Sports
Chelsea Beat Real Madrid to Set Up All-Premiership UCL Final Against Man City
Chelsea defeated Real Madrid 2-0 in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) semi-final encounter at the Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
Thomas Tuchel’s side scored once in each half through Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic in a game that they dominated the Spanish side.
Chelsea deservedly win the tie 3-1 on aggregate to qualify for their third ever UCL final, and first since 2012, the year they last won the trophy.
Eden Hazard started against his former club for Real Madrid who also welcomed Sergio Ramos, their captain, back from injury.
Chelsea also started with Kai Havertz ahead of Christian Pulisic, their goal scorer in the first leg.
The Blues set out to stifle their opponents with a crowded defence and pressing forward that pounced on an interception from N’golo Kante to sweep forward.
Havertz’s deft flick hit the bar but Werner was on hand to head into the empty net for a 1-0 lead on 28 minutes.
Real Madrid twice went close through Karim Benzema but Edouard Mendy, Chelsea goalkeeper, brilliantly saved the French striker’s curler towards the bottom corner and palmed away another header.
The hosts totally dominated the second half and created a hatful of chances not capitalised upon. Thiago Silva and Mason Mount both failed to hit the target while Havertz and Kante were denied at point-blank range.
Real Madrid are winless in their last four away games against English sides and Pulisic finished the 13-time UCL champions off with a tap-in goal towards the end of the match.
The London club’s win sets up an all-English final against Manchester City in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 29.
Sports
CAF Crowns Ademola Lookman As African Footballer of the Year
Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, has been named the CAF Footballer of the Year for the past year.
Lookman was announced as the winner at an elaborate event in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday night.
The Atalanta star won the prize ahead of Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra and PSG’s Achraf Hakimi, Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy and South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
It has been an incredible year for Lookman, who became the first player to score a hat-trick in the Europa League/UEFA Cup final since 1975, netting the three goals within 26 minutes against Bayer Leverkusen.
Lookman was included in the Team of the Year for the Europa League, and ended the season having had a direct hand in 18 top flight goals for La Dea.
The 27-year-old was ranked the 14th best player during the Ballon d’Or gala on October 28.
Sports
Panel Clears Mbappe of Rape Allegation
The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced today that the inquiry into rape allegations against French footballer Kylian Mbappé has been closed due to a lack of sufficient evidence to proceed.
This is according to multiple reports on Thursday morning.
The allegations had drawn international attention, casting a shadow over the football star’s career.
Mbappé, who had consistently denied the allegations, has yet to make an official statement regarding the decision
His legal team had previously emphasised his commitment to due process.
Mbappe was “linked to rape investigation in Sweden” and that he intended to reserve any explanations for the Swedish justice system “if necessary,” according to his lawyer, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard.
“He prioritises providing his explanations, if required, to the Swedish judiciary,” Canu-Bernard told AFP, while strongly condemning “media allegations suggesting that Kylian Mbappé had commented on the events of his trip to Stockholm.”
The case, which began earlier this year, involved accusations stemming from an alleged incident in Stockholm. The prosecutor’s decision not to press charges marks the end of months of scrutiny and speculation.
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