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Mbwana Samatta was in action as Fenerbahce defeated David Akintola's Adana Demirspor in their opening Super Lig fixture of the 2021-22 season.

The Tanzania striker led the Yellow Canaries' attack on Sunday as Mesut Ozil scored the important goal that sealed three points for the visitors in Adana.

Both teams had African players on parade with Samatta playing for 45 minutes while DR Congo's Marcel Tisserand and Nigerian descent Bright Osayi-Samuel played the entire duration for Fenerbahce.

Akintola joined Morocco's Younes Belhanda and Mario Balotelli in the hosts' frontline and they were replaced in the second half by Gambia's Pa Dibba, Nigeria's Okwuchukwu Ezeh and DR Congo's Britt Assombalonga respectively.

It was Assombalonga's debut appearance in Turkey following his free transfer from Championship club Middlesbrough at the expiry of his contract.

Akintola also joined the Blue Lightnings from Midtjylland in July after his impressive loan spell at Hatayspor where he scored six goals in 35 Super Lig matches last season.

Prior to Sunday’s outing, Nigeria winger relished his partnership with Balotelli but both players could help Adana Demirspor avoid defeat at home.

"We have the quality to get a result against Fenerbahce and I'm looking forward to the game," Akintola told Goal.

"Adana are keen on a positive campaign and our impressive run in pre-season gives us good confidence ahead of the game against Fenerbahce.

“I also hope for a positive debut playing alongside Mario Balotelli. He has been a great guy since I joined, and I can't wait to help the team get a win in front of our home fans.”

Following their narrow loss at home, Akintola and his teammates will turn attention to their next Super Lig match which is a trip to Kayserispor on August 20 while Samatta's Fenerbahce will battle Finnish club HJK Helsinki in the Uefa Europa League play-offs on Thursday before hosting Antalyaspor for their next league outing on August 22.

Thomas Tuchel is ready to throw Romelu Lukaku in for his Chelsea debut against Arsenal and expects N'Golo Kante to return from a minor injury.

However, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who has been part of Tuchel's squad in pre-season, is out of the game on Sunday, August 22 after testing positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

After his side's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, Tuchel offered an update on the health and fitness of several of his players.

What did Tuchel say?

"N'Golo felt discomfort in his ankle in the warm-up for the Super Cup match with Villarreal," Tuchel said. "He played a little bit with pain and overcame that pain.

"Yesterday (Friday), he felt pain and we took this match to take responsibility to take him out and not take risks at this stage of the season.

"I think N'Golo will be back in the middle of the week to be ready for Arsenal. Ruben has, unfortunately, had a positive test on Thursday. He is in isolation and following the protocol and that's why he isn't in the team.

"Romelu is out of quarantine [on Sunday] and in training on Tuesday as Monday is a day off. We will prepare him to be ready for Arsenal. Hopefully, he can be on the pitch."

Chelsea also played a friendly with non-league side Weymouth on Sunday which they won 13-0 and involved a lot of players who have struggled for minutes in pre-season.

What else was discussed?

Tuchel also hinted that the £98 million ($136m) signing of Lukaku from Inter will allow him to experiment with new formations.

"With the addition of Romelu, we get our number one striker and we want to have him on the pitch," he added. "If you do a transfer of this kind of volume, you are sure that you want him on the pitch.

"He will take the pressure off the shoulders from Kai [Havertz], Timo [Werner] and Christian [Pulisic] because Romelu is the kind of personality who wants responsibility and to lift the pressure off their shoulders.

"I am very happy with Timo, Kai and Christian because they play with a lot of intensity. With Romelu, we have a chance to play with two strikers as he did in Inter or to continue with three.

"We will see how things work and how they fight for their place."

Further reading

Samuel Kalu collapsed on the pitch but he recovered and played for a little while before he was substituted in Bordeaux’s 2-2 draw with Marseille on Sunday.

Kalu joined Bordeaux players in forming a wall for Dimitri Payet's free-kick and he collapsed there in the fifth minute.

Both teams responded immediately by forming a wall around the Nigeria international while medical personnel rushed to the pitch to stabilise him.

He was later replaced by Remi Oudin in the 14th minute as the Girondins came from behind to grab their first point of the season at the Stade Velodrome.

Recall two years ago, Kalu collapsed in training a day before the Super Eagles commenced their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Egypt.

The 23-year-old winger was immediately rushed to a hospital in Alexandria, where it was confirmed that he had suffered dehydration.

Second-half goals from Timothee Pembele and Oudin cancelled out Cengiz Under and Payet's goals for Marseille in the 34th and 41st minutes respectively.

A week ago, Bordeaux started their 2021-22 Ligue 1 campaign with a shock 2-0 loss to newly-promoted Clermont and they are now ranked 16th in the table.

Kalu endured an injury-plagued season last season with recurring thigh muscle strain that limited him to just 20 league matches and had four goals to his name.

He will be expected to continue his recovery process during the week before Bordeaux welcome Angers to the Stade Matmut-Atlantique for their next league fixture on August 22.

Mesut Ozil has opened his goalscoring account for Fenerbahce, having found the target against Adana Demirspor.

The former Arsenal and Real Madrid man struck just 11 seconds into the second half of the fixture, latching onto a cross from the left to tap simply into the goal.

It proved to be the only goal of a 1-0 victory and his first since moving to Turkey earlier this year.

When did Ozil last score?

Ozil joined Fenerbahce in January on a free transfer following a controversial end to his time with Arsenal. He was frozen out of Mikel Arteta’s plans and was engaged in a PR war with the club, memorably offering to pay the wages of Gunnersaurus after the club decided to make the club mascot redundant.

His early weeks in Fenerbahce were not particularly promising either as he made 11 appearances for the club. Indeed, his only contribution of note for the team was an assist in a 2-1 loss to Sivasspor on the final day of the season. It was his sixth home match for the Istanbul giants and his fourth defeat for a return of just a single win.

Additionally, he missed the best part of two months because of an ankle injury sustained in a draw against Antalyaspor.

The last time he found the net in any capacity was while playing for Arsenal in February 2020, when he struck against Newcastle in a 4-0 home win in the Premier League. It proved to be the only goal he scored that season for the Gunners – and his last before leaving a year later.

The 2021-22 campaign has, therefore, got off to an altogether more promising start for the former Germany playmaker.

Further Reading

Mamelodi Sundowns' head co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi was "very unhappy" with the goals they conceded despite their win over Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 quarter-final on Sunday.

The Brazilians let a two-goal lead slip in the quarter-final encounter which ended in a 2-2 draw at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, but Sundowns went on to win 2-1 on penalties. 

Peter Shalulile and Themba Zwane netted for Sundowns, before Khama Billiat and Bernard Parker hit the back of the net to level matters at 2-2.

Mngqithi praised Keagan Dolly's pass which set up his former Sundowns teammate Billiat for the Chiefs' second goal.

"A very strange game to be honest because we dominated, which is what we expected to be honest," Mngqithi told SuperSport TV.

"We scored very good goals but I'm very unhappy with the goals we conceded. Allowing these diagonals from Nange, the cross and also the finish in the box with no competition from Parker.

"Being caught on transition, spaces in between our defence. Good pass from Keagan and good finish from Khama I must say."

Masandawana dominated the game and created chances, but they were kept at bay by Chiefs captain Itumeleng Khune, who produced some great saves. 

"Look at how many chances we created on the day. We should have wrapped up the game earlier," Mngqithi continued. 

"And for Sundowns to concede two goals that's a very big downside of the game, because honestly we worked very hard not to concede and the type of goals we conceded do not suggest we have such a good defensive block.

"I knew it was not going to be an easy one with transitions from Chiefs but fortunately we managed to win it in the end.

The 50-year-old tactician was grateful to Kennedy Mweene, whose goalkeeping heroics inspired Sundowns to a win on penalties he only let one Chiefs penalty into his goal.

"Thanks to Kennedy, his experience helped us a lot.  But honestly speaking it was a game we deserved to win. Around the 65th to the 70th minute, we started to see a lot of possession being lost easily and that was already an indication that we are getting fatigued," he added. 

"It was our first competitive match of the season. It's understandable. The first five matches of the season will give you that."

Cameroon international Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui scored his first goal for KAA Gent in the Belgian Pro League this campaign as they defeated KV Mechelen 2-0 on Sunday.

The 30-year-old centre-back, who has featured in the opening three matches, powered home in the 28th minute after meeting a cross from a corner-kick before Nurio Fortuna made it 2-0 in the 92nd minute to hand the Buffaloes maximum points at Ghelamco Arena.

The game saw Kenya international Joseph Okumu, who scored in midweek as Gent secured a 1-0 win against Rigas FC 1-0 to progress to the Europa Conference League play-off round, come on in the 84th minute replacing midfielder Alessio Castro-Montes.

It is the home team who started the game at a pulsating pace and they almost took the lead in the fourth minute when Netherlands forward Tarik Tissoudali dribbled past the entire Mechelen defence but goalkeeper Gaetan Coucke came quickly off his line to stop the danger.

In the 11th minute, Mechelen responded with an attack of their own as Geoffrey Hairemans initiated a move from the centre of the park, and then released a long ball towards Jordi Vanlerberghe but Gent goalkeeper Sinan Bolat reacted quickly to kick it out for a fruitless corner.

Gent took the lead against the run of play after a corner-kick delivered by Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe was met at the far post by the Cameroon defender, who turned to hit the ball into the roof of the net.

Tissoudali should have doubled Gent’s lead on the stroke of half-time but a quick response by defender Coucke prevented the striker from pulling the trigger with the keeper off his line.

After the resumption, Mechelen moved to make a double substitution, Ferdy Druij, and Gustav Engvall coming out for Hugo Cuypers and Samuel Gouet, and the change rejuvenated the side who had struggled to attack their opponents.

In the 66th minute, Vanlerberghe once again came close to levelling the scores for the visiting side but his effort from his right foot was gathered by Bolat.
 
Gent later pulled off Odjidja-Ofoe and Vadis for Hjulsager and Andrew while Storm and Nikola also came out for Mechelen as they were replaced by Kaya and Onur.

With five minutes added before the final whistle, Fortuna took advantage of a defensive blunder by Mechelen to score the second goal and give Gent a second straight win in the top-tier.

The win pushed Gent to the top of the 18-team table with 10 points from five matches while Mechelen remained in position 15 with three points from five matches.

KAA Gent: Bolat, Sinan, Godeau, Bruno, Hanche-Olsen, Andreas, Ngadeu, Michael, Odjidja, Vadis, de Sart, Julien, Fortuna, Nurio, Castro-Montes, Alessio, Kums, Sven, Bruno, Gianni, Tissoudali, and Tarik.

Subs: Roef, Davy, Depoitre, Laurent, Okumu, Joseph, Operi, Christopher, Chakvetadze, Giorgi, Malede, Yonas, Oladoye, and Adewale.

KV Mechelen: Swers, Iebe, Coucke, Gaetan, Bateau, Sheldon, Walsh, Sandy, Hairemans, Geoffry, Druijf, Ferdy, Storm, Nikola, Schoofs, Rob, Engvall, Gustav, Vanlerberghe, Jordi, Souza, and Vinicius.

Subs: van Hecke, Jannes, Kaya, Onur, Cuypers, Hugo, Thoelen, Yannick, Oum Gouet, Samuel, Peyre, Thibault, Shved, and Marya.

Ahmed Musa has challenged the Nigeria government and security authorities to work to end the "barbaric" killings across the country.

The Fatih Karagumruk star took to his social media account to share his grief on Sunday after 22 people were killed while several others were injured during a road trip on Saturday morning.

Travellers were coming from a religious event in Bauchi - a North Eastern state in Nigeria -  in a convoy of buses when they were attacked at Rukuba road, in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Thirty-three victims have been rescued according to a police statement, but Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killing as a wickedly motivated attack on innocent people.

Musa, however, could not hide his pain as he shared a picture of the travellers on his page with a prayer for peace for his home state, Plateau, and the entire country.

“The killings of the innocent travellers that came all the way from Bauchi State after Islamic New year Zikr heading to their various destination and got intercepted at Rukuba Road of Jos North is heinous and barbaric,” Musa wrote on Instagram.

“I'm calling on the Government and relevant authorities to take measures in curtailing the future occurrence of such barbaric act. May their souls rest in peace and may peace reign in our dear State and Nigeria as a whole.”

Other Super Eagles stars including Kenneth Omeruo and William Troost-Ekong expressed their grief by posting broken heart emojis as comments under Musa's post.

Prior to the update about happenings in his home state, the former Leicester City and Kano Pillars star had a memorable debut outing in the Turkish Super Lig on Saturday.

Musa scored the match-winning goal on the stroke of full-time as newly-promoted Fatih Karagumruk defeated Gaziantep 3-2.

Japhet Tanganga was a "huge" influence against reigning English champions Manchester City, according to Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

The London side began their 2021-22 campaign on an impressive note by defeating the Citizens 1-0 in Sunday’s showdown, thanks to Son Heung-Min’s second-half strike.

Tanganga, 22, got the nod to start ahead of Cote d’Ivoire’s Serge Aurier and Matt Doherty, and he did not disappoint as he held sway in the hosts’ backline to deny Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish from wreaking havoc.

After full-time, the youngster walked home with the man-of-the-match award ahead of Son, Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura, to the delight of his Portuguese boss who waxed lyrical about his performance, and that of Oliver Skipp in the low-scoring affair.

“They [Tangaga and Skipp] did well,” Nuno told media during the post-match conference.

“When they started the season, they were in the processes of recovering from injury, but they had a good foundation in terms of fitness and physicality.

“With the work they did with sports science, I think they were able to keep on growing and we can see they are fit and stronger and faster.

“All the team did very well but Japhet was huge today. He faced too many one on ones today against fantastic players and he dealt fantastically with the situation.

Despite Pep Guardiola’s men showing promise at the start of the game, they were poor in the final third with Spurs’ backline staying disciplined.

In the second half, the hosts grew in confidence and eventually picked up all points at stake thanks to Son’s 55th-minute effort.

In a swift counter-attack that caught City’s backline flat-footed, Bergwijn picked out the South Korea international who beat Nathan Ake before curling his shot past goalkeeper Ederson.

After a contribution of 83 minutes, the England youth international of Congolese descent was substituted for Matt Doherty as Spurs held their nerve to win their opener.

That result got Manchester City’s title defence off to a losing start, and Guardiola and his men would be hoping they can put their last two losses behind them when they travel to newly-promoted Norwich City next week.

For Espirito Santo's team, they travel to Molineux Stadium for a date with his former side, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has suggested that his side do not need to sign Harry Kane following their 1-0 loss to Tottenham on Sunday.

City made a limp start to their Premier League title defence, falling to a narrow loss thanks to a strike from Son Heung-min.

They have been linked , meanwhile, for Tottenham forward Kane, who was not present in the home squad  following a curtailed pre-season, in part because he only began training nine days ago .

What was said?

"We have the same players as last season and we scored lots of goals," Guardiola said in his post-match press conference in relation to whether City need to step up their pursuit of Kane. "It has happened.

"What is important is we are there, the last cross. We arrived many times there and today. We could not score but it is the same mystery. We are the same, we are good enough to create chances and score goals and we are going to do it."

Why are City linked with Kane?

Manchester City started the Spurs match with Ferran Torres in the centre-forward position, despite the fact he was not signed to fulfil those duties.

Indeed, Guardiola’s side have only Gabriel Jesus on their books to fill the role as a traditional striker following the departure of Sergio Aguero, with a ‘false nine’ often preferred to a centre-forward.

There is a widespread belief that, if they were to sign Kane, who has won the Premier League Golden Boot on three occasions, they would become a stronger side still.

Spurs, however, hold the power with regards the striker’s future as he has three years left on his contract. With that in mind, they are reported to have put a price tag of around £150 million on the England captain.

City, meanwhile, enjoyed one of the best seasons in their history in 2020-21, despite lacking an obviously prolific scorer. Instead, they shared the goals around, with seven hitting double figures in all competitions.

Last term, Ilkay Gundogan was their leading scorer in the Premier League, despite netting a relatively meagre 13 goals.

Further Reading

Hertha Belin midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng has expressed his disappointment after losing on his return to Bundesliga action for the club following Sunday’s 3-1 away defeat at Cologne.

Fourteen years after leaving the club for Tottenham Hotspur, the 34-year-old, who made a summer return to the club in June, completed his comeback with 59 minutes of action on the opening day of the German elite league.

Stevan Jovetic scored first for the visitors at RheinEnergieStadion but goals from Florian Kainz (two) and Anthony Modeste for the Billy Goats turned things around.

“I obviously had hoped my comeback would go differently. We had high hopes for this game, however we didn’t live up to them,” Boateng said after the game, as reported by his club’s official website.

“We did well for the first half an hour, but after the equaliser we fell apart a bit and never got back into the game.

"We didn’t have the bravery and confidence to get at Cologne, who were able to play their way with their fans right behind them.

“I don’t think it was a foul for their equaliser. It looked a bit rough, however Modeste just used his experience in this situation. I’m not a fan of blowing up for too much and I trust the officials anyway.

“There were some positives to take. After all, we’ve got 33 games still to play. We all need to play our part and now get the win in front of our fans against Wolfsburg.”

It was an emotional return for Boateng as he made a return to Bundesliga action for Hertha, the same club where he made his professional debut as a footballer in 2005 and played until 2007, when he joined Tottenham Hotspur.

He went on to play for the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Portsmouth, AC Milan, Schalke 04, Las Palmas, Eintracht Frankfurt, Sassuolo, Barcelona, Fiorentina, Besiktas and more recently Monza in the Italian second division.

Boateng was handed a starting role on Sunday, and for a moment, it looked as though it was going to be a happy return for the Ghana international when Matheus Cunha set up Jovetic for the opener in just the fifth minute.

The hosts, however, hit back four minutes to half-time as Modeste outmuscled his marker to head home Jan Thielmann’s cross.

Kainz then showed his capabilities with a quickfire double in three minutes to send Cologne 3-1 up.

Santos Laguna and Chivas will both go in search of a second win of the new Liga MX campaign when they meet at Estadio Corona this weekend.

Watch Santos Laguna vs Chivas on fuboTV (free 7-day trial)

Last season's Clausura runners-up are still unbeaten this season, but the Guerreros know that victory over Guadalajara will still help to clear any lingering doubts on their form.

Ahead of the game, Goal has the details of how to watch on TV, stream online, team news and more.

TV channel, live stream & how to watch

In the United States (US), Liga MX matches can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (watch with a 7-day free trial).

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

Team news & rosters

Guillermo Almada's men booked their spot in the semi-final of the Leagues Cup this week, but now must turn their attentions straight back to domestic concerns.

While wholesale changes may not be in store, there may be a place for Jesus Ocejo and Carlos Acevedo after they both sat out the clash with Orlando City.

Predicted Santos Laguna starting XI: Acevedo; Orrantia, Torres, Doria, Andrade; Prieto, Gorriaran; Otero, Valdes, Carrillo; Ocejo.

Guadalajara left it late to rescue a point against Juarez last time out but Victor Manuel Vucetich's men will look to make it an easier ride on the road this weekend.

Back from the Gold Cup, Gilberto Sepulveda is likely to retain his spot in a back three, while Alexis Vega could figure in the wider squad following his bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.

Predicted Chivas starting XI:  Rodriguez; Sepulveda, Briseno, Olivas; Aguayo, Molina, Torres, Mayorga; Brizuela, Zaldivar, Carlos Cisneros.

Last five results

Head-to-head

Tottenham fans are hoping their victory against Manchester City on Sunday will convince Harry Kane that the Premier League champions are not all they are built up to be.

The Spurs star was left out of the squad as his side ran out 1-0 winners against Pep Guardiola's men in their first game of the season.

The striker's absence will only exacerbate speculation surrounding his future as the 28-year-old is said to be eager to leave north London for City before the transfer window closes.

What was said?

But the Spurs fans hoped to persuade the England captain that the club can indeed compete with the title favourites this year.

The home supporters chanted his name as they upset the champions, singing: "Are you watching, Harry Kane?"

Nuno and Son want Kane to stay

Spurs coach Nuno Espirito Santo refused to comment on Kane's future after Sunday's game, saying: "Look, Harry Kane is one of the best players in the world, honestly. We are very lucky to have him. He has to get ready and help the team.

"We still have to go to Portugal [to face Pacos de Ferreira in Conference League qualifying] then we think about Wolves."

Meanwhile, match-winner Son Heung-min was happy to get the season off to a strong start without the team's talisman.

"We are all professional. We wanted to focus on this game no matter who is involved or not," he said.

"Obviously Harry is so, so important for us. But let's see. Last season we didn't start well against Everton so we started well. I just want to enjoy this afterwards."

Will Kane stay at Spurs?

City are said to be eager to land the attacker in the current window and their failure to find the net against Spurs could encourage them to push even harder to get a deal wrapped up.

Goal reported that City were lining up a £100 million ($139m) offer in June and it was thought that the striker was trying to push through a move when he did not report for training earlier this month.

Kane, who has three years left on his contract at the north London side, insisted he did not refuse to train with the club after coming back from his summer holiday.

Further reading

Liverpool have agreed a loan deal with Sheffield United for Ben Davies, with the transfer set to be made official within the next 24 hours, Goal can confirm.

Davies arrived at Anfield in January as emergency defensive cover during an injury crisis, but with Virgil van Dijk now firmly back in the fold, the versatile former Preston star has found himself pushed down the pecking order.

There has been sustained interest from Sheffield United and they will complete the capture of the 26-year-old imminently.

Terms of the loan

Liverpool, who rejected a previous offer from the Championship side due to their unwillingness to have a purchase option in the move, are set to benefit financially from the loan deal, which will have an undisclosed fee attached to it.

Furthermore, if the Blades win promotion back to the Premier League, Davies will earn his parent club a bonus.

It has been a transfer that has been pushed through by United boss Slavisa Jokanovic, who is a big fan of Davies, who has previous experience of loan deals with York, Tranmere, Southport, Newport and Fleetwood.

Previously, it was understood that Celtic and Bournemouth, who both wanted him before he moved to Liverpool, were again interested in the player, while an unnamed Premier League side also made an enquiry.

Davies has failed to play for Liverpool since arriving at the club, and with Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all back fit again, the prospect of him gaining any first-team minutes at Anfield currently is distant.

The Reds have already loaned out 20-year-old centre-back Sepp van den Berg to Preston this summer.

Further reading

Atlas and Club America will put their unbeaten Liga MX starts on the line when they face each other at Estadio Jalisco this weekend.

Watch Atlas vs Club America on fuboTV (free 7-day trial)

With two wins and a draw each, both La Furia and Las Aguilas are already in the mix for a reclassification finish - and could give themselves a boost at the expense of the other with a win.

Ahead of the game, Goal has the details of how to watch on TV, stream online, team news and more.

TV channel, live stream & how to watch

In the United States (US), Liga MX matches can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (watch with a 7-day free trial).

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

Team news & rosters

Diego Cocca's side look on course to match the quarter-final finish from last term's Clausura tournament, but they will need to avoid slipping up this weekend to keep those hopes on track.

Former Santos Laguna man Julio Furch looks to have fully settled into life with La Furia now, and he will likely lead the line in their fourth Apertura game of the season.

Predicted Atlas starting XI: Vargas; Barbosa, Santamaria, Nervo, Reyes; Marquez, Rocha; Torres, Quinones, Herrera; Furch.

With the Gold Cup and Tokyo 2020 comfortably in the rearview mirror, Las Aguilas are back to almost a full contingent of players from which Santiago Solari can choose from.

Santiago Naveda remains injured with an ankle problem and is unlikely to return until the end of the year, but the return of goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa brings vital experience at the back.

Predicted Club America starting XI:  Ochoa; J. Sanchez, Caceres, Aguilera, Fuentes; Aquino, R. Sanchez; Cordova, Fidalgo, Lainez; Roger Martinez.

Last five results

Head-to-head

Some fans have claimed Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene cheated as he saved four penalties to ensure the Premier Soccer League champions progress to the MTN8 semi-final at the expense of Kaizer Chiefs.

After a 2-2 draw following extra-time, the winner had to be decided from the penalty spot and Mweene stamped his author as he saved all but one of the penalties taken by the Soweto side.

The experienced custodian was the hero for the Brazilians as he saved penalties from Daniel Cardoso, Eric Mathoho, Samir Nurkovic and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo to ensure the Brazilians progressed courtesy of a 2-1 shoot-out victory.

Peter Shalulile scored Sundowns' opener in the 10th minute before Themba Zwane added the second in the 23rd minute. The Soweto giants fought back and registered a goal in the 38th minute through Bernard Parker.

Khama Billiat ensured the scoreline read 2-2 when he struck in the 59th minute and neither side was able to find the winning goal in the remaining minutes of the second half.

Although some fans criticised Mweene, some praised him for ensuring his side weathered the Chiefs storm at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
 
Here's how Twitter reacted:
 

Ex-Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng made his debut on his return to Hertha Berlin as they fell 3-1 to FC Koln in a Bundesliga match at RheinEnergieStadion on Sunday evening.

The midfielder, who was returning to his boyhood club for a second stint, had hopped to inspire the team to a positive start to the season.

The Old Lady started the game on a high and took the lead in the eighth minute. The goalkeeper failed to keep hold of a shot and the rebound fell to Stevan Jovetic, who tapped home.

Hertha thought they had won a penalty in the 24th minute when one of the Koln defenders seemingly handled the ball in the danger zone. However, after consulting the VAR, referee Robert Hartmann continued the play.

The lead lasted until the 43rd minute when Anthony Modeste headed in a cross to equalise, and 10 minutes later, Florian Kainz gave the hosts a deserved lead as the visitors were caught napping.

Boateng was replaced in the 59th minute, with Pal Dardai taking his place. But the change did little to improve the away team who conceded a third in the 80th minute courtesy of Santiago Ascacibar.

Meanwhile, Mali midfielder Amadou Haidara featured as his team RB Leipzig suffered a 1-0 loss at Mewa Arena against Mainz.

The hosts scored after just 13 minutes when a grave mistake gifted Moussa Niakhate possession and he took it with open hands, rolling the ball into the back of the net.

Haidara had a massive chance to get an equalizer after the hour mark. The West African received the ball in a good area and he unleashed a fierce strike but goalkeeper Robin Zentner pulled off a top save to deny him.

It was his final meaningful contribution as he was substituted four minutes later, with Hee-Chan Hwang taking his place.

But he could not prevent his team from dropping points in their first match of the 2020/21 Bundesliga campaign.

Serhou Guirassy was on target for Rennes as they settled for a 1-1 draw with Brest in Sunday’s Ligue 1 encounter.

Having played out a 1-1 draw in their opening match of the 2021-22 campaign versus Lens, the Red and Blacks travelled to Stade Francis-Le Ble with the ambition of picking up their first victory.

After a goalless first-half, super-sub Guirassy – who was brought on for Jeremy Doku in the 76th minute – put his side ahead six minutes after his introduction.

Birger Meling whipped in a superb cross before the former France youth international of Guinean background rose above his markers to power a header into the bottom corner of Marco Bizot’s goal.

However, Brest replied at the death with substitute Jeremy Le Douaron heading Franck Honorat’s cross past Alfred Gomis.

At the Stade Gabriel Montpied, newly promoted Ligue 1 side Clermont Foot continued their 100% start to the French top-flight campaign after they brushed aside Troyes 2-0, with Mohamed Bayo bagging a brace.

The visitors' hopes of picking up an away victory suffered a massive setback as Issa Kabore was given his marching orders in the 33rd minute. The Burkina Faso international was shown the way out after a second caution.

Following up on his goal against Bordeaux and capitalising on Troyes’ numerical disadvantage, the Guinean forward gave the Lancers a 53rd-minute lead after converting from six yards.

Thirteen minutes later, he sealed all points for his team after crashing Jason Berthomier’s assist at the back of Gauthier Gallon’s net.

With this result, Clermont became the first team since 1969 to win their first two games in a debut elite division campaign.

In another fixture, Nigeria international Moses Simon got a brace of assists as Nantes secured a 2-0 victory over Metz.

Fuelled by their 1-1 against AS Monaco last time out, the Yellow House put up another impressive showing to get their first win of the season.

Nantes got off to a flying start, taking the lead after 12 minutes through DR Congo prospect Randal Kolo Muani after he was teed up by Simon.

They doubled their advantage four minutes into the second half with the Super Eagles man the architect again as he set up Ludovic Blas.

Alongside Cameroon’s Jean-Charles Castelletto, man-of-the-match Simon was in action from start to finish for Antoine Kombouare’s team.

Elsewhere, Guinea Bissau international Moreto Cassama was on target twice as Reims played out a 3-3 draw with Montpellier.

Montpellier took a fifth-minute lead through Nicolas Cozza before Cassama levelled matters two minutes later with Hugo Ekitike supplying the assist.

Reims took the lead for the first time after the African star completed his double in the 26th minute.

In the goal-laden first half, Algeria international Andy Delort drew level while his countryman Ilan Kebbal sealed the win for the Red and Whites with eight minutes left on the clock.

At the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, it was African stars who stole the show as Lens could only get a 2-2 draw with Saint-Etienne.

A minute into the game, Tunisia international Wahbi Khazri put the Green ahead with a fine individual finish.

Cameroon international Ignatius Ganago pulled the hosts back in the 36th minute thanks to an assist from Jonathan Clauss.

Keen on securing all points at stake, Gabon winger Denis Bouanga put the visiting team ahead.

However, Cote d’Ivoire international Seko Fofana ensured that the four-goal thriller ended on a no winner, no vanquished note with his 77th-minute effort.  

Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter was pleased with his side's character against Mamelodi Sundowns in Sunday's MTN8 2-1 penalty shootout defeat, following a 2-2 draw at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Downs had looked rampant in the opening 30 minutes of the game and had been 2-0 up after 23 minutes after goals from Peter Shalulile and Themba Zwane.

There was also a let-off soon after when Lyle Lakay smashed a piledriver into the post.

"It's a strong group in as much as, we are two-nil down, to the champions in a game where it's very easy to cave in, very easy for players to lose whatever belief they had," Baxter told SuperSport TV after the match.

"But we got back, we got back to 2-2 and it could have gone either way."

While the Brit was impressed by his side's grit, he admits his players had been second best for a large chunk of the first half.

“In the beginning of the game we were way off it. Sundowns took command with good possession," Baxter conceded.

"The timing of our press was wrong, the positional play at the back was wrong. And our possession when we actually won the ball was hurried and nervous. Going a  goal down doesn't help.

"But I felt that gradually we began to play a bit better, we found a little bit of rhythm. But then came the second [Sundowns] goal."

The Chiefs tactician did, however, find positives from the final 75 minutes of the game - the second half, as well as extra time, that is.

"Going into half-time I thought we could make a fist of it. And the boys did, we played much better second half, the balance of the team was better, the defending was a bit stronger," Baxter explained.

"And on the back of that, our attacking play, yes transitions we were sharp on,- but I thought also that a couple of our longer attacks [were good], like the one with Phathutshedzo Nange [whose shot was well saved by Kennedy Mweene].

"Going to penalties, it is what it is. I think Sundowns held their nerve better than we did and I wish them all the best in the semis."