Liverpool draw West Ham as title hopes slip

Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes seem all but over as Michail Antonio scored to rescue a point for West Ham at London Stadium.

Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring just before the break when he rose highest to meet Mohammed Kudus’ cross into the area as Liverpool showed little evidence that their Merseyside derby loss in midweek had done much in the way of spurring them on.

But the visitors were much improved in the second half and Andy Robertson equalised when he scored from Luis Diaz’s low pass into the penalty area.

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They were then rewarded for their pressure when Cody Gakpo’s effort from a corner bounced off Angelo Ogbonna, Tomas Soucek and Alphonse Areola before finding the back of the net.

It looked like they were on their way to bouncing back from back-to-back defeats in the league until Antonio’s thumping header put the Hammers back on level terms.

Liverpool sit third in the table with three games remaining, two points behind leaders Arsenal, who face Tottenham on Sunday, while Manchester City are second but have two games in hand.

Liverpool’s title hopes appear to be all but over, with the Reds relying on both of their title rivals to slip up to get back in the race.

Liverpool draw West Ham as title hopes slip

Iheanacho, Ndidi’s Leicester City secure promotion back to EPL

Leicester City were promoted to the Premier League on Friday after rivals Leeds United crashed to a shock 4-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers.

The result leaves Leicester City top of the Championship with 94 points with two games to play while Leeds stay second on 90 but with just one match left.

Third-place Ipswich Town can pip Leeds to the second automatic promotion place as they currently have 89 points with three matches still to play.

Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City achieved promotion at the first time of asking having been relegated from the Premier League last season following a third-from-bottom finish.

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Their final two games begin with a trip to Preston on Monday, before they round off the season with a home finale against Blackburn on May 4.

Leeds will find themselves outside the top two if Ipswich beat Hull on Saturday, or Coventry win their game in hand on Tuesday.

Should Ipswich win both, they will be promoted while Leeds will have to enter the play-offs.

On Friday goals from Ilias Chair, Lucas Andersen, Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field gave QPR victory and guaranteed their survival in England’s second-tier.

Iheanacho, Ndidi’s Leicester City secure promotion back to EPL

Ronaldo playing in Saudi league for money like me – Ighalo

Ex-Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo has disclosed that the decision of Cristiano Ronaldo and other top footballers to ply their trade in Saudi Arabia was informed by pecuniary motives.

Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr last year in a stunning three-year deal that would see him earn €210.704 million in total.

Other top footballers, who have made names for themselves in Europe, have also moved to Saudi Arabia as the the oil-rich middle east nation injected massive cash into league in order to make it a football powerhouse.

Reacting to the move of Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia and the influx of big players to the Saudi league, Ighalo said the motivation behind these moves was money and not passion.

Ighalo made this known during an interview with sport journalist, Oma Akatugba.

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