Stellenbosch FC secured a crucial advantage in the MTN8 semi-final, earning a 2-0 first-leg win over Sekhukhune United in a match played on a muddy Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday evening.
With goals from Devin Titus and Godswill Enyinnaya, the home side positioned themselves well to advance to the final.
Coming into the game, Stellenbosch were looking to turn their fortunes around after a loss and a draw in the Betway Premiership, while their opponents, Sekhukhune, were on a perfect run of three wins from three games, including a victory in the MTN8.
In response, Stellies coach Steve Barker made four changes to his starting XI, introducing Godswill Enyinnaya, Mthetheleli Mthiyane, Ibraheem Jabaar, and Ashley Cupido to replace Sanele Barns, Langelihle Phili, Chumani Butsaka, and Lesiba Nku.
Meanwhile, Sekhukhune’s Eric Tinkler opted to start Miguel Timm and Bradley Grobler, who came in for Thabang Monare and Chibuike Ohizu.
Five minutes into the game, the home side had to make an early change as Ashley Cupido was forced off with a knock and replaced by Lesiba Nku. The hosts started with clear intent, creating a lot of forward pressure in search of an early goal. But as the match progressed, Sekhukhune also began to find their rhythm, generating some exciting moments in attack.
Despite the game flowing from end to end, both teams were so cautious that clear-cut chances were few and far between.
The first real test came in the 15th minute when the Cape Winelands side’s keeper, Sage Stephens, was called into action to deny Vusimuzi Mncube’s strike from outside the box.
STELLENBOSCH OPENER CAME FROM DEFENDER ENYINNAYA
Stellenbosch broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Enyinnaya headed home a corner from Nku. Sekhukhune responded with a few attempts of their own, but they failed to capitalise on the opportunities they created in their search for an equaliser.
In the 32nd minute, Stellenbosch doubled their lead with a swift counter-attack that started from a Sekhukhune corner. Nku provided a clever outside-of-the-boot pass to Devin Titus, who found the back of the net.
Miguel Timm and Andre De Jong – Picture by Sekhukhune United
Seeking more firepower, Tinkler responded in the second half with offensive-minded changes, sending on Shaune Mogaila and Chibuike Ohizu to replace Ngoanamello Rammala and Daniel Cardoso.
However, Sekhukhune struggled to contain Stellenbosch, who looked threatening whenever they crossed the halfway line, and in the 52nd minute, Devin Titus missed a clear chance to grab his second goal, sending the ball over the bar. Two minutes later, another glorious opportunity was wasted when Lesiba Nku hit the crossbar following a pass from Andre De Jong.
In the 70th minute, the Limpopo outfit made another change with Malekgene Mampuru coming on for Keletso Makgalwa. Meanwhile, Stellies took off Nku and Thato Khiba, introducing Langelihle Phili and Butsaka.
The home side remained solid at the back, denying Sekhukhune what would be an away goal advantage going into the return tie. The second and decisive leg will be hosted by Sekhukhune at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, August 23, to determine who advances to the final.
RELATED STORY: Sundowns and Pirates draw in entertaining MTN8 semi-final clash
Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League table with a 4-0 thrashing of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday evening.
Zimbabwean midfield Marshall Munetsi had the ball back in the back of the net after 25 minutes, but the celebrations were cut short due to the offside flag.
The visitors took the lead in the 34th minute when Rico Lewis raced onto a pass from Tijjani Reijnders before teeing up Erling Haaland for the close-range finish.
The lead was doubled three minutes later when Reijnders latched onto a pass from Oscar Bobb before finding the far with a lovely finish from the edge of the box.
City carried that lead into the second half and bagged a third goal when Reijnders turned provider to tee up Haaland, who sent a first-time finish into the bottom corner.
Rayan Cherki rounded off the scoring for City in the 80th minute with a lovely low strike from edge of the box.
Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Burnley
Tottenham Hotspur secured a 3-0 win over newly-promoted Burnley in their opening Premier League clash on Saturday.
South Africa international Lyle Foster was included in the Clarets line-up alongside new signing Kyle Walker.
It was Spurs who got off to the perfect start when Richarlison opened the scoring after 10 minutes after being picked out by Mohamed Kudus.
The lead was doubled just after the hour mark as the same two players combined once again when Kudus picked out Richarlison, who found the back of the net with an acrobatic effort.
Spurs bagged a third goal in the 66th minute as Brennan Johnson latched onto a pass from Sarr before calmly slotting into the far corner.
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Fulham
Fulham struck late in the second half to rescue a 1-1 draw away to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.
Matt O’Reilly put the home side ahead on 55 minutes after converting a penalty, before Rodrigo Muniz popped up with the equaliser in the 93rd minute.
Sunderland 3-0 West Ham United
Newly-promoted Sunderland started their campaign with a 3-0 win over West Ham United at the Stadium of Light.
After a quiet first half, the Black Cats opened the scoring through Eliezer Mayenda on 61 minutes.
Daniel Ballard doubled the lead for Sunderland on 73 minutes, before Wilson Isidor sealed the win in stoppage time.
Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle United
Aston Villa and Newcastle United could not be separated in their opening fixture after playing to a goalless draw at Villa Park.
Villa did play the final 30 minutes with ten men after Ezri Konza was shown a straight red for bringing down Anthony Gordon, who was through on goal.
Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has pleaded with the supporters to be patient following their draw with Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8.
The Soweto giants battled back from a goal down to rescue a 1-1 draw with the Brazilians at Orlando Stadium.
Read: New Signings Saves Bucs From Defeat To Downs
The draw sees Pirates extend their winless run to three matches after back-to-back losses in the league.
Off-signing Kamogelo Sebelebele was on the score-sheet for Pirates while Sipho Mbule and Oswin Appollis made an impact off the bench.
“Yes, I think they showed a fantastic performance today. It’s what we expect from our players when we play for such big club so let’s keep going. I hope they will confirm again and we still have the other players that will maybe not on the bench or maybe not on the pitch. We think for them and everybody will be important,” the coach told SuperSport TV.
He continued, “I think the content today was interesting – we showed some character, strength from our boys hich was aimed to play forward to create chances but in football you know sometimes it’s not easy because the result has to match the performance.
“At the moment, the result is not matching with the performance first of all, let’s hope that in the future we will take result and everything will be around. I should praise fans to be patient, I know it’s not the way in big clubs, but I hope they will be patient with us.”
After decades as the world’s only nation without a national soccer team, the Marshall Islands has kicked off its debut match, marking a historic step onto the global stage and fueling hopes of joining FIFA and securing future international competition
Liverpool launched the Premier League with a dramatic 4-2 win over Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday in an emotionally charged match featuring tributes to Diogo Jota and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo reporting racial abuse.
The winger responded brilliantly with both of the Cherries’ goals as they came from down two as Andoni Iraola’s side exposed the same defensive weaknesses Crystal Palace did in Sunday’s Community Shield victory.
– Prem opener paused over report of racist abuse – Liverpool pay emotional tribute to Jota at opener – Liverpool summon inner strength for dramatic win
But forgotten man Federico Chiesa, Liverpool’s solitary signee last summer who has barely been featured and has been linked with a move elsewhere, volleyed home his first league goal in the 88th minute before Mohamed Salah scored for the eighth time in nine opening-day fixtures.
Summer signee Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo had earlier put the Reds up 2-0.
In between those goals, the game was briefly paused after Semenyo reported to referee Anthony Taylor in the 28th minute that he was targeted with racist language by a member of the crowd.
Semenyo, who is Black, needed to be consoled by teammates after the incident but played on and scored in the 64th and 76th minutes to draw Bournemouth level.
“I don’t know how Ant’s played on, to be honest, and come up with those goals,” said Bournemouth captain Adam Smith, who added that Semenyo was “a little bit down.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot said the incident “takes the shine off” his team’s victory.
It was the first competitive match at Anfield since Jota — a popular player for Liverpool — and his brother, André Silva, were killed in a car crash in Spain on July 3.
Ahead of kickoff, fans held up placards to spell out “DJ20” and “AS30” in two of the stands during a period of silence in honor of the Portuguese players.
Players from the Liverpool team stood arm in arm around the center circle, and staff and players from both clubs wore black armbands.
announced the £23 million ($31m) signing of 18-year-old Parma center back Giovanni Leoni before kickoff, but it would be no surprise for this result to hasten the pursuit of Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi with Ibrahima Konaté, in particular, looking shaky.
It had begun so well with another Premier Leaguer debutant, Ekitike, starting to pay back his £69 million ($94m) transfer fee with a first-half goal, having also scored last weekend.
Ekitike thought he had been denied by the season’s first VAR controversy after just 14 minutes when Marcos Senesi appeared to flick the ball away on the halfway line, but VAR ruled it was not a clear handball or the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity.
The France under-21 international then benefited from a more fortuitous touch off the defender, latching onto a mistake after his own miscontrol of Alexis Mac Allister’s pass to run through and comfortably send Djordje Petrovic the wrong way.
Darwin Núñez, transferred to Al Hilal, was evident as Ekitike laid on the return pass for Gakpo to glide past a couple of defenders and stroke past Petrovic.
But when Slot replaced fullbacks Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, two of the four new signees making their debuts, Bournemouth clinically exploited the unfamiliarity of midfielder Wataru Endo playing at right back.
David Brooks raced down the left, and Konaté could not prevent him sending over a teasing, low cross that Semenyo cleverly finished.
Slot made immediate changes, bringing on defender Joe Gomez despite just two days’ training after three weeks out with injury, to allow Endo to move into midfield and club-record signee Florian Wirtz to move to a false nine for Ekitike.
But when Salah, of all people, gave away possession on the edge of the opposition penalty area, a fast 4-on-2 counterattack saw Semenyo fire home, only for Chiesa, already a cult hero despite his lack of action, to be the savior.
Salah completed the scoring in added time and was last to leave the pitch, with tears in his eyes, having stood applauding the Kop singing Jota’s song.
Salah also repeated Jota’s two-armed celebration after his goal, and Ekitike and Gakpo also dedicated their goals to Jota.
“Normally at 2-2, everyone knows which player I look to at that moment in time. I would have loved to bring in Diogo Jota, but I could not, for terrible reasons,” Slot said.
“But tonight, the fans and the players did what he did for us many times in the past.”
Information from ESPN’s Beth Lindop, PA and The Associated Press was used in this report.
Bafana Bafana missed the chance to move top of Group C at the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) after a goalless draw against Niger on Friday night.
African Nations Championship
Result: Niger 0-0 South Africa
Date: 15 August 2025
Venue: Nelson Mandela Stadium
Coach Molefi Ntseki handed starts to Keagan Johannes, Kaketso Majadibodu and Tebogo Tlolane following the win over Guinea on Monday evening, as Menzi Masuku, Terrence Mashego and Kwanda Mngonyama dropped out.
Niger made a lively start to the encounter as they went in search of their first win of the tournament, although they could only register efforts from distance.
Bafana were awarded a penalty after 20 minutes when Majadibodu was deemed to have been brought down by Ridouane Assane in the box. However, after a review on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) monitor, the referee overturned her decision.
Other than the overturned penalty, Bafana had to wait until the 45th minute for their first chance at goal as Keagan Dolly did well to play in Wayde Jooste, who saw his first-time effort saved by goalkeeper Mahamadou Tanja.
South Africa should have scored in first-time stoppage time when Thabiso Kutumela was denied by Tanja in a one-on-one situation while Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo’s shot was brilliantly blocked on the rebound.
Niger were a lot more threatening as the second half resumed, with Kassa squandering a chance by firing over the crossbar from close range as Bafana went to sleep at the back.
South Africa nearly fell behind with 15 minutes left on the clock as Mohamed Abdouramane lost his marker to meet a corner but his header was kept out by the upright with goalkeeper Samukelo Xulu well beaten.
Ntseki threw on Zakhele Lepasa and Masuku for the latter stages of the second half, but they were unable to find a way past the Niger defence as both nations had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Bafana sit third in Group C ahead of their final clash against Uganda on Monday.
