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Luke Shaw has been hailed for climbing off the “scrap heap” at Manchester United, with Rio Ferdinand admitting that a left-back who was “absolutely discarded” by Jose Mourinho appeared to be a “broken man” at one stage.

The England international was publicly criticised by a Portuguese coach during the most testing period of his spell at Old Trafford.

An ambitious character never shied away from the challenge of proving himself, though, and is now an integral part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans as undoubted potential is unlocked at 25 years of age.

What has been said?

Former United defender Ferdinand, who knows all about the pressure of performing under the brightest of spotlights in Manchester, has told Vibe With Five: “We have to look at where he has come from by the way.

“This was a kid who was broken down mentally, it seemed, it looked like he was on the scrap heap at United.

“Jose Mourinho when he was there, absolutely discarded him. The kid was a broken man.

“He has come back from the depths to now being one of the most important players at Man United in the way that they’re playing. You have to commend him for that.”

Shaw’s record in 2020-21

Solskjaer snapped up Brazilian full-back Alex Telles during the summer of 2020, with added competition for places sought at Old Trafford.

Shaw has fended off that threat to his spot in United’s starting XI to become one of the first names on the team sheet.

He has taken in 32 appearances across all competitions this season, with Telles restricted to just 16.

Shaw’s game has been taken to new heights with a prominent role nailed down, with one goal and six assists contributed to the collective cause.

The bigger picture

Shaw has admitted to finding the going tough during Mourinho’s reign at United, but he never lost faith in his ability.

That show of character is now being rewarded, with there still plenty left to play for in 2021.

The Red Devils are chasing down a top-four finish in the Premier League alongside bids for FA Cup and Europa League glory.

There is also a European Championship to aim towards this summer, with Shaw coming back into England contention after an enforced spell in the international wilderness.

Further reading

Express FC assistant coach James Odoch is confident they have sharpened their strike force as they prepare to face UPDF FC in a Ugandan Premier League match on Tuesday.

The Red Eagles will make the short trip to Bombo Military Stadium to face UPDF in their second last away league game of the first round.

Express, who have gone 12 games unbeaten and are the only side yet to lose a match in the top-tier, are searching for their fourth away win of the campaign which will help them to stretch their lead to four points at the summit of the 16-team table.

Ahead of the match, coach Odoch said despite missing some of their key players due to injury and suspensions, they have prepared well for the fixture and especially worked on their strike problems which was a let down in previous matches.

“First of all we have a few injuries like our key player Arthur Kiggundu which is a setback but the focus is on, tomorrow’s [Tuesday’s] game won’t be easy because the opponents [UPDF] lost 6-1 [vs KCCA FC],” Odoch told the club’s official website.

“So they will want to come all out but we have prepared well especially our finishing, we know we have to score more which we’ve worked on already.”

Express midfielder Ivan Mayanja has confirmed the players’ readiness to face UPDF by stating: “Our preparations have been great; all the players are ready for Tuesday.

“We’ve worked on our finishing because our focus against UPDF will be scoring, the coaches have done their part and all that is left to do is win the game.”

Express coach Wasswa Bbosa will need to ring some changes to his squad due to a number of injuries picked up in the previous game since left-back Kiggundu has been ruled out for up to six weeks after picking up a partial tear ligament on his left leg during the 1-0 win over Busoga United, however, Sadiq Ssekyembe is expected to be fill the void.

Another player likely to miss the clash is pacey midfielder Charles Musiige, who picked up a gluteus strain in the same game.

The two sides have met 20 times in the history of the league with the Red Eagles picking up 10 wins compared to UPDF’s seven.

Former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Mosimane joined Al Ahly in October last year and went on to win the treble of the domestic league and cup as well as the Caf Champions League with Egypt's most successful team.

He also took the Cairo side to the Club World Cup and won a bronze medal after beating Copa Libertadores champions Palmeiras.

However, things have not been going smoothly in Al Ahly's Champions League title defence, and they currently find themselves in third place in Group A, having only won one of three games.

The latest setback was a 2-2 home draw against DR Congo side AS Vita Club, and following that result, Hassan called into question some of Mosimane's decisions, including the substitution of striker Walter Bwalya.

“Mosimane should believe that he is the head coach of Al Ahly and must take risks. If you want to give Walter Bwalya a chance, you shouldn’t then ‘finish’ [substitute] him," Hassan, who played in midfield for both Al Ahly and Zamalek, was quoted saying by the Kingfut website.

“I think Bwalya is a good player, but when you are drawing you should play with two strikers, but Pitso replaced Bwalya with Mohamed Sherif. He should have taken the risk.

“In my opinion, Dieng should always be placed first in the starting line-up and then the other players around him, and until now Mosimane hasn’t yet found his optimal squad."

The draw against AS Vita leaves Ah Ahly on four points, level with the DR Congo club, but behind them due to having scored fewer goals.

Tanzania side Simba SC, who beat Ah Ahly 1-0, are top of Group A with seven points. Sudan side Al Merreikh, the only team Ahly have beaten so far, are in fourth spot with one point.

“The situation now is difficult and it’s a lesson that the players and Mosimane should learn from," Hassan continued.

“I hope Al Ahly don’t regret their result on Sunday because they could have easily won by five goals."

The Egyptian champions' next match in Group A is also against Vita Club, away from home on Tuesday, March 16.

After Yanga SC sacked their entire technical bench led by Cedric Kaze, the team has warned players to stop negligence on the field and get good results.

According to the club’s chairman of the technical committee Dominick Albinus, after parting ways with the Burundian tactician, they sat down with the players to give them calculations for the future and warned they must be ready to get positive results.

“We have already told the players why we made the decision to fire the technical bench and it is because the bench failed to get positive results on the pitch despite the support they had from the management,” Albinus said as quoted by Sokalabongo.

“So by telling them so it means they also have a job to be careful in fulfilling their responsibilities as at the moment the team needs positive results on the field in order to achieve success.”

Despite being sacked after only five months in charge of the team, Kaze said he was leaving the team a proud man having helped them to win their first trophy in three years – the Mapinduzi Cup - and also leaving them top of the 18-team table.

“Wananchi it was a pleasure to work with you during these five months,” Kaze wrote on his Instagram page. “The patience is a virtue, 18 league games, 10 wins, seven draws, one loss, four games for Mapinduzi Cup, winner of Mapinduzi Cup.

“I leave Yanga in the first position and that’s my pride...wishing you all the best…this is just a Goodbye.

”We have enjoyed good times together and also faced tough times together but that is how football is, you are happy today and tomorrow you are sad, the only problem we have is that patience is lacking in many people, they want quick results when we must build a team to win us titles.”

Yanga have already started the search for a new coach and on Monday they approached FKF Premier League side AFC Leopards for the services of Patrick Aussems.

Goal understands Yanga have already settled for former Kagera Sugar coach Mecky Maxime to work as the deputy to Aussems, should AFC Leopards agree to release the coach.

Aussems has enjoyed a good run of results since he joined the Den, and after losing his first game in charge against Bandari 2-1, the Belgian has gone ahead to win three consecutive matches – 1-0 against Ulinzi Stars, 2-1 against Kakamega Homeboyz and 1-0 against Nairobi City Stars.

Bright Osayi-Samuel has revealed that his first Fenerbahce against Konyaspor has given him confidence.

The midfielder ended his wait for a maiden Yellow Canaries goal as Erol Bulut’s men swept aside the Anatolian Eagle 3-0 at the Konya Buyuksehir Stadium on Monday evening.

With Attila Szalai giving the visitors a 29th minute lead, the former Queens Park Rangers star doubled his side’s advantage three minutes later. He slotted the ball past goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic after he was teed up by Dimitrios Pelkas.

Serdar Aziz’s goal in the 90th minute sealed the win, and the 23-year-old who is pleased to have broken his duck for the Turkish Super Lig outfit says his effort has boosted his self-esteem.

He also applauded his teammates for picking all points at stake versus İlhan Palut’s men, while assuring that they would improve in their next fixture.

"I feel very happy today that I personally scored. It was my first goal,” Osayi-Samuel told Fenerbahce website.

“I try to play very seriously every game I play. When I play, I try to do more, I try to improve myself. This goal I scored has given me confidence. I think I can do more.

“The more I play, the better I want to show what kind of player I am. We performed well as a team. Especially after we scored two goals, we also showed how much we want the game as a team.

“But after the second goal, we backed off a little bit. The opponent put pressure on us in that sense. We want to do better and continue well with a better performance in the next game.”

After putting up a fine shift, Osayi-Samuel was substituted for Dutch midfielder Ferdi Kadioglu in the 70th minute.

With this result, Fenerbahce now occupy the third position in the Turkish elite division log after garnering 58 points from 28 outings so far in the 2020-21 campaign. Whereas, Konyaspor dropped to 12th with 32 points from 27 matches.

19-time Turkish champions Fenerbahce face Genclerbirligi in their next league tie on March 14, and Osayi-Samuel would be aiming to add to his goal tally.

Mumbai City needed 89 minutes to register their first shot on target in the second leg of the Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final on Monday. Yet the Islanders head coach Sergio Lobera made his first substitution of the two-legged contest nearly after the completion of 180 minutes of football. 

There was an air of confidence about Mumbai City going into the contest, based on how they had performed during the league stage campaign and ended it at the top of the standings. But the Gaurs gave them a more difficult fight than anyone expected them to and matched them for skill and talent on the field over the two legs. The tie was far from being a one-way affair. 

Juan Ferrando's men impressed with their performance in the second leg, following a good first leg show that ended in a 2-2 result. It must be noted that Mumbai City were guilty of spurning chances in the first leg. For most of the second leg, it was Goa that threatened to break the deadlock and take the lead but the goal never came due to the inability to deliver a killer pass in the final third. 

Lobera returned to the tried-and-tester combination of having Hernan Santana in the defence and fielding Adam Le Fondre as a lone striker upfront. However, Goa's Alberto Noguera, Edu Bedia and Glan Martin had firm control over the proceedings and prevented quick turnovers and easy defence-splitting through-balls through the centre of the park. 

Hugo Boumous, who turned up at different areas of the pitch to influence the game, was well marked and it seemed like Goa had it all figured out. Noguera and Bedia had shots on goal that nearly crept in at the bottom corner but a save from Amrinder Singh and a crucial goal-saving block by Amey Ranawade denied the Gaurs in the first half. 

Amrinder was called into action twice soon after the restart to keep out two powerful strikes from Saviour Gama. Ishan Pandita, who was brought on at the start of the second half for a change, nearly pulled off another impactful super-sub appearance after his diving header from a cross from the right flank was headed straight at the keeper.

Towards the end of the game, after it became evident that the tie had become Goa's to lose, James Donachie missed an easy header from an Edu Bedia delivery into the box and allowed the game to progress to extra-time. 

As extra-time drew to a close, both coaches had one more surprise up their sleeves before the decisive shoot-pout event - a change of keepers. Naveen Kumar replaced Dheeraj Singh just before the time ended and Phurba Lachenpa replaced a furious-looking and in-form Amrinder Singh after the full-time whistle. 

Lachenpa was under pressure to put up a decent show and the former Shillong Lajong custodian remained extremely calm during the proceedings. Glan Martins missed his spot-kick and Rowllin Borges converted his penalty to send the Islanders into the final. 

This was by no means one of their best displays or a performance Lobera will be proud of, in terms of how effective their football was. However, at the end of the day, it is the results that matter. The keepers played their part, the defence did their job and the rest of the team stepped up at the right time to book the team's first ticket to an ISL final. 

Yasir Hanapi has worn the jerseys of Geylang International, Lions XII, Home United, Tampines Rovers and PDRM over the course of his career. A fine list of clubs. 

Yet at the age of 31, the Singapore international still awaits his first Singapore Premier League title.

Tampines came close in 2020, but eventually had to settle for second place in the table as Albirex proved to be too strong.

Yasir has no intentions of giving up, though, and is determined to make 2021 the year he lifts the coveted trophy at last.

There's more to the versatile midfielder than just a glittering career on the pitch, though.

Not only does he have a passion for music, but Yasir loves a bit of travelling as well.

So we sat down with the Tampines Rovers captain to properly get to know him.

If that hasn't gotten you curious enough just yet, however, the promise of Yasir rapping an Eminem song should surely do the trick!

The U-17 Africa Cup of Nations has been cancelled by the Confederation of African Football only five days before the tournament was set to kick-off, amidst ongoing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic in host country Morocco and beyond.

Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Cameroon are among some of the sides set to miss out on the prestigious tournament for Africa’s brightest young talent.

At a Caf Emergency Committee meeting in Rabat on Monday, it was decided to cancel the tournament—despite the short notice—rather than attempt to find an alternative venue or postpone the competition until later in the year.

“The Committee was made aware of the constraints faced by some of the participating member associations as well as the host country, including the fact that the coronavirus pandemic continues to present significant challenges for the organisation of international sporting events,” read a Caf statement as seen by Goal .

A contributing factor, according to Caf, was Fifa’s decision to cancel the U-17 World Cup in December.

With the U-17 Afcon providing Africa’s qualifiers for the tournament, the decision to cancel the World Cup appears to have undermined Caf’s will to ensure the African competition goes ahead.

The Confederation’s statement also identified “the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased restrictions on international travel, [and] uncertainty about the evolution of the situation” as further factors that influenced their decision.

The news is sure to come as a major disappointment to Africa’s young stars, for whom the U-17 Afcon and the World Cup can represent critical launchpads in their nascent careers.

Nwankwo Kanu, Seydou Keita, Sammy Kuffour and Kelechi Iheanacho are some of the well-known African stars who first came to the attention of a wider audience during the youth tournament.

Uganda had been pitted into a Group A that consisted of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Zambia, while Nigeria, Tanzania, Algeria and Congo-Brazzaville had been set to meet in Group B.

In Group C, holders Cameroon were primed to meet South Africa, Mali and Senegal in the 12-team tournament, which was due to take place between March 13 and March 31.

Caf are set to appoint a new president on Friday, with Mamelodi Sundowns chief Patrice Motsepe appearing primed to replace outgoing Ahmad Ahmad.

Bright Osayi-Samuel opened his goal account for Fenerbahce in their 3-0 away win at Konyaspor on Monday evening.

The Nigerian midfielder joined the Yellow Canaries on January 15, 2021 from English Championship side Queens Park Rangers on a four-year deal.

He had played seven games without success in front of goal. Against İlhan Palut’s side, however, he broke his duck for Erol Bulut’s men with a first-half effort.

Unbeaten in their last two games, Fenerbahce visited the Konya Buyuksehir Stadium with the ambition of extending their impressive run.

They took the lead in the 29th minute through Attila Szalai. The Hungarian centre back slotted past goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic a headed pass from Gokhan Gonul.

Three minutes later, it was the turn of Osayi-Samuel to register his name among the goalscorers. After he was released by Dimitrios Pelkas, the 23-year-old darted through the hosts’ backline before beating Sehic from close range.

Konyaspor tried to launch a comeback, albeit, they were unable to break into the visitors’ organised backline and then, there was also a series of goalkeeping heroics from Altay Bayindir.

In the 90th minute, Serdar Aziz sealed the win – firing into an empty net as goalkeeper Sehic fumbled a corner kick by Sadık Ciftpınar.

After an outstanding display, the ex-QPR player was substituted for Ferdi Kadioglu in the 70th minute. Tanzania international Mbwana Samatta was brought in for Dimitris Pelkas with seven minutes to play, while Senegal international Mame Thiam lasted for 58 minutes before making way for Irfan Kahveci.

Whereas, Congolese defender Marcel Tisserand was an unused substitute by the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium outfit.

For Konyaspor, Cote d'Ivoire's Ismael Diomande and Nigeria's Jesse Sekidika were handed a place in the starting XI before their substitutions for Amir Hadziahmetovic and Zymer Bytyqi respectively.

Nigerian forward Emem Eduok was axed from matchday squad while Ugandan star Farouk Miya was an unused substitute.

Thanks to this result, Fenerbahce sit in the third position after amassing 58 points from 28 games in the 2020-21 season, while Konyaspor dropped to 12th with 32 points with one game less.

Osayi-Samuel would be eyeing his second goal when his team welcomes Genclerbirligi in their next outing on March 14.

Visibility of women's football both domestically and internationally has improved over the years, but a lot of work still needs to be done to make sure enough time and money is invested in the women's game - not to mention in dealing with the lack of equal pay.

The substantial gender pay gap is a major issue within the sport, with Women's World Cup winners earning less prize money than the Men's World Cup winners.

Goal takes a look at what the Men's team and the Women's team earn for winning their respective World Cups.

How much do the Men's World Cup winners get paid?

The France team that won the 2018 World Cup in Russia were awarded $38m (£29m).

A total of 32 teams competed for $400m (£315m) in prize money.

Prize money is awarded based on how far each team managed to progress within the tournament.

France's cash prize alone was more than what all 24 women's teams competed for in the 2019 World Cup.

How much do the Women's World Cup winners get paid?

The USWNT side that won the 2019 Women's World Cup in France were awarded $4m (£3.2m).

The total prize money awarded to all participating teams in the 2019 World Cup was in the region of $30m (£24m). It is 7.5 per cent of the total prize money awarded to the 2018 Men's champions.

In reality, since the Women's World Cup winners do not earn a substantial amount from winning the tournament compared to their male counterparts, they have to rely on other streams of revenue - sponsorship deals, partnerships and salaries given to them by their federation.

"At the end of the day, the prize money ends up being so small for the women compared to the men, that we see players relying more on sponsorships, club salaries or federation salaries," writes Caitlin Murray, who has written a book on the history of the USWNT.

In March 2019, the U.S. women's national time filed a lawsuit against governing body U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination and unequal pay. 

Why is there such a substantial prize money gap?

The most common explanation for the large gap between the payouts for the Men's World Cup winners and the Women's World Cup winners is the difference in revenue generated from both competitions.

FIFA have said that commercial revenues from the Women's World Cup, for example, cannot be considered differently from other competitions, as rights are sold as a packaged deal.

It is argued that there is a greater universal interest in the men's game compared to the women's game, resulting in more lucrative television, sponsorship and broadcast deals.

The 2015 Women's World Cup in reportedly earned in $73m (£57m) in revenues, including $17m (£13m) in television commercials in the United States - but these figures are nothing compared to the $6b (£4b) of revenue that the 2018 Men's World Cup earned in Russia.

The fact that the men's game invites more viewers, however, is still more of a society-wide problem and a reflection on how the women's game should be given more support.

The men's sport has been invested in more lucratively than the women's team, and because time and care is taken to invest in the men's sport, it results to more viewers, worldwide interest and financial backing.

FIFA already doubled the prize money for the 2019 Women’s World Cup from the 2015 amount of $15m (£12m) to $30m (£24m).

But the likes of global h global footballers’ union FIFPRO say that far more work needs to be done to ensure more balanced payouts for the men's and women's winners: “Despite these changes football remains even further from the goal of equality for all World Cup players regardless of gender," they said.

"In reality, the changes actually signify an increase in the gap between men’s and women’s prize money. This regressive trend appears to contravene FIFA’s statutory commitment to gender equality.”

Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, has assured fans of Spain's top division that he has "prepared well" for the possibility of Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona.

The Covid-19 pandemic has already damaged the league's bottom line, with the Blaugranes alone responsible for €1.2 billion (£1.1b/$1.5b) in debt, and the exit of a main attraction like Messi would appear a worrisome moment.

But Tebas believes La Liga is financially secure enough to withstand any harm.

What has Tebas said about Messi?

"[Messi] couldn’t leave Barcelona because of an agreement in his contract, but as I said about Cristiano [Ronaldo], we also are prepared financially for this moment," Tebas told the Egyptian cable channel ONsport.

"Cristiano leaving Real Madrid was a decision made by the club. I don’t have the right to say anything, but I always prefer to have the best players in La Liga, the same happened with Neymar before.

"Cristiano was the ultimate goalscorer in La Liga and we were affected by his departure, but financial the impact was minimal because we prepared well for this moment."

How did Tebas describe La Liga's financial situation?

"We didn’t know that it would take so much time [playing without fans]," Tebas said. "If we keep on witnessing a decrease in coronavirus numbers, maybe the fans will return sooner.

"The financial losses [for the league] reached €2 billion, but we decreased it to €1.1 billion due to cutting down some expenses."

Barca elects new leader

Just before Tebas spoke with ONsport, Barcelona elected Joan Laporta to be their president. Laporta's mission is to convince Messi to stay with the Catalan club - a goal that aligns with what Tebas prefers to happen this summer.

"Finally Barcelona has a president after all the mess in the few past months," Tebas said. "We have to wait and see how he will perform."

Further reading

Andrea Agnelli, the chairman of the European Clubs Association, says that he wants to see changes made to the transfer market, including a potential rule that would prevent Champions League clubs from buying and selling to one another. He's also open to capping the amount of money sales could generate to below triple-figures.

Transfer fees have skyrocketed in recent years and, as a result of the coronavirus, clubs all over the world are hurting financially.

In response, Agnelli, who is also president of Juventus, is intrigued by a rule that would see the world's top clubs unable to buy from one another, instead forcing them to look to smaller teams and leagues.

What was said?

“No triple-figures transfers between Champions League participating clubs maybe would [mean] focusing instead on champion players in smaller countries allowing us only to buy players there,” Agnelli said.

“These are elements we are discussing but certainly cost control will be one of the biggest challenges in terms of reforms going forward."

Changes to domestic leagues

In addition to changes in the market, Angelli also says that he believes changes are coming to domestic and European schedules.

Agnelli revealed that he has had "fights" with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over football's future, adding that he believes the system needs to change to bring in modern fans.

The Premier League has generally pushed back against proposals to changes, but Agnelli believes that English football will need to change.

“If we look back in time the Champions League had four more games than it has today,” Agnelli said. “I think the balance that we are trying to strike is one third international [European competition] and two thirds domestic. We can take a look at the overall calendar, we have countries like England with a maximum number of games at 53, If I’m not mistaken, Germany is 43 and so is Italy.

“We do think that currently for competitive balance purposes 20 teams in leagues are too many. There is an overall element that could actually be worked out altogether in the interests of everyone.”

The Champions League, meanwhile, may be moving towards a switch to a “Swiss system” that would include 36 teams in a single league table.

“I think we’re very close to my ideal Champions League, I think the Swiss system is beautiful,” he said. “I think it will provide great opportunities for those teams participating in that competition.

"It will provide the knockouts that are the essence of any competition. It’s very, very close to an ideal Champions League. We’re maybe just a couple of weeks away."

Further reading

Declan Rice claims he has been studying past midfield greats Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure in order to propel his game forward.

Rice is one of the brightest midfield prospects in the country, and is having a fine season to mirror that of his West Ham team.

He is keen to dispel the notion that he is defensive shield, and is eager to show that he can be a box-to-box performer.

What has been said?

“I think a lot of people see me as a simple, basic player who gets it, gives it and protects the back four,” Rice told Sky Sports following West Ham’s win over Leeds on Monday.

“I know, my team-mates know and the manager knows what I’ve got in my locker.

“I want to show that I can be exciting and I can take the ball forward. I have great athleticism.”

Arsenal legend Vieria and Manchester City great Toure are two of the finest all-round midfielders to grace the game.

Vieira was at his peak when Rice - who was born in 1999 - was an infant, but he has clearly studied the Frenchman's game and that of Toure.

He said: “I’ve been watching the top players over the years, the Yaya Toures, the Vieiras.   

“There’s a long way to go to get to that level. But the way they used to carry the ball up the pitch and drive their teams forward is something I have been trying to learn and add to my game.”

What else did Rice say?

West Ham secured victory over Leeds via goals from Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson. The former scored a rebound after his penalty had been saved by Illan Meslier, and Rice revealed Hammers boss David Moyes told him he would be back on spot-kick duty.

“I think the gaffer has just battered me in there!” he said. “Me and Jess spoke and we’ve been practicing them in training together. He said to me: ‘Can I take it?’ and I’m not one to be selfish.

“I was confident in him to go up and take the ball, if he had missed there’d have been backlash on me, but I was confident in Jesse’s ability to put the ball away.

“The gaffer has just said in there it’s definitely me on the penalties again, so for the next one I will have to say: ‘Jess, look give me the ball mate!’”

West Ham’s European push

The Hammers were viewed by some as relegation candidates at the start of the season, but they have silenced their critics with a brilliant campaign to date.

They are fifth in the table and should West Ham win their game in hand they would leap above Chelsea into the top four.

With 11 games remaining in the season, they have some momentum and the dream of Champions League qualification remains alive.

Further reading

Peter Olawale ended his wait for a maiden senior goal for Hapoel Ra’anana in Monday’s 3-1 defeat of Hapoel Iksal in an Israeli Liga Leumit game.

Making his third start of the 2020-21 campaign, the Nigeria U20 striker justified his inclusion in the starting line-up by manager Eldad Shavit.

Buoyed by a 1-0 triumph over Hapoel Nof HaGalil in their last fixture, the visitors took the lead after seven minutes through Timor Avitan at the National Stadium Ramat Gan.

The lead lasted for just three minutes as the hosts equalised through Olawale. Profiting from a dreadful back pass by Mohammed Kalibat, the 18-year-old scooted to win the ball, beat his marker before finding his composure to fire past goalkeeper Matan Ambar.

Emery Welshman put Ra'anana ahead in the 25th minute after his long-range strike sailed past Ambar thanks to an assist from midfielder Bashir Bahjat.

Iksal dominated ball possession but they were unable to level matters due to profligacy in front of goal.

In the evenly balanced second half, the hosts adopted a cautious approach while the visiting side attacked in their numbers.

Nevertheless, it was Yarin Sharabi who got the all-important third goal in the 67th minute after Olawale and Welshman had combined well to assist him.

At the end of 90 minutes, it was Hudeda’s team – who fluffed several scoring opportunities returned home with heads bowed low.

The Nigeria international was on parade from start to finish while his compatriot Bede Osuji was not dressed for action.

After the four-goal thriller, Olawale took to social media to revel in his maiden goal for the Israeli second division outfit.

“Today, I scored my first senior goal for Hapoel Ra’anana. This means a lot to me and my career. And God willing, I hope to keep firing on all cylinders. Thanks to my family and good friends for their unflinching support always,” he tweeted.

Thanks to this result, Hapoel Ra’anana moved to 10th in the log after garnering 30 points from 25 matches. For their own part, Hapoel Iksal remain in fourth position with 40 points from the same number of outings.