SportsNews

Why Mainoo’s goal was extra special

Published

1 year ago

February 2, 2024

Ekwutos Blog

Mainoo

Manchester United fans just cannot stop watching Kobbie Mainoo’s brilliant winner against Wolves.

After the Reds had been pegged back to 3-3, due to Pedro Neto’s equaliser on the break, our newly crowned Player of the Month picked the ball up from substitute Omari Forson and tricked his way into a shooting position.

There was still much to do but he displayed exquisite technique to steer his finish wide of Jose Sa to send the away supporters crazy and clinch an eighth 4-3 victory of the Premier League era.

Although the strike came in the 97th minute, there was more injury time to be played out before three important points could be celebrated.

A goal in successive games for Kobbie kept him very much in the spotlight and manager Erik ten Hag explained afterwards why he is a role model for other youngsters in the Academy, as he is able to keep his feet on the ground.

“There can be a lot about him,” admitted the boss in one of his post-match interviews with the official broadcasters. “He is a great kid. Only in his head is football.

”He wants to progress every day. He is really an example for a lot [of others] and he has abilities. He has talent but talent has to work hard to progress, and that is what he is doing.

“I hope and I wish push him to keep going.”

Opta also produced an interesting stat, stating that this was only the second goal since the formation of the league in 1992 to be both assisted and scored by teenagers.

With Forson’s pass leading to the strike, Opta revealed the other time this happened was back in January 2005.

That memorable occasion was at Anfield, when Wayne Rooney’s low shot beat Jerzy Dudek, from a Cristiano Ronaldo set-up, to earn a sweet 1-0 success against Liverpool.

Rooney was 18 at the time, with Ronaldo only a year older.

Everybody of a United persuasion was naturally buzzing, and it was nice to see Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill’s reaction to the goal at Molineux from their seat in the stand.

Former midfielder Ander Herrera perhaps summed up the general mood when posting on Instagram: “What a player, what a future this Mainoo [has].”

Well done, and thank you, Kobbie – as we look ahead to seeing you at Old Trafford on Sunday, against West Ham United.

SportsNews

Club World Cup: Why we thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 – PSG manager, Enrique

Published

5 hours ago

July 10, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Paris Saint-Germain manager, Luis Enrique has suggested that his team thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 in the Club World Cup semi-final tie on Wednesday because his players played a great great match against the Spainsh LaLiga giants.

According to Erinque, PSG did really good against the Los Blancos, adding that his players kept playing and fighting despite the “stifling heat”.

Four goals from Fabian Ruiz, Ousmane Dembele and Goncalo Ramos gave the Parisians the victory against Xabi Alonso’s side.

“It is a very special moment for us, Parisians, for all the supporters, the entire club,” Erinque told PSG TV.

“I think we did a really good job and played a great match. We are happy, we are in the final and it has been an incredible season. We want to win this [Club World Cup] final.

“Everyone saw the stifling heat, it is incredible to play in that. I think it affected both teams [PSG and Real Madrid], but we kept playing and fighting,” he said.

Enrique’s side will now face Chelsea in Sunday’s final at the MetLife Stadium.

SportsNews

Transfer: 3 Real Madrid players to leave club after 4-0 dedeat to PSG

Published

5 hours ago

July 10, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

At least three Real Madrid players would be leaving the club after the humiliating outing in the FIFA Club World Cup semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.

The players include Rodrigo, Lucas Vázquez and Luca Modric.

Rodrygo is no longer pleased with the way he is being treated at the club.

The Brazilian’s camp and the people in charge of transfer will discuss the future from next week, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Brazilian forward was an unused substitute in Real Madrid’s humiliating 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

The decision will be up to Rodrygo either to stay or leave as Real Madrid are open to accept exit if the player decides to leave.

Although the immediate past manager, Carlo Ancelotti did not treat him any better, it appears the situation would be worse under Xabi Alonso.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching, the Brazilian would be needing regular football in order to stand a chance of playing in the Brazil squad.

Rodrygo has not made Real Madrid starting XI at the Club World Cup for 5 consecutive games.

Asked why the player was left on the bench, Alonso said after the game, “I didn’t play Rodrygo because of a technical decision.

“We thought we would be better off with other players. It’s not about his future”.

Meanwhile, Spain International, Lucas Vázquez, will now leave Real Madrid after they crashed out of the FIFA Club World Cup.

He is set for next move as a free agent following the expiration of his deal at the club.

Lucas Vázquez is a legend of the club, having won every available title with the Spanish capital city club.

Luka Modric has already agreed a deal with AC Milan and is heading straight to Italy to join up with the Serie A side.

In a similar development, Inter Miami have made progress in talks with Atlético Madrid for Rodrigo de Paul.

Football transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano reports that negotiations are underway with a deal now advancing well.

He has already said yes to Inter Miami and the two clubs are also getting closer to an agreement.

SportsNews

Transfer: Galatasaray suffer major blow as Napoli turn down Osimhen’s release clause amount

Published

6 hours ago

July 10, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Galatasaray have suffered a big blow in their attempt to secure Victor Osimhen’s signing on a permanent transfer from Napoli.

This comes after Napoli opted to to turn down Osimhen’s release clause amount of €75million.

This was revealed by Nigerian broadcast journalist, Onyebuchi Onokala, also known as Buchi Laba, in a post on X.

According to him, the Serie A champions rejected Galatasaray’s €75m third offer for the 26-year-old which was the official release clause of the player.

He tweeted in the early hours of Thursday morning: “Napoli officially turns down Galatasaray €75m 3rd offer for Victor Osimhen. The official Release clause Figure.”

Buchi Laba added that Napoli are frustrating the deal intentionally, adding that they want to push Osimhen to Saudi Arabia club, Al Hilal.

But Osimhen has already made it very clear that going to Al Hilal is not possible and he only wants to join Galatasaray on a permanent transfer.

The Super Eagles striker has also made it very clear to Napoli that he won’t report for the club’s pre-season starting this month as he doesn’t want to play for Antonio Conte’s side anymore.