confidently past Ederson.

The Ghanaian’s joy was temporarily quelled by the offside flag.

But a VAR check revealed he had been played onside by Ruben Dias.

City quickly went to work after the break to ensure that was to be the only shock of the night.

Haaland may not have found his range in front of goal, but the Norwegian’s clever pass played in Alvarez to round Glazer for the equaliser.

All of the Red Star goalkeeper’s good work was then forgotten as his miscued punch just helped Alvarez’s free-kick on its way into the top corner.

Rodri was the City hero when they finally conquered Europe for the first time by beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul in June and the Spaniard is picking up the healthy habit of scoring vital goals.

The midfielder was afforded far too much room on the edge of the area and picked his spot with a perfectly weighted curling effort into the far corner to secure the three points.

[Guardian]

Erik ten Hag has been urged to recall Harry Maguire for Manchester United’s heavyweight Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.

The England international has endured a torrid start to the new season which began with him being stripped of the club captaincy.

Maguire has since appeared only fleetingly and returned to the substitutes’ bench on Saturday from where he watched his side torn to shreds by a rampant Brighton canter to a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford.

The defeat compounded a wretched start to the new campaign for United who are languishing in mid-table ahead a daunting test against Bayern and the in-form Harry Kane, who has made a prolific start to life with his new club.

Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez both looked way off the pace against the Seagulls and were said to have been involved in a heating dressing room bust-up after the game.

Regardless of the veracity of those reports, former Chelsea star Andy Townsend believes Ten Hag should swallow his pride and recall the struggling Maguire who he believes is perfectly qualified to negate the threat of his England teammate Kane.

Townsend told talkSPORT: ‘At the weekend United were all over the place at the back, were they not? I don’t think that Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof, they’re what I’d call a number two centre-half.

‘I don’t think they are natural leaders, I think they need to be talked through, coaxed through matches. Is this the perfect match for Harry Maguire to come back into the United defence. He knows Harry Kane.

‘He’ll have been up against him in training, he’s played against him here, there and everywhere. Could Harry Maguire come back in and resurrect himself. Is it that outrageous because Harry has been well documented.

‘Don’t forget it’s easy to overlook what he’s done previously because he’s lacking in confidence and he hasn’t looked sharp.

‘Every now and then you have a game where you stick someone in.’

MORE : Manchester United concerned over ‘growing involvement’ of Erik ten Hag’s agent in transfer business

MORE : David De Gea to be offered La Liga return with Real Betis after Manchester United exit

[NewsPot]

AN unnamed supporter of Newcastle United is safe and in a stable condition in hospital after being stabbed in Milan yesterday ahead of his side’s UEFA Champions League fixture, Italian police confirmed today.

Newcastle United, who finished fourth in the English Premier League last season, face AC Milan tonight from 5.45pm at San Siro in the opening Group F match of the 2023/2024 Champions League campaign.

The fan was stabbed twice in the arm and once in the back, according to the Italian police, but is expected to leave hospital later today.

Police say they were called to an incident in the popular nightlife area of Navigli at around midnight.

The police said: “The victim was with a friend and it is thought they encountered a group of seven/eight other people. It is not known if this group were Italian or foreigners.

“The state police have opened an investigation to try and discover exactly what happened, the motive and to find those responsible.

“Many Newcastle fans have arrived in the city of Milan and this is the only reported incident.”

Newcastle expressed their concern about the incident and promised to work with Italian law enforcement to look into it.

“Our thoughts are with the supporter and their family and we hope for a full and speedy recovery,” the club said in a statement today.

AC Milan were semi-finalists in the competition last season while Newcastle United are back for the first time in 20 years.

Stabbings are not uncommon with Italian ultras (die-hard fans) while travelling England fans also have a reputation of rowdiness.

[NaijaTimes]

Rivers United head coach, Stanley Eguma has said his team will be banking on the support of fans against Etoile Filante of Burkina Faso

The Pride of Rivers held the Burkinabes to a goalless draw at the Stade Municipal Stadium, Yamoussoukro during the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup.

Eguma admitted that the fans need to awaken the team from their comfort zone.

He assured that the coaching crew will work on the lapses noticed before the return leg.

“It’s a game of football, the fans are very important, we need them,” Egunma told the club’s media.

“This is the time we need them most, the fans need to awaken the players from their comfort zone to achieve the needed victory.

“The team needs to rise up to the occasion so as to get the needed results to make the fans happy.”

[DailyPost]

“Omo, it is now that I am beginning to understand why there is so much fight for this thing called Presidency of Nigeria oh. See as Tinubu just dey do swag, dey shine, dey do Eko for Show from here to there. Him just dey tranga, dey travel, dey flex. Him don dey look young and fresh sef.”

“He is President my friend. Anyone else in his shoes will act in more or less the same manner. If you are placed astride a horse, no matter how modest you are, the moment the horse gallops, you will bounce up and down, your neck will move.”

“Omo, Tinubu dey bounce. President of Nigeria for hand, ECOWAS Chairman just like that, Paris Summit, AU Summit, G-20, stop-over in UAE, and na so he don dey New York, now now oh, rubbing shoulders with leaders of the world.”

“He is President. The President of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. I don’t know why you people always think you can envy the President of Nigeria. Once you get into that position, you are practically a monarch. Is it easy? No. It is not. It is a power game. Even if you were to grab that position, you that I know will run with it. Let me tell you one thing, Tinubu and the people around him, know how to use power.”

“I hear the Presidency is lucrative. Each time you travel, you get fat estacodes, and the President gets the biggest envelope”

“Sometimes, I don’t understand you. I look at all the certificates you brandish and I wonder. You think the big deal for a President of Nigeria is estacodes? Who worries about estacodes when you sit and preside over the entire wealth of Nigeria, and you can lift people up or destroy them, create billionaires at will, and turn billionaires into paupers if they do not respect that there is a new Sheriff in town?”

“Truly, a new Sheriff is in town. See as the man dey enjoy. I no go surprise if the man takes new wife sef to crown everything. But what about the Supreme Court matter? The process of determining the true winner of the 2023 general election is still on. I hear the Chief Justice of the Federation is about to announce a panel of Supreme Court Justices.”

“The only matter that still exists is this: This is Nigeria. In this place, nobody is going to remove, embarrass, humiliate, or dethrone a sitting President who has spent more than 100 days enjoying Aso Villa AC, the paraphernalia of office, the majesty of being President, shaking hands with world leaders, stumping on grounds that generations in your family never thought possible. You will manage to get to that height, for more than 100 days and counting, and you will open your eyes, your wife or wives are alive, and all your supporters who know that this is a big elephant meat that nobody can eat alone, and all of you will open your eyes and allow other people to take the meat you are already enjoying from your teeth. Please be realistic. This is Nigeria. Na die there we dey so oh.”

“But it was possible in Kenya.”

“What happened in Kenya? My friend, this is Nigeria. You people have to stop comparing spaghetti with well-cooked jollof rice. Yes, some people have been saying the Nigerian Constitution should be reviewed and amended to ensure that election petitions are resolved before anyone is sworn in at any level. I agree too in principle. That would be a good way of deepening our electoral process. But until then. For now, this is what we have.”

“I hear say the man don reach New York sef as we dey speak.”

“Yes. He is President. He is there on your behalf to promote your interests as a citizen and the interests of Nigeria as a country.”

“Me, I just hope this won’t end up like another radio trip”

“What do you mean radio trip?”

“The President stopped over in UAE, after attending the G-20 Summit in New Delhi, and the Presidency told us he was able to achieve major things including investments in Nigeria by the UAE, lifting of the visa ban on Nigerian travellers and resumption of flights by Emirates and Etihad Airlines without any immediate payment by Nigeria. Nigerians broke out into a break dance. Local travel agencies did Tik Tok. Nigerians living in Dubai jubilated. But you never hear? An official of the UAE has said on CNN that their country never made any such commitments. Even the read-out by the Emirates News Agency did not include the exciting claims by the lying Kings of Nigeria. We were even told that UAE officials were already meeting with Nigerian officials. Omo, Audio!”

“Please. Please. We can be very critical. But we must also understand that diplomacy is not exactly black and white. There are grey areas in-between. You win some. You lose some. Have you forgotten that the same President went to New Delhi for G-20 and came back home with investment pledges of about $14 billion?”

“You don see am?”

“Actually, yes. In fact, last week, as part of the fall-out of the New Delhi, G-20 trip, NNPCL signed a gas supply deal, and a Memorandum of Understanding with Indorama, to promote the development of large-scale gas utilization industries in Nigeria. That’s a deal. A gain of diplomacy. Professionals don’t expect that diplomacy will yield 100% results always, but you must keep pushing, you must keep defending national interests within the international competitive space.”

“Fine. I hope the President will bring something concrete, positive, and useful back from the United Nations General Assembly. It is his first outing on the biggest stage in the world. One of the newest Presidents who would be given a place at the podium. On the sidelines, he will be coveted by Presidents, personalities and investors. When he returns, we don’t want any audio claims or exaggerations. Nigeria is too big a country to go to UNGA for photo-ops.”

“I am sure New York is not a new place to President Tinubu. Afterall, he is a Chicago guy. He is not one of those new Presidents who would get carried away by the sight of skyscrapers. May be some of the members of his entourage who may be visiting New York for the first time in their lives.”

“It is not a holiday visit. I hope they all know UNGA is a lot of work. And in any case, President Tinubu had earlier said he was travelling with a very small delegation.”

“Have you seen the Presidency publishing a full list of the Presidential delegation to UNGA?”

“No”

“Wait then for Sahara Reporters, David Hundeyin, Obidients and the usual anti-Tinubu media crowd to dig out the truth. I have seen names of persons who have been sighted in New York whose presence may well turn Tinubu’s maiden appearance at UNGA into a jamboree.”

“There are serious issues on the table at this UNGA. I would like to see Nigeria talking about serious issues - democracy in Africa, climate adaptation, SDGs, the international economic corridor, geo-politics. Will the President address the UNGA? How many minutes would he have?”

“Ten minutes max. But don’t worry yourself. These ones don’t have problems writing good speeches. There are more than enough boys at the back-end. Telling people what they want to hear is part of the power game. And this new Sheriff knows that game.”

“The boys. The boys. Tinubu just made one of his boys CBN Governor-nominee. I have no doubts that Nigeria’s rubber-stamp National Assembly led by Godswill Akpabio will quickly rubber-stamp the nominations, including the four other Deputy Governors who have been named.”

“Yemi Cardoso. I think he is a good pick. A safe pair of hands. He is a commercial banker though, with a background in business management. Conservative. Good pedigree. Worked with Citibank. Became Chairman Citibank. Helped to set up Citizen’s bank. There’s no controversy around him. I don’t know the four Deputy Governors. They come across like political appointees, and for that reason, I guess altogether, there is no depth in the appointments.”

“My point. That is my point. The job of the Central Bank is monetary policy. All these Tinubu nominees have no monetary policy, macroeconomics background at a time the CBN has so much to worry about: the CBN Balance Sheet, abuse of ways and means in violation of Section 38 of the CBN Act, intervention loans that have to be cleaned up, inflation, foreign exchange problems and the need to restore confidence in the CBN.”

“I get your point. But don’t let your point carry you away. What is the big deal about macroeconomics? Textbook knowledge. You people seem to have forgotten that a journalist, Adamu Ciroma was once CBN Governor in this same country. He was also Minister of Finance. Many others who succeeded him were senior bank tellers as they call them who were glorified with the titles of commercial bankers. In fact, I can tell you categorically that a graduate of Islamic Studies once ran the CBN and he did much better than the so-called macroeconomics people. The job only needs common sense.”

“You don’t run an economy in the kind of state that Nigeria is with roadside common sense. You need knowledge. A strong skills-set.”

“Sometimes you put people in a position because you trust them. You can then surround such persons with core subject area experts. Tinubu can appoint directors into the CBN who know all the micro and macroeconomics, monetary policy and the abracadabra but he also needs in that institution, a man that he can trust.”

“But why is it that President Tinubu does not seem to trust anybody that has not been his boy or past aide, or someone recommended by a friend, a sycophant, or by a blood relation? He is practically turning the Federal Government of Nigeria into an extension of Lagos.”

How? He promised to run an inclusive government. Wike is from Rivers and the opposition. Festus Keyamo is Delta. And so on.”

“I know what I am talking about. I am talking about strategic positions and optics. Look at the management of the economy as proposed. The CBN-Governor nominee is Yemi Cardoso who once worked with Tinubu as Commissioner for Budget and Planning in Lagos. Dele Alake, Tinubu’s former Commissioner for Information in Lagos is Minister of Solid Minerals. Former Governor of Osun State, Tinubu’s blood relation, Gboyega Oyetola, is Minister for Marine and Blue Economy. The Chairman of the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) is Zacchaeus Adedeji, another Tinubu acolyte, and Tope Fasua, another member of the same clan, is Special Adviser of the economy. Wale Edun is Minister of Finance. Every person in charge of a money-making economic posting is a Yoruba man, directly connected with Tinubu. Haba!”

“It is called Emilokan. It is my turn. It is our turn. Bishop Matthew Kukah long ago called it “the my-own-ni-zation of power”. He predicted the present and the future and this has come to pass. Other Presidents have done more or less the same thing. When a President gets to power, he pushes advantages to his own people. This is why we are not yet a nation. You cannot blame Tinubu. He is simply following what he inherited from Buhari.”

“President Jonathan did not behave like that. President Obasanjo did not act like that. Maybe it is an APC standard.”

“It is even good you mentioned President Buhari. His handlers did everything possible to disprove the claim that he Katsina-nized and Northernized Nigeria”.

“But he did. Even some sycophantic Ministers took strategic government infrastructure to Daura, Katsina thinking that would promote their selfish, political ambitions.”

“Do you know what I find intriguing in this matter?’

“I am with you.”

“Can you believe our friend, Garba Shehu recently published a piece in which he was talking about President Buhari, 100 days after leaving office?”

“No. What is that? And what is Mallam Shehu saying? I have never heard of any former President crowing about 100 days after leaving office. Garba Shehu was probably talking about the former President’s cattle farm and the problem in Niger.”

“No. He says 100 days after leaving office, Buhari is still the superstar.”

“Some of these Presidents don’t know when to move on. Completely insensitive. That is the problem. I think people must realize that there cannot be two Presidents in this country at the same time. The President is Bola Tinubu. Not anyone else. When you are out, you are out. Even Baba Obasanjo is still acting President all over.”

“What has OBJ done? I don’t get your drift. He left office in 2007.”

“He went to an event in Iseyin, Oyo state, he was ordering traditional rulers around. Stand up, Sit down, he was acting like a Regimental Sergeant Major. He was a guest at the event oh, just like the monarchs. What gives him the right to think he can order people around. Kings for that matter. He is lucky one of them didn’t pack enough spine and balls to disobey him.”

“My brother, traditional rulers lost their space long ago. The conflict between tradition and modernity has turned monarchs into cultural relics in Nigeria. The colonial masters abused them. They sent them into exile. They defied their authority. Post-colonial Nigerian leaders treat them like employees. Were you not in this country when Nyesom Wike tongue-lashed a traditional ruler and described his crown as an Uthman dan Fodio cap? Were you not here to witness the dethronement of monarchs by Governors in the North. Obasanjo was giving a lecture on protocol”

“But I hear he has been ordered by the Oluwo of Iwo to apologise. One of his own wives has promptly apologized on his behalf and her two children.”

“Please stop. Oluwo to Obasanjo? And which wife? Have you not seen the story saying the wife is an impostor according to Obasanjo himself?”

“There are no fake wives, please. Every wife mans a gate. I disagree. Two children oh”

“Talking about wives, I feel for Wunmi, the late musician, 27-year-old, Mohbad’s wife. Nobody is sparing a thought for her and her five-months-old son who has now become fatherless.”

“Mohbad. Bad story. I just hope Nigerian artistes will learn the relevant lessons from the tragedy about relationship with labels, copyright issues, family, friends, depression and the challenges of stardom.”

“Sad.”

“Sad”.