Erling Haaland recorded his first hat-trick of the season as Manchester City secured a commanding 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, marking his 10th treble since joining the club.

The match began with a surprise as Ipswich opened the scoring just seven minutes in, with Sammie Szmodics calmly finishing a well-placed pass to silence the home crowd.

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However, City responded swiftly, leveling the score five minutes later when Haaland converted a penalty, confidently slotting the ball past goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.

Kevin De Bruyne then put City ahead in the 14th minute with a low, driven shot into the center of the goal.

Haaland struck again just two minutes later, receiving a precise pass from De Bruyne and finishing neatly into the bottom left corner to give City a 3-1 lead.

Despite City’s dominance, De Bruyne was denied a second goal in the 29th minute when his long-range effort rattled the crossbar.

Haaland completed his hat-trick in the dying moments of the match, firing a rebound from outside the box into the bottom right corner to seal the win and continue his goal-scoring heroics.

The victory keeps City in strong form as they continue their title defense, with Haaland once again proving to be their talisman in front of goal.

Reigning Nigerian league champions, Rangers International FC are through to the second preliminary round of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2024/2025.

It was gathered that the Flying Antelopes made it with a 2-1 aggregate win over Comoros Islands champions, U.S de Zilimadjou in the first preliminary round of the premier continental club competition.

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In the second leg, first preliminary round game played inside the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo on Friday, August 23, 2024, the Nigerian side was forced to a 1-1 draw by the tiny Island nation’s side.

After both sides ended the first half on a goalless note, with begging chances fretted away by the home side, coach Fidelis Ilechukwu had to make quick substitutions that saw Kazeem Ogunleye and Chiedozie Okorie make way for Ekeson Okorie and Bashir Usman just ten minutes into the second stanza.

The substitution turned out to be an inspired one as Okorie, in one of his dashing runs into the box was fouled and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot, and Kenechukwu Agu expertly converted for the opening goal of the encounter on the 79th minute to send the fans that thronged the stadium into a frenzy.

However, Youssouf Mohamed, drew the Comoros side level with just four minutes left on the clock as he nodded home an inviting cross that the Rangers backline found hard to defend just a few seconds after they missed a promising attacking move at the other end of the pitch.

Despite the draw, the Nigerian side progressed to the next round of the competition where they are scheduled to engage either St. Louis F.C of Seychelles or Sagrada Esperanca FC of Angola with the Angolan side enjoying a 1-0 lead from the first leg played in Seychelles last week.

Coach Ilechukwu in his post-match chat, said, “We are happy to have qualified for the next round of the competition even though when I believe that we did not up our game today against the Comoros champions. This goes a long way to show the mystery of the game of football.

“Sure, I am worried at our rate of converting chances but I am optimistic of getting over this challenge before the next window for new registration. I believe that the start of the new league season will go a long way in helping us stabilize with regards to cohesive play from my players.”

On his part, Captain of Rangers, Chinemerem Ugwueze said, “It was a difficult match but we stood our ground to get the ticket to the next round. This is a young, new, team that is being put together and the blending will take some time to happen. Having overcome this challenge from the Comoros champion, we have more time to work on our weaknesses going forward.

“We thank our supporters who came out to stand behind us and we hope to make them happy in future matches.

Barcelona has confirmed that three players will depart the club before the end of the summer transfer window.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Clement Lenglet, Mika Faye, and Vitor Roque will be leaving the Blaugrana for new clubs.

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Lenglet will join Atlético Madrid on loan, while Roque is set to move to Real Betis on a loan deal.

Faye will be transferred permanently to Rennes, with a buy-back clause included in the agreement.

Romano shared the news on X, stating: “Barça confirm several departures as the summer transfer window nears its close.

“Clement Lenglet is heading to Atlético on loan, Mika Faye will join Rennes on a permanent deal with a buy-back clause, and Vitor Roque is set to move to Betis, with final loan details being finalized.”