Category sport-news

World football’s governing body FIFA announced on Monday that South Africa had forfeited a World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho for fielding an ineligible player.

In Group C of the African Zone qualifiers, South Africa is now trailing Benin on goal difference behind South Africa’s 2-0 victory on March 21 in Polokwane by a 3-0 defeat, leaving Lesotho in fifth place.

The FIFA Disciplinary Code’s disciplinary committee alleged that South Africa had violated Article 19 by playing Teboho Mokoena after the midfielder had received two yellow cards against Benin and then Zimbabwe.

Read more about Morocco’s participation in the 2026 World Cup’s first African qualifier.

As he prepares to welcome Jose Mourinho back to Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca claims there is “no reason to panic” over Chelsea’s mini-slump. He cites the impact of a string of red cards.

The Blues, who defeated Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday, had a successful start to the season after winning the Club World Cup in July.

However, they desperately need a win over the Portuguese side at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to begin their European campaign after losing three of their previous four games.

After his team was reduced to 10 men in their Premier League defeats by Manchester United and Brighton, Maresca is aware that Chelsea will have to resolve their disciplinary issues.

Additionally, they lost to Bayern Munich in the first Champions League game.

Maresca, who is currently in his second year at Stamford Bridge, gave a calm explanation of the subpar performance at his Monday press conference.

Chelsea has lost four of their past five games, according to the Italian, and a player has been dismissed.

Maresca acknowledged that making wiser choices in the wake of the sending-off between Brighton and United would have helped him.

He claimed that the only game his team had lost was earlier this month’s 3-1 defeat at German champion Bayern, which his team had won.

Knowing that football is a crazy world, he said, “For me personally, there is no reason for us to create panic.”

It’s a crazy world to play in if you lose five games in six months and have to say things to defend yourself.

I don’t believe we need to defend ourselves at this moment because I have a very positive feeling about our team.

Maresca claimed that facing Mourinho at Stamford Bridge would be an “absolute honor.”

The 62-year-old Portuguese was appointed as Benfica’s new coach earlier this month, just days after Fenerbahce fired the club.

In his two years at Chelsea, Mourinho helped the club become a trophy-winning force by bringing three Premier League titles and other silverware with him.

The injuries sustained by Moises Caicedo, Andrey Santos, and Joao Pedro will be evaluated before the Benfica game against Brighton.

After leading 2-1 over Napoli, AC Milan asserted their position as the league’s top team despite having to play for more than 30 minutes with 10 men and had to play for more than 30 minutes.

Milan’s lead was doubled after the half-hour mark thanks to Christian Pulisic’s third-minute opener, Alexis Saelemaekers, and subsequent double-figure.

On goal difference, the American forward’s winning performance against a Napoli team that was hurt put Milan in first place with 12 points, ahead of both the champions and Roma, who lost 2-0 to Verona.

“What we did today was incredible,” he said. According to Pulisic, “it was a top, top performance.”

“The manager did a fantastic job of getting the best out of each player here,” said the manager. We demonstrated our quality on the pitch.

Youssouf Fofana was sent through on goal by Pulisic with a sensational pass that evoked his teammate Luka Modric shortly before he finished off a brilliant passing move. The forward has already scored six goals this season across all competitions.

READ MORE: Barcelona defeats Real Sociedad to reach the top league with the return of Yamal.

The 27-year-old made way for Davide Bartesaghi just before Napoli’s coolly slotted penalty in the 60th minute that brought them back into the match. Milan supporters applauded him as he made way for him.

Following Pervis Estupinan’s red card for pulling back Giovanni Di Lorenzo just as the Napoli man looked set to net from close range, Pulisic was shown the yellow card by coach Massimiliano Allegri.

As a result, Milan had to sit back and absorb the pressure from Napoli as Antonio Conte’s team advanced in an effort to reintroduce something to southern Italy.

When David Neres’ deflected shot in stoppage time struck the woodwork in the first minute of stoppage time, home fans screamed in delight as Milan won for the fourth time in a row.

After slipping to the top flight of Italy, Napoli now turn their attention to Sporting Lisbon’s Champions League game.

“We have to do better for their goals; it wasn’t easy going back so far, but we pressed hard and created chances,” Conte told DAZN.

Because we’re giving our opponents too much, there needs to be improvements.

Roma in The Hunt ,

With 11 minutes left, Matias Soule made it look like Roma would briefly finish second in the standings with Artem Dovbyk scoring his first goal of the season at the Stadio Olimpico.

After a sloppy performance in gloriously sunny Rome, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team hosts Lille on Thursday in the Europa League, level with two title contenders.

As this was our first three games in a week this season, a number of players had issues, according to Gasperini, who spoke to DAZN.

You could see that some players weren’t at their best, and we struggled more than we should have. “We had problems that we’ve not had in other games.”

Although Verona are 16th in the third and yet to win this season, Paolo Zanetti’s team performed well and should have equaled in the 28th minute when Gift Orban somehow hit the bar when given the opportunity to score from less than six yards out in front of an open goal.

Pisa, who had been on the verge of a first victory in a more than three decades, were forced to settle for a goalless draw with Tuscan rivals Fiorentina.

In the 71st minute, Henrik Meister headed home what appeared to be the opening goal, but VAR officials found him handling the ball in the lead-up to his shot.

Juan Cuadrado then struck the post shortly after, preventing Alberto Gilardino’s promoted team from relegation after two points in their first top-flight campaign since 1990/91.

With a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday and a point difference, Lamine Yamal’s return from injury helped Barcelona to top La Liga.

After Real Madrid’s rivals Atletico Madrid lost 5-2 in a Saturday derby, Hansi Flick’s side had a chance to take the lead over Xabi Alonso’s side.

Real Sociedad took the lead in the first half thanks to Alvaro Odriozola, but Jules Kounde equalized for the Spanish champions.

Robert Lewandowski scored the winner just moments after being substituted for second-half substitute Yamal, who had groin injuries for the previous four games.

Kounde told Movistar, “I’m very happy for (Yamal) and very pleased that we will need him back on the pitch.”

After the city council earlier this week denied them a permit to reopen their Camp Nou home, Barcelona held the game at the Olympic stadium, where they have played for the past two seasons.

In addition to replacing injured goalkeeper Joan Garcia with Roony Bardghji on the right wing, Flick also made the debut of 17-year-old attacking midfielder Dro Fernandez.

In the opening period, Barcelona had a difficult time stopping Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro.

Marcus Rashford was denied in the opening period by the Spain international.

READ MORE: &nbsp, Arsenal Strike Late To Beat Newcastle, Close In On Liverpool

Rashford, who is out on loan from Manchester United, is finding his footing at Barca thanks to Lewandowski’s superb through ball, which he fired from a tight angle across the face of goal.

After 31 minutes, Real Sociedad gave Barca a sharp counterattack to start the scoring.

Ander Barrenetxea’s cross was completed by former Real Madrid defender Odriozola.

Remiro was once more in their path when Barcelona increased their lead when a Koundé cross was deflected in his direction.

Bardghji’s effort was also headed away for a corner by Remiro, who scored the equalizer for Barcelona.

In midweek, Rashford, who had an assist from a corner against Real Oviedo, whipped it to the near post, where Koundé headed home from.

Yamal’s Retainment

Before the hour mark, Yamal was introduced after the teenager recovered from his groin issue, and Dro was replaced by Dani Olmo at half-time.

Yamal immediately made an immediate impact after being chosen as the second-best player in the world on Monday at the Ballon d’Or gala.

Just over a minute after being introduced, the 18-year-old crossed for Lewandowski to head home from the post.

Remiro denied Rashford and Olmo with two more excellent saves, while Szczesny pulled one back from Oyarzabal for La Real, which gave Barcelona a few scares.

Both sides hit the crossbar repeatedly, and the game became more and more chaotic.

Real Sociedad worked the ball to Takefusa Kubo, who crashed a shot against the woodwork while Kounde was daydreaming in midfield.

The hosts were unpunished when Barcelona broke away and Lewandowski was sent off for him. Ferran Torres hit the crossbar successfully to put the game to bed.

We suffered too much in our final 25 minutes, Kounde said, “It was a challenging game.”

“The first 70 minutes were quite good, we could have scored more goals,” I thought, but I disliked how it ended.

On Wednesday, Barcelona will play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, which will also take place at the Olympic Stadium.

Real Sociedad have a difficult start to the season, finishing 17th, but they have been improving and will take comfort from the strain Barca has placed upon.

Odriozola remarked, “I’m proud of the team’s work despite the defeat.” “We have had a difficult start, and today we showed up.”

Arsenal put together a dramatic comeback to defeat Newcastle on Sunday to put an early lead in the Premier League title race at stake.

After falling behind thanks to Nick Woltemade’s first-half header, the Gunners were on the verge of a fourth straight defeat at St. James’ Park.

Gabriel Magalhaes fired in from a 96th-minute corner to put Arsenal in second place, two points clear of Liverpool’s leaders, before Mikel Merino headed in the equalizer.

Arsenal had a chance to finish at the top of the table after Liverpool’s first defeat of the season at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

It appeared to be a long time coming that Mikel Arteta’s men would take advantage of a bad-tempered incident on Tyneside.

The Gunners’ belief that this is their season will be remembered after finishing second in each of their previous three campaigns will depend on how well they win.

The conservative selection of Arteta’s team for last weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to Manchester City was widely criticized.

As Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze made their first appearances in the starting lineup, there was no sign of the Spaniard holding back.

Within five minutes, Eze almost made his mark when Nick Pope brilliantly reversed his low drive.

When Pope escaped conceding a penalty, Arsenal was furious moments later.

Read more about Martinelli’s late strike refutes the Haaland-Led City victory over Arsenal.

Referee Jarred Gillett initially referred to the situation, but VAR instructed him to look into it and overturn Pope’s initial decision before he wiped out Viktor Gyokeres.

As Arsenal pressed for their opening goal, Leandro Trossard hit the post.

Instead, it lasted 34 minutes before reaching the final end.

In recent meetings between the sides, Alexander Isak had repeatedly been Arsenal’s scourge.

With his second goal since becoming the Magpies’ record signing to replace Isak, Woltemade made his first appearance in the Swede’s shoes.

Sandro Tonali’s delivery was headed in the bottom corner by the giant German after Gabriel went down looking for a free kick.

Arsenal won the opening period, but Eddie Howe’s back line struggled to break down the well-organized mass ranks.

Jurrien Timber’s header was saved by Pope for a brilliant save.

After struggling to make an impact against Manchester United, Liverpool, and City, Gyokeres also had another largely ineffective game against less experienced opponents.

Instead, the change was initiated by the man who spent the majority of last season acting as a substitute striker.

Merino’s deft header from Declan Rice’s warm cross was met with a pinpoint header.

Arsenal could still have lost it, as Gabriel’s cross-blocking of Anthony Elanga’s cross with an extended arm resulted in a VAR review.

When the Brazilian defeated Pope to Martin Degaard’s corner in what could be a huge three points, the Brazilian quickly climbed the other end and won the title.

With a 5-2 victory over La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday, Julian Alvarez scored twice, putting an end to their perfect start to the season for their rivals.

At the Metropolitano Stadium, Diego Simeone’s Atletico overran them in all six of their opening games, taking the lead through Robin Le Normand.

Real Madrid opened the scoring with Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler, but Alexander Sorloth equalized for Atletico at the conclusion of a thrilling first half.

After a shaky start to the campaign, with Atletico moving provisionally to fourth, Alvarez fired home from the penalty spot and bent home a free kick before Antoine Griezmann scored the fifth late on to seal an important win.

Real entered the derby as the only team in the league with a 100 percent record, led by a flying Mbappe.

Atletico attacked relentlessly and deservedly won despite the French superstar’s eighth league goal of the year.

Le Normand headed home after 14 minutes to start the scoring after coach Diego Simeone’s son, Giuliano Simeone, made use of slack Madrid defense.

After breaking in down the right, Mbappe leveled with a crisp finish and the visitors did well.

With Alonso’s side hoping to move forward on the counter, Atletico were attempting to make use of Vinicius Junior and Mbappe’s pace.

The Brazilian winger crossed for Guler to score in the second goal of Madrid, turning brilliantly in the box to break away from Marcos Llorente and Le Normand.

As Atletico continued to advance, Alvarez curled a shot around Thibaut Courtois but against the box. In the middle of the match, Alvarez scored a hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano.

Clement Lenglet, a defensive partner for Atletico, scored, but the Frenchman used his forearm to deflect the ball home. The goal was declared a handball.

With Sorloth lurking behind Dean Huijsen and sending a header past Courtois in the first half of stoppage time, Atletico leveled.

The Norwegian international was celebrating with Atletico fans when they embraced him, a risky move when he was already receiving a yellow card.

When Guler awarded a penalty for hitting Nico Gonzalez with a high foot, which caught the Rojiblanco player’s head, Atletico took the lead for the second time in the match.

Even though Alvarez went the wrong way, Courtois won the match from the spot after a penalty that was controversially disallowed in the Champions League shoot-out the previous time these teams met.

Courtois saved from Sorloth, but Atletico pushed two goals clear with his free kick despite having a hand to Alvarez’s free kick.

After only their third league victory of the season, Atletico talisman Griezmann’s team won by rolling the ball past Courtois in a superb victory for their team.