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Orlando Pirates secured a 3-0 victory over Stade d’Abidjan in their CAF Champions League group stage clash at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

A first-half strike from Relebohile Mofokeng and second-half goals from Patrick Maswanganyi and Deon Hotto earned the Buccaneers three crucial points at home.

The opening 10 minutes of the match were a whirlwind of action, with both teams displaying attacking intent and pressing for an early goal. However, clear-cut chances remained elusive for both sides.

In the 13th minute, Deon Hotto wasted a golden opportunity to break the deadlock. He raced clear of the defence but, faced with the goalkeeper, fired his shot wide of the mark.

Relebohile Mofokeng also had a chance to score when he unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box. Unfortunately, his effort sailed off target.

As the first half progressed, the home side grew in confidence and began to dominate possession. They created several promising attacks, pushing relentlessly for a breakthrough.

Their efforts were rewarded in the 22nd minute when Mohau Nkota set up Relebohile Mofokeng, who calmly slotted the ball home to give the home side a well-deserved lead.

The Ivorian outfit attempted to respond, launching a few attacks of their own, but the home defence remained resolute. The hosts continued to press forward, creating numerous chances to extend their lead before halftime, but they were unable to capitalise on these opportunities.

At the interval, the home side held a comfortable 1-0 advantage. In the second half, Pirates came out of the tunnel spitting fire with more attacks as they sought to double their lead.

Patrick Maswanganyi showcased his class, receiving a pass from Nkota, executing a swift turn in the box, and calmly slotting the ball past Drissa Bamba to give Ezimnyama Ngenkani a two-goal advantage.

The Sea Robbers maintained their dominance throughout the match, with Stade d’Abidjan unable to mount a significant comeback.

With time running out, Deon Hotto found the back of the net in the 86th minute, solidifying their lead and securing the win.

With this crucial victory, Pirates have ascended to the summit of the league table, amassing eight points from four games, a testament to their strong start to the season.

RELATED STORY: Jose Riveiro’s response on Monnapule Saleng’s availability

Source: https://farpost.co.za/2025/01/04/pirates-crush-stade-dabidjan-to-top-caf-cl-group/

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LONDON — Enzo Maresca was right after all: Chelsea are not currently in the Premier League title race.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace extended a troubling pattern, originating over the festive period, in which the Blues have struggled to translate their superiority to the scoreline and later been punished for that profligacy.

They were 1-0 up and operating with a degree of comfort at a bitterly cold Selhurst Park. Cole Palmer’s composed 14th-minute finish after excellent wide play from Jadon Sancho gave them a deserved lead as Palace, timid for much of the first half, only sporadically threatened to find a way back.

But Chelsea failed to further their lead and Jean-Philippe Mateta finished a fine move involving Ismaïla Sarr and Eberechi Eze in the 82nd minute to leave Maresca frustrated that the one prediction he didn’t want to come true is appearing before his eyes.

Newcastle, Aston Villa would be there,” Maresca said. “[Manchester] City will be for sure there. For me it is not about the table, it is to see how we can improve things. The performance was very good on the ball and off the ball. But this moment of the season, I knew that it is going to happen in any season for any team, you have some moments where you are not going to win games.

“Sometimes it is for one reason or different reasons, and today if I have to decide the reason why we didn’t win the game, it is that we have to be clinical when you have a chance to kill the game because at 2-0 the game is probably finished. If you continue to be open, open, open, at the end you are going to concede some transitions, some corners and you can concede.”

Maresca insisted Chelsea could not be considered title contenders when they sat just two points behind leaders Liverpool on Dec. 15 with a 2-1 win over Brentford. Since then, they have drawn 0-0 at Everton, lost at home to Fulham and away to lowly Ipswich Town before this latest draw at Palace.

In every game except against Fulham, Chelsea had a higher expected goals (xG) figure than their opponent. Across the four games, Chelsea amassed 61 shots to their opponents’ 39.

Manchester United, which includes an obligation to sign the winger permanently.

Chris Richards with a superb stepover in a flash of the quality that has, at one time or another, made him such a compelling option for United, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.

This time last year, Sancho was training on his own following a dispute with then-United manager Erik ten Hag. He then rejoined former club Dortmund on loan just a few days later with his career at a crossroads.

There are signs of life for him now, but Sancho faded in the second period as Palace roused themselves. In truth, Nicolas Jackson was the bigger culprit. He wasted three good chances, one in the second half, and the cautious mood inside the stadium suggested a second Chelsea goal would have ended the game as a meaningful contest.

For a while, it appeared 18-year-old debutant Josh Acheampong would mark his first league start with a clean sheet. Maresca bemoaned the lengthy absences of centre-backs Wesley Fofana and Benoît Badiashile in compromising the way he wanted to defend one-on-one against certain opponents, specifically lone strikers Dominic Solanke (Tottenham) and Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

Palace’s Mateta fell into a similar category here and Acheampong’s physicality helped Chelsea operate with a degree of control until that collective second-half drop.

Chelsea are not alone in requiring Liverpool to lose their way to create a wider title race in the second half of the campaign. But much more of this and Maresca will be left to focus on a top-four scramble with the title permanently out of reach, just like he always claimed it was.

Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43284375/chelseas-missed-chances-show-why-not-premier-league-title-race

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Erling Haaland netted twice as Manchester City thrashed West Ham United 4-1 in Premier League action on Saturday evening.

Premier League

Result: Manchester City 4-1 West Ham United

Date: 04 January 2025

Venue: Etihad Stadium

The defending champions were surprisingly unchanged from the win over Leicester City, as goalkeeper Stefan Ortega kept his spot in the starting line-up.

The Cityzens opened the scoring after ten minutes when Savinho’s cross deflected off Coufal and sailed into the back of the net for an own goal.

With the visitors struggling to carve out chances, City went close to adding a second goal after 30 minutes when Erling Haaland turned provider to pick out Bernardo Silva, who saw his strike saved by Alphonse Areola.

The second goal did arrive three minutes before the break as Savinho did brilliantly down the left flank to pick out Haaland, who nodded home at the back post.

The hosts extended their lead ten minutes into the second half when Savinho sent Haaland through on goal and the striker showed great composure to score from a tight angle.

Three minutes later, the rout continued as Phil Foden got his name on the score-sheet after collecting a pass from Kevin de Bruyne before calmly slotting home.

The Hammers did bag a consolation with 20 minutes left on the clock as Tomas Soucek surged into the box before pulling the ball back for Niclas Füllkrug, who sent a first-time finish past Ortega.

City will now shift focus to next weekend’s FA Cup clash against Salford City.

Source: https://www.snl24.com/soccerladuma/international/english-premier-league/premier-league-report-manchester-city-v-west-ham-united-04-january-2025-20250104

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SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA – JANUARY 04: Relebohile Mofokeng of Orlando Pirates celebrates a goal during the CAF Champions League match between Orlando Pirates and Stade dAbidjan at Orlando Stadium on January 04, 2025 in Soweto, South Africa. (Photo by Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images)

Source: https://www.snl24.com/soccerladuma/local/caf-champions-league/caf-champions-league-report-orlando-pirates-v-stade-abidjan-04-january-2025-20250104

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SM Caen made their feelings about part-owner Kylian Mbappé clear on Friday, unfurling several banners during their 1-0 defeat to Clermont Foot.

“Mbappé, SMC is not your toy,” one of the signages read, a reference to the ownership group’s decision to sack the popular Nicolas Seube after a disappointing first half of the campaign.

Mbappé became part of the executive group in charge of the club in July when his company’s investment fund bought an 80% stake in Caen from American firm Oaktree Capital.

The relationship between the Mbappés and Caen goes back a long way. In 2014, when Mbappé was 13, he almost signed for them before choosing Monaco.

Caen is located in Normandy, 240km west of Paris. The team sit 16th out of 18 teams in Ligue 2. The bottom two sides in the division are relegated automatically, while the team finishing in 16th enters a relegation playoff with the third-placed team in the league below.

Information from ESPN’s Julien Laurens contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43275710/sm-caen-fans-protest-kylian-mbappe-ownership-not-your-toy

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Vinícius Júnior apologised after being sent off in Real Madrid’s 2-1 comeback win over Valencia on Friday in the first LaLiga game of 2025.

Hugo Duro put Valencia ahead in the first half at Mestalla Stadium before an eventful second period saw Jude Bellingham miss a penalty — hitting the post — and Kylian Mbappé have a goal disallowed for offside.

Vinícius was shown a red card for striking Valencia keeper Stole Dimitrievski before substitute Luka Modric levelled for Madrid in the 85th minute and Bellingham scored a dramatic added-time winner.

The result means Madrid go ahead of Atlético Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table, two points clear of their rivals and having played a game more.

“Sorry, and thanks team!!!!!!” Vinícius posted on X after the match.

The Brazil international reacted angrily when he was shown the red card in the 79th minute, and he was restrained from confronting referee Cesar Soto Grado by teammate Antonio Rüdiger and goalkeeping coach Luis Llopis.

“We think it wasn’t a red card, it was two yellows,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said in his postmatch news conference. “The team was able to react to the penalty miss and the disallowed goal. It’s hard to explain how bad our first half was and how good the second half was. … We can’t show these two faces.”

Real Madrid, with both dismissals coming at Mestalla. He was also red-carded in Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to Valencia on May 21, 2023, a game in which he had earlier confronted a group of home fans for racially abusing him.

“We’ll appeal [the dismissal],” Ancelotti said. “I don’t know if they’ll accept it. We think it wasn’t a red. … It was a touch from Dimitrievski and then a push from Vini. I think two yellows would have been enough … I don’t know if [Vini] can play our next game, let’s hope so. He’s still a decisive player for us.”

Bellingham’s penalty miss was the third time Madrid have failed to score from the spot this season, after Mbappé was unable to convert against Liverpool and Athletic Club.

“It annoys me that we’ve missed three penalties,” Ancelotti said. “I’ll have to choose who’s going to take them.”

England star Bellingham had an otherwise outstanding game, providing the passes for Mbappé’s disallowed goal and Modric’s equalizer before scoring himself in the 95th minute to give his side the win.

“A great game from him,” Ancelotti said. “The missed penalty gave him extra motivation. His last 20 minutes showed what only he can do … [the goal] was a reward for the game he had.”

Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43275447/vinicius-sorry-red-card-real-madrid-win-vs-valencia

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