The Northwest Soccer League’s Bay FC has signed Super Falcons attacker Asisat Oshoala for the 2025 campaign.
After their inaugural NWSL campaign, the team kept 25 players, including Oshoala.
The thirty-year-old left Barcelona Femeni to join Bay FC in January.
She led them in scoring during the 2024 campaign.
Oshoala is the six-time CAF African Player of the Year champion. The NWSL playoffs were not open to Bay FC.
Kaizer Chiefs returned to Betway Premiership action with a well-earned 2-1 victory over Richards Bay FC at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Wednesday.
Wandile Duba opened his Betway Premiership scoring account for the season after 20 minutes with an exquisite finish before Ashely Du Preez doubled the lead in the 68th minute, after Reeve Frosler had been dismissed early in the second half. Yanele Mbuthuma pulled one back in stoppage time but it was too little too late.
The first half belonged almost entirely to Amakhosi, as they controlled proceedings from the first whistle. Despite Richards Bay’s low block congesting the penalty area, Chiefs looked bright, with the pace and sharpness of Duba and Du Preez causing problems for the visitors.
They ought to have been ahead even before Duba broke the deadlock in the 21st minute, making a difficult chance look easy as he gently guided Yusuf Maart’s wicked in-swinging cross just inside the far post on the volley.
With Chiefs in control the well-organised defence restricted Richards Bay to one half-chance that Somila Ntsundwana put wide.
Both Given Msimango and Bradley Cross will be disappointed that they did not add to the lead when presented with decent opportunities to punish the Rich Boys. However, Coach Nasreddine Nabi will have been happy with his team going into the break leading 1-0.
However, the second period got off to a bad start when Frosler, who had been booked after only two minutes in the first half, received a second in the 48th minute after his boot made contact with the face of Nkosikhona Ndaba.
The setback appeared to inspire Amakhosi and they were rewarded for their enterprise in the 68th minute when Du Preez finished off Maart’s low cross to give the skipper his second assist of the night and put the Glamour Boys into an unassailable position. Mbuthuma’s injury-time header was no more than a consolation and Chiefs deservedly took all three points.
The result takes them to 6th position in the Betway Premiership standings, with 10 points from six matches. They face Royal AM at the same venue on Saturday, 30 November, kicking off at 17:45.
Magesi FC reached their first topflight cup final with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Richards Bay in the Carling Knockout Cup on Saturday afternoon at King Zwelithini Stadium.
The historic win, a significant milestone for the club, came courtesy of a decisive 27th-minute goal by Tshepo Mashigo.Richards Bay had several chances to break the deadlock early on.
Yanela Mbuthuma missed an opportunity in the 15th minute, and Magesi’s keeper, Elvis Chipezeze, came to the rescue in the 23rd and 25th minutes, saving a long-range strike from Tlakusani Mthethwa and a curling effort from Mbuthuma.
Magesi nearly doubled their lead in the 77th minute with Wonderboy Makhubu’s shot, but Richards Bay’s keeper, Otieno, was alert to deny him.
Richards Bay’s hopes dimmed further when Tlakusani Mthethwa received a second yellow card in the 83rd minute, reducing them to ten men.
Under the guidance of coach Clinton Larsen, Magesi FC’s path to the final included victories over top sides Orlando Pirates, TS Galaxy, and finally Richards Bay, establishing themselves as a rising force in South African football.
In the second half, Mbuthuma continued his attempts, testing Chipezeze again with a tight-angle volley in the 59th minute, while Keegan Allan’s powerful header in the 67th minute was also thwarted by the in-form goalkeeper.
Jose Riveiro celebrated his 100th game as head coach of Orlando Pirates in style, guiding the team to a hard fought 1-0 victory over Richards Bay on Tuesday night.
This win extended the Mighty Buccaneers’ flawless start in the Betway Premiership, to an impressive seven consecutive victories, marking a historic evening for both club and coach.
All Eyes on Me
An old saying: don’t judge a book by its cover. Yet, in football, the reverse often rings true. Football has a propensity to judge people too quickly.
A person like Jose was judged before even setting foot on the pitch. On June 25, 2022, when Orlando Pirates announced Jose Riveiro as their new coach, opinions poured in from pundits and fans alike, and many were prematurely critical.
Riveiro found himself scrutinised and even undermined by fellow contemporaries who even took the time to throw cryptic snide remarks at the mention of his appointment.
However, rather than being weighed down by these detractors, Jose chose to focus on the task at hand. Occupying his time and efforts to building a body of work worth noting.
His journey has transformed the scepticism into admiration, proving that patience and hard work conquers all.
Record Breaker
With his success on Tuesday night, Riveiro has firmly etched his name in Orlando Pirates’ history books. At 100 games, he joins an elite rank, becoming only the second coach in the PSL era, after Ruud Krol (119 games), to reach this milestone with the club.
Orlando Pirates clinched yet another win in the Betway Premiership, beating Richards Bay 1-0 at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night. It was their seventh win in as many matches, further solidifying their position atop the standings.
It only took a solitary goal in the first half for the Buccaneers to seal maximum points on their return to home soil. The result took their points tally to 21 points, their best return at this stage of the season in the PSL era.
Their return to Soweto came seven days after a successful league voyage to Mpumalanga and proved to be a tricky tussle against Richards Bay outfit fresh off a morale-boosting cup win over the weekend. The visitors were quick off the blocks and spent a considerable amount of time inside Bucs territory, mainly attacking through set pieces as they cleverly drew fouls in the opposition half.
Goalkeeper Sipho Chaine however remained largely untroubled as his defence held firm. The first real shot of the game at the opposite end through Thalente Mbatha who went for goal in the 19th minute with a trademark long range effort that was deflected out.
More shots flew in towards the Natal Rich Boyz’ goal from range, with Patrick Maswanganyi misplacing his attempt in the 25th minute. Thabiso Monyane found goalkeeper Ian Otieno’s gloves with a venomous shot from outside the box a minute later, leading to the breakthrough for the hosts.
It was striker Evidence Makgopa who provided the decisive touch as he appeared at the right place at the right time to latch onto the rebound before finding the net from close range.
The Buccaneers maintained their intensity despite edging in front and nearly went two ahead in the 33rd minute when another long-range attempt from Mbatha was kept out by Otieno. The Kenyan international was called upon once more just seconds later, this time making an easy save off Mohau Nkota who could not get enough behind his shot after he was released by Relebohile Mofokeng.
His next save was nowhere near routine as he was forced into an acrobatic stop by a seemingly goalbound attempt from Monyane, who went for goal from a long way out. Nkota and Thabiso Sesane each went close on the stroke of halftime, but the visitors were able to limit their deficit to just one goal by the time the players headed back into the tunnel.
Having finished the first period fully in control, Pirates began the second half as they ended the previous one with a close attempt from Makgopa who went narrowly wide after linking up with Nkota. The teenage attacker then drew a save from Otieno with a shot of his own in the 54th minute, which was followed by an off-target effort from replacement midfielder Kabelo Dlamini.
It remained one-way traffic for much of the second half as defender Nkosinathi Sibisi also got in on the action with a header from close range, kept out by the Natal Rich Boyz shot-stopper.
Starved of chances at goal, Richards Bay’s debutant midfielder Lindokuhle Zikhali looked to manufacture a dream first league appearance with a speculative shot near the halfway line after spotting Chaine a few yards away from his goal. His attempt was however comfortably off target.
Otieno pulled off two late saves late in the contest, denying Monnapule Saleng before keeping out a header from Tshegofatso Mabasa. There was no further drama as the home side saw out the remaining minutes to continue their remarkable start to the 2024/25 season.
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