SPORTS

FC Barcelona beat Benfica 5-4 in a nine-goal Champions League thriller where the Catalans had to use extra energy to win the match. Barca found themselves at the back of the match three times and, in two instances, trailing by two goals thanks to their players\’ efforts and team spirit, which bore fruit. This maiden win ensures they stay second in the elite European league phase. Benfica opened the scores in under two minutes at the Estadio da Luz, with Vangelis Pavlidis capitalizing on Barca\’s defensive error. Robert Lewandowski leveled the scores with a 13th-minute penalty after Carreras fouled Kounde in the box. This goal raised the Barca morale as they grew in confidence and took control over the midfield as Benfica\’s momentum dropped. Benfica then capitalized on a Scezney goalkeeping blunder, and Pavlidis slotted into an open net for his second goal of the match and went on to complete his hat trick from the spot in just over half an hour, meaning that Barca trailed 3-1 at the interval. After the break, Barça started well, applying the necessary pressure, but Benfica remained dangerous on counterattacks. Barca reduced the advantage by a goal after Benfica\’s Trubin attempted a clearance, struck Raphinha on the head, and rebounded into the net from outside the box. This was an unusual goal, but an important one for the visitors. Barca\’s woes continued again as they found themselves with a 2-goal disadvantage when Ronald Araujo scored past his shotstopper and Barca trailed 4-2. Another 78th-minute Lewandowski spot kick reduced the advantage as he found the top corner similar to how he had done it in the first half. With four minutes of normal time to go,Pedri curled in a cross from the left, and the substitute, Eric Garcia, rose highest to head home an equalizer. Deep into stoppage time, a Raphinha solo effort on a counterattack and cooly cut inside to smash home gave Barca a victory to remember. This fantastic performance granted him the player of the match, and here is what he had to say: We knew it would be hard. We knew how good they were, especially playing in front of their fans, their players individually, and as a team, but what matters is that we knew to keep our focus during the entire game. The breathless match ended with a Barcelona victory, in a twisted and overturned glory.

Real Madrid\’s Kyllian Mbappe at the press conference today expressed that he is living a dream come true each time he plays at the Bernebeu. He said this ahead of their Champions League match day six duel against Salzburg today Wednesday at 9:00 PM. During his unveiling at the Bernebeu, the Frenchman unleashed a lot of excitement. Mbappé kissed the club\’s crest multiple times, shared a \”¡Hala Madrid!\” echoing his idol Cristiano Ronaldo, and expressed affection for his new supporters in the same way Ronaldo did when he was being unveiled. Mbappe had a number of questions to answer and below is what he expressed. What is it like to play for Real Madrid? It is always a dream. Every day I come to Valdebebas and have the honour of playing at the Bernabéu I know I am living a dream. I have been happy from day one, even when I was not playing well. I knew that it was not the fault of the club or the Madridistas, but mine. I have won two titles, we are playing very well now and we have a lot to gain in this second part of the season.I feel very good and I am happy to help the team. Every day I come to Valdebebas and have the honour of playing at the Bernabéu I know I\’m living a dream. How do you handle the fans ? I am calm. When you are a player like me, with what is expected of me, it is normal for people to talk. They can say bad things, but for me it is not personal. In the world of football, when you play well they say good things and when you don’t, they say bad things. You have to be calm and focused on your game and on what you can improve. I knew I could change the situation and I have changed it. I am very happy to help my team. How do you handle tough times ? I am a player who always wants to do more, I look for the best for myself and my team. When you see that you are not doing it, it impacts you. Playing here is a great opportunity. I knew it could happen, but my mentality changed. I could only do better and here I am, showing that I am a player with great quality and that I can help the team.    

The 2023/2024 FKF Women’s Premier League Most Valuable Player Lydia Akoth alias Ozil has finally been unveiled by the Tanzanian Women\’s Premier League side club Yanga Princes. Akoth joins Yanga from FKF Women Premier League defending champions Kenya Police Bullets FC on a six-month loan deal. With only a season at Bullets, she played an instrumental role as they lifted the League Trophy on an unbeaten run as she played in the pivot of the midfield. The skilled midfielder is nicknamed after the Germany midfielder \’Mesut Ozil\’ as she is widely known for her amazing dribbles and the long surprise shots at goal to add on well technically taken freekicks. Lydia dates back to a rich basic football background courtesy of Vasco Soccer Academy in Ahero, Kisumu County. Her football skills were well nurtured here before she landed on a football scholarship to Butere Girls High School where she developed it even more. Straight after High School, she joined the then Fkf Premier League side Wadadia FC, where she played for a season. She then moved to Zetech Sparks in 2019 for another Tertiary football scholarship. At Sparks, she earned her first-ever National call-up for the Harambee Starlets u20. Akoth spent four years at Coach Benard Kitolo\’s coached side before she moved to Gaspo Women FC, where she boasted about scoring 12 goals to be the team\’s top scorer despite playing in the midfield. Come August 2023, she transferred to Kenya Police Bullets FC, and within a season, she helped the club achieve their first League trophy in their first year in the league on an unbeaten run. She also became the league\’s Most Valuable Player. This year, she also received her maiden Harambee Starlets senior team call-up and made her debut in the Pink Ladies Cup in Turkey. We have witnessed so much about her and we are yet to see what she will deliver for a club away from home as she has already intensified her training at her immediate club.

Chelsea FC\’s 3-1 win over Wolverhampton at Stamford Bridge moved them back up to the fourth position in the table, with Manchester City dropping two points behind into the fifth place. The Blues dominated the opening quarter of the match and took a deserved lead when Tosin Adarabioyo showed good composure to control and finish after a Reece James\’ shot had been deflected into his way to give them the 1st goal of the match. Wolves equalised when their corner to the near post was not cleared out and Matt Doherty went ahead to stab home the leveller at a close-at-goal finish just before the halftime break, but Marc Cucurella finished well in the 60th minute to put the Blues back in front, following Noni Madueke\’s cross and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall\’s flick-on. In the 65th minute, Madueke applied the final set-up on the line, which Trevoh Chalobah\’s headed its way home. Chalobah expressed a standout performance and was named the man of the match after the 90 minutes. He made his first Blues appearance of the season after being recalled from his loan spell at Crystal Palace last week. Enzo Maresca expressed so much joy towards the boys and here is what he had to say: It is very important to win always but especially after five games without a win. It was not easy. Again, we scored first, and then they drew level, but the reaction was much, much better. The 3-1 win sees them move up to fourth in the Premier League table, four points below Nottingham Forest, who are placed in the third position and two points above Manchester City, who rank fifth. The Blues next fixture leads them to the Etihad against Manchester City on Saturday

Kenya Police Bullets FC were held to a barren draw away to Kisumu All Starlets  at the Moi Stadium. The goalless draw granted the Bullets one point that ascended them to the top of the Kenya Women Premier League by a four goal difference against second placed Kibera Soccer Women FC. The league defending champions had been lagged behind over a match in hand after the competing teams played 14 matches and this match was to par them with the other teams. This was an important match to the Bullets as they needed it to trigger them to the top and Kisumu All Starlets denying them two points still wasn\’t a bother. The Beldine Odemba coached side travelled to Moi Stadium in Kisumu without one of their key midfielder Lydia Akoth alias Ozil. The midfielder played a crucial role in their unbeaten league champions run last season and was last weekend loaned out for 6 months to Tanzania Women Premier League side Yanga Princes. Coach Beldine replaced her with veteran Lydia Waganda in the pivot of the pitch position with a well able squad to win her the match. Things seemed to head in the right direction with the Bullets pilling pressure and taking the match to All Starlets but no one was able to break the deadlock in the first half save for a Bullets post hit in the 35th minute. The second stanza of the match was less of a show as both teams played cautiously guarding their goal posts. The matched failed to bear any goals as the referee whistled after 90+3 minutes of play to signal the end of the tussle ensuring the teams share the spoils. Bullets now take the top slot of the log by a 22 points share with Kibera Soccer Women FC with only a 4 goals difference against them.

The CAF Champions League group stage matches came to a conclusion over the weekend as eight Clubs progressed to the knockout stage. The quarter-finals, scheduled for late March and early April, promise a breathtaking matchup of African football giants. The first legs will take place on March 28th and 29th, with the return fixtures scheduled for April 4th and 5th. Reigning champions Al Ahly SC (Egypt), Al Hilal (Sudan), AS FAR (Morocco), Espérance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia), Orlando Pirates (South Africa) and Pyramids (Egypt) make up to the giants in the room who are set for the tough quarter finals. Six of the clubs have lifted the coveted title before, with tge current reigning champions Al Ahly chasing to extend a record 13th trophy win. Esperance has four previous victories, while AS FAR, Mamelodi Sundowns, MC Alger and Orlando Pirates each boast of a single title. ⁹ Last season’s runners-up, Esperance de Tunis, scored four past Angola’s Sagrada Esperanca in a 4-1 victory in Tunis. The semi-finals will follow in suit, with first-leg matches scheduled for April 18th and 19th, and the decisive second legs scheduled a week later on April 25th and 26th. This year\’s champion will be crowned after a two-legged home and away final, with the first match set for May 24th and the return leg scheduled for June 1st.

Real Madrid overtuned a UD Las Palmas opening goal to win the match on a 4-1 score thanks to a brace from Mbappe and two more goals from Brahim and Rodrygo. UD Las Palmas Fabio Silvas\’s opening goal at the Santiago Bernebeu proved to pile pressure on Real Madrid who needed to win the match to move top of the LaLiga table. A brace from Mbappé and another goal from Brahim ensured the Carlo Ancelotti coached side overtuned the scores to go into the halftime 3-1 ahead. Rodrygo rounded off the victory by making it  4-1 in the second half. Las Palmas took the lead 26 seconds into the match with Fábio Silva netting Sandro\’s cross into the net. So much insistence pressure at the Palmas box was finally rewarded when the Frenchman made it 1-1 in the 18th minute by converting a penalty after Sandro brought down Rodrygo. Madrid came into rampage again after Lucas Valverde picked the ball up in the box and set up Brahim to make it 2-1 with a left-footed finish. Mbappe braced up his tally in the match after he received a good pass from Rodrygo in the heart of the pitch and first-time, with the inside of his right foot, dispatched the ball into the left corner of the Las Palmas goal taking it to a (3-1) as at half time. The Whites made it 4-1 in the 49th minute after Mbappé and Fran García linked up well and the full-back\’s low cross was turned in by Rodrygo with his right foot. Carlo Ancelotti sentiments at the Santiago Bernebeu post match press briefing ; I\’m confused because I heard that we’re terrible at football and what I see is that Real Madrid are top. I will continue to study where they’re going wrong. Today we gave a complete and rounded performance, with lots of quality and attitude. We started badly but it didn\’t change our approach. Mbappé’s great form is helping us a lot. Our work today was very good. We managed to get the right balance to handle the good moments and the difficult ones. Three of the Ancelotti\’s  side were disallowed which would have granted the match a heavy margin but soo unfortunate. They secured their 14th win of the season to claim top of the table.

The Pep Guardiola side climbed up to the top four after a stunning performance at the Portman Road Stadium as they beat Ipswich 6 goals to nil. Phil Foden opened the scoring 30 minutes into the match to put the Citizens ahead firing home from close range. Three minutes later Foden was in and around the box again, setting up Mateo Kovacic to fire in City\’s second. Foden netted in his second of the match before Jeremy Doku came to stage early in the second half and scored the fourth goal. This comes in a week after signing a bumper new contract, Erling Haaland made it five with just over half an hour remaining. Substitute James McAtee gifted Pep the sixth  when he nodded in for his first ever Premier League goal for City. After a difficult November and December, City have now gone five Premier League games without defeat and returned to the top four on goal difference. This defeat feat for Ipswich keeps them fighting for relegation in the bottom three. Phil Foden netting in twice and providing an assist and here is what he had to say at the post match interview; Probably the best this season, in terms of all-round play. One of our best performances this year. We are building momentum, keeping players fit is important. I put it down to people being in better shape and the team is bonding better.When we score we are not rushing it. We are keeping possession and build-up play was important today. Man City boss Pep Guardiola speaking to the press; We are really pleased, we are back to doing things that define this team for the last 10 years. Really pleased for the three points and to climb into qualification for the Champions League for next season, that will be so tough.