SPORTS
Leaders Man City Frustrated by Spirited Aston Villa
Manchester City’s march to the Women’s Super League title was slowed as they were held to a goalless draw by Aston Villa.
The result extends City’s lead at the top to nine points, having played a game more than nearest challengers Manchester United and Chelsea, but it was a sloppy display from Andree Jeglertz’s side at Villa Park.
Villa were much the better side in the first half with City goalkeeper Khiara Keating forced to make a number of smart saves to keep the scores level.
Keating, starting a league game for just the third time this season, was grateful when Chasity Grant’s shot beat her but came back off the post.
The visitors improved after the break and largely kept Natalia Arroyo’s home side penned inside their own half.
However, the usual incisiveness from City around the box was still sorely lacking, with far too many loose passes and heavy touches in the first league game for a month for both sides.
Centre-back Rebecca Knaak had City’s best chance with a back-post header from a corner that was kept out by Villa keeper Ellie Roebuck, and another Alex Greenwood corner was going straight in before Grant chested it off the line.
The league leaders were perhaps also unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty after Lucy Parker kicked the boot of Khadija Shaw and then bundled over Laura Blindkilde Brown after being dispossessed on the corner of her own penalty area.
Pressure grew late on with Vivianne Miedema heading just over the bar, but City had to settle for a point – not what they came for, but a small step closer to a first league title since 2016.
For Villa, a spirited display halted their run of five straight losses in all competitions.
It had been three weeks since City’s last game, four weeks since they last played in the league – and it showed.
They looked like a team who had not played together for a while and as they continued to give the ball away cheaply throughout the first half, you could almost see the City players looking for Yui Hasegawa – away at the Asia Cup with Japan – to knit the play together and calm things down.
With no-one able to do that, wave after wave of Villa attacks meant a very busy 45 minutes for Keating, who produced a trio of excellent stops to deny Noelle Maritz, Anna Patten and Kirsty Hanson in the space of six minutes midway through the first half.
The rust gradually appeared to wear off and City largely controlled the second half, without creating any significant chances from open play.
But with only five WSL games remaining, their advantage at the summit is such that even if Chelsea and United – and fourth-placed Arsenal – win their games in hand, Jeglertz’s team will still be in a dominant position.
The hope in the City ranks will be that they can quickly move past this slip-up, rediscover the rhythm and momentum they had before the break, and ensure that what had been looking like a procession to the title does not become a genuine race.
The prospect of facing the runaway league leaders, having lost five games in a row and shipped seven at home in their last match, may have felt rather daunting to Villa fans.
Instead, their team returned from a month-long hiatus with renewed vigour and not only went toe-to-toe but roundly outplayed City for 45 minutes.
Inside a minute they had a three-on-three situation with Hanson driving at the heart of the away side’s defence.
It set the tone for a superb first-half display and with some slightly more clinical finishing, or even just a marginally less inspired showing from Keating, they might have been out of sight.
As it was, Villa’s exertions caught up with them as the first period came to a close and the second half became an exercise in defensive resilience rather than attacking dynamism.
But to have shown both sides of themselves against the league’s best – and stopped the rot after a dismal run before the break – should give the Villans confidence as they bid to end the season strongly.
Ghanaian footballer Dominic Frimpong has been killed during an armed robbery on his club side Berekum Chelsea’s team bus as they returned from an away match in the Ghana Premier League, the country’s football association (GFA) said.
The attack on Sunday happened between Goaso and Bibiani as the teams were heading home from the game against Samartex in Samreboi in the south of the country.
“On our way back to Berekum from Samreboi, our team bus was attacked by a group of armed robbers who blocked the road to prevent our passage,” the club said in a statement on Monday.
“Masked men wielding guns and assault rifles started shooting at our bus as the driver tried to reverse.
The players and staff fled into nearby bushes to take cover.”The Ghanaian FA later said that 20-year-old Frimpong had died.
“The GFA has received with profound shock and deep sorrow the tragic news of the passing of Dominic Frimpong of Berekum Chelsea Football Club,” the FA said in a statement.
“This tragic incident is not only a huge loss to Berekum Chelsea but also to Ghana football as a whole. Dominic was a promising young talent whose dedication and passion for the game embodied the spirit of our league.”
It said it would strengthen security arrangements for clubs travelling for domestic competitions.
In a similar incident in 2023, Legon Cities’ team bus was attacked following a game at Samartex, though no one was reported injured.
From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
The Central Organizing Committee (COC) of Nigeria’s biggest grassroots football spectacle, the Bayelsa Governor’s Football Tournament, tagged the Prosperity Cup, has concluded arrangements for this year’s local government area (LGA) finals across the eight local government areas of the State.
This was contained in a statement signed by Tournament Director, Ebi Avi in preparation for this year’s edition of the LGA finals after weeks of beautiful football across thirty different centres.
The statement said the LGA finals began in Nembe LGA on Sunday, at the Nembe City Stadium as high-scoring Okoroma United of Okoroma battled Fantuo FC of Fantuo for the ₦1,000,000 prize money at stake.
Hon. Braah Oteigbanyo, the Member representing Nembe Constituency 1 in the State House of Assembly and Hon. David Alagoa, Chairman of Member Local Government Council is expected to be on hand to cheer the boys.
According to the statement, attention will shift to Ogbia LGA on Monday, 13th April, 2026 with determined Movers FC of Otuasega confronting Edi 1 FC of Ayakoro at the Imiringi Mini Stadium.
The statement equally stated that Hon. Gabriel Ogbara, Chief Whip of the State House of Assembly, the Chairman of Ogbia LGA, Hon. Jeremiah Golden, alongside other stakeholders, are expected to grace the occasion.
On Tuesday, 14th April, 2026, the excitement will move to Ekeremor LGA as two-time champions, Krosaders FC of Peretorugbene tackle Osunmabio of Osainmabio at Ayamasa School field.
The House Committee Chairman on Sports, Hon. Tare Porri will be joined by the Commissioner, Local Government and Community Development, Hon Thompson Amule and other stakeholders to add colour to the event.
The statement also explains that Kolobiriowei FC of Bulou-Orua will engage Agoro United of Agoro in the Sagbama LGA finals on Wednesday, 15th April, 2026 at the Ebedebiri pitch.
The Director General, Bayelsa Micro-Finance Enterprise Development Agency, Hon. Embeleakpo Apere is expected to be the Special Guest of Honour.
It further states that the Prosperity Cup train will move to Kolokuma/Opokuma on Thursday, April 16th, 2026 as Mountain of the Lord’s Deliverance Ministry, MLDM FC of Odi entertain Odi United in the battle of two Odi giants at the Kaiama pitch.
Hon Pamo Werenipre and Hon. Wisdom Fafi, both Members of the State House of Assembly and Hon. Lelei Tariye, Chairman, Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA will be there to add colour to the fiesta.
According to the statement, Amassoma will have the luxury of hosting the enterprising NDU Oilers FC of Amassoma and the rugged Onde United of Ondewari on Friday, 17th of April, 2026 in the Southern Ijaw LGA finals.
Women Affairs Commissioner, Hon. Joanah Gigi and Chairman, Southern Ijaw Local Government Council, Hon. Target Segibo will be among guests to be entertained.
Avi disclosed that Saturday, 18th April, 2026 will be the turn of Brass LGA as Mini FC of Minibie welcomes Igoni FC of Odioma at the beautiful Island of Okpoama, pointing out that Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abraham Ingobere is among the dignitaries to watch the final.
The Tournament Director also said Bayelsa United Feeders and Brazil FC of Yenagoa will be at each other’s throats as they battle for glory at the Samson Siasia Stadium Sunday, 19th of April, 2026.
Hon. Ayibanengiyefa Egba, Member representing Yenagoa Constituency 1 in the State House of Assembly and Hon. Bulodisiye Ndiwari, Chairman of Yenagoa LGA will be among the guests.
He equally stated that the kick-off time for all the matches is 1:00pm with the winners of each match smiling to the bank with ₦1,000,000 while the runners-up will receive ₦500,000.
Ebi Avi appreciated all the sponsors; Premium Trust Bank, the Bayelsa State Government, Linkage Assurance, NDDC, NCDMB, Nigeria Customs Service, Binad Table Water and the Bayelsa State Board of Internal Revenue for their immense support for the growth of tournament.
The Chairman of Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi, Simon Ikya, said the club’s sole target is to gain promotion to the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) 2026/2027 season.
Ikya stated this while addressing newsmen in Makurdi on Thursday regarding the club’s progress during the just-concluded Nigerian National League (NNL) season.
Ikya took over the reins of the club mid-season.
He said that the team did their best but narrowly missed out on returning to the NPFL, as the club finished second in NNL Conference C behind Doma United of Gombe.
The chairman said that many challenges, including playing home matches away from Makurdi, an over-bloated squad, and legal issues, among others, scuttled the team’s efforts to achieve its goal.
“But when the governor gave me the go-ahead to do everything humanly possible to bring the team back to Makurdi, we are now playing our home matches at McCarthy Stadium, Makurdi.
“Playing away from home meant we were basically playing all our games away, and it was costing us too much money.
“Then we worked on adding a bit of bite to the team, which we did. And if you noticed, in the second round we played much better than we did in the first round.
“Another challenge was the number of players. We had 67 of them, which is too much, but what I did was review the squad, select 25 players to form Team A, and move the rest to Team B.
“That helped us improve towards the end, and we were even able to win an away game, which was our last,” he explained.
Ikya said that the wage bill was taking a toll on the team and assured that all the players whose contracts expired would be shown the exit door.
“We finished second, which wasn’t our target. As mentioned, we will sit down to address all these issues.
“I didn’t handle recruitment, and I didn’t come in on time. But next season, I won’t have any excuses. Our target will be promotion, and we must get the right players to achieve it.
“The truth is that the governor has been very supportive. I even feel ashamed of going before him sometimes. But given the circumstances we found ourselves in, there was little we could have done.
“Now that we have the opportunity to recruit our own players and properly prepare the team, I don’t think we have any excuse not to gain promotion next season.
“Regarding some of the cases we inherited, we had to include them in the wage bill because we are part of the system,” he added.
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