Author: David Great

Rangers will play Hearts in the final of the Scottish Cup on 21 May after coming from behind to beat Celtic in extra time of a relentless and pulsating Old Firm derby. Celtic defender Carl Starfelt turned Calvin Bassey’s cross into his own net with five minutes of extra time left to send the blue end of Hampden wild. It sealed an impressive turnaround for the Ibrox side, who fell behind to Greg Taylor’s goal in the second half before Scott Arfield equalised, and a chance at a first domestic cup for 11 years. The rousing comeback also ends Celtic’s…

Bruno Guimaraes struck deep into stoppage time as Newcastle came from behind to beat Leicester and edged a step closer to Premier League survival. The Brazilian midfielder cancelled out Ademola Lookman’s opener on the half-hour mark before the two sides played out a strangely subdued second half. But in the five minutes of added time, a low cross by substitute Joe Willock deflected kindly for Guimaraes to snatch the winner with a diving header. Guimaraes was Newcastle’s first big signing under their new owners, arriving from Lyon in the January transfer window for an initial £35m, and has helped provide…

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to use his “good offices to urgently review and withdraw the pardon granted to former governors of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, and Taraba State, Rev Jolly Nyame who are serving jail terms for corruption.” SERAP is also urging him to “propose constitutional amendment to the National Assembly to reform the provisions on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy to make the provisions more transparent, and consistent and compatible with Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations.” Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame were jailed for stealing N1.16bn and N1.6bn, respectively. However,…

Chelsea are prepared to let 28-year-old Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku leave this summer, with Inter Milan and Paris St-Germain interested in signing him. (90 Min) Manchester United have placed a £40m price tag on England goalkeeper Dean Henderson, 25, who is keen to leave this summer. Newcastle are among the potential bidders. (Star) Manchester United will pay some of Henderson’s £120,000-a-week wages if he leaves on loan. (Sun) Incoming Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will bring his Ajax assistant Mitchell van der Gaag with him, but former United striker Robin van Persie remains undecided over an offer to join…

Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra state, has urged Christians to adopt the teachings of humility and love for one another during the Lenten period as a standard for their relations with fellow country men and women. Obi, who made the remarks in his Easter message, also urged Christians to show commitment to the wellbeing of the country and remember her in their prayers. He said the cardinal teachings of the faith are anchored on love, tolerance, forgiveness and accommodation of one another. The PDP presidential aspirant congratulated Christians for successfully observing the 40-day lenten spiritual exercise and urged…

By Femi Onakanren The upcoming 2023 presidential elections promises to be an intriguing affair with different gladiators throwing their gauntlets into the fray. This is a contest in which the participants appear ideologically different but politically concurrent. As with all matters with national dimensions, it is inevitable that ethnic and religious colorations will be smeared with partisan and politicking narratives. We are at the familiar crossroads of choice, and as usual, the polity seems more swayed with the politicking than the substance of the various proposals, antecedents, proven competence, qualifications, ideologies and nationalist disposition/acceptance. So, this writer will like to…

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said that he would make a pronouncement on his journey to the presidency on Tuesday. Ngige said this at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, at a reception organised by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) South-East Progressive Forum, according to a statement made available by his media office in Abuja. The group is among the numerous other political and apolitical groups across the country, urging Ngige to join the presidential race. The statement said Ngige, while addressing the crowd at the airport, said he had consulted widely and the…

Some consumers have expressed concern over the continuous hike in prices of foodstuffs and other items in the country as citizens celebrate Easter. The citizens who spoke in a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kpirikpiri and Margaret Umahi International Markets, revealed that prices of food items are skyrocketing, a situation which is making life unbearable for the citizens. Mrs Akunna Nnachi, a housewife, pleaded with the government to urgently address the situation as it was taking a toll on her family. She said that a kilogram of cow and goat meat now sell for as…

Liverpool survived a late scare to remain on course for an historic quadruple as they reached the FA Cup final with victory over Manchester City at Wembley. If last Sunday’s Premier League meeting between the clubs was a classic, this semi-final was effectively decided in a one-sided first 45 minutes, in which a mixture of ruthless finishing and Manchester City mistakes saw Liverpool take a 3-0 lead. An under-strength City were unable to recover as Liverpool, having won the Carabao Cup, are now in the FA Cup final too – as well as the last four of the Champions League,…

Arsenal missed the chance to move level on points with fourth-placed Tottenham as Southampton won at St Mary’s to inflict a third successive defeat on Mikel Arteta’s team. Jan Bednarek scored the game’s only goal late in the first half after the Gunners had failed to adequately deal with a Saints corner. Bukayo Saka was denied from point-blank range by Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster with the score still goalless, but further clear-cut openings proved hard to come by for the visitors until the closing stages of the second half. Emile Smith Rowe forced another fine save out of Forster after…