Sports
Ten-Man Manchester United knock goal-shy Arsenal out of FA Cup
Altay Bayindir was Manchester United’s unlikely hero as the holders held out for over an hour a man down to knock Arsenal out the FA Cup on penalties after a feisty 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Sunday.
United’s stand-in goalkeeper saved a penalty from Martin Odegaard in normal time and then denied Kai Havertz in the shootout as the wasteful Gunners had another day to forget in front of goal.
Bruno Fernandes had fired the visitors into the lead early in the second half before Diogo Dalot was sent-off on the hour mark for a second bookable offence.
Gabriel Magalhaes quickly levelled for Arsenal, but they wasted a host of chances to win the tie in 90 minutes and were made to pay.
United were perfect from the spot as the much-criticised Josua Zirkzee stroked home the winning penalty in front of the jubilant travelling support.
Defeat is another hammer blow to Mikel Arteta’s attempts to end a five-year trophy drought for Arsenal, who also lost the first leg of their League Cup semi-final 2-0 to Newcastle on Tuesday.
After four consecutive defeats in all competitions, United were much improved in a 2-2 draw away at Premier League leaders Liverpool last weekend.
Ruben Amorim’s game plan appeared a similar one as the Red Devils were happy to sit back and contain Arsenal before looking to spring on the counter-attack.
However, neither side posed much attacking threat in a flat first half.
Gabriel Martinelli had the ball in the net but was well offside before firing home.
And Arsenal’s injury problems mounted before the break when Gabriel Jesus was carried off on a stretcher with a suspected serious knee injury.
If the first 45 minutes lacked action, the second period more than compensated.
United hit the Gunners with a sucker punch seven minutes after the restart.
Alejandro Garnacho took advantage of a slip by Gabriel to gallop into Arsenal territory and teed up Fernandes to blast brilliantly into the top corner.
Shorn of the injured Bukayo Saka, Arsenal’s attack has lacked creativity and goal threat in recent weeks.
But just as United were beginning to believe they could deliver another result on the road for Amorim, they were let down by Dalot’s indiscipline.
The Portuguese full-back needlessly dived in on Mikel Merino when already on a booking and was swiftly shown a second yellow card by referee Andy Madley.
Shouts of ‘cheat’
Within seconds Arsenal had made the man advantage count.
Bayindir flapped at Martinelli’s cross and punched the ball into the path of the Brazilian centre-back, whose shot deflected in off Matthijs de Ligt.
The home side were gifted the chance to turn the tie around when Harry Maguire was harshly penalised for a challenge on Havertz which sparked a melee among both sets of players.
Maguire angrily shouted “cheat” towards Havertz, who then went head-to-head with Manuel Ugarte.
But if Bayindir was partly culpable for the Arsenal equaliser, the Turkish international made amends with a brilliant save to turn Odegaard’s penalty behind.
United needed more Bayindir heroics to make it to extra-time as he tipped over Declan Rice’s header.
Havertz somehow fired over from under the shadow of the United crossbar and Rice drilled a shot inches wide as Arsenal failed to kill the tie off before an extra 30 minutes.
Arteta’s men could even have lost it in extra-time as David Raya was required to make a fine save low to his right from Zirkzee’s deflected effort.
But Raya was powerless to deny Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Leny Yoro, Lisandro Martinez and Zirkzee from the spot to send United through.
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.