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Eddie Chikamhi – Senior Sports Reporter
TINO Kadewere’s prospects of playing in the UEFA Champions League football were rekindled on Sunday night when Olympique Lyon beat close rivals Monaco 3-2 in a French Ligue 1 match.

The Zimbabwean forward, who is still making inroads back into the starting team after recovering from a thigh injury, was introduced at the break.

Memphis Depay, Marcelo and Rayan Cherki’s goals sealed a victory for Lyon while Kevin Volland and Wissam Ben Yedder scored for Monaco at the Stade Louis II.

Lyon finished the game with 10 men as midfielder Maxence Caqueret, was sent off after he was shown a second yellow card with 20 minutes remaining.

Kadewere was also booked in the 72nd minute while four more players from both sides were red-carded following a post-match brawl. Lyon’s Marcelo, Mattia de Sciglio, along with Willem Geubbels and Pietro Pellegri from Monaco, received red cards for their involvement in the commotion.

Lyon now have 70 points in the fourth spot, one point behind third-placed Monaco. Lille are still sitting on top with 76 points, with three rounds of play remaining.

Kadewere marked his return from a thigh injury that had kept him out for two weeks when he played 17 minutes against log leaders Lille last Tuesday.

He played 55 minutes on Sunday and is likely to have regained full fitness by the time Zimbabwe play South Africa in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers next month.

Another Zimbabwean playing in the French Ligue 1, Marshall Munetsi, has also returned from injury and was part of the Stade de Reims starting eleven in the 2-2 draw with Nimes.

The 24-year old, who has been playing in central defence of late, had missed Reims 1-3 defeat to Marseille last week. Fellow midfielder Marvelous Nakamba was an unused substitute in Aston Villa’s 2-1 victory over Everton in the English Premier League.

There were mixed fortunes for many Zimbabwean players at the weekend. Kuda Mahachi scored a seventh minute goal for Supersport but Kaitano Tembo’s men eventually settled for the share of the spoils after they conceded a late equalizer to Baroka in a DStv Premiership match in South Africa.

Ovidy Karuru played 82 minutes in Black Leopards’ 2-1 win over Tshakhuma FC in the South Africa DStv Premiership. Divine Lunga and Knox Mutizwa’s Golden Arrows suffered a setback in the 0-1 defeat to AmaZulu.

There was good news for Scotland-based forward, David Moyo, who broke a three-month duck by scoring the winner in Hamilton’s 2-1 victory over St Mirren.

This was his third goal in the Scottish Premiership this season and it earned him a place in the Team of the Week. But his side is still to get out of the woods as they sit bottom of the table in the relegation battles.

Alec Mudimu’s Ankaraspor, who were relegated in the Turkish second tier, suffered a morale-sapping 1-3 defeat to Samsunspor. Mudimu played 45 minutes and his side has been confirmed relegated in the Turkish TFF1 league.

Fellow Zimbabwe defender, Teenage Hadebe, also suffered defeat when his Turkish Super League side Yeni Malatyaspor went down 0-1 to Sivaspor. They are still to confirm their safety as they currently sit 14th in the 21-team league. Four sides face relegated at the end of the campaign.

Zimbabweans Admiral Muskwe and Jordan Zemura came up against each other in the English Championship at the weekend. Muskwe started while Zemura came off the bench as Wycombe Wanderers beat Bournemouth 1-0 in their quest for survival in the English Championship.

Wycombe still sit bottom of the table while Bournemouth are still in the running for promotion play-offs at fifth position.
Defender Tendayi Darikwa played the entire game as his Wigan Athletic lost 1-3 to Hull City in the English League One.