Sports
Arsenal beat Brentford to close gap on Liverpool
Arsenal showed they can cope without the injured Bukayo Saka as they began the year in style by recovering from an early sucker-punch to beat Brentford 3-1 away from home.
The result ensured that they moved back into second place in the English Premier League on Wednesday.
Forward Saka, arguably Arsenal’s most influential player this season, has been ruled out for at least two months after hamstring surgery, dealing a blow to the club’s title hopes.
A visit to a Brentford side who have been impressive at home this season felt like a must-win game for Arsenal.
However, things began badly as Bryan Mbeumo gave his side a 13th minute lead with the home side’s first attack.
Arsenal did not panic, though, and Gabriel Jesus continued his recent resurgence to equalise before halftime.
Mikel Arteta’s side came out firing in the second half and Mikel Merino put them ahead five minutes after the restart after Brentford failed to deal with a corner.
Three minutes later Gabriel Martinelli produced a clinical volleyed finish to put Arsenal in complete control.
The victory lifted Arsenal above Chelsea and Nottingham Forest with 39 points from 19 games with leaders Liverpool on 45 from 18.
Injury-hit Brentford’s second home defeat of the season left them in 12th spot with 24 points from 19 games.
Defeat would have left Arsenal nine points behind Liverpool, who also have a game in hand, but the way they reacted to going behind suggests they can still be a factor in the title race.
Arteta will also have been impressed with 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri after handing him a first Premier League start.
“I think the team showed a lot of composure. To keep insisting, keep attacking them,” Arteta, whose side are unbeaten in 11 games in all competitions, said.
“We can only win our next match and see what happens. It’s not in our hands, but what is in our hands we need to make sure we do it.”
Arsenal did not lose a London derby in 2024 and have started off in similar fashion.
They were caught cold, though, when Brentford burst forward in the 13th minute and Mbeumo was given too much space to cut in from the right and fire a shot past David Raya.
Raya was almost left red-faced soon after when he allowed a Mbeumo shot to burst through his gloves but he managed to race back and claw the ball off the line.
It proved a pivotal moment as less than a minute later Brentford were guilty of failing to clear the ball and it eventually arrived for Thomas Partey to fire a shot that was parried by Mark Flekken and Jesus dived to head in the rebound.
It was the Brazilian’s sixth goal in his last four games for Arsenal in all competitions, as many as in his previous 48 games for the club.
“I keep working and everyone at the club can tell how I work every day, not just me but everyone. I don’t give up and it is not easy to play for a big club like Arsenal,” Jesus said.
Arsenal’s efficiency from set-pieces was evident again early in the second half when a corner caused chaos in the area and Merino was able to fire home a loose ball.
Martinelli gave the visitors breathing space with a superb finish when the ball came out to him on the edge of the box.(Reuters/NAN)
Nigerian Afrobeats singer Davido has claimed that he started his life in a one-room apartment in a public compound, known locally as a face-me-I-face-you.
The singer made the claim on a song titled CFMF, off his fifth studio album, 5ive, which was released on Friday.
He claimed that he is now living a flamboyant life due to Jesus’s divine intervention.
“Take a step and walk into my life…
Started all the way from face me I face you
Face me I face you
And now, I am living real large all thanks to Jesu
All thanks to Jesu oh,” he sings.
His claim has been met with a groundswell of doubts, especially on social media, as the singer is known to be the son of billionaire businessman Deji Adeleke.
This is not the first time Davido has attempted to paint a grass-to-grace story in his music.
On his debut 2011 single, Back When, Davido claimed many ladies rejected his advances when he had no money but began chasing him after he achieved fame and success.
The song didn’t achieve much commercial success, partly due to the doubts that greeted his claims of humble beginnings, as he was known to be from a wealthy background.
Davido finally gained widespread prominence after the release of his 2012 breakthrough single, Dami Duro, where he embraced his wealthy background and boasted that he was unstoppable as the son of a rich man.
Nigeria’s popular stand-up comedian, Oluwaseyitan Lawrence Aletile, aka Seyi Law, has vowed never to support the presidential ambition of former Labour Party, LP, candidate, Peter Obi.
Seyi Law said he would never support Obi’s presidential ambition due to his failure to call the Obidient movement to order.
In an interview on the Teju Babyface podcast, Seyi Law recalled how Obidients attacked his wife and children because he supported President Bola Tinubu.
He lamented that Obi has refused to admit that Obidients attacked those who did not support him.
According to Seyi Law: “I don’t feel down at all because when you talk too much, I swear for you. One of the good things that God has done for me is that my anger doesn’t last long.
“Personal anger for me doesn’t last long. The only place it lasts long is when you leave me and attack my children, mother, and wife.
“The moment you cross that boundary from me to my children, mother, and wife — there is no forgiveness.
“That is why there is nothing on earth that Peter Obi can do that will make me support him. They (Obidients) attacked my children and my wife.
“As long as Peter Obi will not call them to order and he keeps denying that they are doing that, he will never get my support.
“Let Peter Obi wear the garment of Jesus Christ today — he will never get my support. Hate or love me, my personal way of life is between me and God.
“Any organization that does not support free thinking is a cult.”
Inter Miami superstar, Lionel Messi, has admitted that he desired to return to Barcelona, but it did not eventually work out.
Messi was keen to return to the LaLiga giants after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The 38-year-old, who won the tournament with Argentina, eventually left Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent for the Major League Soccer, MLS.
“I had the intention of returning to Barcelona and being able to go back to a place I always wanted to be, but it wasn’t possible again,” Messi told Simplemente Fútbol.
“After that, it (deciding on a new club) became a family decision. The fact that we won the World Cup also had a big impact.
“I was clear that I didn’t want to be at another team in Europe, I didn’t want to go to any of them.
Messi wasat Barca for 17 seasons, winning a total of 35 trophies, including ten (10) Laliga titles and four (4) Champions League titles.
At Inter Miami, he has lifted two trophies – the 2023 Leagues Cup and the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield.