In the last game of the year for the South African top-tier side Maritzburg United, the team of the Solomon Islander Micah Lea’alafa and the New Zealanders Dan Morgan and Jeremy Brockie, the club could not grab a win against the powerhouse Kaizer Chiefs. The New Zealanders started the game, but both of them were replaced in the second half.
Micah Lea’alafa in Maritbuzg colours – Maritzburg United Media
Brockie was replaced by Lea’alafa at the 55th minute of the game with an alreday 1-1 scoreline. Maritzburg had a penalty kick to seal their win, but the South African forward Dylon Claasen missed the opportunity for his side. Morgan was also replaced in the second part of the game at the 79th minute of play by Yusuf Jappie.
Lea’alafa had a goalscoring chance at the 83th minute of the game, when he missed an opportunity from inside the penalty the box with his left foot – putting the ball wide the goal post of Chiefs.
Maritzburg United stands 8th in the standings of ABSA Premiership in South Africa with 18 points, 10 points away from the 2nd placed Mamelodi Sundowns – that won Maritzburg in the Telkom League Cup final – in the qualification zone for CAF Champions League.
Solomon Warriors faced Laugu United on Sunday in their penultimate match of 2019-20 S-League season.
Vanuatu international midfielder John Alick scored in the first minute to give three more points to Warriors. Laugu had some good opportunities to score but an Warriors managed to hold them. With this win Warriors reaches 38 points in fifteen matches and the title is in the bag for them.
Alick (in red) fighting for the ball against Darold Kakasi (in black)
Warriors is three points ahead Henderson Eels with one match remaining. You can check the league standings and top scorers by clicking here.
Hekari United, Lae City and newcomers Vitiaz United won for the second time in Papua New Guinea National Soccer League action this weekend, maintaining their 100% record at the top of the ten-team division. Meanwhile, Tusbab Stallions responded after last week’s opening defeat with a 5-0 hammering of FC Kutubu in Madang.
Lae City’s Raymond Gunemba points to the heavens after slotting away a penalty in the 12th minute against Gulf Komara. It was the only goal of the game. Photo: PNGFA
Port Moresby was the place to be on Saturday afternoon, with three back-to-back fixtures at the PNG Football Stadium in the country’s capital. At 1pm, Star Mountain took on newcomers Vitiaz United, with the former looking to recover from their opening-day defeat to Hekari United, and the latter looking to build on their shock 2-1 victory over Morobe United last weekend.
Mountain got off to the perfect start, with a goal in the third minute from Bisakim Alfred putting them in front. However, their swift start began to slowly unravel, with Eliud Fugre scoring his second goal of the season to equalise for Vitiaz United in the 28th minute. Fugre, 30, has never been capped at full international level despite earning a call-up for some international friendlies in 2014, but earned 4 caps for the U23s side at the 2012 OFC Olympic Qualifying tournament.
With the scores tied at half-time, Vitiaz came out firing in the second half, with pressure on the Star Mountain goal eventually leading to a 55th-minute own goal from Mountain’s Nowe Simon. Russell Nirik put the game to bed in the 68th minute with his second of the season. Nirik, who had been playing for Morobe United as far back as 2011, moved to Vitiaz United this season and scored against his former club on the opening day.
At 3pm, eight-time champions Hekari United took on FC Bougainville in the main game of the day. Both sides had won their opening fixtures, with Bougainville in particular looking to prove they might be able to challenge the big boys this season. It was a slow start for the home side, however, with Hekari’s Kolu Kepo picking up his second goal of the season in the 6th minute. Kepo, who has 4 goals in 6 caps for the senior national team, looks to be a key player in Hekari’s attacking force this season. However, Bougainville responded through 19-year-old Jonathan Allen in the 34th minute, taking the match to half-time all tied up. Allen, who earned his senior international debut in July 2019 against Tonga at the Pacific Games, now has two goals in two league games and looks to be one for the future.
As expected, Hekari came out strongly in the second half, and a mistake in the Bougainville defence led to a Hekari penalty, which was coolly dispatched by Daniel Joe in the 66th minute. Hekari held on for the victory, allowing them to remain top of the table, ahead of Vitiaz United on goal difference.
At 5pm, Gulf Komara hosted Lae City, and a solitary penalty from Raymond Gunemba was enough to seal victory for the reigning champions. After the game, Lae coach Peter Gunemba said that the side need to ‘polish up their attack’, but at this early stage, he will be happy that the side have managed to put together two victories, however narrow they were. As is cliché in football, true champions always find a way to win, even if their football is a little underwhelming.
In Madang, Tusbab Stallions played host to FC Kutubu at 3pm, with both sides having had differing fates on the opening day: Stallions fell to a single goal against Lae, while Kutubu won with the sole goal against Wawens. On Saturday, however, there was a clear gulf in the two sides, with Stallions eventually running out 5-0 victors, thanks to goals from Ricky Wadunah, Stahl Gubag, Morris Devi, and two from Papalau Awele. Awele, 24, has been capped at U23, U20 and U17 level, but has yet to make his full international debut. An impressive season from him at Stallions this year could change that.
In Lae, a huge derby between Morobe Wawens and Morobe United took place, with Wawens triumphing 2-0 thanks to goals from Sombo Goro and Joshua Paget. Morobe United seem to be struggling after the loss of several of their players to Vitiaz, and seem to be well off the pace they usually set for themselves at this early stage.
It was reported on social media that former Nalkutan player and head coach Joe Iati passed away. He was an important person for football in Tafea Province.
He coached Nalkutan Tafea Football Association for many years, helping Nalkutan to qualify for 2018 OFC Champions League. Oceania Football Center sends condolences to his friends and relatives.
According to local sources, Seve Folototo Seve is the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Football Federation Samoa and he is going to replace former CEO Faumuina Michael Kapisi soon.
Seve has a PhD in Financial Accounting and Master of Commerce from the Australian National University. He also has a Bachelor degree of Commerce and Arts from the National University of Samoa (NUS).
Seve served in the Ministry of Revenue for one year. He has been working at NUS since 2004, also being the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship between 2016 and 2019.
Singh was promoted to Bayern’s main squad but he can play for Bayern II in 3.Liga, the third tier of German football. On 11 December he was called up for Bayern’s Champions League clash against Tottenham and he is being part of the main squad since then.
He was on the bench this Saturday in the 2-0 win against Wolfsburg while Bayern II plays tomorrow against Würzburger Kickers. So there is still a possibility of watch Singh playing on this weekend.
Phoenix gave huge fight against the top table side Sydney FC at WestPac Stadium, but could not keep their lead in the second half to grab another win in the A-League 2019/20 season. The team kept their unbeaten run extending it to six matches without a defeat.
Big battle in New Zealand between Sydney and Phoenix – Phoenix Media
Sydney pulled ahead in the scoreline after a defensive lapse of concentration between Stefan Marivonic and Luke DeVere that allowed the English striker Adam le Fondre to score the first goal of Sydney. It did not take long for the New Zealanders to level the score – David Ball provided a superb assist to the young Reno Piscopo to score his first A-League goal for Phoenix and equalize the match.
Phoenix kept their pressure ahead and the same Piscopo gave an excellent to cross to the Mexican midfielder Ulises Davila, the player scored for Phoenix to put his team ahead in the scoreboard – it was the seventh goal of the season for Davila, the top goalscorer of the Wellington in the season so far.
Sydney created chances still in the first half, but all of those were well managed by the Phoenix defense. The reality changed early in the second half with the introduction of Sydney star player Milos Ninkovic, the Serbian suffered a foul in the right side of the attack. Brattan crossed it to the area and an unfortunate touch of Phoenix captain Steven Taylor made the ball touch his own nets to give Sydney the equalizer.
Phoenix celebrates their second goal in the match – Phoenix Media
Sydney had some chances to score their thrid goal, but It was Phoenix that created the most opportunities. Liberato Cacace made a superb play in a run in his side of the pitch, he found Davila just close the goal but unfortunately for Phoenix the Mexican could not give a final touch strong enough to score. The introduction of the striker Gary Hooper in the final ten minutes of the game proved not enough for Phoenix to find a winner.
Phoenix has now 12 points in the standings of the Australian top-tier football league keeping at the 6th position in the run. Their next match will be in the next Saturday – 28/12 – against Western United away from home.
New Caledonia international footballer Georges Gope-Fenepej missed another match in French. He did not take part in Le Mans’ squad in the 3-0 win against Paris FC at French Ligue 2. The 31 years old left midfielder missed all Le Mans’ four matches in December.
It was reported by Le Mans official website that Gope-Fenepej has a calf injury that prevents him to be called up for the matches.
Gope-Fenepej played eight matches in 2019-20 season and three goals.
The venues for Fiji FACT, Battle of the Giants and Inter-District Championship in 2020 are defined. However the only competition that is already scheduled is 2020 Inter-District Championship.
Check the venues below:
2020 Fiji FACT: ANZ Stadium (Suva)* 2020 Battle of the Giants: Churchill Park (Lautoka)* 2020 Inter-District Championship: Govind Park (Ba) * = Only group stage matches
The biggest news comes from Ba. Govind Park Stadium – closed for repair since 2016 – will be reopened in the upcoming year and will host 2020 IDC.
Govind Park was damaged by Cyclone Winston in 2016
According to Fiji FA president Rajesh Patel, the 2020 edition of IDC will be played from 28 October to 2 November.
After a 2-1 loss against FC Goa, ATK traveled to Telangana state to face Hyderabad in the ninth matchweek of 2019-20 Indian Super League looking for a win to recover from last weekend’s loss. This match marked Mandi Sosa’s debut for ATK.
The first minutes were very tough with many heavy fouls and one yellow card for Hyderabad. In the 12th minute the referee awarded a penalty kick to ATK due to a handball but the ball has actually touched Hyderabad player’s chest. The wrong decision made Hyderabad players very angry. Roy Krishna did not care about the complainings and opened the scoreboard by converting the penalty.
The ball has clearly touched player’s chest
Another controversial move happened in the 22nd minute when the ball hit the arm of an ATK’s defender. Hyderabad players asked for a penalty but the touch was outside the box. Hyderabad reached the equality when brazilian forward Bobô scored a beautiful header to tie the match before the break.
The second half started in a high voltage. ATK almost scored in the first minute with Jobby Justin but his header passed some centimeters above the crossbar. In a match full of controversial moments, Hyderabad saw the referee denying for them in the 64th minute. You can see the picture below and take your own conclusions:
Hyderabad fought hard but they could reach the win until the 84th minute when Bobô netted another header to give them the 2-1 lead. However ATK still managed to tie the match. After a wrong long pass ATK won an aerial duel and the ball arrived to Roy Krishna that lobbed the goalkeeper to score his second goal in the 90th minute. After the final whistle the score was 2-2. You can check the highlights by clicking here.
Roy Krishna scored in the final minutes. Source: ATK Official Media
Krishna has now eight goals scored in nine matches. ATK is currently in the second position with 15 points.
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