Looking for Soccer News?

Harry Kane has won the Premier League Golden Boot for the third time, with the Tottenham striker notching 23 goals for the season.

The England captain finished a single strike ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, sealing his success with a final-day strike against Leicester in a 3-2 win.

With Spurs trailing 1-0 and needing inspiration, Kane fired an equaliser via a powerful volley that passed through the legs of home goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Kane’s Golden Boot pedigree

Kane has passed the 20-goal mark in the Premier League for the fifth time in the last seven years, though the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.

His 23 goals mark his fourth best haul in England’s top flight, though he has won the Golden Boot only twice previously. He achieved the feat in 2016-17, when he scored 29 times in 30 outings and replicated his achievement the following season when he hit the 30-goal mark for the first and so far only time in his career, albeit from seven additional matches.

Kane’s hat-trick of Golden Boots put him up there with the best strikers the Premier League has to offer in its history. Alan Shearer won the award on three occasions, while the duo are only surpassed by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

With rumours circulating over his future, though, this may be the last time that Kane turns out for Tottenham in the Premier League.

Further Reading

Premier League top scorers 2020-21: Kane wins Golden Boot

Golden Shoe 2020-21: Europe's leading scorers

Manchester United star Juan Mata admits he still does not know whether he has a future at the club - but he is not looking any further than Wednesday's Europa League final against Villarreal. 

Mata enjoyed a rare start for the Red Devils on Sunday and marked the occasion by scoring from the spot before being replaced by teenager Hannibal Mejbri towards the end of his side's 2-1 victory over Wolves. 

But after seven and a half seasons at Old Trafford, it is unclear whether the Spain international will renew his contract beyond this summer. 

What was said? 

"I don't know," the midfielder said to  BT Sport  when asked whether he would stay with United. 

"In three days we have a very important game which is where my mind is. I still feel I can play good football.

"It is not the moment now to speak about it. I know what I want, I am happy with how I feel physically and mentally and I am still happy to play football for some years."

Solskjaer's opinion

"We are talking to Juan," United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer indicated to  BT Sport  after the final whistle.

"It is a bit what he wants as well. I don't give him enough game time but he such a professional and top quality. We will have a discussion."

Solskjaer also registered his happiness with a much-changed United side on Sunday, with the Reds ultimately finishing five points clear of third-placed Liverpool in second.

"Very happy. Proud of them. They took the ball well, created chances and got the win they deserved," he added, while referencing his team's unbeaten away record throughout the 2020-21 season.

"Our home form then hasn't been the greatest but what an achievement. To go a season undefeated away is something to be proud of."

Further reading 

Achraf Hakimi was in action as Inter Milan ended the 2020-21 Serie A season with a 5-1 demolition of Udinese on Sunday.

The 22-year-old was handed his 29th league appearance and made a significant contribution to help Antonio Conte’s men end the campaign in style.

Inter raced into the lead as early as the eighth minute when Ashley Young found the back of the net after pouncing on a loose ball.

The Black and Blues continued to dominate possession and got their second goal of the encounter moments before the end of the first half through Christian Eriksen.

After the restart, Inter continued to dominate proceedings and Lautaro Martinez further increased their lead in the 55th minute, converting from the penalty spot.

Ivan Perisic then fired a fine shot past goalkeeper Juan Musso after a brilliant combination with Matias Vecino before Romelu Lukaku sealed the victory for Inter, rendering Roberto Pereyra’s 79th-minute effort a mere consolation.

Hakimi featured for 57 minutes before he was replaced by Perisic and made two tackles, completed one dribble as part of his contribution in the encounter.

The wing-back teamed up with the Black and Blues last summer from Real Madrid after impressing on loan with Borussia Dortmund.

The versatile full-back was one of the consistent players for Inter as they won the Serie A title for the 19th time in their history.

Hakimi has made 46 appearances for Inter Milan this season across all competitions, including 37 in the Italian top-flight.

The Morocco international found the back of the net seven times and provided 10 assists, amid other dazzling displays.

The defender is also a prominent member of the Atlas Lions and recently helped the North African country qualify for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

He has made 34 appearances for Morocco since his debut against Canada in an international friendly in October 2016.

Title contenders KCB picked an impressive 3-0 win over Bandari in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League tie at Utalii Ground on Sunday to go top of the table.

David Simiyu, Thomas Harun and Derrick Otanga scored the three goals that helped the Bankers move above Tusker.

The Bankers opened the score in the 15th minute when Simiyu picked Reagan Otieno's pass and beat Justin Ndikumana in Bandari's goal. Vincent Wasambo should have made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute but he wasted a clear chance from close range.

Brian Odera of KCB was the first player to be yellow-carded after a sliding tackle on an opponent in the 26th minute. A minute later, KCB added the second goal when Thomas slotted past Ndikumana from close range. Bandari had to make a change at the half-hour mark when Umaru Kasumba was introduced for Brian Odera. 

Simiyu thought he had grabbed a brace in the 32nd minute but his header was ruled out for offside. Joseph Okoth denied Bandari their first open chance in the 36th minute when he parried over a free-kick taken by William Wadri.

Zedekiah Otieno made a change for the Bankers in the 57th minute as he replaced Wasambo with Samuel Mwangi. Two minutes after the change, Baraka Badi became the second player for the KCB side to be cautioned with a yellow card. Reagan Otieno came close to making it 3-0 with a 61st-minute attempt that went off target slightly.

Danson Chetambe and Benjamin Mosha were withdrawn for Yema Mwana and Darius Msagha in the 63rd minute as Bandari made more changes in an attempt to contain the dominant opponent. KCB's Otieno made changes again with the introduction of Martin Nderitu, Michael Oduor and Otanga in place of Simiyu, Otieno and Henry Onyango.

Otanga scored the third for the home side in the 83rd minute and he was assisted to score by Oduor who came onto the pitch at the same time.  Poor handling of the ball by Ndikumana made Otanga's work easier as the goalkeeper conceded the third goal of the game.

Meanwhile, at Sudi Stadium in Bungoma, Nzoia Sugar and Mathare United shared the spoils courtesy of a 2-2 draw.

Gabriel Wandera and Hillary Simiyu scored for the Sugar Millers while Klinsmann Omulanga and John Mwangi were the scorers for Frank Ouna’s charges.

Enyimba have been knocked out of the Caf Confederation Cup after holding Egyptian Premier League club Pyramids to a 1-1 draw in the second-leg of their quarter-final match on Sunday.

Fatai Osho’s men had suffered a 4-1 loss in the first-leg a week ago and thus, bowed out with a 5-2 aggregate defeat.

Ibrahim Adel got the visitors off to a flying start at the Enyimba International Stadium on Sunday with a stunning long-range strike in the 32nd minute but Anayo Iwuala drew Enyimba on level terms with his 40th-minute equaliser.

Iwuala who made his Super Eagles debut against Sierra Leone in March, missed the first-leg in Cairo due to fitness issues.

With the score 1-1, coach Osho immediately opted for fresh legs after the break as the People’s Elephants chased three goals to turn the encounter around.

Six minutes into the second-half, Augustine Oladapo, Gabriel Orok and Nabil Yarou were thrown into the fray to replace Philip Ozor, Victor Mbaoma and Nelson Ogbonnaya respectively.

Enyimba continued their push for more goals but Egypt goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy was brilliant between the sticks as he stopped two attempts from Orok to keep the visitors in control of the game.

Anthony Omaka and Kadri Timileyin were later introduced in the 81st minute, however, the tactical changes had no effects on the score.

Enyimba have now been eliminated in back-to-back quarter-final games in the Confederation Cup after they were hammered 3-1 on aggregate by Guinean club Horoya AC last year.

Pyramids will be waiting to face the winner of the clash between Raja Casablanca and Orlando Pirates in the semi-final stage. Pirates held the Moroccan giants to a 1-1 draw in South Africa last Sunday.

Pyramids made it through to the Confederation Cup final last year but they lost 1-0 to Morocco's RS Berkane in Cameroon.

Following Sunday’s elimination, Enyimba will turn their attention to the Nigeria Professional Football League where they currently sit 10th in the table with four games at hand.

Edin Terzic is happy to stay at Borussia Dortmund when Marco Rose takes over as head coach.

Terzic replaced Lucien Favre in December as interim coach until the end of the season and was tipped to be given the job on a permanent basis.

But Terzic has been encouraged by many pundits to leave the club after they decided to give Borussia Monchengladbach boss Rose the reins ahead of next season.

What has been said?

The 38-year-old says he has no problem returning to a background role to support the new coach, however. 

"We have clearly expressed the wish that my path can continue here with pleasure," he told reporters. 

"We will make the best decision in the interests of the club.

"At some point you will find out. I will go home with full enjoyment. I will enjoy that completely for the next few days."

What jobs has Terzic been linked with?

The former West Ham assistant has been listed as an option for other teams in the Bundesliga.

Eintracht Frankfurt were said to be interested in hiring him to replace Adi Hutter, who is on the way to take over at Gladbach.

Terzic was also linked with the Wolfsburg job because coach Oliver Glasner could still leave this summer.

Further reading

France coach Didier Deschamps is determined to put his spat with Karim Benzema behind him after recalling the Real Madrid ace for Euro 2020. 

Benzema was rewarded for a fine season at the Merengue with a return to international football following five years out in the cold.

And while the pair's relationship has been far from ideal in that interval, Deschamps is only interested in what the star can do on the pitch. 

What did Deschamps say about Benzema's return? 

"I won't talk about our discussion. But it was very, very long: there were a lot of exchanges," Deschamps told Telefoot on Sunday when asked about Benzema's comeback.

"What is important is today and tomorrow. The fact that he did not come back before did not prevent the French team from having good results."

The Bleus head coach added: "Things have changed. Me, and certainly Karim's side too, of course"

"I'm not going to tell you when, how, if it was possible before. The conditions were not met, they are today. If I made this decision, you can imagine that it was fine."

The bigger picture

Benzema found himself thrown out of the France set-up in 2016 in the midst of a scandal relating to him and former Les Bleus team-mate Mathieu Valbuena, who also saw his international career come to an end around the same time. 

The scandal involved allegations of blackmail related to a sex tape and the case will go to trial in October 2021. 

Tempers further flared between player and coach when, in a 2016 interview to Marca, Benzema accused Deschamps of "bowing to pressure from a racist part of France" by excluding him. 

"You want to make me talk about nasty things… There is one word: 'racist'," Deschamps told Telefoot.

"Since that day, I have not been the same. I don't see things the same way, I disconnected myself from everything. It was very violent."

Further reading 

Hansi Flick admits he did not think it was possible for Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski to break the record for most goals in a single Bundesliga season.

The Poland international netted his 41st goal of the campaign when he struck in the last match against Augsburg on Saturday.

Lewandowski left it to stoppage time of the 5-2 victory to break the record set by Gerd Muller in 1971-72, and his coach thought he was doomed to end the season level with the Bayern and Germany great.

What has been said?

"I’m glad for Lewy. The goal took him a long time. At some point I told Tapa [Toni Tapalovic, goalkeeping coach] I didn’t think he’d still get one, but he’s a goal-getter. That’s what marks him out," Flick told reporters.

"It’s also an achievement by the team. We win together. That’s what’s marked us out: we work as a team. That’s the main thing. With the quality we have, everyone up front benefits.”

Flick bids farewell to Bayern

Saturday's clash at Allianz Arena was Flick's last in charge of the German giants. The 56-year-old has spent 18 months in charge of Bayern, winning two Bundesliga titles and the Champions League, and he is proud of what he accomplished at the club.

“I’ll miss the team. It’s the benchmark for the future," he added. "What the team displayed in each training session and in the matches, how they fought, represents their achievements. I’m looking at the big picture. The atmosphere is good.

"I’m very proud, it was a joy to be alongside this team. I’d like to thank everyone."

Further reading

Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has made remarks which suggest Mamelodi Sundowns used to be a better team with him at the helm during his eight-year stint at Chloorkop, when compared to how they are currently set up with three coaches sharing responsibilities.

Following Al Ahly’s 1-1 draw against Sundowns on Saturday, which eliminated the Brazilians from the Caf Champions League at the quarter-final stage with a 3-1 aggregate scoreline, Mosimane expressed anger at the way he was welcomed in Tshwane.

The former Bafana Bafana trainer made comments which seem to undermine the strength of Masandawana under co-coaches Manqoba Mngqithi and Rhulani Mokwena as well as senior coach Steve Komphela.

A seemingly angry Mosimane went on, also appearing to mock the Sundowns tacticians' decision to substitute Themba Zwane, Gaston Sirino and Thapelo Morena before storming out of the press conference.

“But I have high respect for Mamelodi Sundowns, a team I love so much,” Mosimane told the media. 

“I won the star on the jersey of this team and I had been driving this team alone for eight years. Not with other people, alone. I'm running Ahly alone. Like the best thing for me is to take Sirino and Thapelo out.” 

The former Bafana Bafana coach also took time to compare members of his former Masandawana backroom staff with Kaizer Chiefs’ Gavin Hunt, whom he hailed as mature and experienced. 

“I will let bygones be bygones and move on like at Safa I moved on. I thought I left a very good team for the coaches to inherit, the best team I ever had,” said Mosimane. 

“I thought I left in peace, I shook hands. But ever since I’m in Egypt I am not at peace and I didn’t want to talk. But now that the situation is like this, fine, later I’m going to write a book. 

“I go with one game at a time and I have big respect [for Hunt]. Did you see the goals that Chiefs scored? Tell me what 80 percent of those goals were, with the head. 

“Simba can play very well, they dribbled us in Tanzania. I’m not going to point a finger at Gavin Hunt because I respect him. You know why?

"Because Gavin Hunt has won four [PSL] titles and lots of trophies. So why should I disrespect Gavin?  

“He has got experience. He might not be doing very well in the league but he knows how to win games. We have been there, it is not about talking too much. We have experience in these things. We know how to win a match.” 

In an apparent reference to Mngqithi who, before the second leg, said “Al Ahly have a weak defence” and Sundowns “can score multiple goals,” Mosimane feels such criticism helped them prepare for the Brazilians. 

“When you start pointing fingers at people, they prepare for you. When you point fingers saying ‘we will beat you, we play better than you, you are weak in defence.’ We prepare because you are making us sharpen the sword,” Mosimane continued. 

“So it’s better to give respect and have your plan, then put it on the pitch. This thing of saying Ahly doesn't have the best defence is not right. So who had the best defence? We scored three goals. 

“On Friday I worked so hard on setpieces. I have the big boys. [At Sundowns] It is only Ricardo [Nascimento] and Mosa [Lebusa] who are good on set pieces and they have height.

"You could see [Peter] Shalulile was struggling with his body because I have the bigger boys.” 

Mosimane’s remarks could suggest a huge fall out between him and some of his former Sundowns workmates .

Kaizer Chiefs striker Samir Nurkovic has admitted they could have found it difficult to eliminate Simba SC from the Caf Champions League had they not won their first meeting convincingly.

Amakhosi reached their first-ever semi-final of the competition after securing a 4-3 aggregate win against the Msimbazi giants, and this is after they won the first leg of their quarter-final clash 4-0 before Simba managed a 3-0 win at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Saturday, but it was not enough to see them through.

Nurkovic, who was the hero for the Soweto giants in the first leg at FNB Stadium as he scored two goals a week ago, has told Goal had they not used their chances to pick up a huge win in the home game, then Simba could have eliminated them from the competition.

“We were expecting a tough game but the most important thing is that we are through, we won the first game convincingly but we all knew Simba will come all-out attacking but we are through,” Nurkovic told Goal after the game.

“Of course we are always taking one game at a time, and see how far we can go, Simba are a very good team and we were expecting them to come at us with high pressure, and press hard on us and there was nothing we could do but only to defend.

"They were worthy opponents for us, and the first leg win made the difference.

“For us, it was very important that we created a lot of chances in the first game at home and we used them and now we have won with a one-goal difference and are through to the semi-finals.”

In the match watched by 10,000 fans, Simba took the lead in the 24th minute after a through-ball from Clatous Chama was met by Shomari Kapombe, who in turn laid it to John Bocco, and the towering striker unleashed a right-footed effort which sneaked past Bruce Bvuma’s legs into the net.

After the resumption, Simba knew they still needed three goals to stay in the tie, and they went 2-0 up in the 56th minute when Luis Miquissone danced through Chiefs' defence from the left wing before delivering a low cross which Bocco slotted home after it took a deflection off a Chiefs defender.

Simba then kept their hopes alive in the 86th minute after Chama danced through the Chiefs defence before placing the ball past Bvuma for the third goal, prompting a nervy ending to the fixture, although ultimately no further goals were scored.

Chiefs held on to qualify on a 4-3 aggregate win but the 3-0 win ensured Simba had not lost a match at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in the campaign this season.

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer says the pressure is on Raja Casablanca ahead of Sunday's Caf Confederation Cup, quarter-final second leg match at Stade Mohamed V.

After Raja grabbed an important away goal when they held Pirates 1-1 in the first leg at Orlando Stadium, it looked like the Buccaneers made life difficult for themselves going into the away leg.

But Zinnbauer believes they are a “big team” and stand a good chance of progressing further in this tournament and are already “looking forward to the semi-finals".

“Looking forward to tomorrow [Sunday] and we are ready for the game,” Zinnbauer told the media. 

“We had a good game and yes we missed a lot of good chances but we know it is a different game now. It is a home game for Casablanca now and they are a team which is very strong at home.

"Before the first game, we did not have 100 percent information about Casablanca. But now we have real information for this game.

“We have a chance, we came here not as a small team. We are also a big club. We know we have the quality, we can score.

"It will not be so easy for Casablanca if we score, they are at home and they are under pressure. We are looking forward to the semi-finals, that is the reason why we are here.” 

The first leg saw the referee grabbing headlines for the manner in which he handled the match. 

The officiating attracted criticism from both Zinnbauer as well as Raja who went on to file a complaint with Caf as they felt the refereeing influenced the outcome of the game. 

“I hope tomorrow [Sunday] the referee will not be making mistakes so that at the end of the day we don’t talk about what he missed or what he did wrong,” continued Zinnbauer. 

“What is always important in football, a clear [refereeing] structure will make a good game and the better team has to win the game and not discussing about the referees.  

“We cannot speak about the referees. We have it in our hands and the opponents in their hands so let's play and we hope we will have a neutral referee who will not be making mistakes.”

The big summer shake up at Arsenal has already started, with Steve Bould losing his job as Under-23s coach.

The club legend, who took over the U23s set-up from Freddie Ljungberg in 2019, has given 30 years of service in north London as a player and coach.

He has now been sacked following a difficult season for the U23s, and Goal has learned he has also been followed out of the door by Bruno Mazziotti, who has left less than a year after joining the medical and performance team from Paris Saint Germain.

Why has Bould been sacked?

Bould was sacked after a difficult season for the U23s, which saw them finish 10th in Premier League 2.

Safety from relegation was only secure right at the end of the campaign and performances on the whole were disappointing throughout the season.

While results are not viewed as the most essential aspect of football at youth level, there is a feeling around the youth set-up at Arsenal that a more modern thinking manager is needed to guide the U23s over the coming seasons.

A legend departs

Bould won three league titles with Arsenal during his playing days at the club and two FA Cups.

He was part of the legendary back four alongside Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn and made 287 appearances for the Gunners in all competitions.

He joined the coaching staff as a youth team coach in 2001 and won the FA Youth Cup with the U18s in 2009 with a team featuring Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Henri Lansbury.

He replaced Pat Rice as Arsene Wenger’s assistant manager in 2012 and remained with the senior set-up until 2019, when he swapped roles with Ljungberg and took over the U23s.

What happens next?

Academy manager Per Mertesacker will lead the hunt for a new U23s coach.

The German has overseen huge changes within the Arsenal academy during the past two seasons, overhauling the entire scouting department at Hale End, and he will now lead the recruitment process for Bould’s replacement.

A young, forward thinking coach believed viewed as the ideal candidate to get the best out of young talent such as Charlie Patino, Omari Hutchinson and Marcelo Flores, who are all about to make a permanent step up to the U23s.

Why has Bruno Mazziotti left?

The Brazilian joined Arsenal’s medical performance department towards the end of 2020 from Paris Saint Germain.

He only signed a short-term contact when he arrived and was very close to David Luiz, who will leave the Gunners at the end of the season on a free transfer.

Goal as been told that Mazziotti will follow his compatriot out of the door in north London, with Arsenal deciding not to renew his contract.

The 43-year-old said his goodbyes to the squad at the club’s London Colney training ground on Saturday.

Further reading

One of the running battles Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has had to fight over the course of his tenure concerns his apparent indifference toward players in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

Quizzed on it, his frequent refrain has been to the effect that, before attempting to dislodge their foreign-based counterparts, they should first endeavour to stand out on a continental stage: be that the Africa Nations Championships or Caf’s club competitions.

It is not a rationalization that is fool-proof, of course, but it is rooted in a semblance of logic.

Compared to Europe, there is undoubtedly a gap in the quality of competition that coaching – inadequate as it is in the local leagues – cannot address.

If the Super Eagles are to compete, both on the continent and against opposition from Europe and South America, they will do so by leaning on their best talents playing at the highest levels.

However, this view is not shared by a section of the nation’s press corps, who have on that basis warred with the German relentlessly.

The thrust of their point of view appears to be that, by ignoring the local league, Rohr is devaluing it and denying its best legs the exposure they need to make the quantum leap from good to great.

Proponents of this point of view will readily cite the late great Stephen Keshi, who in 2013 led a team with six home-based players to glory at the Africa Cup of Nations; if he went that far and achieved success on the back of it, the contention goes, then why can’t Rohr?

This, however, is an argument that fundamentally misunderstands what the job of a national team coach even is.

Hint: it is not developing the quality of play in the local league. That responsibility lies with the administrators, both of the league and of the country’s football as a whole.

However, even allowing that Rohr could (not should) throw the NPFL a bone as some sort of labour of love, the initial premise – that there is quality in the league just waiting to be mined – is not as strong as it at first appears.

Case in point: Enyimba, who are the country’s sole remaining representative on the continent.

The Aba-based club leads the country both in prestige and trophy haul, and remains a recognizable brand on the continent by virtue of back-to-back Caf Champions League victories in the noughties.

In terms of player quality, the People’s Elephant not only boast depth, but arguably have the finest collection of talents in the league on average – if any club should make the case for locally based players to be given chances with the national team, it should be Enyimba.

However, they come into their Caf Confederation Cup quarter-final second leg against Pyramids FC 4-1 down from the first leg. After taking an early lead in Cairo, Enyimba capitulated in spectacular fashion, with their players seemingly trying to excel one another in bumbling amateurishness.

The highlights made for a grim watch, and unsurprisingly went viral on social media, to much derision.

Teams will have rough days at the office on occasion, of course. That is the nature of competitive sport.

However, performances like these are not the exception; as a matter of fact, all too often Nigerian clubs are made to look utterly inept before the watching world, especially on their travels, with basics of tactical organization and technical coordination eluding them at key moments.

Is it fair then to expect – to demand, even – that the national team coach wade in and address this himself?

If we are being honest, it is a problem rooted far deeper than Rohr should go. And that really is the first step to addressing the issue: a degree of honesty.

When former Enugu Rangers coach Imama Amapakabo stated, during his stint in charge of the locally based team for the Chan, that the players available to him lacked tactical nous, he was widely panned by the same members of the press corps, who sought to characterize his candour as an excuse for his inability to succeed with the team.

He was right though: there is a proper crisis of coaching at various levels of Nigerian football, all the way down to the grassroots, which must first be addressed before fingers can be pointed at Rohr.

That is an undertaking for the country’s football administration, and it is to them that the ire of the uber-patriotic press corp should be directed.

Fans have taken over their respective social media accounts to react differently as Kaizer Chiefs made history by reaching the Caf Champions League semi-finals at the expense of Simba SC.

On Saturday, Amakhosi survived a Wekundu wa Msimbazi scare to make it to the last four after a 4-3 win on aggregate.

Chiefs had won the first leg at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg 4-0, courtesy of goals from Samir Nurkovic - who got a brace - as well as goals from Erick Mathoho, and Leonardo Castro. The massive result also ensured the Soweto giants maintained their unbeaten home record in this season's Champions League.

Mnyama were determined to make a comeback at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium and went on to score three goals of their own in the second leg.

The Msimbazi giants scored one goal in the first half courtesy of captain John Bocco before the Taifa Stars striker made it 2-0 in the opening minutes of the second half and Clatous Chama added the third with six minutes to go.

Simba were unable to find a fourth goal late on to level the tie, and Chiefs hung on to win 4-3 on aggregate.

It was a historic moment for the South African heavyweights who have struggled in the PSL this season. Here are some of the reactions by the fans.

Pep Guardiola has talked up the prospect of adding a prolific striker to his Manchester City squad.

With Sergio Aguero heading for the exit door, speculation has turned to who City could bring in to replace the Argentina international.

Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland has long been linked, while Harry Kane’s expression of desire to leave Tottenham for a fresh challenge has thrust his name into the mix.

What has been said?

City have shared the goals around this term, but Guardiola would love a prolific forward and the profile of Haaland and Kane fit the bill.

“I’d love to have a striker who got 50 goals a season, honestly,” Guardiola is quoted as saying by the Mirror. “At the same time, I don’t like to put all the pressure on one player.

“In Barcelona, Lionel Messi, every season since he was born, scored 50 a season.

“Thierry Henry scored a lot in the first season and Samuel Eto’o scored a lot - what a striker.”

Strikers need support

While a prolific striker such as Kane or Haaland would be a welcome addition, Guardiola’s other attacking players are capable of chipping in with goals.

Ilkay Gundogan, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez have 13, 10 and 9 Premier League goals respectively this term.

Guardiola is aware of the need to take pressure off the central striker, but knows the value of a proven goalscorer such as Aguero.

“When you are to win titles, especially the Premier League, with just one guy you won’t win it,” he said. “You need more - and the statistics speak for themselves.

“You need three guys with more than 10, scoring 12 or 15, to be competitive.

“But when you have a guy who can get 25 to 30 it helps a lot, honestly.

“We will try for the way we play for everyone to be involved.”

Further reading