FA Cup buildup, Rosicky linked with Arsenal role, ticket price protest planned: football – live

Andy Hunter: Liverpool made a loss of £57m last season after missing out on the Champions League while wages and overhead costs increased, the club’s latest accounts have revealed …

Newcastle United v Brighton: With their team already in the Carabao Cup final, due to face Brighton in the last 16 of the FA Cup on Sunday and hopeful of securing qualification for the Champions League with a strong league finish, the fitness – or lack therof – of their striker Alexander Isak is uppermost in the thoughts of most Newcastle fans after he missed his side’s midweek defeat at Liverpool with a groin injury. Over to you, Eddie Howe …

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FA Cup fifth round: 10 things to look out for this weekend

VAR is back (to save us all), Plymouth are plotting another upset and Cardiff’s Anwar El Ghazi returns to Villa Park

The trip to Aston Villa looks tricky for Cardiff City, whose main focus is avoiding relegation to League One. Anwar El Ghazi, at least, was delighted with the draw. The Dutchman spent four years at Villa, clinching promotion at Wembley at the end of a loan season in 2018-19 before a permanent move from Lille. El Ghazi scored Villa’s first goal in a playoff final victory over Derby, with John McGinn and Tyrone Mings the only survivors from that team. Both clubs’ futures hinged on that game under the arch: Derby spiralled and faced administration before dropping into the third tier. El Ghazi can count on a hero’s welcome at Villa Park on Friday. Villa, who will visit Club Brugge for a Champions League last 16 first-leg tie on Tuesday, hope to advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since ending as runners-up to Arsenal 10 years ago. Ben Fisher

Aston Villa v Cardiff, Friday 8pm (all times GMT)

Crystal Palace v Millwall, Saturday 12.15pm

Bournemouth v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Plymouth, Saturday 5.45pm

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West Ham United 2-0 Leicester City: Premier League – as it happened

Tomas Soucek scored on his 30th birthday as West Ham cruised to victory against struggling Leicester

6 min “In response to Gary Naylor’s question, I’d say some of these players had potential!” says Russell Yong.

5 min West Ham are starting to get on the ball. You’d expect them to dominate possession tonight, and for much of Graham Potter’s time at the club given his methodology.

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‘It was a pure fluke’: the goal that took Plymouth to the FA Cup semi-finals

Plymouth will be hoping for another slice of luck in the FA Cup when they face Manchester City on Saturday

By That 1980s Sports Blog

There is nothing wrong with a fluke in sport. Cliff Thorburn will forever have a place in Crucible history, having achieved the first 147 at the venue in the World Championship. But how many people will recall that the first of his 36 balls was a fluke? From good luck to “good luck, mate” in a little over 15 minutes of pure theatre.

Football is no different. There are numerous examples of fortune playing a key role in memorable matches: Jimmy Greenhoff’s winner in the 1977 FA Cup final that denied Liverpool the chance of a treble; Darren Bent’s beach ball goal; Tommy Boyd in France 98; Bruno Bellone’s penalty at Mexico 86.

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Maguire heads Manchester United past Ipswich despite Dorgu’s red card

This riveting affair took in the pantomime of Ipswich Town’s goals, Patrick Dorgu’s early bath for an industrial challenge and a trio of Manchester United set‑piece finishes to deliver three points that lifts Ruben Amorim’s charges to 14th.

Ipswich departed as they arrived – in third-bottom – and the United soap opera now moves on to Fulham’s FA Cup fifth-round visit on Sunday.

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Rapids-LAFC game halted after derogatory term allegedly directed at Chido Awaziem

  • Allegations delayed match in the 85th minute
  • Concacaf has yet to announce an investigation

Colorado Rapids defender Chido Awaziem has alleged that an opponent used a derogatory term towards him on the field during his team’s Concacaf Champions League second leg match at Los Angeles FC on Tuesday night.

The incident in question came towards the end of the match, after Awaziem and LAFC defender Sergi Palencia were matched up on a set piece with LAFC leading the game 1-0. After the play Awaziem, a Nigeria international, complained to referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere, seemingly pleading with the official to take some sort of action. The match was paused for around five minutes as the referee engaged in discussions with Awaziem, Palencia, his fellow officials and both teams’ coaches. He then allowed play to continue with no discipline handed out. Awaziem later confronted Palencia after the final whistle.

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Liverpool’s Arne Slot gets two-game ban after red card in chaotic Merseyside derby

  • FA bans Dutch head coach for two matches
  • Slot was sent off after exchange with referee Michael Oliver

Arne Slot has received a two-game touchline ban for his behaviour after Liverpool’s draw at Everton. The Dutchman has also been fined £70,000.

Slot was shown a red card by the referee, Michael Oliver, and was charged by the Football Association with acting in an improper manner and/or using insulting and/or abusive words and/or behaviour towards both the match referee and an assistant referee after the 2-2 draw. Slot’s assistant, Sipke Hulshoff, has been banned for two games and fined £7,000 while Liverpool and Everton have been fined £50,000 and £65,000 for failing to control their players.

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Lionel Messi fined by MLS after grabbing opposing coach by neck

  • Inter Miami star was booked for dissent
  • Messi provided two assists in the match

Lionel Messi has been fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Soccer after grabbing the neck of a New York City assistant coach at the end of Saturday’s game between the sides.

The World Cup winner was caught on camera in a confrontation with NYC FC assistant coach Mehdi Ballouchy after the final whistle. Messi twice put his hands on the back of Ballouchy’s neck during the arguments. MLS said in a statement that their disciplinary committee had ruled that the Argentinian had violated the league’s “Hands to the face/head/neck of an opponent policy.”

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Ismaïla Sarr strikes twice in Crystal Palace goal-fest as Aston Villa implode

The birthday boy Ismaïla Sarr ended Crystal Palace’s wait for a home victory as Adam Wharton starred on his return from injury to deal a major blow to Aston Villa’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League again.

It was a night when everything seemed to go Oliver Glasner’s way as Unai Emery saw his side succumb to a seventh defeat in their last nine away matches in the Premier League. Having found a way back into the game at the start of the second half thanks to an equaliser from Morgan Rogers after he had seen another goal disallowed for the narrowest of offsides, Villa were blown away as Jean‑Philippe Mateta and Sarr’s second on the Senegal forward’s 27th birthday sealed only a third league win of the campaign at Selhurst Park for Palace.

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Chelsea v Southampton, Crystal Palace v Aston Villa, and more: football – as it happened

Chelsea and Palace walloped Southampton and Villa respectively, Fulham won at Wolves, and Brighton beat Bournemouth

Chelsea: Jorgensen; Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo; Palmer, Sancho, Neto; Nkunku. Subs: Sanchez, Acheampong, Fofana, James, Samuels-Smith, Amougou, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Mheuka.

Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Bree, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters, Downes, Smallbone, Fernandes, Aribo, Kamaldeen, Onuachu. Subs: McCarthy, Stephens, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Manning, Wellington, Grønnbæk, Dibling, Archer.

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Tanaka sends Leeds five points clear in dramatic late win over Sheffield United

The night Leeds United’s season swung decisively, or just another evening in the most unpredictable league in football? Only in May will we know that answer for sure, but the scale of the celebrations from those associated with Leeds here perhaps told you everything you need to know.

The popular song aimed in Leeds’ direction when things are going wrong is to decry that Daniel Farke’s side are falling apart. But here, when it mattered most, this team showed that they are anything but one that capitulates in the crucial moments.

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