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Man City win historic fourth straight English Premier League title

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Manchester City created English football history on Sunday, beating West Ham 3-1 to win an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title.

The Catalan coach has masterminded six Premier League wins in the past seven seasons.

 

In four of those years, City have also surpassed 90 points. They were pushed this season to deny Arsenal a first title since 2003-04.

The Gunners celebrated a 0-0 draw at the Etihad last month that kept them one point in front of City with nine games to play.

But the champions were relentless in the run-in, winning their final nine league games while scoring 33 goals.

Guardiola conceded City had felt the pressure in a nervy 2-0 win at Tottenham in midweek that kept the destiny of the title in their own hands.

In the same scenario two years ago, they needed a remarkable late fightback from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on the final day.

There was far less drama as West Ham melted under the baking Manchester sun in David Moyes’ final game in charge of the Hammers.

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FODEN MASTERCLASS

Foden was recently crowned the football writers’ player of the year for his best-ever goalscoring season and ended any suspense after just 79 seconds.

The England international arrowed a blistering drive into the top corner to ensure there was no nervous wait for the title party to get started.

Foden doubled City’s lead inside 20 minutes with another cool left-footed finish from Jeremy Doku’s cross for his 27th goal of the season.

SEE ALSO:  BREAKING: AFCON Qualifiers: CAF awards Nigeria victory, fines Libya $50,000

City should have been out of sight before halftime as Alphonse Areola denied Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland failed to turn in from point-blank range.

Out of nowhere, there was a twist in the tale of the first half when, from a West Ham corner, Mohammed Kudus’ outrageous overhead kick flew high past Stefan Ortega.

Haaland claimed his second Golden Boot in as many seasons in the Premier League despite a day to forget in front of goal.

The Norwegian missed a huge chance to restore the home side’s two-goal cushion when he spooned over another inviting Doku cross.

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City swiftly restored order at the start of the second period and fittingly it was Rodri, himself a player of the year contender, who delivered the knockout blow to Arsenal’s title hopes.

The Spaniard has not been on the losing side for club or country since March 2023.

City’s only three Premier League defeats came in the three games the 27-year-old was suspended.

This time Areola should have done better as the Frenchman failed to turn Rodri’s tame effort round the post.

City could cruise to the finish line and extend a remarkable 35-game unbeaten streak in all competitions from open play.

The only blip on that run was a penalty shootout defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals that denied Guardiola’s men the chance of back-to-back trebles.

They can make it double next weekend when Manchester United have the unenviable task of stopping their local rivals in the FA Cup final.

By achieving a degree of league dominance never seen before, City have made their case to be considered the greatest side English football has produced.

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There was an anti-climactic end as City players had to tell fans to get off the pitch before the fulltime whistle.

SEE ALSO:  Tinubu appoints Oluyede as Acting Chief Of Army Staff

Thousands of supporters poured onto the field at the end despite pleas from the club to stay off the playing surface.

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Man City’s Rodri wins 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or

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Rodri 2024 Ballon d’Or winner
Rodri 2024 Ballon d’Or winner
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Rodri Hernandez, the Manchester City midfielder, has been named the 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or winner.

The Spanish deep-lying playmaker beat Real Madrid’s trio of Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal to claim his first-ever Ballon d’Or at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris, France, on Monday.

Rodri was a vital cog in Manchester City’s steamrolling of teams en route to the fourth consecutive league title and FA Cup triumph. He also holds the astonishing record of featuring 74 straight games without a loss. He was instrumental in Spain’s victory at the 2024 European Championships. The 28-year-old  was also named player of the tournament.

The 28-year-old became the first player in the English Premier League (EPL) to win the prize since Cristiano Ronaldo clinched the award in 2008.

Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman ranked 14th in the men’s Ballon d’Or list.

In the women’s category, Aitana Bonmati, Barcelona’s midfielder, won the Ballon d’Or Femeni. The victory was her second consecutive Golden Ball prize.

Lamine Yamal(Spain/Barcelona)claimed the Kopa Trophy, the award for best-performing player under the age of 21.

The 17-year-old beat off competition from Arda Guler and Pau Curbasi to claim the award.

Emiliano Martinez (Argentina/Aston villa) won the best goalkeeper award while finishing 18th in this year’s Ballon d’O

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BREAKING: AFCON Qualifiers: CAF awards Nigeria victory, fines Libya $50,000

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The Confederation of African Football, CAF, on Saturday awarded three points and three goals to the Super Eagles following the botched 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya.

The continental body, in a landmark decision, also fined the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) a sum of 50,000 USD.

The decision made available in CAF Media Channel read in parts:

1. The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the AfricanCup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.

2. The match No.87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF African Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October 2024 in Benghazi) is declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).

3 The Libya Football Federation is ordered to pay a fine of USD 50,000.

4. The fine is to be paid within 60 days of notification of the present decision.

5. All other and further motions or prayers for relief are dismissed.

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By this verdict, Super Eagles consolidated their top position in the group.

The Nigerian side now have 10 points from four matches, four points clear of nearest rivals Benin.

Libya remain bottom of the group with one point.

A draw with Benin in Abidjan next month will qualify the Super Eagles for the 2025 AFCON to be hosted by Morocco in December 2025.

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JUST IN: Super Eagles players, officials set to depart Libya for Nigeria

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Players and coaches of the Nigerian national football team, Super Eagles will soon board their Valuejet chartered plane to move out of Libya.

The assistant captain of the team, William Troost-Ekong made this known in a post on his X.

He said the players and officials had started making the necessary preparations to leave the North African country.

He said: “Power of social media. Apparently our plane is being fueled as we speak and we should be leaving to Nigeria shortly. Thanks for everyone’s support! 🇳🇬. I REITERATE: We would NEVER treat a guest nation for a game in this way. Mistakes happen, delays happen. But never on purpose!”

The Nigerian team had been stranded for over 13 hours in Libya after the host country’s government disrupted their travel plans.

This made the players with the approval of the Nigerian Football Federation to decide to withdraw from playing their upcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against Libya.

Explaining how the hostile treatment the team experienced inside the airport was sanctioned by the Libyan authorities, William Troost-Ekong wrote: “Can I shock you?! the pilot has just told us there has been fuel at this airport for the plane all this time. They could have released it but haven’t given us permission since. Can you imagine?! So how long are they planning to hold us hostage here!!! Still just waiting.”

He continued: After our first tweets magically a team bus arrived and a driver who has been standing inside the airport filming us and laughing with some of the other staff since last night said the bus was ready 12 hours after we landed. Now we have been waiting for fuel since morning…”

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SEE ALSO:  Tinubu appoints Oluyede as Acting Chief Of Army Staff
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