Mohammed Babaganaru has left his post as head coach of Nigeria Premier Football League side, Gombe United.

Babaganaru, a two-time winner of the NPFL with Kano Pillars, took the decision over poor funding of the club.

Gombe United several times arrived late for away games this season which has affected the team’s performance.

The Savannah Scorpions are currently battling with relegation following an underwhelming campaign.

Gombe United occupy 19th position on the NPFL table with 21 points from 21 matches.

Assistant coach, Alhaji Kwairanga is expected to take charge of the team for Thursday’s trip to Enyimba.

Defending champions Manchester City will face Newcastle United in the quarter-finals of this year’s Emirates FA Cup while Manchester United have been drawn in a high profile game against Liverpool.

City reached the last eight after Pep Guardiola’s side thumped Luton Town at the Kenilworth Road on Tuesday with Erling Haaland scoring five of those goals while Newcastle only managed to beat Blackburn Rovers on penalties.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Casemiro’s late header helped Manchester United overcome Nottingham Forest to reach the quarter-finals of the competition where they were finalists last season, setting up a heavy clash against Liverpool.

With a relatively young team, Jurgen Klopp’s side defeated Southampton 3-0 at Anfield on Wednesday to reach the last eight.

In the other quarter-finals matches, Chelsea, who overpowered Leeds United in a 3-2 win on Wednesday will face Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho’s Leicester City while Wolves host Coventry.

The quarterfinal matches will take place over the weekend of March 16.

Super Falcons duo, Chiamaka Nnadozie and Deborah Abiodun have celebrated the team’s win against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon.

Tenerife of Spain forward, Esther Okoronkwo scored the decisive goal on 14 minutes to seal a hard-earned 1-0 victory for the hosts at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

Nnadozie and Abiodun played crucial roles in the win.

The two players took to the social media to celebrate the victory.

“+ 3 CLEAN SHEET , AMAZING EFFORT FROM THE WHOLE TEAM. WE ARE SUPER FALCONS UNTO THE NEXT ROUND,” Nnadozie wrote on her X handle.

“To God be the glory. We overcame Cameroon. A solid team performance @NGSuper_Falcons. Onto the next one,” reads a short message on Abiodun’s account.

The Super Falcons will face either African champions South Africa or Tanzania in the final round.

The Banyana Banyana defeated Tanzania 3-0 in the first leg.

Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong, is set to miss the rest of this season, Soccernet reports.

The 30-year-old was part of the Nigerian team that lost 2-1 to Ivory Coast in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

However, it has now emerged that Troost-Ekong picked up a hamstring problem during the group stages.

This led to the defender sitting out the final group game against Guinea-Bissau.

However, Troost-Ekong played on with the injury, including 120 minutes against South Africa in the semi-final.

He has now travelled to Finland to undergo surgery to repair a ruptured biceps femoris in his right leg.

Former Tottenham Hotspur star, Jamie Redknapp has blamed Chelsea defender Axel Disasi after Virgil van Dijk’s winning goal for Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

Redknapp said Disasi failed to deal with Van Dijk as the Netherlands defender scored a dramatic extra-time header against Chelsea to give Liverpool a 1-0 victory at Wembley Stadium.

“Disasi is a big man and he just did not deal with him well enough. It was not incredible movement from Virgil but he just wanted it more,” Redknapp told Sky Sports.

“It was a good flat delivery from Tsimikas and he just wanted. That is sometimes what can happen at set-pieces. He [Van Dijk] just flicks it in and it is a great header.”

Alex Iwobi made history as the first Fulham player to score a winning goal against Manchester United at the Old Trafford since October 2003 on Saturday.

Steed Malbranque was the last Fulham player to achieve the feat.

Marco Silva’s side defeated the Red Devils 2-1 in front of a packed Old Trafford.

Iwobi’s international teammate, Calvin Bassey gave Fulham the lead five minutes after the hour mark.

Centre-back, Harry Maguire levelled scores for United in the 89th minute.

Iwobi then scored his fourth goal of the campaign deep into stoppage time to hand Fulham a precious away victory.

Atletico Madrid’s poor LaLiga run continued on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom side Almeria thanks to a brace by 19-year-old Argentine forward Luka Romero.

Angel Correa’s close-range effort in the second minute handed Atletico the lead but Romero levelled the score with a fine strike in the 27th minute.

Rodrigo de Paul put the visitors back in front with a deflected shot in the 57th minute.

But Romero fired in another equaliser into the top corner seven minutes later to earn Almeria a point.

Atletico, who have failed to win three of their last four league matches, are fourth in the standings with 52 points.

They trail third-placed Girona by four points and are three ahead Athletic Bilbao in fifth, both of whom have a game in hand.

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, says England forward Phil Foden is now a world class performer in his own right.

Gifted as he is, Foden has often been overshadowed by Manchester City’s big hitters but Guardiola noted after Saturday’s win at Bournemouth that he had grown into a top player.

Foden’s ninth league goal of the season secured the unconvincing 1-0 win that pushed champions City to one point behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.

With Erling Haaland not back to his best after injury and playmaker Kevin de Bruyne used as a late substitute on Saturday, Foden was the spark that kept City’s bandwagon firmly on track for a fourth successive title.

The 23-year-old Foden has also contributed seven assists this season and has stepped up to be one of Manchester City’s leaders on the pitch.

“Forget about the goals – of course they are important – but do you know how he played?

“How he controlled and accelerated. He has already become a top-class football player. From a little boy, now he has already become Phil, a world class, top player.

“He’s so good. He can play everywhere, especially in the central position and play really, really good,” Guardiola told reporters.

City are now 11 games unbeaten in the league and while Liverpool and Arsenal are right with them in the title race, Guardiola’s side are showing again the ability to churn out results at the business end of the season.

They beat Brentford 1-0 in midweek and Guardiola said his squad’s durability still surprised him.

“What can I say?, The calendar is so demanding and the expectations are so high. What they have done for many years with a lot of games and many things.

“And always you believe they will fall down and won’t continue to do it – they surprise me,” he said.

Nigeria Defender, William Troost-Ekong says he would consider playing in the Saudi Arabia Professional Football League in future.

Troost-Ekong was named the Most Valuable Player, MVP, at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

The 30-year-old is said to have caught the eye of a number of clubs in the Saudi Arabian top-flight during the competition.

The centre-back is currently on the books of Greek Super League outfit, PAOK Salonica.

The former Watford player admitted he will be interested in playing in Saudi Arabia if he had the opportunity.

“I can’t tell you that now because it’s not right in front of me,” Troost-Ekong stated in an interview with CNN World Sports Amanda Davies.

“The Saudi League is something which is exciting, you saw quite a lot of the best players who were part of the AFCON have headed in that direction and are playing there.

“If that option is in front of me, then, I will have to study it a bit more and consider it.”

Asked if he would love to play alongside Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo’, he said; “Who wouldn’t? One of the best players in the world. We’ll have to see what happens but I’m happy at PAOK.”

Victor Osimhen is in the running for the UEFA Champions League Goal of the Week award.

The Nigeria international scored a superb goal in Napoli’s 1-1 draw against Barcelona at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday night.

Osimhen showed good strength to turn Inigo Martinez just inside the penalty area on an Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa through ball and fired in from 14 yards.

It was the forward’s first goal in the UEFA Champions League this season.

The 25-year-old was in action for 75 minutes in the game.

Barcelona Forward, Robert Lewandowski, PSV Eindhoven’s Donyell Malen and Porto’s Gelano are the other players in contention for the award.

Victor Osimhen is in the running for the UEFA Champions League Goal of the Week award.

The Nigeria international scored a superb goal in Napoli’s 1-1 draw against Barcelona at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday night.

Osimhen showed good strength to turn Inigo Martinez just inside the penalty area on an Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa through ball and fired in from 14 yards.

Toni Kroos has returned to the Germany national football team ahead of the Euro 2024 tournament, later this year.

Kroos disclosed this in a post via his Instagram account on Thursday afternoon.

The Real Madrid midfielder said he would be part of the team in March.

“Guys, short and painless: I will play for Germany again from March,” Kroos wrote on Instagram.

“Why? Because I was asked by the national coach, I’m up for it and I’m sure that a lot more is possible with the team at the European Championships than most people believe!”

Bayern Munich are considering Zinedine Zidane and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to replace Thomas Tuchel as their manager, according to Sky Germany.

It is believed that Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso is their preferred target if they decide to part ways with Tuchel.

But they will be willing to look at Zidane and Solskjaer.

There is pressure on Tuchel, following the 3-2 defeat at Bochum on Sunday.

The loss leaves the Bundesliga champions eight points behind leaders Leverkusen.

It was also a third straight defeat for Bayern, after they were beaten 1-0 at Lazio in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 last week.

Facing a first trophyless season in 12 years, Bayern’s primary plan remains to reach the end of the campaign with Tuchel and honestly assess the situation.

The Preliminary draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will hold on Tuesday at the Confederations of African Football headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

CAF made this known in a statement on its official website, communications@cafonline.com, by its communication department on Monday.

According to the governing body, following the conclusion of the 34th edition of the competition, the draw for TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 Preliminary Round, is set for Tuesday.

It states that the draw would be conducted at 14h00 local time (12h00 GMT).

“The preliminary round will include the eight lowest-ranked teams according to the FIFA ranking: Somalia, Djibouti, Sao Tome, Chad, Mauritius, South Sudan, Liberia and Eswatini.

“The matches will be played on home and away basis during the FIFA window of March from 18 to March 26. The four preliminary round winners will join the 44 exempted teams for the group stage,” CAF said.

Morocco will host the 2025 AFCON competition. The just concluded 2023 AFCON was held in Côte d’Ivoire, where the host team, the Elephants defeated the Super Eagles of Nigeria 2-1 in the final of the tournament.

Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo has recently revealed a threatening message a fan sent to teammate, Ola Aina after the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, final against Ivory Coast this month.

According to Omeruo, a fan wished the Nottingham Forest wing-back death after he came out second-best in a one-on-one duel against Brighton and Ivory Coast winger, Simon Adingra in the 2023 AFCON final.

He also insisted that the cyberbullying from fans could affect the confidence of Super Eagles players, adding that as a result they could quit representing the national team.

“There are a lot of people who are angry for nothing’s sake and they will come at you. Before this tournament we have been getting criticisms,” Omeruo told Arise News.

“For example, someone wrote to Ola Aina on Instagram, ‘I hope you die’. They just write whatever, they don’t care about the consequences and most times I have stopped myself from replying to a lot of messages.

“If I reply like this, one blog will pick it and they will make a big deal out of it but we just have to grow thick skin and hopefully keep winning because when we win they forget about every other thing.”

He continued: “I was speaking to Ola and he made some comments that I won’t say here but if we lose a player like him just because of some bullying from some fans that are not even important, then it is going to affect us.

“Imagine Ola Aina, for me, was one of the best players in the tournament and was named in the Team of the Tournament as well.”

Real Madrid are preparing to hand Kylian Mbappe their iconic number 10 shirt, should he join them ahead of next season.

Mbappe will not take the famous No.7 shirt that was worn by his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The shirt is currently worn by Vinicius Junior and Mbappe will not get it unless the Brazilian leaves it or decides he wants to change squad number, according to Mundo Deportivo.

However, Luka Modric who wears the no.10 shirt is set to leave at the end of the season, leaving it free for Mbappe.

The Frenchman is expected to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer and has also been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool.

The Enyimba International FC of Aba, on Saturday, defeated visiting Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan 1-0 at the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) match day 20.

Chijioke Mbaoma became the hero of the day as his 43rd minute goal separated the two sides in the encounter that took place at the Enyimba Stadium, Aba.

In a post-match interview, Enyimba assistant coach, Yemi Olarewaju, said the game “is a good one”, adding that his team prepared well for it knowing that it was going to be tough.

“Enyimba is a good team and they really came at us but we only needed the three points and that was what we did right and move ahead.

“As the assistant coach, I need to do well in the absence of the technical adviser because that is why I came to Enyimba,” Olarewaju said.

He further said that a continental ticket was one of the club’s important goals.

“This game has come and gone, we are shifting our focus to the next game, which is an away match against Bendel Insurance,” Olarewaju said.

Coach Olugbenga Ogunbote of 3SC said that his team gave their all just that the game did not go in their favour.

“Sometimes, you play well but will not get the deserved result and in today’s game, we played well and deserved at worst a point.

“All the same, we have to pick the pieces and move ahead with the positives as we are going to work on the lapses that cost us this game.

“I think we were careless with the goal we conceded because it is a situation we should have avoided and that is one of the things we need to put right before our next game,” Ogunbote said.

In the first game of the day, Heartland FC of Owerri came back from a goal down to share the spoil with visiting Kano Pillars.

Mustapha Ibrahim put Kano Pillars ahead in the 29th minute before Malachy Ohawume equalised for Heartland FC in the 88th minute.