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AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho believes Napoli, initially, tried to play their game directly through Super Eagle Victor Osimhen.

The two Serie A heavyweights settled for a goalless draw at the Olimpico Stadium in the top-tier match. It was the first time the Naples charges had failed to score in the league this season after a 100% winning record in their previous eight matches.

"The game had a lot of transitions in it – they tried to play really directly through Osimhen and then bring others into play around him," Mourinho told the club's official portal.

"When we dropped a bit deeper then Insigne started to play in central areas, and that was when it became important for [Jordan] Veretout and Bryan Cristante to close that space down.

"[On Sunday] I liked the organisation, and the way we controlled – in a certain sense because controlling him is far from easy – Osimhen’s attempts to get into space. I liked both performances, for different reasons. There’s clearly something there to work on and learn from.

"It was a tough game, they had their chances and so did we. And perhaps it was a unique game too: both coaches sent off."

In the previous league game, the Yellow and Reds fell to Juventus by a solitary goal and the Portuguese has commented on the two matches. 

"They were two different games. We dominated more of the game against Juventus, we had more control of the ball. We didn’t play much in transition, partly because Juventus dropped after going 1-0 up and didn’t press like Napoli did today," Mourinho continued.

"In terms of how we used the ball, today we were more of a side in transition. Against Juventus, I liked the personality we showed and the way we dominated the game, even by building from the back.

"But we have played against two of the three or four best teams in Italy. We’ve taken just one point but the feeling after both games is that we went toe-to-toe with them."

After last weekend's stalemate, Napoli remain on top of the table with 25 points while Roma are ninth with 16.

Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele refused to take credit for the Soweto giants' victory over Diables Noirs on Sunday evening.

The veteran defender was outstanding for the Buccaneers as they claimed a 1-0 win over the Congo-Brazzaville side in the Caf Confederation Cup match which was played at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

Jele scored the only goal of the second round second-leg encounter which saw Pirates progress to the play-off round of Africa's secondary club tournament after winning the tie 1-0 on aggregate.

The Mpumalanga-born centre back, who was rock-solid at the heart of the Bucs defence, insisted that it was a team effort having led his troops to a narrow win over the former Congolese champions. 

"I think it starts from the team, each and everyone delivered today. We wanted to win this game so that we could go to the next round," Jele told the club's media platforms.

"So, it is not about me alone, but it is about the team. We did well as a team, we fought, and yeah, we are through to the next round."

It was Jele's second goal this season having also hit the back of the net with a header in Pirates' 1-1 draw against Cape Town City in a PSL match three weeks ago.

The former Bafana Bafana international was pleased to see his side cope while under pressure after he handed the Buccaneers the lead. 

"I think we started well in the first-half, we created a lot of chances, but we didn't manage to convert them," the man nicknamed Magents continued. 

"And obviously after taking a 1-0 lead, the guys [Diables] wanted to come back and equalize. 

"But we managed to cope under pressure. We fought as a team and held on until the end. And we managed to get the win and go through to the next round."

Pirates joined their PSL rivals, Marumo Gallants in the Confederation Cup play-off round with the Limpopo side having eliminated DR Congolese giants AS Vita Club from the competition on Friday.

Both teams will be hoping to win their play-off round ties and advance to the group stage. 

Enyimba are through to the Caf Confederation Cup play-off round after defeating Diambars FC 3-0 in the second round, second leg encounter.

Goals from Tosin Omoyele, Victor Mbaoma and Samuel propelled the People’s Elephant past the Senegalese side at the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba.

The Nigeria Professional Football League giants had secured a 1-0 away win courtesy of Cyril Olisema’s 86th-minute penalty at the Stade Lat-Dior, Thies.

Buoyed by that result, Enyimba started the game on a bright note, and it took them less than a minute to take the lead through Omoyele.

Although the hosts dominated ball possession, they were unable to get more goals as they were wasteful in front of goals.

Nevertheless, they doubled their advantage on the half hour mark through Mbaoma who profited from the visitors’ shambolic defending.

Nothing changed in the second half as the visitors laboured in vain to assert their authority in the keenly contested encounter.

Three minutes from full time, Diambars got reduced to 10 men as Bacary Sane was given the marching orders for dangerous play.

Profiting from that numerical advantage, Finidi George’s men had time to make it three goals through Kalu in the 90th minute.

With this, Enyimba are through having won 4-0 on aggregate and will now await their next opponents in the coming days.

Following his team’s first leg triumph, coach George explained how his men scaled Diambars’ hurdles, notwithstanding their ability to play competitive matches.

“Personally, I am happy that we played this way. We knew this team [Diambars] are a very good team technically,” he told Enyimba website.

“They pass the ball very well but at the same time we kept our composure, we kept our formation and then tried to hold them so that they cannot score an easy goal.

“In the second half we still played that way trying to contain them and the tempo dropped and that helped us as well to pass the ball a little bit more in the middle and gave us that opportunity with the few changes we made.”

“We knew we cannot match them because I think they’ve started their league already, they’ve played a couple of games, really competitive games and they have that match rhythm,” he continued.

“So, we knew if we could play to our formation, not give them that space, which I think they had in the first twenty or twenty-five minutes that they dominate.

“After that, the tempo dropped a little bit and that permitted us to play our football a little bit.

“We saw that in the second half most players were tired after 60 minutes and we made some changes and brought in some fresh legs which really helped to give us that penalty.”

Achraf Hakimi received his first red card in the French Ligue 1 as Paris Saint-Germain held Marseille to a goalless draw on Sunday.

After stopping Cengiz Under who was through on goal with a reckless challenge, referee Benoit Bastien showed the two-time Caf Youth Player of the Year a straight red card.

The referee first went to the VAR monitor to watch the incident again before he made up his mind to show Hakimi the second red card of his career in the 57th minute.

The last time the 22-year-old was given marching orders in a match was in January 2017 when he was in action for Real Madrid Castilla and he received two yellow cards in the game against Real Sociedad B.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, PSG continued fighting to take a point away from the Orange Velodrome.

Just before the interval, PSG were forced to make a substitution as Idrissa Gueye replaced injured Marco Verratti.

The Senegal international has now played in seven Ligue 1 games this season, with three goals to his name, meanwhile, his compatriot Abdou Diallo was unused substitute for the Parisians.

As a result of the straight red card, Hakimi will miss PSG’s next two games in the league - against Lille on Friday and against Bordeaux on November 6.

The absence of the former Real Madrid right-back might be a worry for Mauricio Pochettino, because he is considered a key player with his contribution of three goals and two assists in the French top-flight this campaign.

PSG still remain atop of Ligue 1 standings, despite dropping two points with a tally of 28 points after 11 matches - seven points above second-placed Lens.

Cristiano Ronaldo says Manchester United fans deserve better after they suffered through a 5-0 trouncing at home to Liverpool on Sunday.

United were trailing by five goals within 50 minutes of the Premier League clash at Old Trafford, with Mohamed Salah scoring a hat-trick and Naby Keita and Diogo Jota getting a goal each.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men have not won in their last four matches in the English top flight and Ronaldo has called on his team-mates to step up their game.

What has been said?

"Sometimes the result is not the one we fight for. Sometimes the score is not the one we want. And this is on us, only on us, because there’s no one else to blame," the Portugal star wrote in an Instagram post.

"Our fans were, once again, amazing in their constant support. They deserve better than this, much better, and it’s up to us to deliver.

"The time is now!"

How did Man Utd collapse?

Many United fans have been calling for Solskjaer to be sacked in the wake of another disappointing result for his side.

United lined up against Liverpool with Paul Pogba dropped to the bench, while Fred and Scott McTominay started in midfield behind Bruno Fernandes.

Keita scored the first goal just five minutes into the match and by half-time Liverpool were 4-0 up.

Pogba came on at half-time, replacing Mason Greenwood, but was sent off just 15 minutes later for a harsh tackle on Keita, who had to be stretchered off.

Ronaldo thought he had pulled a goal back for his side but it was ruled out by VAR.

What next for Man Utd?

United are now seventh in the Premier League and eight points behind leaders Chelsea.

They face Tottenham next week, followed by an away game against Atalanta in the Champions League on November 2.

Further reading

Neeskens Kebano scored his first goal of the 2021-22 campaign as Fulham brushed aside Nottingham Forest 4-0 in Sunday’s EFL Championship encounter.

Playing in his 12th match of the ongoing campaign, the DR Congo international found the net in the entertaining encounter at the City Ground.

Fuelled by victories against Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City, the Cottagers travelled to Nottinghamshire with the ambition of extending their impressive run against Steve Cooper’s men.

That paid off in the seventh minute as Djed Spence turned the ball into his own net.

The hosts almost restored parity soon after but Brennan Johnson blocked a back-pass to Marek Rodak, unfortunately, the ball squirmed wide of the Fulham goal.

Despite boasting with superior ball possession and several goalscoring opportunities, Cooper’s team went into the half time break with a goal deficit.

Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic doubled the advantage for Fulham two minutes before the hour mark before Kebano made it three, four minutes later after he was teed up by Welsh midfielder Harry Wilson.

Things got worse for Forest in the 66th minute when Dennis Odoi was brought down inside the area as the hosts tried in vain to defend a cross from the right.

Congolese goalkeeper Brice Samba guessed the right way but could do nothing to stop Mitrovic’s powerful penalty from nestling into the left-hand corner of the net.

Addressing the media after the encounter, manager Marco Silva was pleased with the way his side saw off in-form Nottingham Forest to complete a perfect week since the squad returned from the international break.

"It was a tough game, like we expected. We came here to play against a team in a good moment,” he said.

“In the last six, they had won five. Since Steve’s [Cooper] arrival, they hadn’t had a bad result. Our aim was clear, to claim nine points in a week and that’s what we did.

"This is our way, it’s what we work on. Keeping a clean sheet is important, because to play good offensive football, you have to be compact as a team and be balanced.

“We clearly improved in the second-half, and scoring four goals again, it’s not the first time, it’s more than once."

Ghana have been eliminated from the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations qualifying despite beating Nigeria 1-0 in Accra on Sunday.

Princella Adubea registered the solitary goal in the first round second leg fixture but the Super Falcons’ 2-0 home victory in the first leg saw the Black Queens lose 2-1 on aggregate.

Nigeria, defending Afcon champions, have booked a ticket to the second and final round of the qualifiers as they seek a flight to Morocco for the final tournament.

Ghana coach Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo largely kept faith with the side that started in the first leg, offering starting places to Djurgardens ace Portia Boakye and the Spain-based duo of Adubea and Grace Asantewaa.

Barcelona attacker Asisat Oshoala, as expected, led the Nigerian side, which boasted of the experienced duo of Osinachi Ohale and Onome Ebi.

Required to score twice to stand any chance of overturning the first-leg result, Ghana started on the front foot, creating a series of chances which went wasting, owing to poor finishing and naivety in front of goal.

The visitors, on the other hand, sat back, opting to exploit openings as the hosts threw women forward. Like the Black Queens, the Super Falcons were found wanting with the final ball.

In the 22nd minute, Adubea beautifully chest-controlled a ball over-the-top into the opposition penalty box but the Nigerian defence ultimately reacted well to block a final shot on goal.

Moments later, Gladys Amfobea saw a header coolly collected by goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie after captain Portia Boakye delivered a long, searching ball from a deep free-kick.

A minute to half-time, Asantewaa went on a run into the Nigeria area but saw her shot pushed over the bar by goalkeeper Nnadozie.

In a matter of seconds at the other end, Oshoala outran her marker to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Fafali Dumehasi who did well to thwart the No.8’s move.

After half-time, Ghana came back stronger and recorded the first goal of the game through Adubea, who slotted home from close range after receiving a through-ball. 

In the 62nd minute, Adubea almost made it 2-0 but her header, having connected to a free-kick, struck the bar.

Ghana were clearly in control at this point, with Nigeria pinned in their own half. One moment of pressure saw Nnadozie almost caught off guard off her line after an attempted clearance went straight to the opponent.

In the 65th minute, the Black Queens suffered a setback when captain Boakye was sent off for a second bookable offence, having fouled Oshoala on a counter-break.

The Nigerians’ numerical advantage, however, lasted only for 10 minutes as Glory Ogbonna was sent off in the 75th minute for a reckless challenge on Naomi Animah.

On 83 minutes, Nigeria had an opportunity to fetch the equaliser on the night when Oshoala beat her marker to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper but for the second time, the striker failed to find her way past the sharp Dumehasi.

Ghana almost went 2-0 up five minutes to full time when Adubea hit a shot across the face of goal but striker Vivian Opoku Konadu failed in her bid to apply the much-needed final touch, letting the Falcons off the hook.

After an injury-time goal-mouth scamble, which saw Ghana hit the bar again in what was the last significant action of the game, the referee's whistle blew.

Real Madrid are on their best run in El Clasico for 56 years after they edged out Barcelona during a frantic injury-time finish in La Liga at Camp Nou on Sunday.

Los Blancos saw off the Blaugrana thanks to David Alaba's first goal for the club, plus a finish for Lucas Vazquez late in the game, before Sergio Aguero nabbed a 97th-minute consolation.

The result moved Carlo Ancelotti's side back to the summit of La Liga and set records on both sides of the divide for each club.

What have Madrid achieved?

In notching up another win, the visitors have now recorded four consecutive victories in their storied fixture with Barca, to back up a run stretching into the first half of 2020.

On that occasion, second-half finishes for Vinicius Jr and Mariano Diaz handed Los Blancos a late win at home in March in La Liga, following a 0-0 reverse earlier in the campaign.

Amid the 2020-21 season, Madrid then recorded a 3-1 triumph away from home before a 2-1 win at Santiago Bernabeu to make it three on the trot - and with Sunday's 2-1 win, have now moved that streak up to a quartet of victories.

Koeman makes unwanted history

On the other side of the tie however, the Blaugrana's under-fire coach has notched another stat he would have rather avoided.

In losing once more against Madrid, the Dutchman has become only the second manager to lose his first three Clasico games in charge - and the first person to do so since 1940.

Only Patrick O'Connell, who led the club between 1935 and 1940, has the same distinction of failing to notch a victory in his first three attempts.

Further reading