Sport

Semenyo fires Manchester City toward Carabao Cup Final with win at Newcastle

Published

8 months ago

January 14, 2026

Manchester City moved a step closer to the Carabao Cup final after securing a 2–0 victory over Newcastle United in the first leg of their semi-final at St James’ Park on Tuesday night, with new signing Antoine Semenyo once again proving decisive.

Semenyo, who joined City in a £65 million move, continued his impressive start to life under Pep Guardiola by scoring for the second consecutive game. His strike made him the first City player since Emmanuel Adebayor in 2009 to score in his first two appearances for the club and put the visitors ahead against the run of play.

Newcastle started brightly and threatened early, with Yoane Wissa forcing goalkeeper James Trafford into action and later seeing efforts hit the woodwork twice in quick succession after the break. City, however, made the most of their reprieve, breaking forward on the counter as Jeremy Doku led the charge before Semenyo pounced to open the scoring.

Eddie Howe had voiced frustration before the match over a rule change that allowed Semenyo to feature in the tie despite earlier appearances for Bournemouth in the competition, and Newcastle were made to pay as City grew in control during the second half.

Semenyo appeared to have doubled his tally following a corner, but the goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR review for interference by Erling Haaland. City remained composed and eventually sealed the win deep into added time when substitute Rayan Cherki finished off a sweeping move initiated by Rayan Ait-Nouri.

The result gives City a commanding advantage ahead of the second leg in Manchester next month, as Guardiola’s side look to book their place at Wembley, while Newcastle face a difficult task to overturn the deficit.

Football fans across Afghanistan can meanwhile tune in tonight, Wednesday January 14, to Ariana Television to watch the second semi-final where Chelsea will take on Arsenal.

Fans can follow Ariana News and Ariana Television’s social media pages for match details.

Up Next

Afghanistan limits players to three foreign leagues per year

Don't Miss

Toby Radford appointed Afghanistan’s batting coach

Sport

Abu Muslim Farah beat Sarsabz Yashlar 3–0 in sixth season of ACL opener

Fans across Afghanistan can watch today’s second and third matches live and exclusively on Ariana Television.

Published

9 hours ago

September 11, 2026

Ariana News

Defending champions Abu Muslim Farah made a winning start to the sixth season of the Afghanistan Champions League, defeating Sarsabz Yashlar of Faryab 3–0 in the opening match.

The match, played Thursday evening at the Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium, saw Abu Muslim Farah dominate proceedings and secure all three points with a convincing performance.

Omid Popalzai opened the scoring in the first half, before Mahboob Hanafi and Omid Rajabi added two more goals after the break to seal a comfortable victory for the defending champions.

The sixth season of the Afghanistan Champions League features 10 teams, with the competition being played on a home-and-away format in Kabul.

Today, Friday, Omar Zawak Loy Shindand will face Khurasan Faryab at 3:30 p.m., while Istiqlal Kabul will take on Toofan Herat in the third match of the day.

Ariana Khost and Umar Zawak Loy Shindand are among the new teams competing in this season’s tournament.

Fans across Afghanistan can watch today’s second and third matches live and exclusively on Ariana Television.

The sixth season of the Afghanistan Champions League will run until November 21, with the participating teams battling for the championship title.

Sport

Afghanistan Champions League Season 6 kicks off today: Abu Muslim Farah face Sarsabz Yashlar

The match is scheduled for 7:30pm Kabul time and will mark the start of a season running until November 21.

Published

1 day ago

September 10, 2026

Ariana News

The sixth season of the Afghanistan Champions League kicks off Thursday, September 10, with defending champions Abu Muslim Farah facing Sarsabz Yashlar of Faryab in the opening match.

The match is scheduled for 7:30pm Kabul time and will mark the start of a season running until November 21.

Ten clubs will compete in the league, with matches played in a home-and-away format in Kabul.

Abu Muslim Farah will begin their title defence against Sarsabz Yashlar, while Ariana Khost and Omar Zawak Loy Shindand are among the new additions to this season’s competition.

The other participating teams are Aino Mina, Arman FC, Istiqlal Kabul, Khurasan Faryab, Sorkh Poshan Khafi and Toofan Herat.

Fans across Afghanistan can watch the opening match live and exclusively on Ariana Television from 7:30pm Kabul time.

The Afghanistan Champions League will continue through November 21, with clubs competing for the Season 6 title.

Sport

Afghanistan to host Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the UAE in three-format home season

All the matches will be played in the UAE, though the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has not yet announced the venues.

Published

2 days ago

September 9, 2026

Ariana News

Afghanistan are set to host Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in October-November in a packed home season that will include matches in all three formats.

All the matches will be played in the UAE, though the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has not yet announced the venues.

The season will kick off on October 9 – six days after the final of the Asian Games T20 tournament in Japan, should Afghanistan make it that far – with a one-off Test match against Bangladesh.

An ODI tri-series will follow from October 17 to 23, with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe facing each other once before the top two teams meet in the final.

Afghanistan will then take on Zimbabwe in a three-match T20I series from October 27 to November 1. The two teams will then face off in two Test matches, the first from November 5 to 9 and the second from November 13 to 17.

Afghanistan have already played a Test match this year, against India in New Chandigarh in June. The three matches against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will take Afghanistan’s total for the year to four Tests – the most they will have played in a calendar year so far.

Afghanistan have played two Tests against Bangladesh so far, winning one and losing the other. They have played five against Zimbabwe, winning two, losing two, and drawing one.

“We are pleased to confirm this important period of international cricket for the Afghanistan National Team,” ACB CEO Naseeb Khan said. “Playing Bangladesh and Zimbabwe across different formats will provide our players with valuable competitive opportunities and offer our supporters an exciting period of international cricket.

“The Afghanistan Cricket Board remains committed to providing our national team with regular, high-quality international cricket. We highly value our relationships with the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Zimbabwe Cricket and appreciate their cooperation in making these important assignments possible.”

Afghanistan vs Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the UAE, 2026-27

One-off Test vs Bangladesh October 9-13

ODI tri-series
Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe October 17
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe October 19
Afghanistan vs Bangladesh October 21
Final October 23

Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe T20I series
1st T20I October 27
2nd T20I October 29
3rd T20I November 1

Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe Test series
1st Test Nov 5 – 9
2nd Test Nov 13 – 17