Wide Africa Media

A 14-year-old schoolgirl has died after her charging smartphone exploded on her pillow as she slept. Alua Asetkyzy Abzalbek went to bed listening to music at her village home in Bastobe, Kazakhstan. Next morning she was tragically found dead with the phone’s battery having burst into flames next to her head. Her device had been plugged in to a power socket, said police. She is believed to have suffered severe head injuries and died on the spot during the explosion. When paramedics were called by her devastated relatives they said she had already died. Forensic experts later confirmed that the mobile exploded in the early morning after overheating as it charged and this was the cause of death, said local reports. Her death was described as a "tragic accident". The brand of smartphone was not disclosed. Alua’s distraught best friend Ayazhan Dolasheva, 15, posted: “I still cannot believe it.” She wrote: “You were the best.  “We have been together sin...

Triple jumper Fabrice Zango has won Burkina Faso the country's first ever medal at the World Athletics Championships. The African champion won bronze setting an African record of 17.66m in Doha, Qatar. American Christian Taylor won gold, with his compatriot Will Claye taking silver. Fabrice, who says his technique still needs work, attributes his victory to working with former world champion, Frenchman Teddy Tamgho. The pair began working together last September.

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe will be buried at his rural home over the weekend, ending a tug of war between the government and his family over his final resting place. Under police escort, his body was taken to Zvimba district late on Thursday. It had been kept at his luxury mansion in the capital, Harare, awaiting the completion of a grand mausoleum at the national war heroes' shrine. But those plans have been abandoned and the information ministry has said government will respect his family’s new position. The man who led Zimbabwe to independence in 1980 will be buried in a private ceremony in his village of Kutama in Zvimba, about 85km (52 miles) west of Harare, over the weekend. Mr Mugabe who led the country for 37 years, before he was deposed in November 2017, died aged 95 in Singapore earlier this month. The Mugabe family said that the former president did not want those who played a role in his downfall to preside over his burial.

The owner of a school where a block of classrooms collapsed on Monday killing eight pupils in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has been arrested. Moses Wainaina was taken into custody on Thursday evening and detained at Kabete police station pending his appearance in court on Friday. Following the collapse, the authorities closed the private Precious Talents Top School, located in the western outskirts of the city, and sent the more than 800 pupils to other public schools. The building, constructed from wood and corrugated iron sheets with a concrete floor, had collapsed at the start of the school day. Seven pupils were pronounced dead on arrival at the city's main Kenyatta National Hospital and an eighth child died later. The hospital said that in total 67 pupils had been treated and discharge. Mr Wainaina initially told journalists that the structure's foundation was weakened by the recent construction of a nearby sewer by city authorities. According to the Dail...

A Ugandan woman has been sentenced to jail for two years for forcefully feeding her step daughter menstrual blood, the privately owned Daily Monitor newspaper reports. The woman, Annet Namata, had pleaded guilty to the charge and asked for leniency on the grounds that she was a mother of three children, the newspaper reports. The magistrate in Mukono reportedly said that she had reduced the sentence from seven years to two years because the woman had "saved the court's time" by pleading guilty. The incident happened three months ago in Kitega village, 46km (28 miles) east of the capital, Kampala. Her husband is reported to have been unhappy with the sentence, wanting his wife to be jailed for longer. Uganda's weekly newspaper Observer had last month reported that the woman was handed over to the police by her husband who was alerted about the incident by villagers. The newspaper also reported that the woman confessed to have acted out of anger because o...

A commercial court in London is due to hear another part in a legal battle which has left the Nigerian authorities facing the prospect of a $9bn (£7bn) compensation bill. A company successfully sued the Nigerian government over a botched deal to build a natural gas plant and was awarded the amount as compensation. The firm, Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), signed the deal with the West African country in 2010 but it fell through two years later amid claims of breach of terms. P&ID sued the Nigerian government for failing to provide the gas or install the pipelines it had promised to build. A British judge last month gave the British Virgin Islands registered firm the right to claim Nigeria's assets. The amount is equivalent to about 20% of Nigeria's declared foreign reserves of $45bn. Attorney General Abubakar Malami told BBC Focus on Africa that he is optimistic they will succeed in overturning the claim. He said an investigation int...

Seven people have been arrested in connection with a deadly fire at a hospital in eastern Algeria that killed eight babies, AFP quotes the country’s official news agency as saying. The blaze swept through a maternity unit of Bachir Bennacer hospital in the city of El-Oued in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui ordered an urgent investigation into the fire, which is not the first at the hospital. Those arrested include the head of the hospital, the maternity management coordinator and the head of the paediatrics, AFP reports. A Cuban nurse has also been detained for "negligence and involuntary homicide", Algeria’s APS news agency is quoted as saying.

Two votes for Mohamed Salah in the Best Fifa men's player award were not counted because signatures were in capital letters, says Fifa. The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said acting Egypt coach Shawky Gharib and captain Ahmed Elmohamady voted for Liverpool forward Salah. Fifa said: "The signatures on the voting forms were in capital letters and thus seemed not valid." The forms also lacked a mandatory signature by the EFA general secretary. Barcelona'sLionel Messi wonthe award on Monday ahead of Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. Football's world governing body Fifa said voting was supervised and monitored by independent observer PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland. It said it contacted the EFA twice on 19 August to submit properly signed voting forms but did not receive a response in time for the votes to be counted.

In the latest episode in the saga of where Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe will be buried, the family has reversed a decision to have him interred at Heroes Acre in the capital, Harare. Instead he will be buried in his home region of Zvimba. The location of his grave became a source of tension between the Mugabe family and the government. They blame the current leadership for Mr Mugabe's overthrow in November 2017. He was toppled after 37 years in power and replaced by current President Emmerson Mnangagwa. At his funeral, family member Walter Chidhakwa said he had died a "sad, sad, sad man". It was thought that the family had compromised over the site of his burial and agreed to Mr Mugabe being laid to rest at Heroes Acre, where those who fought colonial rule are buried, once a mausoleum had been built. But it seems there has been a change of heart. In a statement, Information Minister Nick Mangwana said the government will respect the wishe...

FIFA’s prestigious The Best awards have been struck by a vote rigging storm amid claims indicating the ballot was rigged. Lionel Messi walked away with the best men’s player accolade at the glitzy ceremony in Milan on Monday, pipping Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk to the award. Given Van Dijk’s remarkable season at Liverpool, where he led the club to their sixth Champions League title, and Ronaldo’s excellent campaign at Juventus – Messi’s winning award was met with a degree of surprise. And now the Barcelona superstar’s claim to the honour has been thrown into serious doubt following questions over the legitimacy of the voting. The Egyptian football association, Sudan’s coach Zdravko Logarusic and Nicaragua’s captain Juan Barrera have raised concerns over the authenticity of the ballots – citing uncounted or misallocated votes. Egypt’s association have called on FIFA to explain why the votes of its national coach Shawki Ghareeb and captain Ahmed were not taken into...

Nigeria president, Muhammadu Buhari has reacted to the alleged plot to take over the reins of the Akufo-Addo government, saying that “the days of coups and government without votes are over”. In a press statement made public by Nigeria’s Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on twitter, the president said the only form of governance in the 21st Century is through democratic elections. “The only acceptable form of governance in our region in this 21st century is through democratic elections. It is the only way to install – and the only way to change – an administration. The days of coups and government without votes are over,” Buhari said. The government on Tuesday said in a statement that security agencies in a dawn operation on Friday arrested three suspects and seized several weapons, ammunition and explosive devices at the Citadel Hospital, at Alajo and another location at Bawaleshie [Kpone] near Dodowa in Accra. The suspects are Dr. Frederick Yao M...

Liverpool are in a legal dispute with their own kit supplier New Balance, amid reports they are about to announce a club-record deal with rivals Nike. A Liverpool FC spokesperson told Sky Sports News: “We can confirm that our kit supplier, New Balance, has commenced a legal dispute against the club. “We will not be making any further comment during these legal proceedings.” Liverpool’s current six-year £45m-a-season contract with the sportswear manufacturer is due to expire at the end of the season. The Champions League winners are close to a £70m-a-season agreement with American sportswear giants Nike – which would be the most lucrative in the club’s history. However, New Balance claim they have a ‘matching clause’ in their contract with Liverpool but have not been given a chance to equal the financial offer from Nike. As a result, they have filed a dispute at the High Court to try to force Liverpool to continue their sponsorship until the end of this season at least. ...

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has written to Fifa for an explanation of its missing votes for the Best Fifa Men's Player award. The EFA says that Pharaohs' acting coach Shawky Gharib and captain Ahmed Elmohamady placed votes for Liverpool's Mohamed Salah that were not counted. Neither are included on the voting breakdown on Fifa's website. Since the awards ceremony Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah has removed 'Egypt' from his Twitter profile. His profile now simply reads: "Footballer for Liverpool FC." He also posted a Tweet which translates as: "Whatever they do to try to change my love for Egypt, they will not succeed." Barcelona's Lionel Messi won the Best Fifa Men's Player award on Monday night ahead of Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Salah's Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk. In 2018, Salah came third in the men's award and also took the Puskas Award for goal of the season. Each nation...

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will, at 8:30 p.m. today, address the 74th United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which is ongoing at the UN Headquarters in New York in the United States of America. Among the subjects, President Akufo-Addo is expected to touch on are governance, democracy and world peace. SDG co-Chair As co-Chair of the UN Eminent Group of Advocates on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), President Akufo-Addo is also expected to share his thoughts on the SDGs and what his government, and for that matter Ghana, is doing to achieve its targets with respect to the SDGs. As advocates of the SDGs, the President, together with other world leaders, is expected by the UN organisation to drive the SDG agenda, which include ending poverty and hunger, ensuring good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality and ensuring the availability of clean water and sanitation through awareness creation, inspiring greater ambition, as well as pushing for ...

The government says it did not fabricate the story about a plan by some individual to overthrow the government as claimed by some persons. The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah while speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday said the report put out by the government was based on the adequate evidence it had gathered on the secret plot of the accused persons. Many Ghanaians are challenging the government on its statement that three key persons had been arrested for masterminding an attempt to take over key government installations and take over the reins of government. Some have said that the ammunition and weapons found with the accused persons did not appear to be sophisticated enough to warrant government’s belief that the arrested persons indeed wanted to take over the government. But Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah said, “the government will not fabricate something as dire as this if it had not transpired. If there is evidence that backs these briefs that we have be...

Stonebwoy has explained why he recently made a call on the State to drop the court case between him and Shatta Wale. A few days ago, Stonebwoy pleaded on the powers that be to relieve them of the matter which came as a result of the scuffle that ensued between him with Shatta Wale at the 2019 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. Speaking to Jessica Opare Saforo on Citi FM’s Traffic Avenue on Tuesday, he said the two of them deserve some clemency because they are “too special.” “In Ghana, Stonebwoy is special, Shatta Wale is special. We are too special. Special people get some special treatment like the bosses get some bossy ‘chick’,” he said. “The reality of the matter is that the two of us have led by example as leaders as we are because leaders will clash, leaders will fight but the speed at which they realise also matters. Sometimes it takes time,” he added. Last week he said on Hitz FM that: “We are still hoping that the government would issue a Nolle prosequi by the Attorney-...

According to a press statement fired from Stonebwoy’s official Instagram handle @Stonebwoyb a while ago, Afrobeats Singer, Kelvyn Boy, has been set ‘free’; he is no longer affiliated with Burniton Music Group Limited, whose CEO is Livingstone Etse Satekla, popularly known as “Stonebwoy”. Following a series of events (captured in the press statement), Kelvyn Boy has also exhausted his one year contract which hasn’t been renewed. Below is the full text of the press release (as posted by Stonebwoy). (Story: BeenieWords.com)

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has hit back at Black Stars captain Andre Ayew after the Ghana International described his brother, Jordan Ayew, as undervalued in England. Jordan joined Crystal Palace on a permanent deal during the summer transfer window, and was named the club’s Player of the Month for August, after impressive performances. “Jordan has never got the recognition he deserves, but I think now people are starting to recognise his work,” Ayew senior told the BBC last week. But Hodgson has taken exception to his comments and has described them as unfair. “I’m not sure who he’s (Andre Ayew) talking of when he says who isn’t appreciating him (Jordan),” Hodgson said. “It certainly wouldn’t be a fair comment in regards to ourselves here, myself, the coaching staff, players. “We have an enormous amount of respect for him and count ourselves lucky to have him with us. “I feel quite comfortable in saying that quote has no relevance here at Crystal Palace. “We...

Eight babies have been killed after a fire ripped through a hospital in eastern Algeria, the country's Channel 3 television station has reported. The fire at the Bachir Bennacer hospital in El Oued was brought under control at around 04:00 local time (03:00 GMT), it added. Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui had ordered an "urgent" investigation into the blaze and had sent the health minister to the hospital,the broadcaster said. Eleven babies' rescued from Algeria hospital blaze A total of 11 babies and 107 women were rescued in a blaze which swept through a hospital in eastern Algeria before dawn on Tuesday, a spokesman for the emergency services is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. Nearly 30 staff were also rescued, Captain Nassim Bernaoui told AFP. "Unfortunately we regret the deaths of eight babies, some from burns and others from smoke inhalation," he added.

Ghana’s security forces have foiled “an elaborate plot” to target the presidency “with the ultimate aim of destabilising the country”, the information ministry says. A joint security operation last Friday led to the arrest of three people and seizure of several weapons, its statement said. One of those arrested included a local arms manufacturer. The operation came after “15 months of surveillance and gathering of evidence on the activities of the prime suspects and others”. Between June and August last year one of the suspects "contacted a number of serving military personnel, and talked to them into hatching and executing a plot to obtain weapons, take over key installations, and secure funding for the purpose of taking over the reins of government", the statement said. Ghana is considered one of the more stable countries in West Africa since its transition to multi-party democracy in 1992, putting a succession of destabilising coups behind it. President Nana...

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that the 2020 elections will not disturb the peace of the country. He said although the political atmosphere was going to get “hotter and hotter”, that would in no way plunge the country into confusion. He said despite the negative picture some people posted on social media about the threat to peace, everything was standing in Ghana. “We haven’t broken down, the country is still in one piece,” he said. The President was addressing some Ghanaians in the United States of America (USA) at a dinner organised by Ghana’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN). On track In an address at a dinner organised in his honour, the President noted that “as you can imagine, from now on as the elections beckon, the atmosphere is going to get hotter and hotter and more and more things are going to be said”. He, however, urged Ghanaians in the Diaspora who could not visit home to look for solid and accurate information for themselves...

Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi has been named the FIFA Best Men’s Player at FIFA’s Best Awards. The Argentine star fended off Liverpool defender, Virgil van Dijk and Juventus star, Cristiano Ronaldo, who were also named in the final shortlist for the award. He finished with 46 points ahead of van Dijk with 38 and Ronaldo with 36. Messi scored 51 goals in 50 appearances last season for Barcelona as they won the Spanish title. and guided Argentina to the semifinals of the Copa America as captain. He also chipped in with 20 assists. van Dijk had hoped to make it a treble of wins on the night for Liverpool after manager Jurgen Klopp and goalkeeper Alisson Becker had won awards for Coach of The Year and Goalkeeper of the Year. He however misses out despite a breathtaking first full season at the Merseyside club. van Dijk led from the back as the Reds lost only one game in the Premier League in the last campaign, finishing as runners-up to Manchester City. He was ...

Veteran Ghanaian Dancehall/Reggae artiste, Samini has been announced as the headline artiste for GUBA Awards USA 2019. GUBA Awards seeks to celebrate our heroes doing incredibly various fields of endeavour. The show will be held in New York City at the Pierre, a Taj hotel on n 26th September, 2019. GUBA Awards Ceremony brings together achievers, celebrities, icons, business moguls, men and woman from all walks of life all bound by a common interest in promoting African excellence globally. Samini has carved a niche for himself as a very great performer with great stagecraft and it’s no wonder he was selected. (Source: GhBase.com)

Ghana forward, Asamoah Gyan, has arrived in Guwahati, India to start his career with Indian Super League side, NorthEast United FC. Gyan’s switch to the club was confirmed on September 18 after successful discussions were completed. The Black Stars general captain was received at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati. Gyan was the subject of interest from several clubs after his contract with Kayserispor ended in June. NorthEast United FC confirmed Gyan’s arrival in India via a tweet on Monday. Gyan said that he was happy to be in India and he was raring to go as a player for NorthEast United FC. “I am happy to be in India since it is my very first time here. I am looking forward to working with the club and also to meet the fans and everyone. I am here to help so let us work together.” The Indian Super League starts in October and NorthEast United FC will face Bengaluru on October 21.

At least seven children have died after a classroom collapsed at a primary school in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, officials say. The wooden structure at Precious Talent Top School collapsed just minutes after the start of the school day on Monday. Dozens of people were injured and have been taken to hospital in the city. Emergency services are at the scene. Rescuers have reportedly had difficulty getting to the school because of the large crowds that have gathered nearby. "We have regrettably lost seven lives to this morning's incident," Education Secretary George Magoha told reporters outside the school in Dagoretti. He added that 64 people had been injured. The school's director, Moses Ndirangu, blamed the collapse on the construction of a nearby sewer, which he said may have weakened the foundations of the building. The collapse happened shortly before 07:00 local time (04:00 GMT) and dozens of children were rushed away from the scene. The Kenyan Re...

Former Black Stars forward, Manuel Junior Agogo, was cremated in London on Friday. Agogo died in England on August 22 aged 40 after a period of illness and the news was received with sadness in Ghana and the world over. A funeral was organised by the family and afterwards, a cremation was done in a private ceremony. A delegation from the Ghana government led by the deputy Sports Minister, Perry Okudzeto, was at the funeral to mourn with the family. In addition, some members of the GFA Normalisation Committee namely Naa Odofoley Nortey and Samuel Osei Kuffour, were there at the funeral. Former Black Stars defender, Tony Baffoe, was also at the funeral. Agogo played for the Black Stars between 2006 and 2009 and he scored 12 times in the 27 matches he played for the team. He also played for clubs in England, Scotland, United States, Egypt and Cyprus. Source: citinewsroom

Barcelona's teenage forward Ansu Fati has been granted Spanish citizenship paving the way for him to play for them at international level. The 16-year-old is also eligible to play for Guinea-Bissau, where he was born and reportedly for Portugal through his grandparents. Fati's application for Spanish citizenship was processed by the country's Interior Ministry after he completed the required 10 years of residency. It means that he could be included in Spain's squad for the Under-17 World Cup, ahead of next week's deadline. Even if he plays for Spain at under-17 level Fifa's statutes mean that Fati could still swap allegiances at senior level. On Tuesday he became Barcelona's youngest-ever Champions League debutant as he after started the 0-0 draw at Borussia Dortmund. He has already scored two goals this season in his three La Liga appearances.

The Embassy of Mexico in Accra has projected Ghana to the Mexican government as a relevant country in Africa. The Embassy has also placed Mexico in the view of Ghana as the relevant country in the international arena. The Mexican Ambassador to Ghana, Madam María de los Angeles Arriola Aguirre, disclosed this in her address at a reception in Accra to mark the celebration of the 209th anniversary of the beginning of the Independence of Mexico. She observed that since the reopening of the embassy in 2014, very progressive steps had been taken in bilateral relations. The ambassador noted that economic relations were advancing, and that the Mexican agricultural company, AgroMoneta, had since 2018 been producing a variety of high-quality standard vegetables and fruits in the Volta Region. In the technical cooperation field, the Nixtamalisation project initiated in 2018 has continued with great success this year, adding that the programme entailed knowledge-transfer of an ancient...

          Stonebwoy has confirmed that Blakk Cedi is no more his manager as part of restructuring within his music group. The reggae and dancehall artiste in an interview with Andy Dosty on Hitz FM revealed that Blakk Cedi has been promoted from the manager duties to be an agent of the brand Stonebwoy. Asked why the change, Stonebwoy who was not ready to speak much about the issue asked the public to take his words given. To him, a lot of things have happened in his camp which was not in the right position to let the public know hence the change in his team. “There have been structural amendments and so going forward, Blakk Cedi is no more my manager but agent.” He also added that his brand will still move on without Blakk Cedi as his manager. Stonebwoy continued that the public can still book him through Blakk Cedi or his new team. Watch interview here https://www.instagram.com/p/B2oWNsdnr0W/?igshid=bv3ugn0neme1 Source: ameyawdebrah.c...

Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan has confirmed his move to India and signed for Super League side NorthEast United. The 33-year-old striker has joined the Highlanders on a free transfer after leaving Turkish club Kayserispor at the end of last season. “I am extremely excited to start this new chapter in my career. I have heard great things about NorthEast United FC and the Indian Super League and I am thrilled to be a part of it for the upcoming season. I am confident that we can better the wonderful season the club had last year,” Gyan said. NorthEast United Executive Director, Priya Runchal added: “We are thrilled to have a player of Gyan’s calibre and experience join our squad. He has continuously delivered excellence at the highest of levels of world football and we are confident that he will add a lot of firepower on the pitch here.” NorthEast United is Gyan’s 10th club in a career which started in Ghana with Liberty Professionals. He has played in Italy, France, England, Unit...

Substitute Hector Herrera scored a 90th-minute equaliser to crown a fine Atletico Madrid comeback and deny Juventus victory in the Champions League. Former Chelsea winger Juan Cuadrado produced a sumptuous curling finish to put Juventus in front before a header by French World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi made it 2-0. Stefan Savic sparked Atletico's fightback with a header inside the six-yard area before Herrera struck from a late corner. Juventus sent on substitute Aaron Ramsey in the 86th minute, the Wales midfielder's first appearance for the champions of Italy since moving to Turin in the summer. More to follow.

Angel di Maria scored twice against former employers Real Madrid as Paris St-Germain began their Champions League Group A campaign with a comfortable win. Thomas Meunier's stoppage-time goal added more embarrassment for the Spanish giants - and heightened the pressure on Real manager Zinedine Zidane, whose win ratio is below 50% since returning to the club towards the end of last season. Eden Hazard, making his first start for the visitors, showed some nice touches but struggled to influence proceedings, as a Real old boy stole the show. Celebrating his 100th in the competition, Di Maria opened the scoring with a close-range shot that crept inside Thibaut Courtois' near post from Juan Bernat's pass. While Real's Belgian goalkeeper Courtois appeared to be caught out for the opening goal, he could do nothing to prevent the second. Idrissa Gueye's fine work on the right create the opening for Di Maria and the Argentina winger found the bottom right corner...

At least 23 children have been killed in a fire at a boarding school in Liberia, police say. Emergency services are at the scene, which is near the capital, Monrovia, and are looking for further bodies. The children were sleeping in a building attached to a mosque when the fire is believed to have broken out at in the early hours of the morning. In a tweet, President George Weah said a "deadly fire had engulfed their school building" in Paynesville and expressed his "deepest condolences". "My prayers go out to the families of the children," he said.

The authorities in Tanzania have rescued a giant python from a forest after it was mobbed by pilgrims who believed it had supernatural powers. People began flocking to Kasala forest in the north-west of the country when the snake, which is estimated to be at least 3m (10ft) long, was spotted two weeks ago. They came to give it offerings of live animals in the belief that if it ate them it would deliver their wishes. Pythons wrap themselves around their prey and suffocate it to death before swallowing it whole. Some of the pilgrims gave the python goats while asking for its help with curing diseases and cleansing away evil spirits. Locals told the BBC that this was common practice in superstitious mining areas such as north-western Geita province. They deny it is a form of witchcraft, saying it is their way of worshipping. Issa Kawandiba, who led a group from his village to the forest, told the BBC they were seeking the python’s blessing for good rains. The python had...

Napoli beat Liverpool at home in the Champions League for the second successive season as Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente secured a 2-0 win for the home side. Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli side beat the Reds 1-0 in the group stage at the San Paolo last year and went one better this time around. Mertens opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute after the Serie A side’s captain, Jose Callejon, cut into the penalty area from the right flank and was brought down by the outstretched left leg of Andy Robertson to see the referee blow his whistle. Replays were inconclusive, with some suggesting the Spaniard had dived, but VAR did nothing to overturn the decision. Substitute, and former Tottenham striker, Llorente then killed the game off as he capitalised on a mistake at the back from Virgil van Dijk to slot it past Reds goalkeeper Adrian from close range in injury time. It was the Spanish striker’s first goal for Napoli as he pounced on a loose ball which bobbl...

Frank Lampard’s first Champions League game as a manager ended in defeat as Valencia beat Chelsea 1-0 – with Ross Barkley missing a penalty. The game did not start on a bright note for the Blues, when Mason Mount was caught by a late challenge from former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin. The England youngster was forced off, to be replaced by Pedro. Chelsea had a decent chance on the stroke of half-time when Mateo Kovacic played in Willian, who could only shoot over the bar. After the break, Valencia keeper Jasper Cillessen denied Marcos Alonso from a free kick, before a set piece for the Spaniards resulted in the opening goal just over 10 minutes later – with striker Rodrigo supplying the finishing touch at the end of the routine. Substitute Ross Barkley tried to make an impact shortly after coming on, winning the Blues a corner after some good footwork in the box, but Pedro’s shot from the resulting set piece was blocked. Drama ensued from the next corner, as a heade...