Manchester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho says he is aware about the feelings of Nigerians over his lack of game time at English Premier League side Manchester City.

Iheanacho lost his spot in the team at the start of the year following the arrival of Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus, as coach Pep Guardiola prefers the Brazilian and Sergio Kun Aguero ahead of the Nigerian.

Despite his lack of game time, he has found the back of the net seven times this season, a far cry from his goal return of 14 last season, which was his breakthrough season under Manuel Pelligrini.
“I cannot pretend that I don’t hear what people back home [in Nigeria] say about my lack of regular football, but I will continue to fight,” Iheanacho said on Saturday.

“I don’t worry about those comments. All I need to do is to keep working, keep doing well and keep improving every day.

“Sergio Aguero and Gabriel [Jesus] are really really great players that we need in our team.

“As a young player, I’m happy playing alongside these fantastic players because I learn and get better every day.

“It’s a big thing for my career to compete with these players. I’m okay with the way things are going and I wish Gabriel a quick recovery to return and help the team.”

Ade Emmanuel

‎Dutch side AZ Alkmaar continue their push to qualify for next season Europa League with a 2-1 win over FC Twente, thanks to a late goal from their Nigerian striker Fred Friday.

Both teams were tied at 1-1 at regulation time, but two minutes into time added on Friday was involved in a give and go with teammate Iiass Bel Hassani before finishing off the move with a low shot into Twente’s net.

His goal came 20 minutes after he was introduced for Dabney Dos Santos, and even Bel Hassani who provided the assist was also introduced as a substitute before the hour mark for Joris Van Overeen.

21 year old Friday now has 5 league goals from the 21 Eredivisie games he has played for the team he joined in the summer from Norwegian side Lillestroem for a fee in the region of €1.5M.

Overall he has 11 goals this season with five of his goals coming for the Reserve team of AZ who are campaigning in the third division‎, while he found the back of the net in the Europa League and Dutch Cup.

Daniel Martins

English Premier League legend Danny Murphy has backed Chelsea wingback Victor Moses following criticism that the Nigerian dived to win a penalty for Chelsea in their 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-final decided at Wembley.

Moses has been roundly criticised by some fans on social media, who are of the opinion that the Nigerian made a meal out of a none existent tackle from Spurs Heung Min Son to win ‎to win the spot kick which put Chelsea 2-1 up.

However former Spurs midfielder who now works as a commentator for the BBC insist that the 26 year old was clever and took advantage of Son’s naivety in sliding into a tackle in his own box.

Murphy called the decision to award the Nigerian a penalty a good call by the referee and even at a time during the game named the Nigerian as his man of the match.

However shortly after the game, he somehow had a change in mind as he gave his man of the match award to Moses’s teammate David Luiz, and also praised two goal hero Willian for his role in the win.

Michael James

Free-scoring Nigerian forward Henry Onyekuru was on target for the fourth consecutive game as his team Eupen threw away a two goal lead to draw 3-3 with Kortijk in the Europa League Play-Off in Belgium.

19 year old Onyekuru who has been heavily linked with a move to a host of clubs in the summer struck in the 13th minute of the game against Kortijk for his 19th goal of the season.

It is the fourth game in a row that the Aspire Academy graduate has found the back of the ner, following his goals against SV Roeselare, Mouscron and Lokeren, a goal run that saw him scored five times as he bagged a brace against SV Roeselare.

As exclusively reported by Owngoalnigeria.com, Southampton will start talks with Eupen over his transfer in the summer, in a bid to wrestle him from the likes of Celtic, West Brom and Borrussia Monchengladbach who are also in for him.

In January Celtic saw a bid of around £1M rejected for his services by Eupen, who are reportedly set to demand a fee as high as £7M in the summer for his transfer.

Daniel Martins

Chelsea are through to the FA Cup final after a 4-2 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final decided at the Wembley Stadium.

The game saw the Blues taking the lead through a well taken freekick from Willian, but Spurs levelled afterwards when Harry Kane headed home a cross from Christian Eriksen to bring scores to 1-1.

Chelsea however regianed their lead few minutes to the half time break when Nigerian wingback Victor Moses was adjudged to have been fouled in the box by a sliding Heung Ming Son.

Willian stepped up and buried the spot kick past Hugo Lloris to give Chelsea a 2-1 lead going into the half time break. A lead that was once again cancelled when Anglo-Nigerian forward Dele Alli stabbed home a perfect cross which caught Chelsea defence off guard .

Substitute Eden Hazard regained the lead for Chelsea with a low left foot shot with less than 20 minutes left to play in the tie, before Nemanja Matic killed off any hope of a late rally by Spurs with a pile driver to clinch a 4-2 win for the English Premier League leaders.

Chelsea will play the winner between Arsenal and Manchester City, who are going to contest the other semi-fina tomorrow.

Osas Mahawi

German Bundesliga Champions elect Bayern Munich suffered a mini setback in their quest to wrap up the league title with games to spare after drawing 2-2 against Mainz 05.

Mainz 05 opened scoring as early as the 3rd minute of play courtesy of Bojan Krkic, Bayern hit back through Arjen Robben in the 16th minute, but it was Mainz 05 who went into the break leading 2-1 at the Allianz Areana after Daniel Brosinski’s goal for the visitors.

Six minutes after the restart, Nigerian defender Leon Balogun was introduced for his second appearance of the year 2017 in the Bundesliga, and he showed no sign of rustiness despite his inaction for a while.

Balogun replaced goal scorer Daniel Brosinski and immediately had an effect on the game for his team, defending really well against the likes of Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller despite playing as a left back as opposed to his favourite role as a central defender.

Bayern however drew level through Thiago Alcantara but the Nigerian can be proud of his performance against the Bavarians considering his lack of games off late.

Overall the victory helped Mainz 05 move a step closer to their aim of beating the drop as they moved up to 13th on the log, although one points separate them from 16th placed Augsburg, who are occupying the last relegation spot.

Daniel Martins

‎Former Chelsea flying full back Celestine Babayaro has saluted captain of the Super Eagles of Nigeria John Obi Mikel as he turns 30 today.

In an exclusive chat with Owngoalnigeria.com, Babayaro who spent seven years at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea before leaving for Newcastle United said Mikel ten and half year stay at Chelsea might not be eclipsed by any Nigerian player anytime soon.

Mikel left Chelsea in January after surviving 23 transfer windows and seven different coaches in ten and half year at the club he joined after a protracted transfer from Lyn Oslo in 2006, which involved Manchester United ‎claiming to have signed him.

Now at Tianjin Teda in China, and earning rare reviews it’s his long stay at Chelsea, that Babayaro was quick to praise considering how well he survived the numerous managerial changes at the club.

” I remember when he came to Chelsea, I was about leaving as the club were ushering in a new era. But from the little I saw of him in training and off the pitch, if someone had told me he will last ten and half years at Chelsea I wouldn’t have doubted it”, Babayaro told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” He is not the outgoing type, hardly keeps late night, cool, calm and a very good listener. Simply put he is a well brought up kid, kudos to his parents. Upcoming footballers have a lot to learn from his humble nature.

” The many managerial changes and transfer window Mikel survived at Chelsea is crazy when you look at how many players came and left. I honestly don’t think any Nigerian player will last that long at a single club in the nearest future with all due respect.”

Osas Mahawi

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr should forget about persuading Vincent Enyeama to return to the national team, and focus on grooming young goalkeepers according to Emmanuel Babayaro.

Rohr is set to meet with Enyeama in France to discuss a possible return to the national team, after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) gave him the all clear to call the former captain.

The Franco-German coach has claimed that Enyeama has issues with some interest in the NFF. A claim which the NFF has since denied, insisting the issues he had was with the former coach of the team Sunday Oliseh.

” I have followed the whole drama. I understand the reason why Rohr wants him back in the team, he is doing very well in a top league, and there are doubts over Carl Ikeme’s fitness ahead of the game against South Africa”, Babayaro told Owngoalnigeria.com

” But we have young goalkeepers rearing to go, and like they say if you are good enough, you are old enough. So many things will need to change for Enyeama to return to the team, issues like the captain arm band. Relationship with some players in the team and also with the NFF.

” Enyeama was discovered as a young goalkeeper in 2002, we have some of his type back then around Europe now, all Rohr needs to do is show them he trust them and they will give their best because it’s talents that took them to Europe “.

Spanish La-Liga giants Barcelona have informed Enyimba that they won’t be making Ezekiel Bassey deal permanent when his loan expires in few months time.

Barcelona signed the Nigerian forward on a season long loan from Enyimba, with the option of making the deal permanent in the summer based on his success with the B team of the La-Liga side.

Bassey however failed to live up to expectations, with work permit issues and injuries denying him the chance to feature in league games for the B team, but he did play in a friendly game against a team from Malawi.

Presently out with a shoulder injury, Barcelona have already informed Enyimba that they won’t be taking up the option of making the deal permanent in the summer when his loan deal expires.

As exclusively reported by Owngoalnigeria.com few weeks ago, Bassey failed to make the most of his time at the club, as he failed to impress the technical crew during training in tactical and technical drills.

Ade Emmanuel

Leicester City rave of the moment Wilfred Ndidi says former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel is one player he look up to for inspiration during his formative years at local Nigerian academy Nath Boys.

20 year old Ndidi plays in the same national team as the former Chelsea midfielder, who presently plays in China for Tianjin Teda after ten half years at Stamford Bridge.

However before Ndidi made the step up to being a professional footballer, he confessed he became a fan of his national team captain and even tried to emulate his style of play.

” I have always looked up to Mikel. When he was at Chelsea, I was at Nath Boys (Nigerian academy) and I have always liked him as a player. I have always been crazy about Mikel. The way he plays is amazing” Ndidi told Goal.com.

” When me and my friends talk about players, we always want to talk about Mikel. He is so important for Nigerian football. I actually liked two players from outside of Nigeria‎ (when I was younger). Kaka and John Terry”.

Daniel Martins