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FIRST ZEALMEDIACAST BLOG, Lagos (2025)

22/11/2025

CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE UPDATE:
• Atef erupts in Cairo as Pyramids crush Rivers United in Champions League group stage opener
By Maxwell Kumoye

CAF Champions League holders Pyramids FC launched their title defence with a thunderous statement on Saturday night, dismantling Nigeria’s Rivers United 3–0 in Cairo.

Thanks to a sensational hat-trick from 22-year-old winger Ahmed Atef, who turned the 30 June Stadium into his personal stage.

Group A was expected to be a battlefield, and the champions wasted no time reminding Africa why they wear the crown. Yet, it wasn’t all smooth sailing early on.

Pyramids dominated the ball, pinned Rivers United deep, and rained down pressure, but the Nigerians stayed organized and stubborn, forcing the Egyptians into half-chances.

Abdel-Rahman Magdy even bent the stadium’s nerves when he blasted over the bar in the 20th minute.

But the second half? That belonged entirely to Ahmed Atef.

Just seven minutes after the restart, Atef pounced. Rivers goalkeeper Onisodumeya spilled Mahmoud Zalaka’s rocket, and the young winger calmly buried the rebound into an empty net, igniting the home crowd.

And the floodgates opened.

In the 57th minute, Atef soared through the Cairo night, meeting Karim Hafez’s pinpoint cross with a decisive header to double the lead and send Rivers’ defence scrambling for answers they never found.

Then came the finishing blow. In the 72nd minute, Atef completed his masterpiece, a blistering strike inside the box that thundered past Onisodumeya, sealing his hat-trick and Pyramids’ dominance.

With the win, Pyramids FC kept pace with fellow Group A contenders RS Berkane, who also recorded a 3–0 victory against Power Dynamos.

The message is clear: the champions are hungry, confident, and ready for war.

Pyramids march on to their next assignment against Power Dynamos on 29 November, carrying momentum, swagger, and a new star shining brightly in Atef.

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• League favourites, Man City stunned by lowly Newcastle

• Newcastle’s Eddie Howe seals first ever EPL win over Man City’s Pep Guardiola in his 17th attempt

Full-time:

Newcastle United 2
Manchester City 1

22/11/2025

NIGERIA TODAY:
• Justice Omotosho, the no-nonsense judge at the centre of Nigeria’s biggest legal storms
By Maxwell Kumoye

Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has quietly become one of the most influential and closely watched figures on Nigeria’s judicial stage.

Born in 1966 and raised in Ajegunle before earning his law degree from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Omotosho has, since his 2015 appointment, carved a reputation for tough rulings and high-stakes courtroom battles.

On Thursday, all eyes were on him again as he delivered judgment in the federal government’s terrorism trial of Nnamdi Kanu, a case that has gripped the nation for years and tested the judiciary’s resolve on politically charged matters.

But this is not his first time in the line of fire.

During the Rivers State emergency rule saga, Omotosho became a central referee in the political chaos.

He dismissed several suits for lack of locus standi, clarified that Section 305 of the Constitution doesn’t impose any special voting pattern on the National Assembly, and famously slammed a ₦9 million cost on a plaintiff he described as abusing the court process.

He also stepped into the volatile APGA leadership crisis, issuing rulings that shaped the battle for the party’s control.

His decisions triggered accusations of judicial overreach, a petition to the National Judicial Council, and heated national debate over judicial limits in intra-party disputes.

From separatist trials to constitutional battles and party wars, Justice Omotosho has become the judge whose courtroom regularly determines the direction of Nigeria’s biggest political tremors.

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• Bournemouth and West Ham score two in each half to share points

• Bournemouth are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season

• Callum Wilson gets brace against former club

Full-time:

Bournemouth 2
West Ham 2

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• Sunderland concede late goal against Fulham to go home pointless

• Fulham have scored only 13 goals in 12 league matches this season

• Substitute Samuel Chukwueze 's cross powers Fulham to 14th, Sunderland move to 6th place
By Trust Ittai

Full-time:

Fulham 1
Sunderland 0

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• Brighton strike twice in the second half to bag comeback win against Brentford

• Brighton are 5th on the table, Brentford sit on the number 12 position

Full-time:

Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Brentford 1

22/11/2025

GOODNIGHT AND GOODBYE
• Zambian football mourns former Copper Queens striker Dorothy Mukatasha
By FIRST ZEALMEDIACAST BLOG

Zambian women’s football has been thrown into mourning following the death of former Copper Queens striker Dorothy Mukatasha, the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has confirmed.

In a statement issued on Friday, FAZ general secretary Machacha Shepande described Mukatasha as a committed and hardworking footballer whose passing is a major loss to the game.

“On behalf of the FAZ president Mr. Keith Mweemba, the Executive Committee and the entire Zambia football family, we mourn with the late Mukatasha’s family,” Shepande said.

“We send our love and condolences to the bereaved family as we honour Mukatasha’s contribution to the game and her legacy in Zambian women’s football.”

Mukatasha rose through the ranks at Nchanga Rangers Queens before joining Zesco Ndola Girls, where her performances helped the club secure the Copperbelt Provincial Women’s League title. Her impressive form earned her a call-up to the Copper Queens provisional squad in 2020.

In 2021, she broke new ground when she signed for Simba Sports Club in Tanzania, becoming the first Zambian female footballer to feature in the Tanzanian league. She went on to win the 2020/2021 Women’s Premier League with the Dar es Salaam-based side.

Mukatasha later had stints with Tiger Queens and Ceasiaa Queens, continuing to distinguish herself as a reliable forward.

Her death marks the end of a promising football journey that left a mark on clubs at home and abroad.

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• Crystal Palace net two in six minutes to win away at Wolves

• Rob Edwards losses his first game as Wolves boss

• Crystal Palace move to fourth on the table
By Trust Ittai

Full-time:

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Crystal Palace 2

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• Liverpool unsatisfactory run lingers with loss against Forest

• Slot's 50th Premier League game disappointing

• Liverpool lose back-to-back league games by a three-goal margin for the first time since 1965

• Ryan Gravenberch makes his 100th Liverpool appearance
By Trust Ittai

Full-time:

Liverpool 0
Nottingham Forest 3

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• Chelsea move to second place with win at Burnley

• Kyle Walker's 400th Premier League start ends in defeat

• Burnley have won just 1 of their 19 Premier League games against Chelsea

• Enzo Fernandez has scored 4 goals in 11 Premier League appearances this season, only 2 fewer than he struck last season (6 in 36)

• Burnley have lost 3 in a row for Chelsea its the opposite
By Trust Ittai

Full-time:

Burnley 0
Chelsea 2

22/11/2025

INCASE YOU MISSED IT:
• Ghana pushes bold World Cup co-host dream with Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire
By Maxwell Kumoye

Ghana’s Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has fired up a bold new vision: a West African World Cup, jointly hosted by Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire.

With FIFA now favouring multi-nation hosts, USA, Mexico, Canada for 2026 and Morocco, Spain, Portugal for 2030, Adams believes West Africa’s moment is fast approaching.

“FIFA is beginning to adopt a number of nations hosting together,” Adams said. “Maybe the next one could be Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. It will be good.”

Adams argued that the trio already have the infrastructure and pedigree to compete for hosting rights.

Côte d'Ivoire successfully staged the 2023 AFCON, while Ghana delivered the delayed 2023 African Games in 2024, and Nigeria remains one of the continent’s sporting giants.

“I believe that we, together with Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, who have invested quite a lot, can also ask for that right,” he added.

A West African World Cup would mark a historic first for the sub-region, and Adams insists it’s time for governments to put the idea on the table.

For now, the dream is just talk but one the Minister believes can become a landmark moment for African football.

22/11/2025

EPL UPDATE:
• Chelsea must consider signing Antoine Semenyo — club legend Joe Cole

Chelsea legend Joe Cole has urged his former side to consider AFC Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo.

The Ghana international has emerged as a transfer target for several Premier League clubs following his explosive start to the season.

Semenyo has scored six goals with three assists to his credit in 11 Premier League games so far.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the 25-year-old has a release clause of £65 million after signing a long-term deal at the club until 2030 in the summer.

Chelsea are well-stocked in wide areas, having signed Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens in the summer, while 18-year-old Estevao has also made an immediate impact.

However, Cole believes his former club Chelsea should make a move for Semenyo and feels the Ghana international would immediately command a starting place in Maresca’s side.

"Knowing Chelsea, he might be too old! I’d have to check his age, but from a football perspective, if he’s available and he wants to come, it’s a no-brainer in terms of bringing him into the football club," Cole said in an exclusive interview with Paddy Power.

"With Chelsea’s model, there’ll be a financial element and evaluation element to it, so it’ll come down to that.

"He’d be a welcome addition to the Chelsea squad, and he probably starts, because he’s been superb for Bournemouth.’

Meanwhile, Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola says he is not concerned about the club potentially being forced to sell Semenyo in the upcoming transfer window.

"We are in November. Antoine is our player; he will continue being our player. In January, you can ask me about the market in January, but right now I’m not worried about the next markets," Iraola said in his press conference on Friday.

"It’s something that especially you know that I hate to talk about in August, January, the moments when the market is open, but it is not one of those moments. It’s November.

"I’m more worried about the situation of the players to play tomorrow, the short-term, the things that really matter and in January, we will talk about whatever happens, the players we need. But it is not something that I’m worried about today."

Source — GSN

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