SPORTS
Believe in the process, Pochettino tells fans after Chelsea’s defeat
Mauricio Pochettino called on Chelsea fans to “believe in the process” after his side slumped to a 3-1 defeat away to West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Argentine former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris St Germain manager has taken on a big challenge at Stamford Bridge, trying to fashion a new identity for an expensively-assembled squad.
Eight players have been signed for around 325 million pounds (414 million dollars) since he arrived in the summer as Chelsea try to re-invent themselves after finishing 12th last season.
One of them, Moises Caicedo, whose fee from Brighton could break the British record, was given a debut off the bench.
But his impact rather summed up Chelsea’s day as they remained on just one point from their opening two games.
His rash tackle inside the penalty area on Emerson in stoppage time gave Lucas Paqueta the opportunity to wrap up the points for West Ham from the spot and he made no mistake.
Chelsea have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games and have now lost four London derbies in a row, but Pochettino is certainly not about to start panicking.
“That’s football. Teams like us, we need to get the right balance. I think today there were a few actions we didn’t manage well and we concede.
“Overall it is this type of game that is difficult to explain. You had the possession, you create and maybe you were the better side but in the end you lose,” Pochettino told reporters.
Chelsea had 75 per cent of the possession at the London Stadium, had 17 attempts at goal and 706 passes compared to West Ham’s 225.
But apart from a very well taken goal by Carney Chukwuemeka they had nothing to show for it with Enzo Fernandez, still the British record signing, missing a penalty to make it 2-1.
“It was the frustration when we miss the penalty. We were playing well and we didn’t get the reward.
“Disappointed but this is only the beginning. We need to believe in the process. I think we are going to be stronger and for sure be really competitive,” Pochettino said.
For West Ham it was a massively encouraging afternoon and a result that suggested they could avoid a season spent looking over their shoulders at the relegation places as they did last time.
James Ward-Prowse made an instant impact on his debut, setting up the opening two goals for Nayef Aguerd and Michail Antonio.
Even after Aguerd was sent off midway through the second half, West Ham’s resilience shone through.
“We hung in there at times, were resolute. Even at 10 men we stuck in and got another goal.
“We stuck at it, did the basics well and got the three points,” manager David Moyes said.
SPORTS
Results of Match Day 2 Fixtures in 2024/2025 NPFL
Following are the results of Match Day 1 fixtures in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), played on Sunday and dates of the remaining fixtures:
Akwa United FC 1-1 Abia Warriors FC
Bayelsa United FC 1-1 Kano Pillars FC
Katsina United FC 1-1 Bendel Insurance FC
Niger Tornadoes FC 0-0 Nasarawa United FC
Shooting Stars FC 1-1 Plateau United FC
El Kanemi Warriors Vs Kwara United FC (postponed )
The following Match Day two fixtures
Would be played on Sept.
25:Ikorodu City FC Vs Enugu Rangers international FC
Enyimba international FC Vs Lobi stars FC .
(NAN)SPORTS
Match Day 1 Remaining Results in 2024/2025 NPFL
Following are the results of remaining Match Day one fixtures played on Sunday in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL)Heartland FC 1-3 Enyimba international FCKwara United FC 1-2 Niger Tornadoes FCBendel Insurance FC 0-0 Rivers United FCPlateau United FC 1-0 Katsina United FCKano Pillars FC 3-0 Ikorodu City FCSunshine Stars FC 3-0 Bayelsa United FCAbia Warriors FC 0-2 Remo Stars FCNasarawa United FC 1-1 Shooting Stars FC.
(NAN)SPORTS
Morocco 2025: Super Eagles can Beat any Team, Eguavoen Boasts
The interim coach of the Super Eagles, Augustine Eguavoen, said his team can beat any team with the quality of players in the team.
Eguavoen stated this after his team spanked the Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4-0 in the 2025 African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) at the Godswill Akpabio stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom on Saturday.
“We have quality players to beat any team but we respect team anyway.
Any coach can come in and do the same job with the Super Eagles.“It is a mindset, we have the potential and how you perceived your opponent, given the information about them and then go out and do the job,“he said.
Equavoen attributed the victory to the formation adopted by the technical crew, adding that any formation could be used to ensure that the team was successful.
“We can decide to use any system. It is something we discussed and I slept over it. I know with the caliber of players that we have, we can decide to play any formation.
“Football is about you win, lose and draw, I don’t believe we have a poor result,” he said.
He, however, said that the former Super Eagles coach didn’t do a good job but it has to do with believe, what is at stake and what you want to achieve.
“Psychologically as a group, we are agreed, where we are and where we are going to be. We will definitely achieve it,” Equavoen said.
He commended the performance of the defence , describing it as superb, adding that the team had been training together for one week.
The coach said that asking six players to warm up for the second half was to buy time, adding that there was no need to rush to change.
He said the Cheetahs of Benin Republic were a good team, adding that they came with a good game plan.
Report says that Eguavoen was appointed interim coach after the deal between the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) and coach Bruno Labbadia failed.
NFF explained in a statement that it failed due to the stringent regulations of German tax authorities.(NAN)