D1Arkema Round-up: Oparanozie on target against her former team, Nnadozie impressive against Lyon, Okoronkwo and Zogg suffer defeat

Desire Oparanozie scores her fifth league goal of the season in Dijon’s league draw against her former side Guingamp.

Esther Sunday came off the bench in the 76th minute to replaced Lavaud who earlier assisted Oparanozie’s goal in the 19th minute, before Héloïse Mansuy cancelled it out in the 52nd minute.

Stade de Reims defeated Saint Etienne 0-1 in its last match of the year, at the Stade Salif Keita on Sunday. Thanks to a first half penalty calmly converted by Rachel Corboz, following a foul on Melchie Dumornay. Nigerian international, Esther Okoronkwo played for the duration of game.

Lyon defeated Paris FC 1-2 in front of a record crowd of over 4000.

In the 27th minute, Chiamaka Nnadozie denied Delphine Cascarino with a beautiful save. Paris jostled Lyon on several occasions but unable to beat Christiane Endler, before Delphine Cascarino opened the scoring for the visitors in the 38th minute. Parisian still unable to phantom what has happened, with a player lying in pain, referee allowed play to go as Lyon immediately doubled the lead through Ada Hegerberg. Théa Greboval scored from a corner to reduce the lead for Paris.

Sophie Vaysse received a second yellow to reduced Paris to 10. Nevertheless, Paris continues to attack to seek the equalizer but no goal forthcoming.

Onyinyechi Zogg is a used substitute in ASJ Soyaux’s 0-1 defeat against Montpellier as she came off the bench to replaced Battouri in the 25th minute. Dominika Škorvánková had given the visitors the lead earlier in the 20th minute from a Fowler’s assist.

With nothing to separate the two sides at halftime, PSG managed a narrow victory against Bordeaux on match day 11. After a loads of wasteful chances, finally comes a paid effort. Baltimore took part in a superb collective movement to serve Sakina Karchaoui, whose left cross shot hit the mark in the 68th minute, a precious advantage that the Rouge et Bleu intelligently managed until the final whistle.

Matchday 11 results
Standings as we head to the winter break.

Barcelona wins the women’s El-Clásico

In the women’s El-Clasico, Alberto Toril’s players lost the first Clásico of the season to Barcelona 3-1 at the Di Stéfano Stadium, on Sunday, as Barça remain unbeaten in the league.

Lieke Martens put the visitors ahead in the 8th minute with a header to beat Misa in goal. Ten minutes later, Paredes extended the lead with a great header from Martens’ cross before Martens added another one just five minutes later to culminate a devastating start for the hosts.

At the beginning of the second half, Asllani reduced the deficit with an acrobatic shot, and gave Real Madrid the hope of a comeback.

Misa Rodriguez was forced to make saves upon saves to deny Barcelona another goal but at the other end, her side were unable to score either.

With 13 victories from 13 games, Barcelona remain at the top of the table with 11 points ahead of Real Sociedad.

Karim Adeyemi nets his first career hat-trick as RB Salzburg ends the year in style

Karim Adeyemi scored his first hat-trick as Red Bull Salzburg thrashed WSG Tirol 5-0 to head into the winter break with an authoritative 14 points lead at the top of the table.

Adeyemi came off the bench at halftime to replace Adamu who had earlier assisted Nicolas Capaldo for Salzburg’s opener.

Few minutes from off the bench, Adeyemi netted his 12th goal of the season after Oswald had pushed a Sesko shot out to his feet for a calm tap-in in the 49th minute.

In the 80th minute, Adeyemi had another simple finish after Bacher turned the ball to him in front of goal from Ulmer’s cross, before finally getting his first career hat-trick three minutes later after Aaronson fed it through and he slotted straight past the keeper.

Two minutes later, Tirol’s goalkeeper Oswald, threw the ball straight to Adeyemi, who chased unchallenged on goal and laid it across for Okafor to stroke in.

“it’s my first hat-trick, hopefully not the last. The ball is going home with me and gets a place of honour. The fact that I managed to do it within halftime must have something to do with luck.” -Adeyemi

With this victory, Red Bull Salzburg have won 31 AdmiralBL matches in 2021. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, no other team have ever won more matches within a single calendar year (Austria Vienna also 31 in 1985).

FAWSL: Chelsea bow to Reading

The defending Champions succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Reading FC, at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday, in their week nine match.

The lady Blues dropped crucial points in the FA WSL after a busy week in UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Emma Hayes made five changes to the side that started against Juventus on Wednesday, with Musovic, Leupolz, Fleming, Andersson and England replacing Ann-Katrin Berger, Ji So-Yun, Fran Kirby, Pernille Harder and Guro Reiten.

Dean Rose gave Reading a shock early lead just three minutes into the game, from a quick one-two pass in box with Natasha Dowie.

Chelsea dominated the game from start to finish but with Reading firmly pinned in their own defensive third, no goals were forthcoming. 

Arsenal now have the opportunity to extend their lead at the top to four points as they take on Leicester City.

Falconets into the next round as Congo withdraws from FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Qualifier

Congo Football Association (FECOFOOT) have withdrawn their national team from FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.

With a dominant first leg win, the two –time World Cup silver medallists, Nigeria are to welcome Congo for the second leg at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos on Saturday, 18th December.

In a correspondence to CAF, FECOFOOT expressed the inability of Congo to take part in the next match due to travel challenges.

Congo becomes the 8th nation to withdraw after Gabon, South Sudan, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Tunisia, Mauritania and Guinea Bissau.

Therefore, Nigeria automatically qualified for the next round.

The Falconets of Nigeria have played in every edition of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup since the competition was launched as an U19 tournament in Canada in 2022, winning the silver medals in 2010 in Germany and in 2014 in Canada, and were semi finalists in 2012 in Japan.

BREAKING: Samuel Eto’o elected new Cameroon FA President

Former international Samuel Eto’o will run Cameroonian football for the next four years after being elected head of the country’s FA on Saturday.

The 40-year-old former striker had announced his intention to run for the post on September 22, saying it was time to “launch the reconstruction of Cameroonian soccer”. Mr. Eto’o said that the ousted president of Fecafoot had “failed miserably”.

The four-time African Footballer of the Year defeated rival Seidou Mbombo Njoya, the fourth vice-president at the Confederation of African Football, who was elected in 2018, but his election was contested by several actors of Cameroonian soccer, and canceled in mid-January by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Seven candidates should have contested the elections, but five of them pulled out on the morning of the elections.

Among those giving up their candidacy on Saturday morning were former Cameroon internationals Maboang Kesack and Jules Denis Onana.

Eto’o will now be head of Cameroon’s FA (Fecafoot) when the country hosts the Africa Cup of Nations in January and February.

Oshoala and Barbra Banda the only Africans on Guardian Top-100 Female Footballers of the Year list

The Guardian in collaboration with The Offside Rule Podcast, have published their ranking of the best 100 female footballers in the world. The voting panel consist of 86 Judges led by top coaches, former players, journalists and broadcasters.

Barcelona midfielder, Alexia Putellas has won the Guardian’s vote for the best female footballer in 2021, with another five Barcelona players in the top 10.

Asisat Oshoala is ranked number 32 in the world according to the Guardian’s top 100 players of 2021. The Nigerian forward ended last season with 18 goals in 26 games in the league and had 11 in nine by the end of November this season. Add that to important Champions League goals in both legs against Manchester City this season and another against former club Arsenal more recently .

Barbra Banda is ranked number 67 best in the world, after her stunning performance during the the summer Olympics. At just 21, the Zambian forward become the first player to score back-to-back Olympic hat-tricks. Despite not winning either game, her six-goal haul against European champions Netherlands and again in a thrilling 4-4 draw with China were two of the moments of the year.

Chelsea Women also saw three of their players in top 10 while Vivianne Miedema is the only Arsenal representative in the top 10 as she clocked second just behind Putellas and above Sam Kerr.

36-year-old Rapinoe returns to the list this year at number 52, after hitting double figures for the USWNT in 2021, and again came to prominence in the bronze-medal match against Australia. She also ended the season with the best goal/assists rate per 90 minutes in the UWSL for OL Reign.

One of the all-time greats, Marta made the top 60. At 35, she remained a key component of the Brazil national team, particularly in Tokyo where she scored three times during the Olympics and showed the world what she still has to offer. .

Super Falcons drops three places in new FIFA rankings

Nearly four months have gone by since the last FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking came out, in which time more than 300 internationals have been played.

Nigeria’s senior national women’s football team, the Super Falcons have dropped three places from their previous status as the 38th ranked team in the world, according to the FIFA ranking released on Friday. The Super Falcons accrued a total of 1584.09 points, dropping 30.04 to drop to 41st in the latest ranking.

Below Nigeria in Africa, the top five with their world ranking are Cameroon (53rd), South Africa (56th), Ghana (57th), Cote D’Ivoire (61st) and Egypt (72nd).

Not only has the European qualifying competition for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 got under way but the qualifiers for next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup and CAF Women Africa Cup of Nations have also been taking place. And as you might have guessed, all that action has had quite an impact on the December World Ranking.

Things remain unchanged at the top, nonetheless, with USA (1st, -) retaining first place, a place it has occupied since 2017, and Sweden (2nd, -) and Germany (third, -) remaining second and third respectively.

But behind the three frontrunners it’s all change. France (4th, +1) has shifted up one place to fourth, leapfrogging Netherlands (fifth, -1), who has paid the value for latest outcomes in opposition to Czech Republic and Japan.Spain (ninth, +1) has additionally climbed up one rung on the ladder to maneuver into an all-time excessive of ninth, whereas Switzerland (seventeenth,+3) was the most important mover within the High 20, rising three locations to seventeenth.

In the meantime, no fewer than eight nations have joined the worldwide girls’s hierarchy, a few of them for the primary time (Niger, Sierra Leone and South Sudan) and others after a few years of absence (14 within the case of Benin and Liberia).

The subsequent FIFA Girls’s World Rating will probably be revealed on 25 March.

UWCL Round-up: Lyon and Bayern book quarterfinals spot as Arsenal needs to wait until last day

Lyon and Bayern surged into the quarter-finals, Hoffenheim’s qualification hope alive as Barcelona thrashed Arsenal again.

Already qualified FC Barcelona unleashed greatness in front of Gunners’ record European women’s home crowd of 12,232 at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening.

Aitana Bonmatí pounced on Jennifer Beattie’s defensive error to registered the opener on 23 minutes. Five minutes later, Jenni Hermoso widened the differences with a cross from Rolfo, who struck the third herself with a superb swerving shot just before half-time.

After more than a month out, Caroline Graham Hansen returned to play as the Norwegian winger set up the fourth for Hermoso to convert in the 75th minute.

Hoffenheim came from behind to defeat HB Køge 1-2 and kept alive their slender chances of progressing. Winless HB Køge opened the scoring in the 9th minute through Kyra Taylor Carusa but unable to keep calm as they conceded two penalties in the space of twelve minutes (26th, 38th), coolly taken by Nicole Billa.

A win against Arsenal on Wednesday would qualify them for the quaterfinals.

Seven-time winners Lyon clinched their quarterfinal spot and ended Benfica’s hopes in the process, despite needing just a point.

Ada Hegerberg headed in the opener after 33 seconds of play, her first European goal since her injury absence which made her the only player to register 50 times in this competition for a single club.

Wendie Renard’s header doubled the lead in the 28th minute, M’Bock Bathy extended the lead in the 40th minute from Hegerberg’s assist, who added another just before the break and offered herself a brace. Substitute Signe Bruun tapped in a fifth in the 52nd minute as Lyon completed the rout.

Bayern came from behind to take a big step towards the quarterfinals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League after winning 5-0 at BK Häcken who needed a win to sustain their chances, on Thursday evening .

Viviane Asseyi (39th minute) and Jovana Damnjanović with a brace (45th / 55th) turned the game in the Hisingen Arena after being behind by a goal from Stina Blackstenius (36th). In the closing stages, Linda Dallmann (73rd) and substitute Lineth Beerensteyn (87th) extended the lead.

Ex-Falcons Goalkeeper, Rachael Ayegba Turns Bus Driver In UK

A former goalkeeper of the Nigerian women’s national football team, Rachael Aladi Ayegba, has turned into a bus driver in the United Kingdom.

Ayegba played in the 2007 Women’s World Cup, the 2006 and 2008 African Women’s Championships and had an 11-year stint as a pro in Finland, winning the league title in 2013 with PK-35 Vantaa.

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/world-cup-london-buses-shortage-go-ahead-rachael-aladi-ayegba-b970704.html

According to reports, she now drives the number 185 between Lewisham and Victoria.

35-year-old Ayegba told the Standard UK that “When you are trying to save the ball, you need safe hands. But there are ten others on your side.

“When you drive a bus, you are on your own.”

Ayegba, whose favourite player is Cristiano Ronaldo, says she doesn’t play football anymore, though she has coaching licenses.

“I am old. You have to know when to stop,” she added.

“Mentally you have to be 100% ready, if you are a goalkeeper the defenders can help you. You can’t make any mistakes driving a bus.”