Three goals in 14 first-half minutes saw Fulham pip the champions-elect in a terrific match, handing them their first away defeat of the league season
Also going on: it’s summer!
We’re all Brann now.
Continue reading...European football: Paris Saint-Germain seal Ligue 1 title with win over Angers
- PSG confirmed as champions for fourth straight season
- Real Madrid stunned 2-1 by Valencia but Barcelona held
Paris Saint-Germain sealed their fourth straight Ligue 1 title on Saturday after a 1-0 win over Angers gave Luis Enrique’s side an unassailable lead in the French top flight.
The victory, courtesy of a Désiré Doué goal, moved PSG to 74 points with six rounds left, 24 points ahead of second-placed Monaco, who can reach only 68 points if they win all their remaining games.
Continue reading...Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest: Premier League – as it happened
Villa made it seven consecutive wins in all competitions thanks to a quick-fire first-half double
2 min: Forest – who deliberately kept their hosts waiting before kick-off, forming a huddle that went on a bit longer than was absolutely necessary – are kicking towards the Holte End in this first half.
Forest get the ball rolling. But only after a knee is taken: there’s no room for racism.
Continue reading...Get Real: serial Champions League winners Madrid face fresh threat | Jonathan Wilson
Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Liverpool with verve and energy, are the upstart newcomers among big-name quarter-finalists
Narratives are never as straightforward as they may appear. One era does not yield easily to another. What constitutes an era changes over time. While history is happening it’s often hard to make sense of it; patterns seem to emerge that, from the perspective of 20 years later are meaningless, or culs-de-sac. That seems particularly true this season. As the Champions League reaches its quarter-final stage this coming week, it feels that one age has ended and another has yet to materialise.
The past was a simpler place. First there was the age of dominance by Real Madrid and Benfica, teams from the capitals of Iberian nations under right-wing dictatorships, packed with great individuals. Then came systematisation, catenaccio and the Italian ascendancy, followed, with a brief period of crossover, by the era of domination by the northern European industrial powers, skipping swiftly over Celtic and Manchester United to the Dutch and Total Football and then Bayern Munich. Then came the long period of English superiority before the Heysel ban, after which everything gets more complicated.
Continue reading...Championship roundup: Burnley seize advantage as title rivals stumble
- Leeds held by Luton; Sheffield United lose at Oxford
- Plymouth beat Norwich as relegation fight intensifies
Scott Parker said he was “immensely proud” after watching his Burnley side go top of the Championship with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Coventry on a day when their title rivals slipped up.
Haji Wright put the hosts in front after five minutes before Jaidon Anthony scored either side of half-time to make it 27 games unbeaten.
Continue reading...Nine-man Crystal Palace savour rare double over Brighton after chaotic win
This has been a very, very long time coming for Crystal Palace supporters. The last occasion they were able to celebrate doing the double over Brighton in the 1932-33 season in the old Division Three South, the two clubs weren’t even rivals and it would be another 14 years before Roy Hodgson was born.
But with an FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa to come later this month, Daniel Muñoz’s winner made it another memorable afternoon for Oliver Glasner’s side after Danny Welbeck had cancelled out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 13th Premier League goal of the season. Not even late red cards for Eddie Nketiah and captain Marc Guéhi could dampen the celebrations in south London as Palace moved to within four points of Fabian Hürzeler’s side with a game in hand.
Continue reading...Strand Larsen strikes as Wolves comeback pushes Ipswich closer to brink
Ipswich’s hopes of retaining their Premier League status took a huge knock as they lost 2-1 at home to Wolves. The visitors came from behind to extend the gap between the two clubs to 12 points with seven games remaining. Ipswich took the lead through Liam Delap after 16 minutes but Pablo Sarabia equalised in the 72nd minute and Jørgen Strand Larsen completed the turnaround with six minutes remaining.
Kieran McKenna said of his team’s defeat: “I think it was a really competitive first half, the players gave absolutely everything to the first half and second half. If you don’t manage to get a second goal then they [Wolves] are going to go and put some pressure on and we probably weren’t able to maintain our energy levels.”
Continue reading...Ndiaye on the spot as Everton put further dent in slim Arsenal title hopes
Liverpool do not require favours to secure the Premier League title but their neighbours gave them one anyway. Everton denied Arsenal the victory they needed to maintain extremely thin hopes of challenging the league leaders courtesy of Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty.
Leandro Trossard put Mikel Arteta’s visitors on course for a win their overall display just about deserved but a soft second-half spot-kick, awarded for a fall by Myles Lewis-Skelly into Jack Harrison, enabled Everton to secure a fifth draw in six Premier League matches. The upshot is that Arne Slot’s side need only 11 points from their final eight games to seal Liverpool’s 20th league championship. Arsenal can have no complaints over the destiny of this season’s title.
Continue reading...Everton 1-1 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened
Arsenal lost further ground in the Premier League title race after dropping points against Everton in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
1 min: Everton win a free kick on the right. They try to send it into the penalty area, but miss.
1 min: Peeeeep! Everton start the game, and Trossard is indeed playing at centre forward.
Continue reading...Southampton, the worst team in history? Paul Jewell knows the feeling | Ben Fisher
Saints are on the brink of relegation and a points nadir – an experience that still haunts the former Derby manager
For Southampton, there was the initial pain of conceding a stoppage-time equaliser at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday. Then came the niggling knot in the stomach as they faced up to keeping alive another shot at unwanted history: the possibility of becoming, statistically at least, the worst team in Premier League history.
For now that mantle belongs to Derby County, who were relegated with 11 points in 2007-08, a campaign in which they recorded a solitary win and were officially down before the clocks went forward at the end of March.
Continue reading...European football: Bayern stretch lead while Espanyol move clear of drop
- Harry Kane scores in 3-1 victory at 10-man Augsburg
- Espanyol up to 15th after 4-0 win against Rayo Vallecano
Bayern Munich came back from a goal down to beat 10-man Augsburg 3-1 away on Friday and move nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga but Jamal Musiala went off injured and looks unlikely to be fit for next week’s Champions League quarter-final.
Musiala equalised before Harry Kane’s header and a deflected own goal from Augsburg’s Chrislain Matsima gave Bayern the points after the hosts took the lead thorugh Dimitris Gianoulis’ strike but ran out of steam when Cedric Zesiger was sent off. Bayern now have 68 points with six games left, nine ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who travel to Heidenheim on Saturday.
Continue reading...Premier League team news: predicted lineups for the weekend action
Ipswich welcome Wolves in a must-win relegation tussle while City travel to United in the Manchester derby
Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Goodison Park
Continue reading...‘He’s seen as a pariah’: how Chansiri’s Sheffield Wednesday reign went sour
With delays in paying players and an owner who has lost the faith of fans, the Championship club urgently need a plan
It is highly unlikely a statement including the phrase “impacted on the club’s immediate cashflow” can result in anything positive. Sheffield Wednesday announced their latest financial issues on Monday after failing to pay their players on time at the end of March, putting the Championship side under a dark cloud.
This is the latest cause for concern among Owls supporters who have become increasingly frustrated by the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, and the longer the players are not remunerated the greater the risk of punishment. An English Football League charge could come next week if the players remain unpaid. A fine, transfer ban or points deduction would then be among the options open to the league, which is in dialogue with Wednesday, if the matter is not resolved quickly, which the club is confident it will be.
Continue reading...Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Curtis Jones is not a long-term fix at right-back for Liverpool, Tyler Dibling is a wanted man and Arsenal are depleted
When Arsenal next visit Merseyside on 11 May their first act may be to form a guard of honour for Liverpool, who could by then be newly crowned Premier League champions. The title appears destined for Anfield – Arsenal have been unable to sustain a consistent challenge for it all season – but Mikel Arteta will feel duty-bound to delay the seemingly inevitable for as long as possible on his return to Everton. Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid may be the priority for Arsenal but rotating is hardly an option for Arteta at Goodison Park given he has four defenders available. A makeshift unit would benefit from a demanding afternoon together before welcoming Real to the Emirates. Arne Slot claimed it is unfair on Everton to have an early Saturday kick-off after Wednesday’s Merseyside derby. Depleted or not, Arteta’s team should take advantage. Andy Hunter
Everton v Arsenal, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)
Crystal Palace v Brighton, Saturday 3pm
Ipswich v Wolves, Saturday 3pm
West Ham v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm
Continue reading...‘I just wanted to hear them cheer’: Postecoglou claims ear-cup was misinterpreted
- Manager targeted by angry Spurs fans at Chelsea
- Postecoglou rails at VAR after Sarr strike disallowed
Ange Postecoglou insisted his ear-cup gesture at Tottenham fans had been misinterpreted as he raged at a VAR intervention that denied his team a goal in their 1-0 defeat by Chelsea.
Spurs were poor but they looked to have fashioned a lifeline when Pape Sarr, on as a substitute, beat Robert Sánchez from long range in the 70th minute. Postecoglou’s decision to introduce Sarr for Lucas Bergvall had been met with chants from the travelling support that he did not know what he was doing.
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