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Neither Odisha nor Hyderabad should be happy with a point from what was an Indian Super League (ISL) game of two halves at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday. 

Halicharan Narzary, who has gone from being a Kerala Blasters outcast to Hyderabad's superstar, put the Nizams into the lead in the first half. Narzary, alongside Sunil Chhetri, is the joint Indian top scorer this season as it stands with four goals and he hasn't been on penalty duty either.

13 of the 19 goals that Odisha have conceded this season have come in the first half and the trend of getting off to a terrible start continued. 

Hyderabad were all over Odisha in the first half. Their football was fluid, eye-catching and expressive to a neutral's eye and it looked like they would run away with the game. Odisha were threatened with every move they made and Arshdeep Singh had to get down and make important saves multiple times to keep the score 1-0 when they headed into the break. 

Akash Mishra continued to impress at left-back with his runs and timely interceptions. Aridane Santana was exemplary as the target man and it was his knock-on from a goal kick that fed Narzary for his goal. Odisha's defence was at sixes and sevens and had no answer to Hyderabad's attacking brand of football. 

But then the second half began. And it seemed like Manuel Marquez' team suddenly forgot how to control the game. Diego Mauricio went from being ineffective to tormenting the Hyderabad defence with his physique, skill on the ball and off-the-ball movement. 

The equaliser came from a throw-in. Diego cleverly laid the ball off for Cole Alexander who neatly struck a powerful effort into the net from the edge of the box to bring Odisha level. 

From there on, it was all about Odisha's fight. It was as if two halves from different football games were edited together to make a 90-minute compilation. Considering how Hyderabad started the game and how many chances they had to double their lead, Marquez will feel like they have dropped two crucial points. 

Hyderabad are an extremely talented team and they have been a delight to watch at times on the field. But it takes a winning mentality to control games and finish them off when under pressure. That is something they will have to learn quickly as only nine points (three wins in a row!) separate teams from the third spot to the 10th. 

Stuart Baxter's Odisha are in a rut. They have lost eight matches, the most by a team this season and are rock bottom with just one win in 12 games. They need a miracle to get into the play-offs.

William Troost-Ekong has attributed Watford’s 1-0 win over Barnsley in Tuesday’s English Championship clash to a better preparation.

The Hornets slumped to a 1-0 defeat to the Tykes in the first-leg played in October 2020 thanks to a sixth minute strike by Alex Mowatt.

However, Xisco Munoz’s men retaliated their loss by the same goal margin after captain Troy Deeney beat goalkeeper Jack Walton from the penalty spot in the 27th minute.

Reacting to his side’s result against Valerien Ismael’s side, the former Udinese star disclosed the lessons learned from their defeat at Oakwell proved vital against the visitors.

“We were better prepared this time,” Troost-Ekong told Hive Live.

“We had to try and get revenge after what happened when we played them away.

“They played real Championship football, it was a real battle tonight, but we did well to try and get the ball onto the ground and play as much as possible.

“We knew this was going to be a massive week, we wanted to get as many points as we can to attack the top again and we did what we needed to do in the last two games at home.”

Troost-Ekong fluffed a big chance to put the encounter to bed – turning Philip Zinckernagel’s cross wide from six yards. The 27-year-old disclosed that he was saddened not to pull clear of his fellow defender in the goalscoring ranks.

“Everyone wants to contribute, and I think I should’ve done better with my chance, so that’s going to be haunting me tonight but hopefully soon enough I’ll get another goal,” he continued.

“I’m trying to get more goals than Kaba so that was definitely the aim! We’ve got some good competition going with the defenders, so I was disappointed about that.

“We’ve got midfielders scoring goals though, like in the last game, we’re creating a lot of opportunities and we’re not giving many away.”

Thanks to this result, Watford climbed to third in the Championship table with 43 points from 24 outings - seven points adrift of leaders Norwich City. They travel to the Bet365 Stadium on Friday for their next clash with Stoke City.

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he came close to taking Lionel Messi under his wing at Espanyol - while remaining silent on rumours linking his fellow Argentine to Paris Saint-Germain. 

The Ligue 1 champions are reportedly among the top candidates to land Messi should he decide to leave Barcelona at the end of the 2020-21 season. 

Messi has refused to either confirm or deny his departure following last summer's transfer saga, while presidential candidate Joan Laporta hopes that the pair's history from his previous stint at Camp Nou will help convince him to extend his stay at the club he joined at the age of 13. 

Pochettino is reluctant to go on record as stating his interest in a transfer, but recalled that were it not for a scintillating pre-season performance from Messi back when he was a teenager the pair might have already worked together at none other than Barca's city rivals. 

"Messi to PSG? No comment. When I was at Espanyol or Southampton, my dream was to have the best players at the club and Messi came close to being loaned out to Espanyol," the ex-Tottenham boss explained to El Larguero.

"The deal was well advanced but he delivered a great display at the pre-season Trofeo Gamper and that was the end of that.

"We've met over the years in places such as London or in Italy. We both share the love for Newell's, as we both came through their academy and that is our common bond. 

“I'm aware of all that is going on [with Messi]. I've been watching everyone from West Ham to Valladolid and these days you need to keep your eyes on every team.

"I really don't want to talk about Messi as everything then gets blown out of proportion." 

The future of Kylian Mbappe is perhaps of more immediate concern at Parc des Princes. 

The France attacker has yet to commit to extending his contract, which expires in June 2022, with a move to Real Madrid repeatedly mooted by the media. 

“The club are working on retaining the best and he has a huge future ahead of him," Pochettino said of his charge.

"What coach wouldn't want to work with Mbappe?

“[Mbappe and Neymar] have both welcomed me and are open to a new footballing proposition and I can only thank them for the warm welcome”.

There was a comedy of errors as Roma crashed out of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday night, with the Giallorossi having two red cards in the space of two minutes and making an illegal substitution in extra time.

Roma were beaten 4-2 after extra time at home to Spezia, but would have been eliminated by default even if they had won the game.

After already making five substitutions during the match, manager Paulo Fonseca brought on defender Ibanez for former Chelsea forward Pedro.

Roma seemingly thought they could make an extra change in extra time but, while this rule is common in cup competitions, it is not the case in the Coppa Italia.

The capital club were in need of defensive reinforcements after defender Gianluca Mancini was shown a second yellow card for a foul in the 91st minute – before goalkeeper Pau Lopez was shown a straight red for another foul, only a minute later.

Spezia capitalised on the red cards to score twice in extra time, including a stunning 119th-minute lob from the edge of the box from Riccardo Saponara.

Manager Fonseca said the substitution mix-up would have to be spoken about internally.

“If there is a problem, we have time to discuss that internally. There is a problem,” the coach told Rai Sport.

Roma have fallen foul of the rulebook before. Earlier in the season, they were handed a 3-0 defeat for a Serie A match against Hellas Verona in which they fielded an ineligible player.

They might have known they were in for a bad night against Spezia when they found themselves 2-0 down after just 15 minutes.

Andrej Galabinov scored from the spot six minutes in before Saponara doubled the advantage.

Lorenzo Pellegrini and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored to take the game to extra time, but Daniele Verde and Saponara made sure their fightback was for nothing.

“We had a difficult start to the game with the penalty, which was a difficult situation to understand,” Fonseca added.

“After that, we created many chances, missed many goals, and then with two players down, it was difficult.

“This is a tough moment, we wanted to go further in the Coppa Italia, but I cannot complain about the attitude of these lads. We have to prepare the next match.”

Frank Lampard admits his future is not in his control as pressure mounts on his position as Chelsea manager.

Chelsea were deservedly beaten 2-0 at Leicester on Tuesday night, a result that saw the Blues lose ground in the race for European qualification as Brendan Rodgers’ side went top.

Goalscorer James Maddison spoke after the game about the specific Chelsea weakness which Leicester targeted , in what was a fifth defeat in eight league games for Lampard’s side.

Speculation is growing as to whether owner Roman Abramovich still believes the former midfielder is the right man to lead his expensively assembled squad .

"I can't control it,” Lampard said in his post-match press conference. “I have been asked it over the last few weeks. I understand it and it is the expectation of the club whether it is right or wrong.

"I took the job knowing that there will be difficult times because it is not a club ready to compete. We have had a ban, we have young players, we have new players that we can see are striving for form and to be settled into this team.

"At the minute we have to fight."

Lampard once again laid the blame for Chelsea’s defeat on his players, saying only they can take responsibility for their individual performances.

"There are players who are not playing as well as they should do. I was a player and they are the only ones who can deal with that.

"The general theme of our performance was slow, sluggish with a lack of desire to run and that can come with a lack of confidence. We got beaten by the better team."

Lampard's players, he said, are still in the process of developing.

"If you look at the composition of the squad, you can see there are young players or ones who were in a different league or on loan or in the Championship within one or two seasons," he said.

"You are asking a lot for them to become John Terry overnight. It doesn't happen that way."

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers, who cut his coaching teeth at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, said his side had to perform to win on the night.

"Chelsea were an amazing club for me when I was a youth coach for them. I have huge respect for them. They are a talented team and we had to play well to win."

Rodgers added to BBC Sport : "We played against a Chelsea team that is very talented and has outstanding players but we were very good and ran our socks off without the ball, which you have to do in these games.

"I was really pleased with how we closed the game. I felt in the second half our defensive block was much than in the first but we still carried a threat."

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has revealed his concerns over his side's poor form after going down 2-0 to Leicester City on Tuesday . 

Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison both struck in the first half to consign the Blues to defeat at the King Power Stadium. 

The result leaves Chelsea in eighth place, five points away from Liverpool in the final Champions League qualification spot having played a game more than Jurgen Klopp's defending champions. 

Tuesday's reverse was the team's fifth in their last eight Premier League outings, a torrid run of form that has heightened the pressure on their manager. 

And Lampard acknowledged that his charges cannot ignore the reality of the situation. 

"We won against Fulham without playing brilliant, from that we come and lose a game so it's a small step backwards," the manager explained to  Sky Sports   after the final whistle. 

"I am worried about the slump - from the form we were in to get so quickly into the form we're now in and we've had some wins, but five losses in eight isn't where we want to be.

"It takes character to get out of that - I'm not against the lads in the dressing room because they're disappointed. It's a young team and it's a big lesson that if you come off it and think you're fine then you've got to get yourself out of the hole."

Despite his disappointment, Lampard was generous in his praise for the victorious hosts, whom he admitted outplayed Chelsea across the 90 minutes.

"Beaten by the better team. They were sharper than us, ran more than us and they looked in form - we looked out of form. Disappointing goal form a set piece and the second goal is just not good enough," he added.

"There were quite a lot of moments where our sharpness wasn't there, those are moments you have to dig in and the basics are important like running and sprinting and we didn't do that.

"The most disappointing thing is to come here and lose the game but the basics off the ball are important.

"The game on the ball was a bit slow at times but it was okay, we created a few opportunities and I thought it was a penalty (a first-half foul on Christian Pulisic just outside the box) but I'm not going to lean on those things. We weren't good enough."

Chelsea now turn their attention to the FA Cup, hosting Luton Town in the fifth round on Sunday.

James Maddison says Leicester knew they could exploit Chelsea’s weakness from set pieces after the Foxes went top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Frank Lampard’s side.

Leicester’s opening goal came from a short corner routine, with midfielder Wilfried Ndidi eventually found in space to fire home from the edge of the area.

Maddison scored the second goal himself, taking his tally for the season to seven and heaping the pressure on Lampard.

Chelsea are now eighth in the table, with several teams above them still having games in hand.

“We worked on it,” Maddison told Sky Sports of the opening goal. “We looked at Chelsea with little short corners and being creative.

“We [saw] they switch off sometimes from set pieces and we knew that was something we could pick on.

“We haven’t scored enough goals from set pieces. I’m pulling my hair out sometimes as the corner taker! You look at the stats that come up, it says ‘goals scored from set pieces, Leicester City bottom of the table’, so it’s really nice to see one come off. A bit of a relief, actually!”

Maddison was happy to enjoy the moment as Leicester went top of the league ahead of Manchester City’s game with Aston Villa on Wednesday.

"Sounds nice to say we're top of the league - probably for about 24 hours but it's a good one psychologically because we've worked really hard,” he said.

“It's a great achievement for us and I don't think you'll see a better team performance from us this season. It had a bit of everything, bit of tactical nous, I thought we were brilliant today.

“Credit to the manager as well - we switched to a 4-4-2 out of possession at half-time and just little things like that helped and we deserved the three points.

"You don't play for Brendan Rodgers if you don't do dirty work - he always reiterates that it is a running game and you can't have passengers or carry anyone in this league. If we want to stay up there for the rest of the season there might be teams that can spend more money than us but that team spirit will keep building to try and keep us up there."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has challenged his players to maintain their “laser focus” after doing the “easy bit” of getting to the top of the Premier League table.  

Manchester United entered Tuesday on top of the Premier League table but went second after Leicester's 2-0 win over Chelsea.

United could drop down to third should Manchester City get a result at home to Aston Villa before the Red Devils kick off on Wednesday night.

A win at Craven Cottage would see them regain that position at the top, regardless of City’s result, but with it being such a tight season only five points separate Solskjaer’s side from Everton, who sit in sixth.

Wednesday's clash against Fulham marks the halfway point of United’s league season and Solskjaer knows there is a long way to go before they can start getting carried away with any talk of becoming champions.

“The position we are in now is due to loads of hard work by everyone. We are halfway through the season and we are up there. But it is a really, really congested top of the table so we know every little run of form can move you away from teams, or a dip of form you drop down. We just need to keep the consistency,” Solskjaer said in his pre-match press conference.

“It is not about getting there once – that is the easy bit, to go up the league. Staying there is the challenge and that is the challenge we are looking forward to. Focusing on every game and building this squad and hope that in the end we can lift the trophy. That is when you can talk about moving the team where it should be.”

With just three points separating United from fourth-placed Liverpool and a flurry of league fixtures scheduled over the next two weeks, the lead at the top could potentially change hands on several occasions, while City’s game in hand is still waiting for a confirmed date.

But despite the uncertainty at the top, and aware that a couple of bad results could drastically affect a team’s standing, Solskjaer insists his players aren’t focused on their league position.

“I don’t think it’s a different mindset at the moment for my group of players - where they are in the league. I don’t think it really enters their minds. We have a laser focus, there is a sharp focus on just the next game and to get momentum. To get to where we are now, we’ve been focused on doing the job day in, day out in training and every game matters,” Solskjaer explained.

“This season the lead has changed so many times – I don’t know how many teams have been top of the league. The only thing that matters is who is there at the end and that is not something we discuss at the moment. We just need to keep our form, keep our shape and for everyone to be ready to perform when they have been asked.”

Wilfred Ndidi ended his Premier League goal drought as Leicester City defeated Chelsea 2-0 on Tuesday evening.

The Nigeria international inspired his team to victory at the King Power Stadium as Brendan Rodgers’ men stepped up their bid for a second Premier League diadem.

The Foxes went into the clash hoping to extend their winning streak to three consecutive English elite division games following their 2-0 triumph over Southampton last time out. On the other hand, Frank Lampard’s fancied their chance of another away win having picked up a 1-0 win at Ola Aina’s Fulham.

Six minutes into the game, James Maddison worked a short corner-kick from the right to Marc Albrighton, who then cut back to Harvey Barnes on the edge of the box. The attacker sliced his shot backwards, and the Super Eagle picked up the loose ball before lashing it from range into the bottom left corner of Edouard Mendy’s post.

With that strike, the former Genk star scored for the first time in 37 English elite division games. The last time he found the net was on September 29, 2019, when Leicester City romped to a 5-0 win over Newcastle United.

Also, the 24-year-old has now scored more Premier League goals against the Stamford Bridge lords that any team.

In addition, three of his seven goals in the tournament have came from outside the goal area.

Victory was sealed for the hosts in the 41st minute after Maddison doubled the Foxes’ advantage thanks to an assist from Albrighton.

Ndidi was in action from start to finish while his compatriot Kelechi Iheanacho replaced Jamie Vardy in the 88th minute. Rodger’s team now occupy the summit of the EPL, having garnered 38 points from 19 outings so far in the 2020-21 season - one point ahead of closest challengers Manchester United.

After their fourth-round FA Cup clash against Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium, Leicester travel to Goodison Park for a date with Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton. On the other hand, Chelsea are currently eighth with 29 points host Wolverhampton Wanderers after their FA Cup contest with English second tier side Luton Town.

Andy Rinomhota scored his first goal of the 2020-21 English Championship campaign as Reading cruised to a 3-0 win over Coventry City.

Buoyed by their 2-1 defeat of Luton Town their last time out, Veljko Paunovic’s men made it two wins from two games at the Madejski Stadium.

Despite the Sky Blues getting off to a fine start on Tuesday evening, it was the hosts who took a 16th minute lead after a ball over the top of the visitors’ backline from John Swift was controlled by Lucas Joao before firing past goalkeeper Ben Wilson with a nice left-footed finish.

Minutes later, some magic from Ovie Ejaria almost led to a second goal, only for the woodwork to deny the midfielder. The English midfielder of Nigerian descent found his way into the box, cut back and drilled a low shot that sailed past Wilson before hitting the base of the near post.

A minute into the second-half, Rinomhota who was making his 100th appearance for the club doubled Reading’s advantage thanks to an assist from Joao. France youth international of Nigerian origin Michael Olise intercepted a Coventry pass at the back, fed Joao who in turn assisted the Zimbabwean for his first league goal since June 2020 [versus Derby County].

The visitors’ ambition of launching a comeback was dented a massive blow owing to the dismissal of Kyle McFadzean after receiving a second caution due to a foul on Ejaria.

Swift sealed the win in the 73rd minute thanks to a superb freekick that was swept into the top right corner of Wilson’s goal.

Substitute Sam Baldock had a glorious chance to power home the fourth, scampering in behind an unkempt City backline after Dejan Tetek had won the ball from an underhit pass between defenders.

After an impressive shift, Rinomhota was replaced in the 78th minute for Baldock while Sone Aluko was brought in for Olise in the 64th minute. Guinea Bissau international Alfa Semedo was thrown into the fray by manager Paunovic in the 73rd minute but Cote d'Ivoire's Yakou Meite and Ghana's Andy Yiadom were not dressed for action.

Thanks to this win, Reading now occupy the fourth position in the log after accruing 43 points from 24 games.

Kerala Blasters will be looking for their third win of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) season when they face Bengaluru at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim, on Wednesday evening.

TV CHANNELS & LIVE STREAM

The Star Sports Network have the exclusive broadcasting rights of the ISL in India.

Commentary will also be available in vernacular languages across India.

 TEAM NEWS

Kerala Blasters Possible XI:   

Injured - None
Doubtful - Bakary Kone
Suspended - None

Key Players - Gary Hooper, Jordan Murray

Bengaluru Possible XI: 

Injured - Ashique Kuruniyan
Absent - Dimas Delgado, Xisco
Suspended - None   

Key Players -  Sunil Chhetri, Cleiton Silva

Javier Zanetti could turn on the charm to try and lure his former Argentina team-mate Lionel Messi to Inter, according to Juan Sebastian Veron.

Messi is in the final year of his contract at Barcelona, and it remains to be seen whether he will remain at Camp Nou or seek a sensational move elsewhere.

Former Barca president Joan Laporta revealed that Inter had tried to sign Messi in the past, while ex-Inter chief Massimo Moratti has suggested the current owners had the capability to put a deal together.

More recently, Laporta has said he believes Messi is happier at Barcelona now than he was at the start of the season, and wants to stay at the club.

Former Inter and Argentina man Veron doesn’t expect to see Messi follow Cristiano Ronaldo to Serie A, but he says Inter vice-president Zanetti would be key if an audacious offer is made.

"I don't think he can go to Italy. If he will, it is because of Javier Zanetti, who knows him and will try to talk to him, making him feel important again and to explaining the future projects of the club," Veron told Stats Perform News.

Zanetti played with Messi at international level for six years, at one point serving as Argentina captain. He has been vice-president of Inter since 2014.

"At the end of the day it is purely Messi's decision. But if Inter want to make an attempt, they have to use seduction and get to his heart to draw him near,” Veron added.

"I don't know how many more years Messi wants to play at this level, but if you want to sign him, Inter have to make Messi their flagship and make clear they want to be at the top level."

With or without Messi, Inter will no doubt be hoping to lift a long-awaited Serie A title in the coming seasons.

Without a Scudetto title since Jose Mourinho’s title-winning team in 2010, Inter have returned to challenge at the top of Serie A under Antonio Conte. They are currently second, three points behind city rivals AC Milan after finishing a point behind winners Juventus last season.

DeAndre Yedlin has admitted he is frustrated with Newcastle over the lack of clarity the club has provided on his contract situation.

Yedlin's deal expires at the end of the season and the club has yet to give the U.S. international any indication over whether they will offer him an extension.

The 27-year-old appeared likely to move on after playing sparingly early in the season, but he has now started five of the club's last six Premier League matches to increase his odds of staying on Tyneside.

However, Yedlin has revealed that the club have been mum on his future, despite outreach from his agent.

"At this moment [I want] just some clarity over whether Newcastle want me to stay or whether I can go," Yedlin told CBS Sports.

"Whatever it is it's something that needs to be talked about pretty quickly because there's six months left on my contract. If I am going to leave Newcastle there's steps I need to take in terms of talking to other teams and things like that.

"There's been no clarity. My agent has reached out to people at Newcastle and they've responded back saying 'yes, we'll call you' and there are no calls back. That has been quite frustrating."

Yedlin, who has made 125 appearances for Newcastle since joining in the summer of 2016, added that he was considering leaving before the season and that his relationship with manager Steve Bruce is still strong.

"With me the manager is nothing but great," the USMNT right-back said. "He had his opinion in the summer. I was looking at leaving in the summer but ultimately ended up staying and was obviously out of the team for quite some time and had my opportunity to go.

"I did well and am fortunate for the opportunity, it's just the fact that there has really been no clarity about what their thoughts going forward are. I understand there's a business side to it but also it's a person's life you're dealing with.

"There's no issues with the manager at all. He has been fantastic and I'm fortunate he has given me another opportunity to go out and showcase myself."

Hansi Flick admits David Alaba looks set to leave Bayern Munich amid links to Real Madrid – but, he says, "hope dies last".

Alaba, 28, is out of contract with the Bundesliga giants at the end of the season and widespread reports have claimed he has agreed to join Real on a free transfer.

The player’s father, George Alaba, said on Tuesday that no decision had yet been made over his future, with other clubs still interested.

Madrid seems to be his most likely destination but, after 12 years and more than 400 games in Munich, Flick would love to see him stay.

"Those are things that are always possible when there is a transfer window and contracts are expiring,” Flick told a press conference.

"At the moment I have to admit that I have not heard anything from him regarding this topic. Hope dies last.

"However, I know that things are moving towards a direction which means change for the team.

"David Alaba showed a good performance against Freiburg and it is important for him to stay focused. That is how I experience him, as does the whole team.

"We have to continue. We know things like this are possible in football and that there are always changes at the end of a season.

"Change also has the potential to develop the team. We'll have to wait and see what happens. There's nothing more we can do at the moment."

One of the most versatile players at the top level of the game, Alaba would leave a significant gap in Bayern’s squad if he does leave.

In that case, Flick said Bayern will move for a replacement in the summer transfer window.

"Obviously, David Alaba is a player who is not only valuable for the team on the pitch, but also in the locker room and elsewhere," he said.

"But these kind of things (transfers) happen. Where the road takes him, we don't know. We have to wait and see what happens. I'm not having any thoughts around that at the moment.

"It is clear though that if a player of his calibre leaves the club, the club has to react and get another player. The future will tell what happens.

"Currently, this is not a topic for me because we will have this squad until the end of the season, so the focus is on this team and all the players we have available.

"What happens after that is a new chapter for the club and the team, and one has to make the best of it then."

Anthony Nwakaeme and Jorge Djaniny were among the goal scorers in Trabzonspor’s 3-1 triumph over Emem Eduok’s Konyaspor in Tuesday’s Turkish Super Lig fixture.

Making his 15th start of the 2020-21 campaign, the Super Eagle delivered an inspiring performance to help the Black Sea Storm secure their eighth win of the season.

Just 22 minutes into the clash staged at the Medical Park Stadium, Nwakaeme gave Abdullah Avcı’s men the lead after guiding Serkan Asan’s cross past goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic.

Despite constant threats from the visitors, Trabzonspor held their nerve to take a slim one-goal advantage into the half-time break.

Eleven minutes into the second-half, Flavio doubled his team’s lead thanks to an assist by the Nigeria international. Capitalising on some disjointed defending by the Anatolian Eagles’ backline, Nwakaeme sent a through-ball to the Brazilian, who made no mistake in burying the ball inside the net.

On the hour mark, Cape Verde international Djaniny gave his team a three-goal advantage after a beautiful one-two exchange with Ghanaian star Caleb Ekuban.

Refusing to go down without any fight, Konyaspor pulled one goal back two minutes to the end of the game through substitute Levan Shengelia.

While Nwakaeme, who now boasts of five goals in the ongoing season was in action from start to finish, Djaniny was substituted for Berat Ozdemir in the 74th minute. Elsewhere, Ekuban lasted for 81 minutes before making way for Kamil Corekci.

For the visitors, Cote d'Ivoire international Ismael Diomande was handed a starter's role, albeit, he came off for Zymer Bytyqi due to injury. Whereas, Nigeria's Eduok and Ugandan star Farouk Miya were not dressed for action by manager İsmail Kartal.

Thanks to this result, Trabzonspor now occupy the seventh spot on the log having garnered 30 points from 19 points - eight points adrift of leaders Besiktas. They are guests of Genclerbirligi at the Eryaman Stadium on Saturday.

For Konyaspor, they dropped to 14th with 22 points from the same number of outings. Miya and his team would be eyeing a return to winning ways when they welcome Antalyaspor to the Konya Buyukşehir Stadium on Sunday.

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has admitted that things are “not looking good” in their camp after failing to score in two successive Premier Soccer League matches.

The Brazilians were held 0-0 at home by Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday and for the first time this season, went for two straight games without winning and scoring after also being restricted to a goalless draw against third-placed SuperSport United last Saturday.

What could make their latest share of spoils more of a concern is that they drew with a team just three points better off than bottom-placed TS Galaxy.

“This was a little bit of a tough one. I think we got some opportunities where we could have opened the game up because we knew it was never going to be easy,” Mngqithi told SuperSport TV.

“They were sitting a lot and not giving us space behind the defence. We thought the chances we got in the first half, Kermit [Erasmus] was very unfortunate, I believe he could have easily score a hattrick. But he was unfortunate. We must accept that.

“But I still believe we were not at our sharpest point. We were not very sharp and convincing. Maybe when we made the substitutions in the second half to refresh the team, that is when we started to look a lot quicker on combinations and more precision to try and get behind the defence.

“But all-in-all I think it was a performance that one would have expected. But what can we do? We can just appreciate that we did not concede again and we have not lost a match.

“They had some scary moments on counter-attacks and they always trouble us with counter-attacks but I think we dealt with those situations a little bit better. But it is just not looking good when you are not scoring in two matches in a row being a team like Sundowns.”

Tuesday’s result came despite Downs fielding an almost full-strength side, including the attacking trio of Themba Zwane, Peter Shalulile and Erasmus.

The draw against Celtic could put question marks on Sundowns’ ability to claim a fourth successive PSL title after they were also exposed in the 1-1 draw against Maritzburg United earlier in the season.

The Tshwane giants were the first team to hand a point to Maritzburg, who went into that match on the backdrop of five straight defeats.

In their second game of the campaign, they were also held 0-0 by struggling Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila.

The Brazilians now prepare to meet Swallows FC on Saturday in what would be another top-of-the-table clash.

“We have to go back and work. Hopefully in the big one we will be able to get a good result,” concluded Mngqithi.

Al Duhail SC have been handed Al Ahly in the quarter-finals of the Fifa Club World Cup to be staged in Qatar.

According to the draw conducted on Tuesday ahead of the tournament set to kick off in Doha on February 4, Duhail, a club Kenya’s striker Michael Olunga signed for a week ago, will face the African champions with the winner coming up against Champions League winners Bayern Munich.

In the other match, Tigres will take on Asian Champions Ulsan Hyundai with the winner taking on either Palmeiras or Santos, who face off in the Copa Libertadores final on January 30.

Just last week the competition saw Auckland City withdraw from the tournament due to the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine measures required by New Zealand's authorities.

The team’s exit left six competitors representing global governing bodies of Uefa (Bayern Munich), AFC (Ulsan Hyundai), Concacaf (Tigres UANL), Caf (Al Ahly), Qatari league champions Al-Duhail along with a Conmebol representative that will be confirmed after the Copa Libertadores final.

The competition’s format will remain unchanged, despite the withdrawal of Auckland City, with the fixtures being played at three venues - in the city of Al Rayyan: Khalifa International Stadium, Education City Stadium, and Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.

All three stadiums are set to host matches at the 2022 World Cup.

Olunga recently signed for Duhail from Japan, where he had a stellar season with Kashiwa Reysol as he won the Golden Boot – after scoring 28 goals – and was also voted the Most Valuable Player becoming the first African to win both awards.

During the week he arrived in Qatar, Olunga made his Qatar Stars League debut in Al Duhail's 3-1 loss to Al Sadd and he played for 67 minutes, with Algeria star Baghdad Bounedjah scoring a hat-trick in the fixture.

On Tuesday, Olunga came in the second half as Duhail managed to snatch a 1-1 draw against Qatar SC in another league match.

It was Qatar SC who took the lead courtesy of Mehdi Berrahma from the penalty spot in the 21st minute before Duhail levelled matters through Edmilson Junior in the 51st minute.

The Kenyan striker came on in the 56th minute but did not threaten much as the home team were solid in defence.