Sports
Aston Villa Record 7th Consecutive Win Ahead of PSG Trip
Aston Villa climbed into the Premier League’s top six as early goals from Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen secured a 2-1 win over third-placed Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
A seventh consecutive victory for Unai Emery’s men in all competitions sets up Villa perfectly for Wednesday’s trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Villa’s hot streak has also brought them well into the race for Champions League football next season.
A top-five Premier League finish will almost certainly be enough to qualify thanks to the strong performance of English sides in European competition this season.
Villa sit below fifth-placed Manchester City only on goal difference and moved to within one point of Chelsea in fourth.
“We enjoy competing in the Champions League and the FA Cup, but the Premier League is the most important because it is through the league that we can reach our objective for the next season,” said Emery.
Forest’s cushion over Villa is reduced to six points, leaving Nuno Espirito Santo’s side plenty of work to do in their final seven games to secure a return to European football’s elite level for the first time since they were holders in 1980.
Emery had one eye on the trip to his former club in midweek as he made eight changes from Wednesday’s impressive 3-0 win at Brighton.
The Spaniard’s decision to inject fresh legs was justified in a flying start as the home side led 2-0 inside 15 minutes.
Rogers’ deft touch to control Youri Tielemans’ ball over the top teed up the England international to stroke home his 13th goal of a breakout season.
Malen has been overshadowed by the impact made by fellow January arrivals Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.
However, the Dutch international now has two goals in two games after turning in Ian Maatsen’s enticing low delivery.
Forest looked fatigued in holding off Manchester United on Tuesday just three days after being forced to extra-time and penalties by Brighton to book their place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Villa and Forest could meet again in the FA Cup final should they win their last-four ties later this month.
The visitors took 45 minutes to find their feet but came out a different side in the second half.
“Normally we always start really well and the big lesson was that we can’t start a game as bad as we did today,” said Nuno.
The Forest boss’ decision to sacrifice the in-form Anthony Elanga for Jota Silva at the break proved an inspired change.
Villa failed to heed the Forest warnings as Neco Williams and Callum Hudson-Odoi fired just wide at the start of the second period.
Silva spun on to Williams’ cross on 56 minutes to halve the arrears.
Elliott Anderson was then inches away from an equaliser as the former Newcastle midfielder’s effort swerved off target.
Emery turned to his talented bench to try and turn the tide as Rashford, Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara came on just after the hour mark.
But it was Rogers who had the biggest chance to make the three points safe when he failed to beat Matz Sels one-on-one.
That reprieve gave Forest life and they could have snatched a point when Williams fired across goal before Murillo’s long-range effort hit the bar in stoppage time.
AFP
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.