2018 WC Africa Q'fiers- favourites held by minnows

The Comoros, in only their third World Cup campaign, were denied a famous victory over Ghana in Moroni when they had late effort from Al M'Madi ruled out for offside which television replays showed to be an erroneous call from the linesman.

Halifa Soule struck the post for the Comoros early on but the same upright denied Ghana' Emmanuel Agyeman Duah and Dede Ayew in quick succession in the second half in hot and humid conditions.
Ghana remains heavily fancied to advance after the second leg in Kumasi on Tuesday but the Comoros, ranked 177th in the world, will have done much to earn well-deserved respect.

The 130th ranked Swaziland also proved combative as they held Nigeria in their match at the Somhlolo Stadium where John Obi Mikel came closest to scoring as he hit a curling free kick against the woodwork.

But Cameroon, who have been to more World Cups than any other African country, wasted no time dealing with minnow opposition as they scored three goals in a four-minute spell before halftime to win 3-0 away in Niger.

Stephane Mbia, Vincent Aboubakar and Edgar Salliall netted as Cameroon played a first match since the parted ways with German coach Volker Finke last month.
Cameroon, whose appearance in Brazil last year was their seventh at a World Cup, had former international Alexandre Belinga in charge of their side for the first time.

African champions Ivory Coast were weakened by the absence of several key players, including Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony, but still won 1-0 in neighbouring Liberia with Belgian-based striker Cyriac Bohi Bi scoring on the stroke of halftime.

South Africa conceded a goal to teenage striker Gerson after just 90 seconds but went on to register a 3-1 away victory over Angola in Benguela.

The 2010 World Cup hosts replied through Tokelo Rantie and Thamsanqa Gabuza and a soft late penalty converted by Andile Jali, who then got sent off after his provocative celebrations angered the home crowd.

Tunisia came from a goal down to score twice in six minutes midway through the second half to beat Mauritania 2-1 away. Wahbi Khazri and Yassine Chikhaoui scored after captain Oumar Ndiaye had given Mauritania the halftime lead in Noukachott.

Kenya scored after just nine minutes through Michael Olunga with a close-in header to beat the Cape Verde Islands in Nairobi but will take only a slender 1-0 advantage to Tuesday's return leg.

Goals from English Premier League pair Mame Biram Diouf and Sadio Mane snatched a 2-2 draw for Senegal away to Madagascar,, after islanders first went up by two goals. 

Faisal Salah converted a penalty for Libya as they beat Rwanda 1-0 in Sousse. The civil strife and uncertain security situation in the country mean Libya are forced to host their international matches in neighbouring Tunisia.

World Cup qualification continues in Africa over the weekend and on Tuesday, after which 20 countries will emerge from the knockout rounds to play in the group phase, which starts late next year.

The small Comoros Islands and kingdom of Swaziland enjoyed a rare outing in the World Cup spotlight on Friday by holding two of African soccer's established powers to goalless draws in the first leg of their second round qualifying ties.

Leaping Leicester hit dizzy heights with manager Ranieri in charge

With almost a third of the fixtures completed in the English Premier League, Leicester City, under the management of Italian Claudio Ranieri, maintained their sparkling performances and currently lie in third place – a mere point behind joint leaders Manchester City and Arsenal.

The Foxes’ highest-ever finish in the top flight was second place back in season 1928-29. On that occasion, Leicester ended their campaign a point behind champions Sheffield Wednesday.

On the other hand, champions Chelsea persisted with their erratic results and are just three points above the drop zone.

Manager Jose Mourinho has denied that he was feeling the strain of Chelsea’s disastrous start as the0-1 defeat at Stoke City marked the Blues’ worst opening to a top-flight campaign.

Leicester’s only loss this season arrived in September at home to Arsenal 2-5. On the away front this season, they won three and drew three.

Ranieri remarked that the spirit within his squad and the way the players fight for each other have seen the Foxes again come in for praise for their showing against Watford last weekend.

That featured a particular moment where Jamie Vardy scored from a penalty to continue his prolific scoring run.

Defeat at the Britannia Stadium probably dashed Chelsea’s dreams of a successful league title defence and now even the possibility of a Champions League qualifying place looks remote.

With 12 games played, Chelsea have lost an unprecedented seven. The last time Chelsea lost that much in their first 12 games was back in 1978.

Manchester City have already qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League but Arsenal face an uphill struggle to join them.

Manuel Pellegrini hopes Sergio Aguero returns next week after City dropped points at Aston Villa.

Although Manchester City saw Wilfried Bony suffer a hamstring injury at Villa Park, they should have a few key players back to bolster their squad after the international break.

At Arsenal, Mesut Ozil has be-come the first ever player to provide a goal assist in six consecutive Premier League matches.

The Germany international arrived in North London boasting a reputation as an assist king following his contributions in Spain with former club Real Madrid.

While his lack of goals may frustrate the average supporter, his ability to create chances for his team-mates often goes unnoticed and there is no doubt he possesses a special gift in this regard.

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed his plans to field more youngsters as the season progresses.

Jesse Lingard admitted scoring his first Manchester United goal against West Brom on Saturday was a feeling of “pure happiness.”

The United manager says it is much too early to talk about the winger being called up by England as he wants him to prove his consistency first.

Juergen Klopp admitted he was left feeling ‘pretty alone’ as he witnessed an Anfield exodus after suffering his first defeat as Reds manager on Sunday afternoon as Crystal Palace won 2-1.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino feels his side should have won the north London derby at Arsenal last week but is nonetheless ‘proud’ of his players’ performance after a congested run of fixtures.

At Everton, Roberto Martinez insists he has no concerns about his young players being targeted by other clubs in the next transfer window.

The Everton fans have taken to social networks to have their say on striker Gerard Deulofeu’s display against West Ham in the 1-1 draw last Saturday.

The Spain winger had a good game and played an important role in helping Everton pick up a point.

UK soccer fixtures

League One
Barnsley-Port Vale
Blackpool-Doncaster
Bradford-Crewe
Burton Albion-Millwall - pp
Chesterfield-Oldham
Colchester-Coventry
Gillingham-Bury
Peterborough-Fleetwood
Rochdale-Wigan - 13:30
Sheffield Utd-Southend
Shrewsbury-Walsall - pp
Swindon-Scunthorpe

League Two
Accrington-Newport
Bristol Rovers-Carlisle
Exeter-Crawley
Luton-Barnet
Morecambe-Dagenham - pp
Northampton-Mansfield
Oxford-Cambridge
Wycombe-Notts County - pp
Yeovil-Stevenage
York-Plymouth Argyle

Tomorrow:
Hartlepool-Leyton Orient - 13:15
Portsmouth-Wimbledon - 15:30

Senegal salvage draw as Comoros hold Ghana

Goals from English Premier League pair Mame Biram Diouf and Sadio Mane snatched a 2-2 draw for Senegal away to Madagascar in an 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ qualifying clash on Friday. Faneva Andriatsima struck in the opening half of the second-round, first-leg clash and Njiva Rakotoharimalala doubled the advantage after half-time.

But Stoke City's Diouf halved the deficit with 19 minutes left at Stade Mahamasina in Antananarivo and Mane from Southampton equalised with nine minutes remaining. Senegal, one of only three African countries to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, are 39th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, 79 places above Madagascar.

Comoros, a team composed partly of France-based amateurs, had a goal disallowed as they held star-studded three-time World Cup qualifiers Ghana 0-0 in Mitsamiouli. Ali M'Madi headed a deflected cross into the net eight minutes from time at the tiny Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh only to be ruled offside.

Comoran Mohamed Soule hit the woodwork after just four minutes and Ghanaians Emmanuel Agyemang Badu and Andre Ayew saw late second-half shots rebound off the post. A lively match between teams 147 places apart on the World Ranking was staged in a wonderful atmosphere with some supporters sitting on stand roofs and on the walls of the stadium.

Cameroon, holders of the African record for World Cup appearances with seven, began impressively under new coach Alexandre Belinga by outclassing Niger 3-0 in Niamey. All the damage was inflicted within five first-half minutes as Stephane M'bia, Vincent Aboubakar and Edgar Salli scored at Stade General Seyni Kountche.

South Africa were also impressive away winners, recovering from conceding a 94-second goal to defeat Angola 3-1 at Estadio Ombaka in Atlantic city Benguela. Defeat ended a 25-match unbeaten home record by the Sable Antelopes in World Cup qualifying since losing to Cameroon in a 1990 eliminator.

Gelson gave Angola the perfect start only for goals from Tokelo Rantie and Thamsanqa Gabuza to put Bafana Bafana (The Boys) ahead by half-time. Andile Jali converted a harshly-awarded penalty eight minutes from time and was then sent off after provoking the crowd and receiving a second yellow card.

Kenya did not look a side 93 places below Cape Verde in the world as they triumphed 1-0 at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi through an early headed goal from teenager Michael Olunga.

African champions Côte d'Ivoire launched their campaign for a fourth consecutive World Cup appearance by winning 1-0 against Liberia at Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia. In the absence of injured strikers Wilfried Bony and Salomon Kalou, and unavailable midfield talisman Yaya Toure, Belgium-based Cyriac Gohi Bi scored the late first-half winner.

Tunisia came from behind to win 2-1 in Mauritania, Nigeria drew 0-0 in Swaziland and Libya beat Rwanda 1-0 in a match moved to Tunisia for security reasons. Return matches in the 20-fixture second round are scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday and overall winners qualify for a five-group stage that kicks off late next year.

Manchester City vs Liverpool Soccer Preview 2015

Manchester City will play host to Liverpool in their next Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The Citizens are sitting atop the league standings with a tally of 26 points from their 12 games and are ahead of second-placed Arsenal only on goal difference.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are currently lying in 10th spot, having tallied 17 points from their 12 games thus far. They have appointed Jurgen Klopp at the helm after sacking Brendan Rodgers after a series of unsatisfying results under the Northern Irishman. The German, who was previously in charge of Borussia Dortmund, has overseen seven matches with the Reds and has suffered only one defeat thus far – in his last Premier League encounter against Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace at Anfield.

The Reds have shown considerable improvement under the guidance of the 48-year-old, although it is still too early for the Liverpool players to have completely adapted to the German’s football philosophy.

Klopp started his Premier League journey with a scoreless draw against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and then his team were held to a 1-1 draw by Ronald Koeman’s Southampton at Anfield. Klopp had his first win the English top flight as his men won 3-1 against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge courtesy of two splendid strikes from the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho. The German’s only blemish thus far has been the 2-1 reverse against Crystal Palace, and he will be eager to get his side back on track at the Etihad Stadium this weekend.

Manchester City, on the other hand, have been unbeaten in their last five Premier League outings. They have beaten relegation strugglers Newcastle United 6-1, Bournemouth 5-1 and Norwich City 2-1 while playing out scoreless draws against Manchester United and Aston Villa. They were left frustrated by Remi Garde’s Villans in their last league fixture and Manuel Pellegrini will be looking for a strong comeback from his side as they look to build a gap between themselves and second-placed Arsenal, who remain tied on points with the Manchester outfit.

The Citizens have endured injury issues and are without the services of Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Pablo Zabaleta and possibly Wilfried Bony. Aguero, who was in splendid form for the side prior to his injury on international duty, will be a significant loss, but his absence will give Pellegrini the opportunity to play Raheem Sterling, who signed for Manchester City from Liverpool in the summer transfer window, as a forward against his former employers.

Sterling is expected to be given a torrid time by the away supporters and will attempt to use it as a catalyst to prove that his move to the Etihad Stadium was justified despite the bad press it generated against him.

Manchester City will start as favourites in the game as the Reds have also been beset with a flurry of injuries to their players. Klopp will be without Danny Ings, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson and Mamadou Sakho in the encounter.

Wilfried Bony to miss Ivory Coast’s World Cup qualifier with injury

Wilfried Bony has been ruled out of Ivory Coast’s World Cup qualifying tie against Liberia. The striker limped off in Manchester City’s 0-0 Premier League draw at Aston Villa on Sunday because of a hamstring injury, and Manuel Pellegrini said afterwards he did not think the 26-year-old would be able to play during this international break.

It was subsequently confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Wednesday that Bony would not be involved in his national side’s first leg in Liberia away on Friday, nor next Tuesday’s home leg.

Another City player who will not feature in those matches is Yaya Touré, although the midfielder has declared he will be ready to rejoin the national team next year.

Touré, who won the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast in February, has not been part of the squad of late having wanted a rest, but it seems he is not about to retire from international football.

Quoted on the Caf website, he said: “I think the next appointment after this [the Liberia games] will be in 2016 with the continuation of qualifying for the 2017 African Nations Cup. In any case, I’ll be ready.”

Regarding his current absence, Touré said: “With all due respect to our new coach, Michel Dussuyer, I wanted to have a moment of respite. I was coming back from a long period of intense activity with the Elephants and the end of an exhausting season with my club Manchester City. I even had injuries.

“During the off-season I cut short my vacation in Abidjan to return to the club so I could be subject to a rigorous fitness programme. I had to follow to the letter and strictly my physical preparation programme during this period under the supervision of private coaches.”

The winners of 20 home-and-away ties qualify for a five-section group stage, in which the teams finishing top qualify for Russia 2018.