Aubameyang scores but Arsenal’s woes continue

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been nothing short of spectacular since his move from Borussia Dortmund. The Gabon international has come to the English Premier League deemed the most competitive of them all and has already managed to score 9 goals and provide 4 assists in just 10 starts as according to WhoScored. The African player had already done the most in the Germany where he scored 21 goals in all competitions at club level. Combined, the Aubameyang has scored 30 goals in all competitions this season excluding the one goal he scored for his nation in an international friendly game. This deserves so much praise for a player who joined a team in the middle of the season just like some international players like Alexis Sanchez but has still managed to outscore them. Of those goals, one of them came from today’s match between Arsenal and Leicester City.

Iheanacho opened the scoring in the 14th minute. The Nigerian international has not been in the best of form this season unlike his fellow African counterpart Aubameyang as this is only his second goal in the league. Iheanacho was dangerous on the night though as he was clean through on goal before being brought down by young Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos. The Greek defender was shown a red card and Arsenal were short. Arsenal held on until Aubameyang came to the rescue and score in the 53rd minute. Arsenal was level on matters and was looking to pull a comeback but their hopes were shattered by Jamie Vardy’s penalty who scored after Grey was brought down in the box by Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Another African player claimed a stake from the match between the two teams. Algerian born winger Riyad Mahrez scored the 3rd and final goal for Leicester to seal their 3-1 win against Arsenal. Arsenal have not won a single point this year away from home which can be a mental challenge for the players that the incoming Arsenal coach has to deal with in the new season. Wenger has one final chance to win on a note and win points away from in their match against Huddersfield on the 13th of May.

Panathinaikos players go on strike

Greece has seen some controversy in the past few weeks with the gun incident, the banishment of players and now we hear of a strike from the players in the Greek League. The Athens club, Panathinaikos, have gone on strike over unpaid salaries. The player signs a contract handed to them by the club and expect the club to hold their end of the deal while the players play their skins out on the pitch. The Panathinaikos players had been quiet and had given the benefit of the doubt to the club when they failed to pay December’s installments in 2018. The reasons behind that the decision, we do not know, but the repercussions are what we see as the players started the strike on Monday. Panathinaikos have won the Greek league 20 times and are currently 9th in the league. It is quite shocking why a club with such rich history, refuses to pay their players what is due. This club received a 3 point penalty last week after having failed to pay the debt they owe to former German defender, Jens Wemmer. In this case, they have been forced to respond ahead of time and are expected to pay the players on Thursday. Training will resume as scheduled and the club will play their match against Atromitos who currently sit in 4th place. Should clubs have to wait for extreme measures in order to live up to their deal?

Olympiakos President banishes First Team players

On a night when Bayern Munich came from behind and won 2-1 against Sevilla, the buzz around the UCL couldn’t have been better. However, we had to look elsewhere and find out about the most interesting stories in football that happened in the past few days. Evangelos Marinakis had sacked three managers before Olympiakos slipped to third following a 1-1 draw with mid-table Levadiakos in the Greek League. This was because he believed the managers were at fault for the team’s poor performances this season but that did not last forever. He realized that his players were the ones who were not doing enough. In case you were wondering what happens to football players when they do not perform to their expectations, the President of Olympiakos has two ways of dealing with the problem. First, you banish them from playing for the first team. Marinakis banished his first-team players for the remaining 4 games and replaced them with youth players who love Olympiakos and the supporters much more than they do.

He is quoted to have said that, “[You care more about] your nice houses, your cars. You don’t care about the team. I and the rest of the fans have tolerated you for long enough. You will leave today and go on holiday.”

This is one of the most humiliating things that a player can go through during his playing career. The players have been forced to step aside and watch the young boys take charge. Next up, the president also fined the players. It is believed that he fined them $492 000 as a punishment. Olympiakos won the league 19 times in the last 21 years. They are used to dominating in football which explains their president’s harsh reaction. Do you think this is a fair punishment for the players?

Gun incident results in new anti-violence measures

The Greek league is set to resume this Saturday after a long break caused by the gun incident. To those who do not know the story, it is about PAOK President, Ivan Savvidis’ clash with the referee while a gun was strapped to his waist. This caused a scene in the stadium as the Greek-Russian business was accompanied by his bodyguards to confront the referee after he ruled off a goal against AEK Athens on March 12. FIFA intervened after the incident and threatened to expel Greek clubs from international competitions unless the authorities took strict action. This is what caused the league to be suspended. Ivan Savvidis has since apologized for his actions and new strict measures have been put in place by the authorities, for clubs involved in violence. Do you think guns should be allowed in the stadium?