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Cote d’Ivoire players are the best penalty takers in the history of the Premier League, Opta has revealed.

Wilfried Zaha converted from the spot as Crystal Palace played out a 1-1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in Sunday’s English elite division clash at Selhurst Park.

After a lacklustre start, Roy Hodgson’s Eagles were awarded a penalty by referee Stuart Attwell after Tariq Lamptey fouled Chelsea loanee Michy Batshuayi, who was on course to head home Andros Townsend’s well-tailored cross.

The ex-Manchester United man converted the ensuing kick by sending goalkeeper Mathew Ryan the wrong way.

Following Zaha’s penalty goal, players from the West African nation have now scored 25 out of their 28 attempts from 12 yards to boast of 89% conversion rate – the highest of all the 117th different countries to have graced the competition.

The three Ivorians to have missed their penalty kicks are Chelsea great Didier Drogba against Tottenham Hotspur in 2010, Aruna Dindane against Burnley in 2009 during his time at Portsmouth, and Wilfried Bony versus Newcastle United on April 19, 2014 during his time at Swansea City.

Over the years, Cote d’Ivoire players have enjoyed success in the Premier League with Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Drogba (Chelsea), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) and Kolo Toure (Arsenal).

Drogba won the EPL Golden Boot twice - in the 2006-07 (20 goals) and 2009-10 (29 goals) campaigns.

Zaha’s strike meant he has now scored seven times against Brighton and Hove Albion in the English top-flight, more than he has against any other Premier League opponent.

Palace, now placed 12th on the log having accrued seven points from five games played so far this season, will be gunning for their third triumph of the 2020-21 season when they travel to Craven Cottage on October 24 for a date against Scott Parker’s Fulham.

Jose Mourinho says Tottenham were not 'psychologically strong enough' to fight off West Ham's resurgence in Sunday's 3-3 draw.

Spurs had a three-goal lead within 16 minutes of the Premier League encounter as a goal from Son Heung-min and a Harry Kane double put the hosts in control.

But an incredible last 10 minutes of the match saw the Hammers mount an incredible comeback, with Fabian Balbuena heading past Hugo Lloris ajd Davinson Sanchez turning into his own net before Manuel Lanzini secured a draw with a stunning strike from distance.

Mourinho says his side deserved the punishment for their mental weakness in the second half.

"Football. Of course I have to analyse the second half and have to do it internally, but for you I prefer to say football happened, and praise West Ham's belief," he said to Sky Sports.

'It is not easy to be losing 3-0 and be dominated, to keep the belief. I knew they are a different team to last season, but to lose an advantage of three goals is a big punishment and eventually deserved.

"I found already by analysing from the touchline, some things are completely out of the context, once more an indirect free-kick, the own goal, the third is a free-kick and second ball, a rebound.

"The game was under control, we had Harry Kane to score the fourth when he hit the post, Gareth Bale to kill the game. The game was more to the fourth goal, but that's football.

"Not deliberately, but the team was dropping, with [Harry] Winks we found balance again and was in control. It was exactly when we were in control that we conceded the first and their belief went up. My guys were not strong enough to cope with it psychologically. The last few seconds we lost two points."

He continued to BBC Sport: "We should be stronger. In the second half they risked quite a lot, pressing up and gave us more space. We should get an occasion to win the game.

"I don't know if it was us inviting them or with them with the extra motivation of getting in the game. I can't identify us or them, maybe both."

Edinson Cavani trained with his Manchester United team-mates for the first time on Sunday ahead of a potential reunion with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Uruguay international joined the Red Devils on transfer deadline day as a free agent, having previously left the Ligue 1 outfit at the end of last season.

The 33-year-old forward was forced to undergo mandatory quarantine at the behest of the United Kingdom's government, however, in line with their regulations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Those regulations dictated that he was unable to link up with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side in time for their Premier League win against Newcastle on Saturday.

Now, with his exile over, the striker has been able to join the rest of United's squad ahead of their first European match of the season, putting him in line for a possible immediate return to his old stomping ground at the Parc des Princes.

United took to social media to release footage of Cavani for the first time, showcasing the forward undertaking drills alongside the rest of the squad.

The ex-Napoli man is one of four specialist attackers named by the club on their A-list for the competition, alongside Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Odion Ighalo.

If picked in midweek, Cavani will be thrust into the heart of United's first Champions League campaign for two years, only months after his former side were downed in the final of last season's competition by Bayern Munich.

Cavani spent seven years in the French capital, scoring 200 goals in 301 games and helping them cement a period of dominance at the summit of the country's domestic football pyramid.

During his spell with the club, he topped the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts in consecutive seasons between 2016 and 2018, and was named the league's Player of the Year in 2017.

On the international stage, Cavani was a member of the Uruguay squad who finished fourth in the 2010 World Cup, while he helped his nation to consecutive knockout stage appearances in 2014 and 2018 during his stay in Paris, ultimately losing out to eventual champions France in the latter.

Samuel Chukwueze was in action as Villarreal defeated Valencia 2-1 to move to the top of La Liga table on Sunday.

The forward walked straight into Unai Emery’s first XI after starring for the Nigeria national team during the international break.

The 21-year-old winger featured prominently for the Super Eagles against African champions Algeria and Tunisia in Austria.

Chukwueze impressed in the encounter as the Yellow Submarine returned to winning ways after playing out a goalless draw against Atletico Madrid last time out.

Villarreal started the game on the front foot, with the Nigeria international inspiring their opener in the encounter.

The winger delivered a fine cross into the area and Gabriel Paulista brought down Mario Gaspar as he attempted to connect to Chukwueze’s cross.

Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande subsequently awarded a penalty to Villarreal and Paco Alcacer swiftly dispatched it into the back of the net.

Moments before the half-time break, Goncalo Guedes levelled proceedings for Valencia after he receiving the ball from Carlos Soler.

Daniel Parejo then scored the winning goal with a fine strike to ensure his side clinched their third win of the season before they were reduced to 10 men in additional time after Takefusa Kubo was shown his second yellow card.

Chukwueze played for 64 minutes before making way for Francis Coquelin While Central African Republic international Geoffrey Kondogbia did not feature for Valencia.

The Super Eagles winger had 38 touches on the ball, struck two shots and had an 82% successful pass rate in the encounter.

Chukwueze will hope to continue his fine form when Villarreal take on Turkish side Sivasspor in a Europa League game on Thursday.

Manuel Lanzini's last-gasp stunner sealed a remarkable comeback from West Ham to earn a 3-3 draw against Tottenham in a thrilling London derby on Sunday.

Jose Mourinho's men were in complete control from the moment Son Heung-min opened the scoring inside a minute, with Harry Kane's quickfire double seemingly confirming the victory after only 16 minutes.

However, Fabian Balbuena's header and a Davinson Sanchez own goal set up a nervy finish, and Lanzini's incredible strike secured a point for the visitors at the death, putting a huge dampener on Gareth Bale's Spurs return.

Back in the dugout for the first time since testing positive for coronavirus in late September, West Ham boss David Moyes would have hoped to see his team build on the two convincing Premier League wins earned in his absence.

Instead, the Hammers lasted just 45 seconds before conceding, Kane dropping into midfield before clipping the ball over the top for Son, who cut inside Balbuena with ease to dispatch a low shot into the far corner.

Things went from bad to worse shortly after, as Kane nutmegged Declan Rice at the edge of the box before sending a shot through the legs of Angelo Ogbonna and beyond a helpless Lukasz Fabianski.

And, while the visitors had a couple of promising moments in the aftermath of that second goal through the industrious Michail Antonio, they simply could not keep Spurs at bay at the other end.

Consequently, they were 3-0 down after 16 minutes, Kane grabbing his second with a powerful header from Sergio Reguilon's cross to the back post.

To their credit, West Ham attempted to produce a positive response to an opening quarter of an hour that had all but ended their hopes of taking anything from the game, but any potential openings they worked were often wasted, while Tottenham continued to look dangerous on the counter.

Even when the visitors did manage to finally create, they were wasteful, not least when Pablo Fornals somehow contrived to head a deflected Antonio cross over from close range shortly after the restart.

For their part, Spurs looked understandably happy to simply sit on their lead and attempt to manage the opposition threat, with counter-attacks their main source of chances in the second period.

And it was one such quick break that almost led to Kane grabbing his hat-trick, the England striker clattering the post 10 minutes from time with a fine left-footed effort from distance. 

Spurs brought on Bale but his second debut did not end how he would have hoped, as there proved to be a sting in the tail for the hosts.

Their grip on the game seemed to loosen when Balbuena headed in from a dangerous free-kick delivery from the left wing and that was quickly followed by Sanchez's own goal, the defender inadvertently heading Vladimir Coufal's cross beyond Hugo Lloris in the Spurs net.

And, after Bale has missed a glorious opening, Lanzini completed the comeback in the fourth minute of injury time as he smashed a marvellous long-range effort beyond a despairing Lloris to make it 3-3.

What does it mean? Spurs resurgence tested

After a nightmare start to the season in losing at home to Everton, Tottenham had begun to stage a recovery under Mourinho.

Spurs overcame a testing schedule prior to the international break to beat Chelsea on penalties in the EFL Cup, and hand out thrashings to Maccabi Haifa and Manchester United in the Europa League and Premier League respectively.

However, after surrendering a three-goal lead to their local rivals, Mourinho's men are sure to once again come in for harsh scrutiny.

Hammers comeback a rare feat

It was a stunning comeback from the visitors, underlined by the fact that it was only the third time in Premier League history a side has avoided defeat despite trailling by three or more goals going into the 80th minute.

West Brom managed it in a crazy 5-5 draw with Manchester United in 2013, with Norwich City having also done so in a 4-4 draw with Middlesbrough in 2004.

Kane & Son's deadly partnership continues

Kane set a new Premier League record, his assist and two goals making it 12 goal involvements this season.

No player has ever managed as many in their opening five games of a campaign in the Premier League era, with the previous best of 11 set by Thierry Henry for Arsenal in 2004-05.

Key Opta Facts

- Tottenham (D1 L2) have failed to win any of their opening three home games of a Premier League season for just the fourth time (and first time since 2017-18), conceding stoppage-time equalisers in each of their last two.

- Tottenham were 3-0 up within 16 minutes against West Ham, the earliest they have scored three times in a single Premier League game since August 2007 v Derby County (14 mins).

- West Ham full-back Aaron Cresswell has assisted three goals in just five Premier League appearances this season, after managing only one across his previous 56 matches in the top flight.

- Since Jose Mourinho took charge of Spurs in November 2019, Harry Kane (33) and Son Heung-Min (30) have had a direct hand in more goals in all competitions than any other Premier League players.

What's next?

Tottenham will need to recover quickly from this setback as they kick off their Europa League group-stage campaign against LASK on Thursday, while West Ham head into a daunting clash with Manchester City next weekend full of confidence.

Former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has revealed that no deal with Ghana Premier League side Asante Kotoko has been agreed despite his desire to wear the colours of the club.

In the twilight of his career, the 34-year-old has never hidden a long ambition to represent the most successful club in the history of the domestic league before calling time on his professional career.

He has been unattached since leaving Indian Super League fold NorthEast United earlier this year, his situation fuelling rumours of a move to Kotoko ahead of the commencement of the 2020-21 Ghana football season in November.

Last month, media reports claimed the ex-Udinese man's high salary demand has proven a stumbling block to a deal thus far.

“I have said on countless occasions that I have Kotoko at heart. I have also said I will play for them before I retire from the game," Gyan told Adom TV.

"As I’m without a club, there were speculations that the deal has been finalised but as a professional football player, we don’t deal like that.

“I have made it known that I will play for them but at least we have to go through processes because I’m still a professional footballer.

"I don’t want people to downgrade the Ghanaian league. At times people even get it wrong [by their assumption] that if a player travels abroad, then he then becomes a professional footballer. But they don’t know that the Ghana league is professional.

“Kotoko should do everything professional although I have said I will play for them. I can't just stand up and say I’m going to play for the club. I’m available so when they are ready, we have to sit down and go through whatever is involved in terms of signing a contract.”

Gyan played for Liberty Professionals during his previous stint in the Ghana Premier League ahead of a move to Udinese in 2003.

“The new [Kotoko] chief executive [officer] Nana Yaw Amponsah is my friend and a partner. He is a good guy and knows everything about the game. We talk behind the scene but it’s not even about football because of our [kind of] relationship," he added

"Kotoko should just do things right, they need to do things that will suit the player and the club before the deal can go through. We don’t do a deal just like that.

"If everything goes the way I expect, I will join Kotoko. Football is my job and everything will depend on me and the club but it’s all about negotiations.

"People will say I have money, so I should play for free, but we don’t do that. If it happens that way, it means you are trying to take advantage of me, people have the impression I love the club, so I will play for free, no, I won’t do that."

Kotoko, arguably Ghana's biggest club, has won the Premier League on 23 occasions. 

Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro believes Vivianne Miedema can still get better after becoming the Women’s Super League’s all-time top-scorer.

The Netherlands international scored a hat-trick against Tottenham on Sunday in the north London derby, helping the Gunners to a 6-1 win while taking her tally to 52 goals in 50 league games – a new WSL record.

It was just the latest record for the 24-year-old, who is already her country’s all-time top-scorer, and her manager believes there is even more to come.

"Her ability to be better is there. She can get better. She's a person who wants to get better, she wants to challenge herself, she wants to be even better, because there's still a lot of learning and development to go," he said.

“I'm enjoying working with her and having her as part of the group, and as long as Viv's smiling we'll keep seeing a better Viv.

“We see from a football perspective, week-by-week, the contribution Viv makes as a footballer, but I’m blessed and lucky to be a part of her everyday scenario.

“She is an amazing person there for the team, a team player. I’m blessed to have 23 players that work for each other.

“The thing that was enlightening [during the game] was the players injured [who were sat] behind me, their energy and encouragement for the players, and Viv is a part of that. Off the ball she is also an amazing person.

“It’s great to see her have the freedom and opportunity to be part of our attacking part and she gets the reward for it.”

After setting that scoring record, there is likely to be no slowing down for Miedema, who has 10 goals in her first five league games this season now.

The forward signed a new long-term deal with Arsenal in December 2018 and has since gone on to prove herself as one of the best players in the world.

Montemurro says the club plan on talking to the 24-year-old about a new deal very soon, adding: "It's something that we'll start to do very, very early - around November.

“We already start to look at where we're heading with the direction of next year and years to come, but obviously Viv will be on top of that list and we'll do everything we can to make sure Viv remains a part of the group.

“She's an important part of the group, obviously as a footballer but also off the park, her qualities as a person are fantastic."

Liverpool will be without Virgil van Dijk for a number of months after confirming that the defender suffered serious knee ligament damage in Saturday’s Merseyside derby.

Van Dijk was forced off just 11 minutes into the Reds’ 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday following a reckless challenge from Blues goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

He was sent for a hospital scan immediately after the game, and visited a specialist on Sunday to ascertain the full extent of the issue. 

The news which came back was devastating for the Premier League champions. Van Dijk has suffered damage to his anterior cruciate ligament, which will require surgery and will keep him out of action for an extended period. 

Liverpool have refused to give an exact timeframe for his recovery, with club sources refusing to rule out the possibility of the 29-year-old returning to action before the end of the season. The club's medical staff believe his exceptional attitude and mentality will give him every chance of reducing the lay-off time.

What is certain, though, is that Van Dijk will miss the majority of Liverpool’s Premier League title defence, as well as the bulk of their Champions League campaign.

It is shattering news for Jurgen Klopp, who was left distinctly unamused by Pickford’s challenge – as well as the fact the Everton man was not shown a red card for such a reckless lunge. 

Reds captain Jordan Henderson revealed that the England number one had sought him out at the final whistle, asking him to pass on an apology to Van Dijk, but Liverpool have contacted the Premier League asking it to review the application of VAR during the game, having been further incensed at seeing a winning goal, scored by Henderson, ruled out for a questionable offside against Sadio Mane.

The two points dropped, though, pale into insignificance when compared to Van Dijk’s injury. The Dutchman has become a totemic figure at Anfield since arriving from Southampton for £75 million ($97m) in January 2018, a player Klopp knows will be impossible to replace at the heart of his defence.

Van Dijk had, prior to this weekend, played every minute of Liverpool’s last 74 league matches, helping them record the best defensive record in the division in each of the last two seasons. In 2019, he was the PFA Player of the Year, and finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting to Lionel Messi.

Now, Liverpool must hope that Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, who made his own return from injury against Everton, can remain fit and healthy. Both have had issues throughout their Reds career, but both will now need to step up if Liverpool are to maintain the standards shown across the past two campaigns. The pair, remarkably, have never started a game together at centre-back in their time at the club.

Matip returned from a hamstring injury against Everton, completing 90 minutes for the first time since last October. Gomez, whose form has been patchy in recent weeks, replaced the stricken Van Dijk early.

Klopp has the option of using midfielder Fabinho as a centre-back, a tactic which worked well away at Chelsea earlier this season, while both Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum have, in the past, covered in the backline in emergency situations.

Beyond that, Liverpool would need to rely on youngsters. Billy Koumetio, the 17-year-old, offers promise and made a big impression on Klopp and his staff during the pre-season training camp in Austria, though is relatively untested, even at Under-18 or Under-23 level.

Rhys Williams, 19, showed quality in two Carabao Cup appearances this season, and appears to have benefited from a loan spell at Kidderminster in the sixth tier last term, while Sepp van den Berg, who has top-flight experience with Zwolle in the Eredivisie, is still with the club having failed to secure a loan move in the summer.

Nat Phillips is another option. The 23-year-old, who spent last season on loan with Stuttgart in 2.Bundesliga, was not moved on in the summer despite interest from a host of Championship clubs, and will train with the senior squad at Melwood. Phillips made his debut for the Reds in the FA Cup win over Everton in January, and is back fit again following an ankle issue which disrupted his pre-season.

Following a game of two halves in which there were positives and negatives, new Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt got his tenure off to a winning start as his side edged out Maritzburg United 2-1 in an MTN8 quarter-final clash at the FNB Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

It should be noted, before too much is read into this result, that Hunt was without a half a team of potential first-choice players (due to injury and suspension), including influential forwards Samir Nurkovic, Lebogang Manyama, Dumisani Zuma, as well as Eric Mathoho and Willard Katsande.

Leonardo Castro, meanwhile, was not fully fit and started on the bench. The former Bidvest Wits mentor also only had two-and-a-half weeks of preparation with his new players.

Nevertheless, there were several noteworthy take-outs from the game.

Poor start

"I think first half we were still in the bus," Hunt told SuperSport after the match, in what was a great summation of Chiefs' performance in the first 45 minutes.

It certainly was a nervy-looking Amakhosi side which took part in the opening stanza.

And the opening half couldn't have gone much worse, although Chiefs were lucky to only be 1-0 down after the KwaZulu-Natal side had struck the bar through Bongokuhle Hlongwane not long after Thabiso Kutumela had notched the opening goal.

Going forward in attack, Chiefs looked disjointed and lacked purpose, while at the back, the home defence regularly found themselves being pulled out of shape and exposed by Maritzburg's attackers.

Positive signs

It all changed after the interval, and Hunt's two substitutes, Njabulo Blom and Castro, made a significant impact as he demonstrated his tactical nous.

There was also a substantial increase in focus and intensity from the Soweto side, likely a result of a stinging team talk at the break.

That Hunt was able to get such a reaction from his men was probably the most important point of the day. The character, fighting spirit and unity bode well for the season.

It was also crucial in terms of putting to bed last season's bitter disappointment of losing out on the league title on the final day. Just imagine how the morale may have sunk had Amakhosi started the new season by being knocked out of the cup.

For Hunt, it was the mental fortitude his men showed which was most satisfying and he'll be hoping that with time and more training, his side will gel and go from strength to strength as systems are implemented.

"I take mentality, attitude [from the game]," Hunt concluded. "Nothing to write home about [in terms of] prettiness. I will try instill that attitude into the team."

Young Africans (Yanga SC) officials have promised the club’s fans they will not interfere with the work of new coach Cedric Kaze.

The Burundian tactician was officially unveiled on Friday after signing a two-year contract to replace Serbian Zlatko Krmpotic, who was fired after only 37 days in charge of the team.

With many team officials already known to interfere with the work of coaches, to the extent of dictating which players should start in a match, Yanga chairman Mshindo Msolla has said they will give coach Kaze a free hand to do his work.

“It is that time we need to give our coach Kaze the support he needs to prepare our team and not to dictate to him which players to play and who should sit on the bench,” Msolla told reporters on Sunday.

“This is not the time to start giving our coach pressure, it is not the time to start discussing the coach on social media on what he should, or he needs to do or what he should have done, no…it is the time to let the coach do his work, let him do the job that we gave him to do.

“He is the one who attends training sessions and understands the strength of each and every player, so he is the one who should be allowed to pick the squad, not the fans or the officials, he knows how the squad can fit into his style of play, who can play where and how.”

“The coach will also be able to decide which player needs to be benched, not the fans or the officials, I want us to take our responsibilities of rallying behind the team and leave the technical matters to the coach, he knows why he is here and what we want him to achieve, let us give him the support.”

Msolla further urged Yanga fans to learn to have patience.

“We should be patient enough and give the coach time, ask me if I am giving them support, that is what I am supposed to provide to the technical bench, the rest, it is about them to plan and pick the best.”

Kaze arrived in Yanga from Canada where he was working with youth teams and he has already started training the team ahead of their next Mainland Premier League match against Polisi Tanzania on October 22.

Yanga have enjoyed a good start to the 2020-21 campaign as they have managed to register four wins from the five matches played so far with the other one ending in a 1-1 draw.

Schalke issued an apology to Borussia Dortmund youngster Youssoufa Moukoko after he received racist abuse during his match-winning performance for the Under-19s on Sunday.

The 15-year-old scored a hat-trick as his side beat their fierce rivals 3-2, but the match was marred by a torrent of abuse from the home supporters.

Schalke condemned the action of the perpetrators in a post on Twitter and promised that the club will investigate the matter. 

"We can only apologise for the behaviour of some of our fans towards Youssoufa #Moukoko at today's U19s match. Derby emotions aside, we completely condemn and oppose such insults," a tweet read.

Moukoko hit back at the Schalke fans with an Instagram post which read: "I am proud to be born with this skin colour and will always be proud."

And team-mate Lloyd-Addo Kuffour expressed his outrage in a post-match interview, saying: “It's a shame that some fans still haven't understood that we're in 2020.

"In football we have no place for racism and yet I'm very proud of the guys that we gave the right answer on the pitch."

Meanwhile, Dortmund's youth co-ordinator Lars Ricken was appalled by the vitriol aimed at the striker, but was proud of the team's response in Gelsenkirchen.

He told Ruhr Nachrichten: "Something like that has no place in a Bundesliga game, and certainly not in a U19 game. That is very sad and I am glad that we gave a sporty answer on the pitch.

“The players have known each other for years from various selections and direct duels against each other. Again, despite all the intensity, it was actually a fair game the whole time."

Moukoko's hat-trick was his third in a row, having helped his side obliterate Preussen Munster U19s 5-0 in September before his one-man show in the 3-0 win against Wehen Wiesbaden U19s in the youth DFB-Pokal earlier this month.

“Yousouffa is on fire, with every training session, every game," said coach Mike Tullberg. "He's hot for football, he's a real role model for everyone in every situation."

Brighton and Hove Albion rank as the English top-flight side Wilfried Zaha has scored the most goals against, thanks to his opening strike for Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.

The Eagles went into the clash with the ambition of bouncing back from their 4-0 obliteration against Chelsea, however, the game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.

In the 17th minute of the encounter, Roy Hodgson’s men, who made a slow start, were awarded a penalty after Tariq Lamptey pulled back on-loan Chelsea forward Michy Batshuayi who was heading for Andros Townsend’s deep cross.

Zaha fired the resulting kick past goalkeeper Mathew Ryan who went the wrong way to give the Eagles an early lead.

With that strike, the former Manchester United man has scored seven times against the Seagulls in all competitions, more than he has against any other Premier League opposition.

Also, that goal was his fourth in five outings in the ongoing 2020-21 season to equal last season’s feat where he achieved that number in 38 outings.

In the second half, Graham Potter’s men tried all their best to level matters, and when they looked dead and buried, super-sub Alexis Mac Allister latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Aaron Connolly before rifling past goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

Palace had the chance to grab a late win during extra-time as the visitors had captain Lewis Dunk sent off. Even at that, the game ended on a no winner, no vanquished note.

While Senegal's Cheikhou Kouyate and Zaha were in action from start to finish, Ghana's Jeffrey Schlupp who was handed a starter's role was substituted for Christian Benteke in the 88th minute.

Schlupp’s compatriot Jordan Ayew was not listed for the game, while Anglo-Nigerian Eberechi Eze was an unused substitute.

For Brighton, Malian midfielder Yves Bissouma played every minute of the game, although he was cautioned in the 43rd minute.

With this result, Crystal Palace are now placed 12th having accrued seven points from five games played so far this season.

They would be gunning for their third triumph of the season when they travel to Craven Cottage on October 24 for a date against Scott Parker’s Fulham who are winless in all games played so far.

For Brighton, they are placed 16th in the log with just four points. They welcome Semi Ajayi’s West Bromwich Albion to the American Express Community Stadium on October 26.

Hanane Ait El Haj and Peace Efih earned their debuts, while Rachel Nachula made her Spanish Reto Iberdrola scoring-debut for Zaragoza as her effort forced a 1-1 draw against Osasuna on Sunday.

Morocco's Ait El Haj, Nigeria's Efih and Zambia's Nachula joined the Spanish outfit this summer and they were handed starting debuts by coach Nacho Bracero in their side's draw with the visitors.

The two teams created several chances in the opening 45 minutes but could not convert any as they head into the half time break with a stalemate at the Enrique Porta de Villanueva.

After the break, the visitors stunned the hosts when Maria Gonzalez broke the deadlock to put her side in front in the 70th minute.

Three minutes from time, American forward Lana Spitler teed up Nachula inside the area to grab her maiden goal and rescue the hosts from suffering a losing start to their league campaign.

Morocco's Ait El Haj bagged a yellow card while Zambia's Nachula scored her first competitive goal as both were in action for the duration of the match for Zaragoza. 

Besides El Haj and Nachula, Nigeria's Efih featured for 55 minutes before she was replaced by Cara Curtin while Zambia's Hellen Mubanga was an unused substitute for Zaragoza.

The result saw Zaragoza placed fourth on the log with one point after their opening match of the season and they will continue their campaign with a visit to leaders AEM on October 25.

Kaizer Chiefs came back to defeat Maritzburg United 2-1 in the MTN8 quarter-final match at FNB Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Yagan Sasman grabbed two quick goals in the closing stages of the match as Gavin Hunt began his era at Amakhosi with a victory. 

Amakhosi were hoping to finally beat their bogey team as the Team of Choice were enjoying a three-match unbeaten run against Chiefs.

Maritzburg defeated Chiefs twice in the recent season including a Telkom Knockout Cup clash and the other encounter ended in a draw.

Chiefs were starting a new 2020/21 season under a new head coach Gavin Hunt, who had to find a way to mastermind a win over the Team of Choice without several key players.

Itumeleng Khune started in goal as expected with Daniel Akpeyi missing due to a passport issue and Lazarous Kambole led the attack with Samir Nurkovic out injured. 

On the other hand, Maritzburg were starting life without Ghana's finest goalkeeper Richard Ofori, who is set to complete a move to Orlando Pirates and Bongani Mpandle started in goal.

Coach Eric Tinkler named an offensive-minded team with three strikers Thabiso Kutumela, Bongani Hlongwane and Judas Moseamedi all starting.

Maritzburg fired the first warning very early into the match when Kutumela forced Khune into a good save at the near post after the Soweto giants' defence was exposed.

The Team of Choice continued to press Amakhosi and they deservedly took the lead through Kutumela, who beat Khune with a low effort to make it 1-0 to Maritzburg in the 35th minute.

Chiefs tried to respond with a goal, but Mpandle was alert in the visitors' goal-posts as he produced a fine low save to deny Yagan Sasman.

Maritzburg did not sit back and defend as Khune was forced to come out and block Moseamedi's dangerous curling cross, before Hlongwane hit the crossbar as pressure mounted on the hosts.

Chiefs were then able to contain Tinkler's men in the latter stages of the first-half and the score was 1-0 to Maritzburg at the interval.

Hunt introduced Leonardo Castro prior to the start of the second half, but it was Parker, who caused havoc for the Maritzburg defence as the hosts looked to restore parity.

The former FC Twente striker, who was at the heart of every good Chiefs attack, hit the upright with Mpandle well-beaten, before unleashing two powerful shots which narrowly missed the target.

The pressure was mounting on Maritzburg as Njabulo Blom hit the crossbar with a deflected effort and then Chiefs finally levelled matters in the 73rd minute when Sasman netted from Khama Billiat's corner-kick to make it 1-1.

The goal unsettled the Team of Choice defence and the visitors conceded again two minutes later when Sasman scored from another corner-kick from Billiat to make it 2-1 to Chiefs.

Maritzburg launched late attacks as they looked to snatch a late equalizing goal, but the home side stood firm at the back and ultimately, Chiefs emerged 2-1 winners on the day.

The result sees Chiefs join their arch-rivals Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United in the semi-finals, while Maritzburg bowed out of the tournament. 

Celtic manager Neil Lennon was disgusted to find out that someone from within the club had leaked the team's starting XI for Saturday's Old Firm derby against Rangers.

The reigning Scottish champions suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to their city rivals and now sit four points behind them, though the Bhoys have a game in hand.

Celtic's team for the clash was published online prematurely and Lennon fears his job will be made even more difficult if they cannot maintain privacy within the club as they look to seal a 10th consecutive league title. 

"I don't know, it's not great. Somebody within the club is doing us in, basically, and that's disgusting, I think," he told BBC Sport after the defeat. 

"We'll try [to get to the bottom of it], we'll work at it. It's very disappointing.

"Of course it does [make my job more difficult]. I keep talking about a sense of privacy around our club but that doesn't seem to be the case for some people. That's very disappointing from my point of view.

"We've got a run of games now where hopefully players will get fitter, sharper and we get players back from illness as well, then things will start looking better, but this [match] was always going to be an uphill task."

Lennon admits his side were second best to Steven Gerrard's team, but said fitness issues had a role in the performance.

"It looked like what we were, a team put together the day before the game. We gave away two poor goals. Rangers defended their box better than we did, particularly for the second goal we should have done better," he added.

"I'm disappointed that we conceded again from a set-play. Then we missed a great chance, Mohamed Elyounoussi is clean through. Then the psychology of the game changes, when you're 2-0 down you're really chasing the game.

"We've got players who aren't fully fit coming on and didn't have the impact that we were hoping they would have. Look at the players that are missing, your [James] Forrests, [Odsonne] Edouards, [Albian] Ajeti's not fully fit, [Leigh] Griffiths isn't fully fit, so you've got three main strikers not available to start the game so we accepted that, but we still created decent chances, particularly in the first half.

"People can make it out to be whatever they want it to be. For me it's a defeat. We've got a game in hand, we have to maximise that, win the game and stay in touch, get players fitter and sharper.

"It's been disruptive with the Covid, it's been disruptive with a lot of players away on international duty, I'm not sure some of them are on the ball today mentally."

Ademola Lookman ended a three-year Premier League goal drought in Fulham’s 1-1 draw against Sheffield United.

The forward arrived at Craven Cottage on a season-long loan from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig this summer and has been delivering impressive showings.

Lookman had previously starred for Charlton Athletic and Everton before leaving for Germany to continue his development.

The 22-year-old was handed his first Premier League start for the Cottagers at Bramall Lane following his stand-out performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out.

The Nigerian attacker made the most of the opportunity when he scored his first goal for the newly-promoted Premier League side against Sheffield.

The first-half produced few goal-mouth actions, with both sides missing a number of goalscoring opportunities.

After the restart, a glorious opportunity fell in the way of Aleksandar Mitrovic to open the scoring for Fulham but he missed his strike from the penalty spot.

Lookman then put his side in front with a spectacular strike past goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in the 77th minute.

The 22-year-old twisted and turned past his markers before firing home a beauty into the roof of the net.

The effort is his first in the Premier League since January 2017 when he made a goalscoring debut for Everton against Manchester City.

Billy Sharp then levelled proceedings for Sheffield United with five minutes left to play to deny the Craven Cottage outfit all three points. 

Lookman featured for the duration of the game along with Nigeria international Ola Aina, who is also another summer recruit and Tosin Adarabioyo.

The forward will hope to continue his impressive performances and help Fulham end their four-game winless run across all competitions when they take on Crystal Palace on October 24.

Uganda Cranes have suffered a huge blow as their defender Bevis Mugabi will miss their Africa Cup of Nations double-header against South Sudan in November.

The burly defender, who was in the Cranes squad which toured Dubai during the Fifa international break, for a ten-day training camp, has been ruled out for up to six weeks by his Scottish club Motherwell FC.

“Bevis Mugabi will be out for four to six weeks with a dislocated shoulder,” the club said in a statement on their official website. “The defender, who has established himself as an important figure in the Motherwell backline, suffered the injury on his return to training earlier this week.”

Speaking on the injury, the club’s manager Stephen Robinson said: “It is a blow to lose Bevis. He has played his way into the team and acquitted himself very well.

“He just seems to be unfortunate that when he gets a run of games, he suffers an injury.”

The Cranes opted to visit Dubai instead of playing friendly matches and their coach Johnathan McKinstry later explained why the Dubai training camp was more important than friendlies.

The Federation of Uganda Football Association (Fufa) decided to take the Cranes to the Middle East for a week-long training camp ahead of a November double-header against South Sudan.

“Overall, I am very pleased with the camp we have completed in Dubai, it has been a very worthwhile six-seven day,” McKinstry said as was quoted by Sports Nation.

“We have done a lot of good work not only on the field but also in the classroom.

“And this is something you don’t often get to do during an international football break because it tends to be a match after a match where your focus is on that opponent and not get much time to look at yourself on how to build for a long time.

“This last week was really about building for the medium and long term, not just for the objectives of the South Sudan double-header in November but also looking for to the rest of the Afcon qualifying and the qualifying series of the World Cup as well.”

The former Rwanda coach was happy, for they concluded the training camp without incidences of coronavirus infection.

“The boys have worked extremely hard, and we have also been able to follow Covid-19 protocols as all our tests returned negative,” he added.

“There have been challenges everywhere, we saw the Guinea game called off.”

McKinstry also promised that he will soon name the players to take on South Sudan for the third Afcon group qualifier.

Mamelodi Sundowns' Denis Onyango and Smouha SC’s Derrick Nsibambi's missed the Dubai trip and the former’s case irked the coach who blasted the club for not releasing his captain.

South Sudan, who are looking for a maiden Afcon qualification, were active during the Fifa break and drew 0-0 with Cameroon.

Uganda are topping Group B on four points same as Burkina Faso while Malawi have three and South Sudan are last without a point.

Karl Toko Ekambi netted twice, Tino Kadewere, Jean Aholou and Habib Diallo were also on the scoresheet as Lyon secured a hard-fought 3-2 win over Strasbourg in Sunday’s Ligue 1 game.

Toko Ekambi was afforded his fifth start in the campaign and opened his account to help Rudi Garcia’s men clinch all three points away from home.

The Cameroon international formed a three-man attack along with Memphis Depay and Zimbabwe international Tino Kadewere for Lyon.

Ivory Coast midfielder Aholou was afforded a starting role while Diallo came off the bench to make his contribution for the Racers.

The Kids hit the ground running in the encounter when Kadewere opened the goal surge in the 12th minute after he was set up by Depay.

Eight minutes later, Toko Ekambi doubled Lyon’s lead with a fine effort after benefitting from another Depay assist.

The Cameroon forward then completed his brace in the encounter in the 42nd minute before Diallo pulled one back for Strasbourg shortly before the half-time break.

After the restart, the Racers pushed for a possible equalizer forcing Toko Ekambi and Ivory Coast international Maxwel Cornet to be cautioned.

Aholou then ignited the hopes of Strasbourg, scoring moments before the hour mark after receiving a timely pass from Mohamed Simakan.

Lyon, however, managed to hold on to their lead and secured their second win of the season at Stade de la Meinau.

Toko Ekambi featured for the duration of the game along with Cornet while Kadewere was replaced in the 65th minute by Moussa Dembele.

Aholou was on parade for the entirety of the game while Ghana international Abdul Majeed Waris played for six minutes in the encounter as his side suffered their sixth defeat of the campaign.

The African stars will hope to continue their impressive showings when Lyon take on Monaco and Strasbourg square off against Brest on October 25 respectively.