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The Indian national team are all set to play two international friendly matches in the first week of September against neighbours Nepal at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal. 

The Blue Tigers under the tutelage of head coach Igor Stimac are currently in Kolkata for a 15-day camp after which they will travel to Nepal. On the first day of their camp, the Indian team took on IFA XI in an exhibition game which they won 1-0.

India and Nepal have met each other on 19 occasions in the past out of which India have won 13 matches, Nepal have won two and four times the matches have ended in a tie. India have scored 33 goals and conceded nine.

The last time these two sides met was on June 6, 2017, at the Mumbai Football Arena where the Blues Tigers emerged victorious thanks to goals from Sandesh Jhingan and Jeje Lalpekhlua.

The last time, The Gorkhalis hosted India was on March 17, 2015, in the second leg of the 2018 World Cup qualifying play-offs. The match ended in a goalless draw.

Sunil Chhetri is the highest Indian goalscorer against Nepal with five goals in eight international matches followed by IM Vijayan and Carlton Chapman who have scored three goals each.

Here, we take a look at India's head-to-head record against Nepal in international matches.

Galatasaray defender Marcao was sent off in Monday night's clash with Giresunspor after earning a red card for fighting his own team-mate.

In the 61st minute, Marcao head-butted and then threw punches at Kerem Akturkoglu before being separated by other members of the Galatasaray squad.

Marcao was dismissed following a VAR review of the incident and will likely now face further punishment for fighting on the pitch. However, the squad held on to win their Super Lig opener 2-0.

Potential punishment

According to Turkish League regulations, this incident classifies as an "assault" and could result in a lengthy suspension.

Per the rules, Marcao could face a ban between five and 10 games for his actions.

What was said?

After the match, Galatasaray manager Fatih Terim said: "The club will do what is necessary in their own way."

He continued: "Marcao will apologize to Kerem and the rest of the team for his behaviour."

Marcao's career so far

Marcao originally joined Galatasaray in in 2018, making the move from G.D. Chaves in Portugal.

He's been ever-present during his first three seasons with the Turkish giants, making 102 appearances for the club in all competitions.

Further reading

Nottingham Forest have announced the departure of Fouad Bachirou to Omonia Nicosia on a free transfer.

The midfielder joined the Cypriot top flight side on a two-year deal that will keep him at GSP Stadium until 2023.

“Nottingham Forest can confirm that midfielder Fouad Bachirou has joined Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia on a free transfer,” a statement on the English Championship side's website read.

“Bachirou, 31, made his Reds debut against Barnsley in a League Cup tie in September 2020.

“He then also featured against Swansea City in the FA Cup and as a second-half substitute against Barnsley at the City Ground in January.

“Everyone at Nottingham Forest would like to wish Fouad the best of luck for the future.”

The Comoros international joined the Reds in August 2020 from Swedish side Malmo. Unfortunately, his time at the City Ground was hindered by injury.

Despite being Sabri Lamouche’s priority target during the transfer window, the African featured in just three games during the 2020-21 campaign as they failed in their ambition to earn a ticket to the English elite division.

With his move to the Queen, Bachirou becomes the fourth African player in Henning Berg’s squad. Others are Nigeria international Shehu Abdullahi, his compatriot Iyayi Atiemwen, and Ernest Asante (Ghana).

Meanwhile, Nicosia have taken to social media to welcome the former Paris Saint-Germain Academy and Ostersunds FK to their squad.

“Omonia has signed the 31-year-old French midfielder, Fouad Bachirou, who played for Nottingham Forest. The cooperation contract is for two years,” the club wrote on Instagram. “The footballer also played for Malmo FF, with whom he also recorded appearances in the Europa League groups, as well as in Ostersunds FK winning the cup in 2017.

“He is an international with the Comoros national team. We welcome Fouad Bachirou to the Omonia family and wish him every success.”

Bachirou is unlikely to be in action when Berg’s team face Belgian First Division A giants Royal Antwerp in Thursday’s Europa League fixture.

Born in Valence, the midfielder made his international bow in Comoros’ 1-1 draw with Burkina Faso in February 2014.

He is expected to be a part of Amir Abdou’s Coelacanths side, who will be featuring in their maiden Africa Cup of Nations appearance next year.

It took Gervinho just 29 minutes into his first appearance for Trabzonspor to open his scoring for his new employers, as they cruised to a 5-1 victory over Yeni Malatyaspor in a Turkish Super Lig game on Monday.

The former Arsenal and AS Roma forward put up an awe-inspiring performance in Abdullah Avci’s attack to propel the Black Sea Storm to a winning start in the 2021-22 campaign of the Turkish elite division.

Despite playing away from home, Avci’s team got off to a flying start by taking a third-minute lead through Greek forward Anastasios Bakasetas, who profited from an assist from Marek Hamsik.

While the hosts were trying to come back in the game, they leaked the second goal eight minutes later as Nigeria international Anthony Nwakaeme put the ball beyond goalkeeper Ertac Ozbir with Djaniny supplying the assist.

In the goal-laden first half, Gervinho added his name to the goalscorer’s sheet thanks to good work from Nwakaeme.

Not winning to go down without a fight, Yeni Malatyaspor pulled one goal back courtesy of Adem Buyuk in the 32nd minute, with Tukey’s Mustafa Eskihellac setting him up.

Three minutes before the half-time whistle was sounded, Trabzonspor restored their three-goal advantage, with Hamsik converting a pass from Gervinho.

Although manager Irfan Buz made a series of changes before the last 45 minutes, that did not reflect in Malatyaspor's performance, as the visiting side dominated ball possession.

Malatyaspor’s ambition to pull off a comeback faded in the 66th minute as Cape Verde international Djaniny beat Ozbir from the penalty mark after he had been fouled in the danger zone.

Burundi’s Jospin Nshimirimana and Buyuk found the nets for the hosts, although both efforts were ruled out for offside after VAR checks.

While Gervinho was replaced at halftime by Andreas Cornelius, Nwakaeme was subbed off for Yusuf Sari with 20 minutes left on the clock. Djaniny came off for Murat Akpinar in the 88th minute.

Gervinho moved to Turkey after Parma got demoted to Serie B, with the forward having scored five goals in 27 league matches.

He would be hoping to continue this fine form when Trabzonspor host Sivasspor in their next outing on August 23. 

Lautaro Martinez's agent says the striker is happy to stay at Inter amid links to Tottenham, while adding that the Argentine will need to adjust to the "new situation" at the club.

Inter are looking vastly different than the team that won the Scudetto last season, with Antonio Conte gone and Romelu Lukaku now at Chelsea.

However, despite links to the Premier League, Martinez isn't looking to be the next to leave as he is more than happy to stay on with the club.

What was said?

"He wants to win the Scudetto again with Inter, play a good Champions League with the Nerazzurri and, as I said before, he doesn't think at all about leaving Italy,"  Alejandro Camano, Martinez's agent told FCInterNews.

“We will do everything possible to stay with the Nerazzurri. Martinez is very happy in Milan, he has an excellent relationship with his team-mates and with the new coach. He listened to many offers, but never took any of them seriously. He believes - and we believe - that there is still life at Inter."

However, in the wake of some major changes at the club, Camano did add: “Lautaro is not talking about money, but about football and playing. Money is up to your agent. At most, Martinez can say how happy he is in Milan and the team."

Lautaro's record at Inter

The Argentine joined Inter in 2018, making the move from Racing in his home country.

He's scored 49 goals in 132 games, with 40 of those goals coming over the last two seasons as he helped Inter win the league last season.

Further reading

It doesn’t get better than this, does it?

Watford began the opening day as one of the bookies’ favourites to end in the bottom three but stunned an ambitious Aston Villa 3-2 at Vicarage Road. They definitely weren’t expected to race into a 2-0 lead at half-time, neither did anyone think the Hornets would be 3-0 up after 67 minutes.

In the absence of last season’s top-scoring central striker Joao Pedro, returning supporters in Hertfordshire got a first look at new signing Emmanuel Dennis. It was a massive show of confidence from Xisco to start the ex-Club Brugge man in gameweek one at Troy Deeney’s expense.

The 33-year-old Englishman is a club captain and a known quantity. He puts himself about and gives everything on the pitch. Aside from Ismaila Sarr’s 28 goal contributions since 2019/20, nobody at the club has been more involved than the icon, who has netted 17 times and assisted five.

The expected decision would have been to start the burly forward up top against Dean Smith’s side.

After the opening 45 minutes, however, Dennis’ showing indicated why the Spaniard opted for him instead. A goal after just 10 minutes was just what the doctor ordered, especially as the Nigerian hadn’t netted since a DFB Pokal encounter for Koln in February.

Take away that strike in the German outfit’s cup exit at Jan Regensburg and his last goal of any kind was netted in Club Brugge’s Champions League victory at Zenit St. Petersburg in October 2020. As far as getting monkeys off one’s back goes, beating Emiliano Martinez after only 10 minutes was a relief.

His goal and assist helped to continue Watford’s impressive home record — the best in England’s top four divisions last season — which now stands at 10 wins on the trot.

His combination play with Sarr seems to be blossoming, too. It was the wide attacker who picked out Dennis for that opening goal (although Tyrone Mings’ initial block means the Senegal international doesn’t get an assist), the new signing then flicked Tom Cleverley’s pass round the corner for the winger whose shot was straight at Villa’s shot-stopper.

The pair combined again for Watford’s counter-attacking second, although a fortuitous block deceived Martinez to allow Xisco’s star player to score his first Premier League goal of the season.

“The most important thing is the team understands each other,” Munoz told the club’s official website. “We tried to create space for (Emmanuel) Dennis and [Ismaila] Sarr. It was a brilliant game as we could’ve scored more.

“We know how well he [Sarr] can play, and we know he is a top player. If he has space, he can beat anyone. I think Sarr, Dennis, and [Ken] Sema understand how to attack the space, especially today [Saturday].”

In just 65 minutes on the pitch, Dennis was involved in a staggering nine shot-creating actions (defined as dribbles, passes or fouls drawn that lead directly to a shot), outdoing every player at Vicarage Road.

For context, only Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney (11) had more in the opening gameweek of the season, although he notably played 90 minutes in the Gunners’ 2-0 defeat on Friday.

Of course, there will still be reservations over the frontman, whose rap sheet in Belgium and Germany raised eyebrows after a PL transfer was confirmed. An underwhelming temporary spell in the second half of last season prompted former Koln sporting director Horst Heldt to claim their risk in taking a gamble on the forward didn’t pay off in an interview with Mobil Express in June.

Having come off with an injury just after the hour mark, Watford supporters will hope it’s nothing too serious for the Nigerian who became the fourth Super Eagle to score on his Premier League debut—joining John Utaka, Peter Odemwingie and Odion Ighalo.

“I will remember this for all my life, I am really happy, I am really, really happy, I am speechless, I don’t know what to say, I am just really happy,” Dennis told Watford TV after the game.

He spoke further on his burgeoning understanding with Sarr: “I think we will do wonders together [me and Sarr], we train together in training, we always train together, and I know the combination will be very important for me if I am going to be the No.9 for the team, so I am really happy with the combination."

While they are expected to experience dips during the season, Xisco will hope Dennis and Sarr maintain a decent-to-good baseline performance as they hope to survive relegation.

Throw in the anticipated contribution of Deeney and Joao Pedro (after he returns from a knee injury) and the Hornets ought to have a fighting chance of avoiding an immediate drop to the Championship.

Dennis hasn’t silenced his critics just yet, but an opening day statement performance has put him on the path to eliminating initial reservations over Watford’s decision to bring him to Hertfordshire.

Samuel Chukwueze remains unavailable to Villarreal, as he sits out of his team’s La Liga opener against Granada.

The Nigeria international has been out of action since picking an injury during the Yellow Submarine’s Europa League semi-final fixture against Arsenal on May 6.

Before his injury nightmare, the Super Eagles was a threat to the Gunners’ backline, very nearly giving the Spaniards an early lead after four minutes.

Sadly, his contributions in the competition came to an end, however he still picked up a winner's medal after his Spanish topflight side beat Manchester United in the final to emerge as champions.

Despite returning to personal training, the 22-year-old Nigerian did not make Villarreal’s cut for their Uefa Super Cup fixture with Champions League holders, Chelsea.

In his absence, manager Unai Emery opted to start new signing Boulaye Dia alongside Gerard Moreno and Yeremi Pino as his front three.

Chukwueze is expected to be available for Nigeria when they begin their World Cup qualification campaign in September.

Meanwhile, Dia will make his La Liga debut having been named in the starting XI alongside Algeria star Aissa Mandi.

Thanks to his impressive form for Reims in the French Ligue 1 – where he scored 14 goals in 36 league appearances, the Senegal striker moved to the Estadio de la Ceramica on a five-year contract.

For Mandi, he joined Villarreal on a free transfer in June following the expiry of his deal at Real Betis and he signed a four-year contract.

He missed one of the club’s penalties against the Blues, and he would be hoping to put up a fine display to atone for his miss.

Whereas, Moroccan star Sofian Chakla – who was on loan at Getafe last season – will not be playing any part against the Nasrids.

On the other side, Nigeria international Ramon Azeez was not listed for the game by manager Robert Moreno, while 21-year-old Senegalese goalkeeper Cheikh Kane Sarr will be on the bench.

Cameroon international midfielder Yan Eteki is expectedly missing for the 2021-22 campaign opener following a muscle injury.

Moreno’s team are out this season to claim one of the tickets to Europe having finished ninth in La Liga last season having garnered 46 points from 38 matches. 

AEK Athens have confirmed the signing of former Al Nassr and Galatasaray winger Nordin Amrabat on a two-year contract.

Amrabat joined the Yellow-Blacks on a free transfer after his three-year stay in Saudi Arabia came to an end last month.

The 34-year-old has immediately started training with Vladan Milojevic’s team as he gets ready for his potential debut in their Super League opening fixture against Ionikos on Saturday.

After previous spells in the Premier League, La Liga, Dutch Eredivisie, Saudi Pro League and Turkish Super Lig, the Netherlands-born star revealed that he made the move to Greece to make a statement and boost his chances of helping Morocco qualify for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

“I remain hungry. Yes, I am 34 years old but age is a simple number,” Amrabat told the club’s website. “I'm really in very good shape, I'm hungry, I wanted to come here.

“When I do something, I always do it with my heart, so I came here to win distinctions, the goal is the title. When I talked to the team, they told me that they are creating a new team, with a new coach, I know the coach, he is a really good coach, I faced him last season.

“So I'm here to show who I am, to become a champion, to play well and I also still have the goal with my national team. I want to go to the World Cup with Morocco and all this will happen if I do well here. Fans can expect good things from me, for sure."

Nordin, elder brother of Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat, left his mark in Saudi Arabia by helping Al Nassr win the top-flight crown in the 2018-19 season and he also clinched two Super Cups with the Knight of Najd.

On Friday, Al Nassr fans paid their respect to the Morocco international during their league opener at the King Saud University Stadium as they chanted his name in the 11th minute (his former jersey number).

Goalkeeper John Shaibu believes Bayelsa United can take inspiration from Leicester City’s Premier League heroics and claim Caf Confederation Cup glory.

The Nigeria National League side won the 2021 Aiteo Cup after defeating NPFL side Nasarawa United via penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw after extra-time.

Aside from becoming the first team from Nigeria’s second division to lift the prestigious cup since Dolphins FC's feat 20 years ago, the Yenagoa-based outfit will represent the West African nation in the Confederation Cup alongside Enyimba.

As they step up preparations for their campaign in September, the 24-year-old feels the youth and talent in his team's squad can take heart from the surprise triumph of the Foxes in the English elite division.

“Football is all about time and opportunity. Nobody gave us a chance in the first place to win the Aiteo Cup, yet we achieve that by defeating a topflight team,” Shaibu told Goal.

“Now that we have this chance, we are looking forward to representing Nigeria well and we are not just going to make up the number of participating teams.

“We have already commenced preparations for our campaign and with our youthful squad, we can do a Leicester City.

“We are drawing inspiration from them because no one gave them a chance to win the Premier League many seasons ago.

“Whether people call us underdogs or write us, off we don’t care. Our duty is to get on to the field of play and get the job done.”

Depreye Tebowe’s men begin their Confederation Cup campaign against Guinea's Ashanti Golden Boys in the preliminary round.

Even at that, the former Abia Warriors and Sunshine Stars goalie is unflustered by the threat posed by the Stade Kankou Moussa giants.

“We are not intimidated by their profile and achievements because that doesn’t count in football,” he continued.

“Moreover, football is a respecter of no one. We are hungry and we are eager to make history.

“I’m confident we will scale their hurdle and go as far as the final by the God’s grace that has brought us this far.”

The first-leg fixtures of the Caf Confederation Cup preliminary qualifiers will take place between September 10-12 while the reverse fixtures are scheduled for September 17-19.

Playing against Cote d’Ivoire does not come easy, according to former Nigeria international Dimeji Lawal who hopes Gernot Rohr’s men avoid the Elephants in Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations draw.

Having been seeded in Pot 1 alongside hosts Cameroon and defending champions Algeria, the Super Eagles could face Patrice Beaumelle’s men, Ghana, Egypt or Mali as Caf will see the 24 participating teams assembled into six groups of four teams each.

In the history of the competition, Nigeria have met Cote d’Ivoire on six occasions: winning twice, losing twice and settling for a draw two times.

As attention shifts to the Yaounde Conference Centre where the ceremony will be held on Tuesday evening, the retired midfielder talked about why the three-time African kings must strive to avoid meeting the 2015 Afcon champions.

“I’m glad we are not going to be zoned against teams like Senegal and Cameroon but you know that football has changed globally, and you have to beat the best to become the best,” Lawal told Goal.

“Whichever team that is pair with us, we need to be very careful and we must prepare well. During preparations and in the tournament proper, we must not give room for complacency.

“However, I don’t like us playing Cote d’Ivoire because they are as strong as we are and due to the agelong rivalry between us, they like to flex their muscles against us – the same thing as Ghana.

“Also, the Ivorians have their key players well represented in Europe just like us. We have similar climates, so basically, we don’t have any advantage over them when it comes to playing them.

“Playing against them doesn’t come easy. I would prefer us to be group with the Egyptians or any North African team because we can always outmuscle them physically.”

Regardless of who Nigeria will be facing in the preliminary round, the ex-Real Madrid and Kortrijk star counsels on what Rohr and his team must do if they hope to rule Africa the fourth time.

“Every nation that understands what football means now knows that good preparation is key to achieving success,” he continued.

“The Super Eagles must get the best of preparations and not our crash programme approach. For some time now, I get confused because we have a senior national team with several players.

“If you ask me about the German national team, for instance, I can tell you their first 15 players and the same thing goes for the Brazilian and English national teams.

“That is not the same with Nigeria because, for the past four years, I cannot tell you about their first eleven. Week in week out, we keep bringing new legs.

“When are we going to get that formidable team? When you keep introducing new legs every time, it's like you are preparing and never ready for any major tournament.

“That is the major problem because by now, we should have an idea about the players that we are taking to Cameroon or any major championships.”

Nigeria finished third in their last outing in the biennial African football showpiece, defeating Tunisia 1-0 in the third-place match thanks to Odion Ighalo’s strike.  

Chelsea forward Michy Batshuayi is closing in a move to Besiktas, Goal can confirm.

The Belgian striker will head to Turkey on loan, with Besiktas discussing an option to purchase for between £5m ($7m)-£11m ($15m).

Chelsea have given Batshuayi the go-ahead to travel to Turkey to finalise details, while the forward is also set to add an extra year to his contract to avoid the Blues losing him for free next summer.

Batshuayi's latest loan move

By heading to Besiktas, Batshuayi will look to secure a regular first-team role as he hopes to play himself into a role with Belgium's World Cup squad next year.

The 27-year-old forward has embarked on four different loans since signing with Chelsea in 2016, two with Crystal Palace and one apiece with Borussia Dortmund and Valencia.

He's also featured 77 times for Chelsea, scoring 25 goals for the club while earning a Premier League winners' medal in 2016-17.

Batshuayi wouldn't be the first Chelsea striker to depart this transfer window, with Olivier Giroud already with AC Milan and Tammy Abraham looking set to join him in Serie A via a move to Roma.

Chelsea, however, brought in Batshuayi's international team-mate Romelu Lukaku this summer to be the team's star No.9.

Further reading

Former Super Eagles and Ajax midfielder Sunday Oliseh believes Manchester United can’t win the Premier League title if they do not lure Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland to England.

The Red Devils made a blistering start to the 2021-22 season with their 5-1 thumping of Leeds United on Saturday, thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ hat-trick and four assists from Paul Pogba.

Although they finished second in the league last campaign, Oliseh advised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to bolster his frontline with Haaland who has scored five goals in two matches for Dortmund this season.

“In an emphatic manner, Manchester United blew away Leeds United by 5 goals to one, with Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes stealing the headlines,” Oliseh wrote in his column. “As impressive as they were, I still feel something huge is still lacking at Manchester United.

“Though I feel, they should be highly competitive for the title this season, I wouldn’t put my money on them being champions without Erling Haaland’s acquisition from BVB Dortmund.”

Manchester United are yet to secure the top-flight crown since their record 20th league title in 2012-13.

Oliseh, however, tipped European champions Chelsea as favourites to overthrow Manchester City as England champions following their £98 million transfer for Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.

The Blues kicked off their league campaign with a commanding 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace after they pipped Villarreal to the Uefa Super Cup in a penalty shoot-out on Wednesday.

“Chelsea are definitely, in my opinion, clear favourites to dominate this season,” he added. “Manager Thomas Tuchel has definitely won over most skeptics with the conquest of the UEFA Champions League last season, coupled with an authoritative finish to the league season last year, beating defending champions, Pep Guardiola’s Man City, three times along the way, without a dominant fixed point striker.

“With the acquisition of Romelu Lukaku, fresh off a personal best season with Inter Milan, winning the Italian league as the league’s top striker, Chelsea can now further play with more variety that will definitely make them extremely competitive on all fronts. Don’t bet against Chelsea is my advice.

“In Thomas Turchel, Chelsea have a coach that has German discipline, the hunger to win, a fresh face and tactical soundness.

“By winning the season opener European Super Cup over giant killers, Villarreal of Spain and coupling it up, seemingly effortlessly by a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace, barely three days later to open their Premier League account for the season, all without Lukaku, it would be financial indiscipline to bet against European champions, Chelsea.”

New Chelsea signing Romelu Lukaku has said that his two years with Inter helped him to “master all the facets that a striker needs” and aims to lead by example as his club looks to secure more silverware in the 2021-22 season.

Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge 10 years after originally arriving as a fresh-faced teenager, joining from Anderlecht with a reputation as one of the hottest prospects on the planet.

He was never quite able to settle at the top level in the Premier League, however, but feels that his time in Serie A under Antonio Conte has seen him come back to London as a “complete” striker.

What has Lukaku said?

The Belgian told Chelsea's official website: “I just feel more complete. I’ve tried to master all the facets that a striker needs and I just want to keep improving on the small details all the time and keep improving on my strengths as well.

“I’m a leader but I’m also more of a gel person, making sure that everybody feels comfortable and confident. That’s the way I lead.

“When there’s a difficult moment in the game, they can lean on me and I’ll always be encouraging my team-mates, never being down on them or barking at them.”

Has Lukaku spoken to Thomas Tuchel yet?

“Yes, of course! The conversation was really clear from him, that he wants me to be a presence and a leader in the team.

“My role will depend on what the game plan is and what the boss wants me to do. If he wants me to be a focal point or if he wants me to attack the spaces in behind, I can do it. The two years in Italy helped me master all the facets of the game for a striker and now I’m ready.

“I like the system that we play and I’m very flexible. I can play as a two or by myself and I’m used to the system because it’s what we play with the Belgian national team so I don’t need much time to adapt.”

Why was Serie A so useful?

On the difference between Italian and English football, Lukaku added: “Italy is tactically and technically a better league but here in England, it’s all about the intensity. That’s what makes the difference.

“But it’s no problem for me because I’ve been here for eight years and I know what it’s all about. It’s not like I’m a new player coming in and not quite knowing what to expect. I know the league ... and now we have to look forward.

“I’m a new version of that player from before. I’ve evolved and the team that I’m joining is a very strong team so now we just have to prove it on the pitch by challenging for the Premier League.”

Further reading

Fans have blamed the management of the Premier Soccer League side Orlando Pirates after the resignation of Josef Zinnbauer as the head coach.

The German tactician left the Soweto club on Monday after the Bucs lost the MTN8 quarter-final game against Moroka Swallows on Saturday.

Zinnbauer has found himself under constant criticism since last season, but some fans who reacted after his exit was confirmed, felt the problem lies with the club's executive management and not with the coach.

The 51-year-old coach was appointed by Pirates in December 2019 and helped the Bucs finish third in that PSL season, even though he came while the team was struggling. 

He then helped end a six-year trophy drought when he guided Pirates to the MTN8 title last December, took them to the Caf Confederation Cup quarter-final and another third place finish in last season's PSL.

How Twitter reacted:

Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter says midfielder Kegan Dolly will prove he is an important signing once he regains his “match weight.”

This is despite the Bafana Bafana star being influential on his official debut for Chiefs on Sunday in the MTN8 quarter-finals penalty shootout defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns.

After coming on as a substitute in the 59th minute, Dolly’s first touch was an assist for Khama Billiat who scored to level matters and secure a 2-2 regulation time draw.

Sundowns then went on to win the match 2-1 on penalties.

After the match, Baxter gave an update on the fitness of Dolly who signed for Chiefs in July following a spell in France.

“Keagan has been excellent in training in short bursts,” said Baxter as per iDiski Times.

“Keagan has not played in games in a while and he is not in the shape that he wants to be in to be able to give his best. But, Keagan being a very good player, means that he sees things quickly and his passing is good and the ball is good.

“We wanted to give him half an hour today but he went on to get a little bit more than that, but I think Keagan as soon as he gets his match tempo, his match weight and more time under his belt then Keagan is going to be a great addition to Kaizer Chiefs.”

Chiefs’ elimination from the MTN8 meant another chance to claim silverware for the first time since 2015 was missed.

Baxter gave his verdict on the defeat by Sundowns, saying Amakhosi “weren’t chasing the ball a little bit” despite coming from two goals down to force a 2-2 draw before the lottery of penalty kicks.

“I thought we opened the game very nervously; I don’t know why,” Baxter said.

“Sundowns took advantage of that and played between our lines and behind the backline. And we didn’t have any coordination in our pressing play. We weren’t chasing the ball a little bit.
 
“I didn’t like the fact that we were suddenly pressing a little high without any sort of coordination or instruction from the bench.”

Interestingly, Baxter was the last coach to deliver a trophy for Chiefs when he guided them to the 2015 Premier Soccer League title.

It is yet to be seen if his return will end Amakhosi’s silverware drought.