SCHWEINSTEIGER: MAN UTD WILL BE MY LAST CLUB IN EUROPE

Bastian Schweinsteiger has addressed concerns over his
club future by releasing a statement that assures he will
remain with Manchester United.
The World Cup winner had been linked with a summer exit
after rumours surfaced that he would not be part of Jose
Mourinho's plans, but he German has remained professional
throughout.

"MUFC will be my last club in Europe," Schweinsteiger wrote
on Twitter. "I respect other clubs, but Manchester United
was the only one which could make me leave Bayern
Munich.
"I will be ready, if the team needs me. This is all I can say
about my current situation.
"I want to thanks the fans for the amazing support over the
recent weeks."

IBE, IWOBI, IHEANACHO IN ACTION: NIGERIANS ABROAD REVIEW

Vincent Enyeama: FC Metz sent a strong signal upon their
return to Ligue 1 when the Grenats twice came from behind
before bagging an 88th-minute winner to see off LOSC Lille.
Enyeama was guilty of a late fault to give away the decisive
penalty from which Yann Jouffre sealed all three points. It
was a miserable start for Frederic Antonetti’s side and a
rarity to see Enyeama and Les Dogues breached three times
in one contest. They conceded three goals on just two
occasions last term—including a shock loss at ESTAC
Troyes—to finish with the second best defence in the division

IHEANACHO SALUTES MANCHESTER CITY’S HAT-TRICK HERO AGUERO

Nigeria international Kelechi Iheanacho has applauded Sergio
Aguero’s breathing taking performance in Manchester City’s
Champions League play-off victory.
Aguero shrugged off two firt half penalty misses to fire a treble
in the Citizen’s 5-0 demolition of Steaua Bucharest in the first
leg played at the Stadionul Național.
The Argentine began the exploit after 41 minutes with a cool
finish. He added his second in the 78th minute before netting his
third in the closing stages of the game to add further gloss to
the scoreline.
And Iheanacho through his Instagram handle acknowledged the
Albicelestestar performance against Laurențiu Reghecampf’s team



“Great win today, and congrats to Sergio Aguero on his hat-
trick,” he wrote.
Great win today, and congrat to @aguerosergiokun16 on his
hat-trick.
hoto posted by Kelechi Iheanacho (@kelechi72) on Aug 16, 2016 at 2:43pm
Iheanacho alongside Joe Hart, Jesus Navas, and Fabian Delph
were on the bench for the entire duration of the game with
Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and Fernando thrown into the fray in
the second half.
He would be hoping to be given the nod when Manchester City
travel to Stoke City for an English Premier League on Satur

ARSENAL’S IWOBI RULED OUT FOR FOUR WEEKS WITH HIP INJURY

The Gunners’ forward will face a month on the
sidelines after picking up an injury in Saturday’s defeat
against the Reds
Alex Iwobi has been ruled out for four weeks after suffering hip
injury in Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool in Saturday’s English
Premier League game.
The Nigerian made way for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 59th
minute as Arsene Wenger’s men bowed 4-3 at the Emirates.
Iwobi will now miss Arsenal's league games against Leicester
City and Watford before the international break, though he will
definitely miss Super Eagles’ 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
qualifier against Tanzania.
He also faces a race against time to be fit to face Southampton
on October 4.
During this period, Weneger would also be without the services
of Aaron Ramsey who joins Per Mertesacker and Gabriel
Paulista on the sidelines, with Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and
Laurent Koscielny expected to feature against Leicester game.

WHAT TIME WILL THE DREAM TEAM VI PLAY GERMANY U23?

Nigeria U23 are the verge of winning their second Olympic
football gold medal, but they must scale the German hurdle
on Wednesday.

Hrubesch Horst’s side reached this stage after dispatching
Portugal 4-0 in the quarter final, while Samson Siasia’s
wards were 2-0 better than Denmark.
Unlike the Dream Team VI, Germany have not lost a game in
this competition and a win for them in the South American
nation will place them in the final.
        The Nigerian team are going to meet with the Germans on August 17 by 8:00pm(West African Time).....Goodluck to them though,BRING BACK THE GOLD

STEAUA BUCHAREST 0-5 MANCHESTER CITY ;AGUERO HAT-TRICK SEALS EASY WIN

The Argentina international scored three goals and
missed two penalties as Pep Guardiola's men took
a commanding lead in the first leg of their
Champions League play-off tie
Sergio Aguero shook off two first-half penalty misses to
score a hat-trick as Manchester City all but sealed their
place in the Champions League group stage with a 5-0 away
win over Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of their play-off
tie.
The Argentina international had his first attempt from 12
yards saved by goalkeeper Goalkeeper Florin Nita, before
blasting a second spot kick over the bar after David Silva's
opener.
Aguero eventually made amends when he doubled City's
lead late in the first half with a calm finish, with Nolito piling
even more misery on the hosts in the second half to make it
3-0.
City rounded off an easy win and it was Aguero who had the
final say with a late double to complete his treble.
The fourth came in the 78th minute as Aguero converted at
the end of an intricate passing move by firing into the
bottom-left corner, and he hit home his third in off the post
to add further gloss to the scoreline a minute from time.
City survived an early scare when Nicolae Stanciu nearly
took advantage of some sloppy play from Fernandinho, but
they were in full control from there on and should have gone
a goal up in the eighth minute when referee Daniele Orsato
awarded them a penalty following Muniru Sulley's foul on
Sterling.
Nita pulled off a superb save to deny Aguero from the spot,
though, blocking his low shot, before Nolito crashed the
rebound against the crossbar.
The Premier League side eventually did get the early goal
they were after in the 13th minute when Silva found the net
after some great work from Sterling.
Sterling stole the ball off Alin Tosca, charged forward and
set up Silva inside the area, with the Spaniard coolly firing
past Nita for the opener.
Aguero's poor fortune from the spot continued in the 21st
minute as he shot high off target after Gabriel Enache had
brought down Aleksandar Kolarov inside the area.
City were nearly made to pay for Aguero's profligacy when
Jugurtha Hamroun popped up in a dangerous area after a
quick counter-attack, but shot-stopper Willy Caballero -
again selected ahead of Joe Hart - showed his class as he
thwarted the winger.

Guardiola's men pushed hard for a second goal in the
closing stages of the first half and it was Aguero who made
it two in the 42nd minute. Goalkeeper Nita first frustrated
Kolarov and Sterling, but there was nothing he could do to
stop Aguero 's placed shot from the edge of the box as
he atoned for his previous penalty woes.
Nolito then all but put the tie to bed early in the second
half, rounding the goalkeeper after a wonderful pass from
Kevin De Bruyne before making it 3-0 to the visitors.
City and Aguero poured even more salt in the
Steaua wounds courtesy of an excellent team goal 12
minutes from time, with the hat-trick and an emphatic rout
then completed with yet another clinical finish.

PRISTINE RAHEEM - STERLING SHRUGS OFF SUMMER STRUGGLES AS MAN CITY IMPRESS

The England winger, or 'Raz' as Pep Guardiola calls
him, has had a rough few months but he looks a
different player on the right-hand side for the Blues
COMMENT
If Manchester City's Premier League opener provided
evidence of slow progress under Pep Guardiola, Tuesday's
Champions League play-off victory was much more like it.
City did just about enough to squeeze past Sunderland at
the weekend. There were signs of Guardiola's influence -
most notably the full-backs coming into central midfield -
but things did not quite click, which is to be expected at this
stage of the Catalan's reign.
Their dismantling of Steaua Bucharest, though, was far
more impressive. The passing was more crisp, the
movement looked more fluid and the chances flowed. It
must be said that the opposition were far less dogged than
the Black Cats, but City thrived in the space they were
afforded.
Sergio Aguero missed two first-half penalties but, incredibly,
he scored a hat-trick anyway.
His first, City's second of the night, was laid on beautifully
by Raheem Sterling. The man pilloried by sections of the
British press (though, it must be said, usually not the sports
sections) during and after the European Championship
showed why City paid upwards of £45 million for him a year
ago.
It is said Guardiola gave that move the go-ahead last
summer, several months before his move to the Etihad
Stadium was confirmed.
The boss admits he, as well as his backroom team, had been
won over by "Raz" - as he calls him - long before he was
thinking about a move to Manchester.
READ MORE | REPORT: Aguero hat-trick seals
easy City win
"He can play right and left, he can go byline or go inside, and
that is so important," Guardiola said on Saturday after
Sterling had impressed. "He is a fighter and of course we
want more of him, but we are so so happy.
"We are happy for him because he's a very nice guy, and
from the beginning I had a feeling - maybe it will be a
mistake, maybe for the rest of the season Raz is not going
to play good - but from the beginning I had that feeling that
this guy is good.
"I saw many times in England, when playing Liverpool, I
said, 'Wow this guy is good'. Not just me, all the staff, all
the physios, and my assistant, wanted to have him, wanted
to have him to see the real Sterling."
The real Sterling, City fans will be increasingly hopeful, is the
one we are seeing now, rather than the young man who
struggled at the back end of last season and carried those
problems into the Euros.
Things got so bad for Sterling in France that Guardiola called
him personally in a bid to keep his spirits up. There was no
immediate improvement, even if he did produce a fine run to
win England's penalty in that fateful game against Iceland,
but he looks much better now.

Indeed, he's won two more penalties already this season.
He also picked up two im pressive assists; before teeing up
Aguero, he set up City's opener in Romania, turning his
marker inside out before cutting it back to David Silva.
Sterling had been used in a variety of roles by Brendan
Rodgers at Liverpool but it seems the right-hand side could
become his home under Guardiola. Nobody would have seen it, but the Catalan was said to be impressed by the
Englishman's performance there in a behind-closed-doors
friendly against St Johnstone. He has played there ever
since.

He started last season in fine form, of course, but his
campaign petered out along with most of his team-mates.
The atmosphere at City these days is increasingly positive.
There are signs that the players are tuning in to Guardiola's
wave length. John Stones, in his second appearance, was
imperious at the back. He was signed because of his
penetrative passing and it was on display here on numerous
occasions.
Kevin De Bruyne looked lost at the weekend but there was a
marked improvement against Steaua, Silva looked
something like his old self in a more advanced role, and
Nolito picked up his first goal for the club.
Claudio Bravo will be another piece of the puzzle when he
joins from Barcelona.
Things, then, are falling into place, and especially for
Sterling.