Fabulous first-half goals from Eriksen and Erik Lamela set Spurs on their way as they chase a ninth FA Cup win.

Eriksen’s second made the result safe just past the hour mark.

Tottenham might even have had the game sewn up by half-time, but Son Heung-min’s effort was ruled out for offside after consultation with the video assistant referee (VAR).

Spurs are seeking a first trophy since they won the 2008 League Cup.

Without a trophy in a decade and now out of contention for the Champions League and Premier League titles, Spurs fans will be forgiven for daring to dream about a first FA Cup success since 1991.

If questions are being asked of Tottenham’s ability to deliver silverware, they certainly gave a decisive answer in a truly dominant display at Liberty Stadium.

That was all the more impressive in the absence of their talisman Harry Kane, who is ruled out until April with an ankle injury.

There are few bigger compliments to give Spurs than to say they did not miss Kane – 53 goals in his last 53 matches and all – as they were led by inspirational performances from Eriksen and Lamela.

Swans manager Carlos Carvalhal has spoken before of making the opposition “listen to our music” but Eriksen was the conductor while Lamela, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura played a sweet symphony, their interchange and movement beguiling Swansea.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men should have been out of sight before half-time, but were denied by poor finishing, fine goalkeeping and the woodwork as a procession of chances came their way.

In between Eriksen’s sumptuous opener and Lamela’s terrific effort on the stroke of half-time, Eriksen thundered the bar, Lucas missed from six yards and Eric Dier flashed a free header over the bar, while the video assistant also denied Tottenham what they thought was a legitimate goal.

However, Eriksen, as he so often does, simply tortured the Swans, pulling the strings as he scored his seventh and eighth goals against the Welsh side in just 10 appearances.

The FA Cup is not a priority for Spurs if you listen to Pochettino, but there can be no doubt Spurs supporters feel differently.

The eight-time winners have lost seven successive semi-finals and have not tasted FA Cup glory for 27 years, the days of Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker, but they will be dreaming now, especially as they are so familiar with Wembley.

VAR controversy again in the FA Cup
But for the technology, Spurs would have been effectively into the semi-finals by half-time.

However, just as it was against Rochdale in the previous round, the issue of VAR was once again at the forefront in the FA Cup and again Tottenham felt aggrieved.

The controversy came on 23 minutes when Son went clean through and crashed the ball home off the underside of the crossbar, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.

Spurs immediately appealed for the decision to be reviewed and despite replays seemingly showing Son to be level, the original verdict was upheld after a lengthy delay.

However, such was the gulf between the sides; the disallowed goal was scarcely a factor in the result.

Tottenham took control after Eriksen’s brilliant curled effort gave them the lead on 10 minutes and with the Dane seemingly at the centre of everything and Spurs enjoying an extraordinary amount of possession, the second seemed inevitable.

That it took until first-half stoppage time was a surprise, but after Eriksen and Moura combined, Lamela swept home right-footed.

The contest might have changed if former Swansea keeper Michel Vorm had not brilliantly denied Martin Olsson’s firm drive and Tammy Abraham’s point-blank follow-up, but Spurs made them pay the price when Eriksen fired home a decisive third after Moura’s run just past the hour.

Swansea’s priority is very much Premier League survival and they were grateful the scoreline was not more decisive with Spurs a class above but wasteful in front of goal.

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Source: BBC

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Swansea had a £14m bid for the Ghana international rejected by the Hammers on Sunday and are reportedly planning an improved offer.

West Ham boss David Moyes is open to let Ayew leave if his £20m valuation is met.

However, according to Sky Sports, Ayew is not keen on a move back to the Swans as he feels he can secure a move to a bigger club.

Turkish club, Galatasaray, has also recently expressed interest in the 28 year old.

The West Ham man has scored six goals and made another two from 24 appearances this season across all competitions.

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By: Daniel Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The 54-year-old’s previous deal at Old Trafford was due to expire in 2019.

Mourinho said he was “delighted” that United “feel and trust that I am the right manager for this great club for the foreseeable future”.

He added: “I would like to say a big thank you to the owners and to [chief executive Ed] Woodward.”

The Portuguese, appointed as Louis van Gaal’s successor in May 2016, won the EFL Cup and Europa League in his first season.

This season United are second in the Premier League, behind runaway leaders Manchester City, with the club still in the Champions League and FA Cup.

“We have set very high standards – winning three trophies in one season – but those are the standards I expect my teams to aim for,” Mourinho added.

“We are creating the conditions for a brilliant and successful future for Manchester United. I love my players and it is a pleasure to know that we are going to be together for at least the next three years.”

Woodward praised Mourinho for his “exceptional work rate and professionalism”, as well as for “embracing the club’s desire to promote top-quality young players”.

He added: “He has brought an energy and a sense of purpose to everything that he does and I am sure that will continue to bring results for the fans and the club.”

Speaking at his news conference earlier on Thursday – before his new contract was announced – Mourinho hailed the club’s recent signing of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal.

He said the Chilean had moved from a “fantastic club to a giant club” in the swap deal that saw Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan head the other way.

Mourinho said it was “a great deal for everybody” and confirmed Sanchez will be in the squad for United’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Yeovil on Friday.

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Source: BBC

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Edmund was playing in the last eight of a major for the first time but showed few nerves in a 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 win.

The world number 49 becomes only the sixth British man to reach the last four at a Grand Slam in the Open era.

He will play top seed Rafael Nadal or sixth seed Marin Cilic on Thursday for a place in the final.

Andy Murray, Greg Rusedski, John Lloyd, Roger Taylor and Tim Henman – who was watching from the front row on Rod Laver Arena – are the only other British men to have reached Grand Slam singles semi-finals since tennis turned professional in 1968.

Edmund has long looked the most likely to join that list, but few would have predicted it would happen at this year’s Australian Open.

Ranked 49th and without an ATP final to his name, let alone a title, logic suggested there were several more steps to make before becoming a major contender.

However, the Yorkshireman’s huge forehand is already one of the biggest shots in the game, and marked an improvement on serve and return in the off-season appear to have fast-tracked him.

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Source: BBC

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Costa was booked in the 62nd minute of Saturday’s La Liga game with Getafe before scoring six minutes later.

He then jumped into the crowd to celebrate and was subsequently shown a second yellow card and dismissed.

Atletico won the game 2-0 with Angel Correa scoring the opener.

It has been an eventful return to Atletico for Costa. The 29-year-old started his career at the club before leaving to join Chelsea in 2014.

He came off the bench to score in his first game since returning – a 4-0 Copa del Rey win against Lleida Esportiu on Wednesday – before picking up an injury moments later.

‘The most Diego Costa thing ever’ – Twitter reacts

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The Reds, without Roberto Firmino and injured duo Philippe Coutinho and Mohamed Salah in their starting line-up, led through Sadio Mane’s second-half strike.

Johann Gudmundsson equalised with a late header, but Estonian centre-back Klavan scored in injury time.

Leicester beat Huddersfield 3-0, with Riyad Mahrez scoring and then assisting Islam Slimani, who was making only his second Premier League start of the season, because Jamie Vardy was out injured. Marc Albrighton scored their late third.

Newcastle beat fellow strugglers Stoke City 1-0, with Ayoze Perez scoring from close range.

Brighton and Bournemouth played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the first Premier League game of 2018 – in a match with 42 shots, the record for a top-flight game this season. The Cherries twice came from behind, with Callum Wilson scoring a scrappy 79th-minute equaliser.

In the 17:30 GMT game, which is on BBC Radio 5 live, Everton are at home to Manchester United.

Premier League match reports

Brighton 2-2 Bournemouth

Burnley 1-2 Liverpool

Leicester 3-0 Huddersfield

Stoke 0-1 Newcastle

Source:BBC

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The exhibition match in Abu Dhabi against Jelena Ostapenko was the American’s first match for 11 months.

Williams struggled with her movement at first but played some fine shots in a 6-2 3-6 (10-5) defeat.

Australian Open director Craig Tilley has said Williams is “very likely” to defend her title at the 2018 tournament, which starts on 15 January.

Ranked 22nd in the world, Williams would not need a wildcard to play in the first Grand Slam tournament of the new season.

“I’m excited. It’s good to be back on court, this is such a good time for me,” Williams, 36, told Eurosport.

“Motherhood is phenomenal. I was a little worried out there – I looked at my camp and asked, ‘Is Olympia OK?”
Williams, who gave birth to her daughter in September, had not played since winning her 23rd major singles title at last year’s Australian Open.

She initially struggled to get enough power behind her serve and missed several straightforward shots as French Open champion Ostapenko claimed the first set.

The Latvian pushed her opponent wide, with Williams’ movement looking sluggish at first.

However, she found more timing as the match progressed, increasing the speed on her serve and moving well inside the court.

A fine lob over Ostapenko was the highlight of the second set but the Latvian, who stunned Simona Halep at Roland Garros in June, overpowered her in the tie-break.

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Source: BBC

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African champions Cameroon dropped four places to 36th (5th in Africa) after their poor showing at the FIFA Confederations Cup, while Nigeria dropped one place to 39th.

Egypt maintained their status as Africa’s highest ranked team despite falling four places to occupy 24th spot overall.

Congo (28) and Tunisia (34) were the biggest climbers in Africa moving up 11 and 7 places respectively.

Germany overtook Brazil and Argentina to go top of the rankings after their success at the just ended FIFA Confederations Cup.

Top 10 African Nations
Egypt
Senegal
Congo DR
Tunisia
Cameroon
Nigeria
Burkina Faso
Algeria
Ghana
Côte d’Ivoire

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By:Daniel Koranteng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The massively-attended service hosted by Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Markwei (an Arsenal fan) at the Living Streams International Church in Accra was held with members dressed in their Chelsea jerseys while a cake was cut to celebrate the Stamford Bridge title.

Despite the London-based club being thousands of miles away from Ghana, the Ghanaian fans of the club celebrated it gusto as the pastor preached the sermon under the theme ‘Learn to promote the success of others’.

The event which was heavily publicized by another famous pastor Rev. Azigiza Junior, who is an ardent Blues fan, saw supporters of some rival English sides also attending to hear the sermon.

Rev. Dr. Markwei told the title-starved fans of Arsenal and Manchester United who were in attendance that it is Godly to also celebrate the success of others.

“Fellowship with those who rejoice in your victory. They were 10th last year and we called them names thinking they can’t rise again but today here they are on top. With God nothing is impossible,” Rev. Markwei  said in his sermon.

The exploits of former Chelsea stars Michael Essien and Marcel Desailly – both Ghanaians – have drawn a huge following for Chelsea in the West African country.

This results in massive rivalry between supporters of various English sides in the country with Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham having huge followers while West Ham has a growing fanbase because of their Ghanaian midfielder Andre Ayew.

So when the poster emerged few weeks ago over the pending church service, many thought it was meant to poke fun at supporters of their rival clubs.

But the promise was delivered complete with the pomp and pageantry and the religiousness Ghanaians attach to every facet of life including football matches in the local leagues and international matches.

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By: Rahman Osman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The firm protects websites by routing their traffic through its own network, filtering out hack attacks.
It has 4 million clients, including banks, governments and shopping sites.

Customers wouldn’t necessarily know which of the online services they use run on Cloudflare as it is not visible.

The bug came to light while Cloudflare was migrating from older to newer software between 13 – 18 February.
Chief operating officer John Graham-Cumming said it was likely that in the last week, around 120,000 web pages per day may have contained some unencrypted private data, along with other junk text, along the bottom.

He told the BBC there was no evidence yet that the data had been used maliciously.

“I can’t tell you it’s zero probability that nobody saw something and did something mischievous,” he said.
“I am not changing any of my passwords. I think the probability that somebody saw something is so low it’s not something I am concerned about.”

‘Ancient software’
Mr Graham-Cumming has written a blog about what went wrong and how Cloudflare fixed it.

“Unfortunately, it was the ancient piece of software that contained a latent security problem and that problem only showed up as we were in the process of migrating away from it,” he wrote.

The firm, whose strapline is “make the internet work the way it should”, has also been working with the major search engines to get the data scrubbed from their caches – snapshots taken of pages at various times.

It was discovered by Google engineer Tavis Ormandy, who compared it to the 2014 Heartbleed bug.

“We keep finding more sensitive data that we need to clean up,” he wrote in a log of the discovery.

“The examples we’re finding are so bad, I cancelled some weekend plans to go into the office on Sunday to help build some tools to clean up.”

Dodged bullet
Cybersecurity expert Prof Alan Woodward said the bug had been caused by “a few lines of errant code”.

“When you consider the millions of lines of code that are protecting us out there on the web, it makes you realise that there are bound to be other problems likely to be waiting to be found,” he said.

“It’s too soon to tell exactly what damage may have been done, but because of the way in which this was found the chances of individuals being compromised is relatively small.

“What it shows, bigly, is that we may have just dodged a bullet.”

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Source: BBC

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