Martins fires fifth La Liga goal
Obafemi Martins returned from a disappointing Super Eagles outing to net his fifth goal for Levante in the Spanish La Liga on Sunday.
‘Obagoal’ opened scoring at hosts Deportivo La Coruna after 40 minutes to restate his case for a place on Nigeria’s squad for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The Nigeria international striker was replaced in the 81st minute.
Levante won 2-0 to move to fourth place on the table with 20 points from 12 matches.
Martins, who moved to the La Liga side during the winter transfer window from Rubin Kazan in Russia has now scored five goals thus far.
Keshi gushes over Igiebor wonder strike
Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has said Nosa Igiebor’s stunning goal against Venezuela has proved his team are capable of great things.
“Look at that goal by Nosa Igiebor, it was a television goal and I was excited when it came. It showed we can do great things if we psyche ourselves up very well,” said Keshi of the 40-yard blaster which beat Venezuela goalkeeper Daniel Hernandez hollow.
The South Americans were on top of the game in the first half, but on resumption, the Eagles turned the table and raced into a 2-0 lead.
“At half time, I told them, put the ball on the ground and play quick and the goals will come and I was not surprised that once they did that the goals started to come. Like I will always say, it’s still work in progress and we can only get better,” he said.
Keshi commended Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi for his experience and USA-based Bright Dike for performance on his debut.
“Shola was awesome the moment he got into the pitch. He showed his experience in the game and even when he was provoked his calmness was amazing. He was talking to the other players on what to do at a time we were under pressure and he was resilient, we sure need his experience for big tournaments.
Look at the way and manner he shielded the ball, evaded being brought down before passing to Mba, who also gave it to Onazi for our third goal. Shola is a special player,” remarked the Eagles handler.
On Dike, he said the power playing forward has a future with the national team.
“He’s quick, aggressive and always coming back to defend and it was difficult for anyone to say this was the first time he was playing for Nigeria,”he said.
“I’m so happy that Bright did not disappoint and we will see when camp opens what he can do for the team.
Nigeria, Keshi noted, were gradually returning to the glory days and he said he is delighted to be part of the rebuilding process. “Let us all join hands to return the game to the height that it was when we were playing, no matter the grouse we may have,” he said.
Ahmed Musa can't stop scoring
CSKA Moscow striker Ahmed Musa scored his eighth goal in the Russian league in Sunday’s 3-0 spanking of Amkar Perm.
Eight-goal Musa is now two goals behind league leading scorer Aleksandr Kerzhakov of champions Zenit Saint Petersburg.
The Nigeria international, who is now played as a centre forward by his Russian army club and not as a winger, scored the second goal of the match in the 73rd minute.
He also assisted Cauna for the third goal in the 90th minute.
An elated Musa told MTNFootball.com he was delighted to again be among the goals, but would still not set a personal goals target for himself this season.
"I am happy to score again but what matters most is the victory which keeps us on top of the table. I will keep doing my best to score as many goals as I can, but don't have a target number of goals," declared Musa, who has also scored a goal in the Russian cup.
CSKA remain top of the table with 39 points from 16 matches.
Emenike returns for Spartak
Nigerian international forward Emmanuel Emenike returned to Spartak Moscow's line-up after shaking off the back injury that put him out of action for a few weeks.
But the 25-year-old walked straight back into the starting line-up and featured for the entire duration of Spartak's 1-1 draw away at Volga on Saturday in the Russian Premier League, but however had a muted performance.
Dmitriy Kombarov curled in a free kick from 25 yards to put Spartak ahead on the 13th minute; however Alexander Salugin equalized for the hosts in the first half stoppage time.
Spartak are placed fifth on the League table, and are seven points off Ahmed Musa's CSKA Moscow who have a game in hand against Amkar Perm later today (Sunday).
Eaglets confident after win over Mali
Nigeria U17 coach Manu Garba has said his team will qualify for the African Junior Championship after they beat Mali 2-0 on Sunday.
“We have to praise these boys for being able to play and score two goals against Mali and I’m confident we would secure the needed result in Bamako to qualify for the tournament in Morocco,” said Manu.
“If we had taken some of those chances we missed, we would have scored more goals, but I’m confident we can beat them in Bamako.”
The Eaglets came up against a physically bigger team but the coach insisted this cannot stop his team’s charge to next year’s finals in Morocco.
“Obviously, you can all see that they are bigger than our boys but that is not our problem because we know that size doesn’t play football,” he said.
This was obviously the Eaglets toughest match so far in the campaign, but they could have scored more goals if not for some glaring misses particularly in the second half of the keenly contested match.
But the two goals in either half of the match by defender Wilfred Ndidi in the 23rd minute and Alhassan Ibrahim in the 82nd minute secured victory for the Nigerian schoolboys.
The Eaglets will break for a day and resume preparations on Tuesday for the return leg in Bamako in a fortnight.
Aluko scores brace in Hull win
Sone Aluko scored a brace in Hull City's 3-2 win over Birmingham City.
James Chester seemed to have sealed the win for the visitors with a 33rd minute goal, but the hosts had other ideas.
Ravel Morrison pulled a goal back for Birmingham in the 38th minute, and Marlon King's 46th minute goal had the seventeen thousand fans at St. Andrews Stadium itching for a comeback.
However, Hull City held unto their lead to secure all the points.
Aluko featured for the entire duration of the game, while countryman and former Nigerian international Seyi Olofinjana started the game but was taken off for David Meyler in the 63rd minute.
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