Dailynews: Ikeme saves Eagles in Dar es Salaam

Dailynews: Ikeme saves Eagles in Dar es Salaam

Ikeme saves Eagles in Dar es Salaam

Share313

Tweet0

Share0

TANZANIA’S Taifa Stars produced a stunning second half performance but failed to do enough to stun three-time African champions, Nigeria on match day two of 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying.

Yesterday’s game at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam which finished 0-0 was Sunday Oliseh’s first after he replaced former coach, Stephen Keshi and he opted to hand 29-year-old goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme his competitive debut in place of Vincent Enyeama who asked to be excused from the tie following the death of his mother.

It turned out to be a master stroke as the Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper made no less than six stunning saves to prevent the Eagles from suffering a humiliating defeat.

FSV Mainz defender, Leon Balogun failed to recover from an ankle injury and was subsequently replaced by Solomon Kwambe.

William Troost-Ekong, Kenneth Omeruo and Kingsley Madu were the other defenders handed starts against the Taifa Stars.

Obiora Nwankwo started ahead of the back four while Ahmed Musa, Moses Simon and Emmanuel Emenike started in more advanced positions ahead of midfielders, Izunna Uzochukwu and Lukman Haruna.

Nigeria threatened early on through Simon on the left but he was fouled as he raced past a defender and honed in on goal. He took the subsequent free kick himself but Emenike headed wildly from four yards.

The hosts then took control and Carl Ikeme had to be at his brilliant best in the 13th and 22nd minutes to keep the score line even.

His first save off an Mbwana Samata effort was particularly impressive as the Taifa Stars continued to show they were anything but intimidated by the storied credentials of their opponents.

The Super Eagles looked sluggish and lacking in co-ordination and Oliseh responded by substituting Haruna after just 35 minutes with striker, Sylvester Igboun taking the Anzhi man’s place and earning his debut as a result.

The hosts however continued to create the more dangerous openings with TP Mazembe man, Thomas Ulimwengu particularly outstanding.

Ahmed Musa’s free kick from range in the 24th minute represented Nigeria’s only effort on target in the half and the visitors knew they were lucky to still be on level terms at the break.

The Super Eagles started on the front foot in the second half and Emenike threatened from range in the 48th minute.

Musa’s pace continued to cause the hosts problems down the right hand channel and he burst through on 57 minutes only to be let down by an atrocious final touch.

Tanzania should have scored on the hour but Ikeme produced a save that defied logic to deny Ulimwengu from point blank range.

Oliseh responded by throwing on Werder Bremen attacker, Anthony Ujah for the tiring Emenike as Nigeria looked to rev the engine. It was the Taifa Stars that however came close to scoring the game’s first goal through Mrisho Ngassa, five minutes later but he managed to head wide when left unmarked from five yards.

Ulimwengu almost scored two minutes after Ngassa’s shocking miss but his low angled drive was impressively kept out by the exemplary Ikeme.

The Tanzanians dominated the rest of the half but were left to contemplate what might have been largely due to the brilliance of Ikeme. The point means Nigeria are still undefeated after the first two rounds of matches and now leapfrog Egypt as the new leaders of Group G. The Super Eagles have now amassed four points following their 2-0 win over Chad on match day one.

Egypt will overtake however overtake Nigeria at the summit of the standings if they defeat Chad on Sunday at Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya, N’Djamena.

Nigeria: Carl Ikeme; Solomon Kwambe, Kingsley Madu, William-Troost Ekong, Kenneth Omeruo, Nwankwo Obiora, Haruna Lukman (Sylvester Igboun), Moses Simon (Emem Eduok 70′), Ahmed Musa, Izunna Uzochukwu, Emmanuel Emenike (Anthony Ujah 61′)

‎ Angel Cheme Age Difference - 3 years

 This Ecuadorian footballer has been using someone else's name for seven years! He played the majority of his professional career as Gonzalo Javier Chila Palma, and claimed a date of birth of 9 December 1984 instead of the real date - 19 November 1981. Cheme was accused of aggravated identity theft which led to the one-year suspension by Ecuadorian Football Federation. Real Gonzalo Javier Chila Palma had troubles with finding work all these years because someone was using his name already.

Top Nigerian singer Banky W is currently in London with the two women who matter most in his life.

Banky W who is one of the most eligible bachelors in the game shared a picture of him with his mother, and sister. A lot of women might be crushing on him but the star act has made it clear that these are the two ladies for him now.

play

Banky W and nephew

 (Instagram )

He even made Mama Wellington and his sister his women crush for this Wednesday. "#WCW Momma W and le sis @msddg" he wrote in the caption.

play

The Wellingtons 

(Instagram)

The EME boss has been with his family these past few weeks. The 'Strong Ting' singer shared photos of his parents, brothers, sisters, brother-in-law and his nephew Adebare last weekend.

play

The Wellingtons 

(Instagram)

Mourinho: I knew Chelsea Were In Trouble After 10 Seconds

The Blues boss pinpointed Sergio Aguero’s early one-on-one with Asmir Begovic as the moment that he began to fear for his side after their humbling at the Etihad Stadium

Jose Mourinho insists he knew Chelsea were in trouble just 10 seconds into their 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Premier League title rivals Manchester City.

Goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho saw off the Blues as Manuel Pellegrini’s men made a powerful early-season statement in their bid to claim a third league title in five years.

But Chelsea might have been dead and buried by half-time; Aguero missed several clear chances in the first 45 minutes including one in the opening moments when he raced onto a David Silva pa$$ and fired a low shot against the shin of an onrushing Asmir Begovic.

Mourinho afterwards revealed this was the point at which he feared for his side and voiced his frustration at their uncharacteristically slack defending.

“When the game started and 10 seconds later you have Aguero behind the defensive line and facing Begovic, immediately you get the notion that the start wasn’t good,” the Chelsea boss told reporters. “After that he made two or three saves because of that fragility.

“I was the first one to be disappointed. All week you are speaking about movements, directions of the game, mechanisms, Aguero’s runs and Aguero’s positions, the wingers coming inside, and after 10 seconds Aguero is in the face of Begovic. We were defensively poor in the first half.”

Mourinho also elaborated on his surprising decision to substitute captain John Terry for tactical reasons at half-time as Chelsea pushed for an equaliser.

“The point was not to take John out it was to bring [Kurt] Zouma in – I wanted my fastest player on the pitch, not on the bench,’ he added. “It was clear for me that Zouma has to play. I had to bring one out and I brought out my captain. He was on the bench and still my captain because the armband is just the armband.

“I can tell you that he was not dancing in the dressing-room, and I can tell you also that he was not having a bad reaction. He did what everybody does. The manager says ‘this guy comes in and that guy goes out’, and they all do the same. They wait for the team to go out, they shower and change and go back to the bench.

“My decision was proven right because we controlled the depth of the game and the counter-attack totally. But John is a player with my entire confidence for sure. With me, he was never substituted but with other managers he was not even selected. He was not playing or people thought his career at Chelsea was over.

“I don’t know if you ask many questions to [Rafa] Benitez, [Andre] Villas-Boas, [Roberto] Di Matteo, the ones who never played him. I’m the one you shouldn’t ask because I’m the one who played him every game, made him captain and recovered him from a difficult situation with other managers.

“I’m the one who has the right to look at the game and to say I want Zouma on.”