Month: May 2023

Tottenham were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship opposition for the second year in a row after Iliman Ndiaye fired Sheffield United to a 1-0 fifth-round win at Bramall Lane.

Exactly one year ago to the day since they were beaten by the same scoreline at Middlesbrough, Spurs again succumbed to a team in the division below them after a limp display in South Yorkshire.

After starting Harry Kane on the bench, they fell behind to Ndiaye’s 79th-minute opener and could not find a way back into the game.

Defeat means another chance of ending their 15-year trophy drought goes up in smoke and they exit the premier domestic cup competition at this stage for the fourth successive year.

With Antonio Conte still out of the country as he recovers from gall bladder surgery, the manager will evade some of the flak for this defeat but, with his future still up in the air, the pressure is mounting on him ahead of a crunch period in the Premier League and Champions League.

It was a glorious night for the Blades, who reached the last eight for the third time in four years and they are now one win away from Wembley, which is supplementing their promotion campaign in the Championship.

This fixture had all the hallmarks of that night on Teeside for Spurs, but they still opted to leave Kane on the bench.

Spurs have been notoriously slow starters this season and were so again in a largely forgettable opening 20 minutes.

Lucas Moura, making his first start since November, wasted a good opening as a stray Sheffield United pass played him in but after driving into the penalty area he dallied and could not find a man.

Spurs’ dominance began to grow and Richarlison, starting as a number nine, had a good chance after being played in by Davinson Sanchez, but fired over while Moura saw an mis-hit cross skim off the crossbar.

For all of their control, the Premier League should have gone in at half-time behind.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg got his header back to goalkeeper Fraser Forster all wrong and Ismaila Coulibaly stole in but, with Billy Sharp screaming for a square pass, he skewed a shot into the side-netting.

Spurs started the second half with some purpose and Ivan Perisic glanced a corner over while Son Heung-min could not find the target after creating room for himself on the edge of the area.

But they could not keep up their momentum and the hosts began to come into the game more.

Even the introduction of Kane did not help Spurs regain their verve as Pedro Porro curled wide after Hojbjerg’s long ball sent him clear.

As the second half wore on it seemed more and more obvious what was going to happen and it did 11 minutes from time.

Some sloppy defending from Sanchez and Porro allowed Ndiaye to wriggle free in the box and he fired a low shot in at the near post, which did not cover Forster in much glory.

Tottenham had to wait until deep into injury time to muster a chance at sending the tie to extra-time but Kane inexplicably headed Perisic’s cross over and United saw it through.

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany is set to make an emotional return to Manchester City after the clubs were paired together in the FA Cup quarter-final draw.

Former City skipper Kompany, who won four Premier League titles and two FA Cups among his haul of trophies during his 11-year-stay with the club, will take the Clarets to the Etihad Stadium later this month.

The Sky Bet Championship leaders booked their showdown with the reigning English champions minutes before the draw courtesy of a 1-0 win over League One Fleetwood thanks to Connor Roberts’ 90th-minute strike.

League Two Grimsby’s reward for their shock 2-1 win at top-flight Southampton is a trip to Brighton.

Gavan Holohan’s penalty double either side of half-time produced a huge upset at St Mary’s and left them one win away from a trip to Wembley.

The Mariners, who have reached the quarter-finals for the first time since the Second World War, sit in 16th place in the fourth tier, while the Seagulls lie eighth in the Premier League.

Carabao Cup winners Manchester United will entertain top-flight rivals Fulham with a place in the semi-finals at stake.

They had to come from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening three days after their Wembley victory over Newcastle.

United, who have lifted the trophy on 12 occasions but not since 2016, won 2-1 when the sides met in the league at Craven Cottage in November with substitute Alejandro Garnacho’s last-gasp strike securing the points.

The final tie will see Championship promotion hopefuls Sheffield United host second-tier counterparts Blackburn.

The Blades dumped top-flight Tottenham out of the competition with a 1-0 win at Bramall Lane on Wednesday evening with Iliman Ndiaye scoring the winner.

Second-placed United are nine points better off than Rovers in fourth having played a game more and won 3-0 in August’s league fixture in South Yorkshire.

The fixtures will take place over the weekend of March 18 and 19.

Novak Djokovic continued his unbeaten start to the year by defeating Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The world number one has shaken off the early rust he showed in his first tournament since winning the Australian Open and impressed in a 6-3 7-5 win over fifth seed Hurkacz.

One break in each set proved the difference, with Djokovic dropping just 11 points on serve in the match and not facing a break point throughout his 20th straight victory, 15 of which have come in 2023.

The only moment of real concern came when he slipped to 0-30 at 4-5 in the second set, but he responded well, and Djokovic said in an on-court interview broadcast by Amazon Prime Video: “It was a challenging match, as it always is against Hubert, one of the best guys on the tour.

“He’s got one of the best serves in the game so in the second set, until that 11th game, I didn’t really have too many chances. Fortunately for me I also found the rhythm on my serve.

“One or two points can always decide the winner of matches like this. I’m really, really glad with the way I played under pressure.”

Alexander Zverev is enjoying his best week since the serious ankle injury he suffered at the French Open last spring and he made it through to the last four with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

“I’m starting to play decent tennis, which is nice after nine months,” said the German. “I’m happy about that. I’m happy with how the match went. I’m also happy how I handled the pressure situations.”

He next faces defending champion Andrey Rublev, who saw off Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3 7-6 (3).

In Thursday’s late match, Daniil Medvedev beat Croatian number eight seed Borna Coric in straight sets, 6-3 6-2.

The Russian world number seven will go on to play Djokovic for a place in the final.

Paris St Germain have condemned the actions of supporters who are understood to have gathered outside the home of Neymar and chanted for him to leave the club.

It has been a tumultuous week for the Ligue 1 outfit, who suspended Lionel Messi for two weeks following an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia and saw their title hopes hit after a home defeat to Lorient on Sunday.

Fans were filmed on Wednesday chanting for the board to resign outside club headquarters before further clips showed a group of supporters visit the home of Neymar and called for him to move on.

Messi was also believed to be the target of frustration with fans chanting for the World Cup winner to leave, having recently jeered the Argentine in home matches.

“Paris Saint-Germain most strongly condemns the intolerable and insulting actions of a small group of individuals that took place on Wednesday,” a club statement read.

“Whatever the differences of opinion, nothing justifies such actions.

“The club gives its full support to its players, its staff and all those targeted by such shameful behaviour.”

Reports suggest Messi will leave Parc des Princes at the end of the campaign following two seasons in Paris.

Liverpool turned up the pressure on Manchester United with a 1-0 victory over Fulham moving them four points off fourth place as Mohamed Salah’s winner edged him even closer to a Steven Gerrard record.

There was none of the drama or histrionics of Sunday’s 4-3 win over Tottenham in bringing up a fifth successive Premier League victory for the first time since April last year.

Salah’s 39th-minute penalty, his second in successive games after back-to-back misses, took him to 185 goals for the club, one behind Gerrard, while also going fifth on the club’s list of all-time league scorers with 136.

Manager Jurgen Klopp’s behaviour in the technical area was the very model of exemplary following a Football Association misconduct charge for comments about Sunday’s referee Paul Tierney.

He was perhaps making the most of his time on the touchline as he has until Friday to respond to the charges and, having already served a one-match ban this season, the punishment could be much more severe.

Klopp had written in his programme notes that going 3-0 up inside the opening 15 minutes against Tottenham – a match they eventually went on to win with an added-time goal – had given them some problems.

And although they set off looking like they might replicate that with Trent Alexander-Arnold alone having three attempts on goal in the first 10 minutes, they lacked some of the sharpness they had shown at the weekend.

Also, Fulham were also more organised than their fellow Londoners and that kept opportunities down to half-chances at best.

Alexander-Arnold’s advanced position stepping into midfield allowed him to get closer to his opponents’ goal but, unusually for him, he was off target with two attempts with another hit tamely at goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Salah, whose cross just evaded Darwin Nunez eight yards out, weaved his way past a couple of defenders close to the byline but could not find the target from a narrow angle, while Luis Diaz also had a shot deflected wide.

Liverpool’s mastery of control in the opposition half was almost absolute, regularly winning back possession before Fulham had time to begin the semblance of an attack, but in their own final third it was much less so.

Virgil Van Dijk had to slide in to turn Harry Wilson’s cross behind after the former Liverpool winger had broken into the space behind Kostas Tsimikas, with Carlos Vinicius exploiting Ibrahima Konate’s hesitation to force a good save out of Alisson Becker.

When the breakthrough arrived it was no surprise it came from a counter-press after Nunez had initially lost possession 15 yards outside Fulham’s penalty area.

Tosin Adarabioyo squared a short pass to Issa Diop but the centre-half, back in the team due to Tim Ream’s season-ending injury, dawdled in making his clearance and Nunez was on him like a shot to nick the ball off his toes with the Frenchman’s swing at fresh air catching the forward’s back leg as he went past him.

Referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot and Salah scored an identical penalty to the one against Spurs, blasted straight down the middle.

The second half was much of the same, with Liverpool exerting most of the pressure without really pressing home their advantage.

That made their slender lead vulnerable and Alisson had to save well from Vinicius to prevent the equaliser with 13 minutes remaining to keep their slim Champions League qualification hopes alive.

They are, however, still relying on United to drop points as their arch-rivals have two matches in hand, starting at Brighton on Thursday.

Sam Allardyce claimed he is as good a manager as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta as he was unveiled as Leeds’ new boss on Wednesday.

Leeds have turned to former England manager Allardyce, 68, in a last-ditch bid to retain their Premier League status after sacking Javi Gracia with four games remaining.

Allardyce, relegated from the top flight for the first time in his 30-year managerial career in his last job at West Brom two years ago, said: “Far too many people think that I am old and antiquated, which is far from the truth.

“I might be 68 and old, but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep, not Klopp, not Arteta.

“It’s all there with me. They do what they do, I do what I do. In terms of knowledge and depth of knowledge, I’m up there with them. I’m not saying I’m better than them, but certainly as good as they are.”

Former Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham and Everton boss Allardyce takes charge of his first game for Leeds at Guardiola’s title-chasing Manchester City on Saturday.

Having already removed director of football Victor Orta, Leeds announced the departure of Gracia on Wednesday morning along with his backroom staff.

Allardyce said: “I’ve had a lot of responses from many people that I know sending their congratulations. A few others said I must be mad.

“But I enjoy the game so much and to try and save this club and keep it in the Premier League is a big responsibility and a big challenge. But it’s one I’m prepared to take because of who Leeds are.”

Allardyce is the club’s third permanent manager of the season, with Gracia having replaced Jesse Marsch in February.

The former England boss is hoping for an immediate response from a demoralised squad who are languishing in 17th place, out of the relegation zone only on goal difference.

“It’s probably only the biggest challenge (of my career) because of the shortness of games that are left,” he said.

Allardyce is reported to have agreed a basic salary of £500,000 for his four games in charge, with a £2.5million bonus if he can keep Leeds up.

When asked if there was a chance he would stay at Elland Road beyond the remainder of this season, he said: “Never say never.

“It depends what happens at the end of the four matches and what the conversation is all about, how I feel and more importantly how my wife feels.”

Former MK Dons, Charlton and Oxford boss Karl Robinson will be Allardyce’s assistant and ex-Leeds striker Robbie Keane has also joined the backroom staff.

Allardyce had hoped to have been assisted by Sammy Lee, who is unavailable after being refused permission to cancel jury duty.

“The judge has left Sammy unemployed and wouldn’t let them off,” Allardyce added. “I think it’s very poor judgment indeed. It’s a real shame because he loves being with me and I love having him with me.”

After Allardyce’s first game at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, Leeds face Champions League hopefuls Newcastle at Elland Road the following week.

The final two games of the season are a trip to West Ham, one of Allardyce’s former clubs, and the visit of Tottenham, who are bidding to qualify for Europe.

Leeds have lost five of their last seven games, with Sunday’s 4-1 reverse at Bournemouth following 4-1, 5-1 and 6-1 defeats to Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Liverpool respectively last month.

On Sunday, fans’ group the Leeds United Supporters Advisory Board issued a vote of no confidence in both the club’s board and Gracia.

The players subsequently issued a statement on Monday apologising for their performance at Bournemouth and for failing to acknowledge fans at the team hotel.

Gracia leaves Leeds after only 11 league games in charge. The Spaniard collected 10 points from his first six fixtures, but a dreadful run of results in April left the club in a downward spiral.

Gracia said in a statement: “I’m grateful for this opportunity and proud of the team, both players and coaching staff. That’s how I would like to summarise my time at Leeds United.

“I would have preferred a different moment, but the circumstances have changed. We arrived on a short three-month contract, and we did it because we believed in this team.”

Erling Haaland set a new Premier League goalscoring record as title favourites Manchester City reclaimed top spot with a comfortable 3-0 win over West Ham.

The prolific Norwegian raced through for league goal number 35 of the campaign – surpassing the previous best mark held by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer – on 70 minutes as City eased to victory at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

His sweet left-footed chip over Lukasz Fabianksi came after Nathan Ake had headed City in front on 50 minutes and before Phil Foden wrapped up victory with a deflected long-range volley.

The win took the treble-chasing champions a point above Arsenal at the summit and, with a game in hand, they seem to be cruising towards a fifth title in six years.

The victory came 25 years to the day after City were relegated to the third tier of English football in one of the lowest points of the club’s history.

The contrast with the team now is remarkable, although City – perhaps with next week’s trip to Real Madrid in mind – were far from their energetic best.

Again they were without the dynamism of Kevin De Bruyne through injury and the atmosphere was far more subdued than for last week’s seemingly pivotal win over Arsenal.

That lack of spark transmitted itself to the field in a slow start and West Ham may wonder what might have been had a sickness bug not robbed them of key players including Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.

Yet with Haaland, City always posed a major threat and his strike, his 51st overall this season, was yet another demonstration of his awesome firepower.

Neither side created a clear-cut chance in the opening 30 minutes and West Ham threatened first when Jarrod Bowen got to the byline. Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, standing in for the rested Ederson, blocked at the near post.

City picked up the pace in response with Jack Grealish cutting inside and lashing a shot against the outside of the post from a tight angle.

Haaland then combined with Rodri to send the Spaniard through on goal but his low shot struck the base of the post and rolled across goal

The breakthrough came five minutes after the restart as Riyad Mahrez clipped a free-kick to the back post and Ake stole in to head past Lukasz Fabianski.

Haaland appealed for a penalty after going down under a Thilo Kehrer challenge but nothing was given.

The striker was not to be denied, however, as he was released by the hard-working Grealish and calmly lobbed over Fabianski.

With the job done, City eased towards the final whistle and Foden had the final word with a well-struck volley from distance that flew in off Emerson Palmieri.

It was City’s 1,000th goal in all competitions under Guardiola and wrapped up an excellent night’s work.

City celebrated Haaland’s achievement by giving him a guard of honour as after the final whistle.

Reiss Nelson’s last-gasp winner saw Arsenal fight back from two goals down to beat lowly Bournemouth and maintain their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

With Manchester City beating Newcastle earlier in the day, Mikel Arteta’s leaders had to scramble from behind, substitute Nelson sealing a remarkable 3-2 win with a fine winner.

The struggling Cherries had only won away at Nottingham Forest and Wolves this season but raced into an early lead as Philip Billing scored the second-fastest goal in Premier League history.

They doubled their advantage as Marcos Senesi headed home after the interval before the Gunners finally rallied.

Fit-again Thomas Partey got one back before Ben White’s maiden goal for Arsenal – and his first in 955 days – had them level with 20 minutes to go.

They would need all of that time, and more, as Nelson – on his first league appearance since November 12 – struck with almost the last kick of six minutes of stoppage time to break Bournemouth hearts and lift the roof off the Emirates Stadium.

The home fans had been stunned into silence earlier in the afternoon as Billing tapped home with just 9.11 seconds on the clock, turning in a Dango Ouattara cross with the home defence caught cold.

Arsenal looked to respond immediately but Neto made a fine low stop from Martin Odegaard before leaping to his feet to keep out Bukayo Saka’s effort on the rebound.

Bournemouth could have had a second as they broke at Arsenal, who were now dominating possession, former Cherries goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale making a crucial save from Ouattara.

The hosts were forced into an early change as Leandro Trossard limped off to be replaced by Emile Smith Rowe with the game seemingly set as attack against defence.

Gabriel Martinelli, moved central after Trossard’s injury, hit the outside of the post to end a frustrating first-half for the leaders, who failed to register a shot on target after Saka’s fifth-minute strike.

White was brought on for Takehiro Tomiyasu at the break as another low Odegaard shot at least tested Neto with the game falling into the same routine as the first-half.

Despite near-domination, Arteta’s men were made to pay for their poor attacking play as Bournemouth went 2-0 ahead when Senesi broke free from Partey to head home a corner.

Partey made amends soon after, tucking home from a Smith Rowe header after Bournemouth failed to deal with a corner.

Bournemouth were causing Arsenal issues every time they managed to launch an attack and Ramsdale had to be alert to save from Dominic Solanke moments after the lead had been halved.

But the Gunners were level shortly after, White finishing a centre from fellow substitute Nelson which Neto could not prevent from crossing the line.

Nelson was lively after replacing Smith Rowe with Arsenal chasing the game and, when a late corner was headed his way, he controlled the ball before finishing brilliantly to earn Arsenal the three points.

Adama Traore struck to boost Wolves’ survival hopes and deliver a damaging blow to Tottenham’s Champions League dream.

The forward’s first goal since October eased relegation fears at Molineux as the hosts bagged a gritty 1-0 win.

Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min hit the crossbar but Spurs sank to a disappointing defeat on the eve of boss Antonio Conte’s comeback.

Conte will return on Sunday after recovering from gallbladder surgery to a side fourth in the Premier League but low on confidence and struggling to find their killer instinct.

Victories over West Ham and Chelsea had hauled them into the Champions League spots, but a scrappy defeat at Molineux only showed their fragility – following the midweek FA Cup exit at Sheffield United.

Having played two games more than the chasing pack, their fourth spot looks anything but secure.

AC Milan arrive for Wednesday’s last-16 second-leg tie holding a 1-0 advantage and the Italians will fancy their chances of progressing if Saturday’s uninspiring performance is anything to go by.

In contrast, positivity is plentiful at Molineux after the hosts moved five points clear of the relegation zone.

After three winless games, fears had grown Wolves would be sucked back into the drop zone, but a gutsy victory gives them further breathing space.

The only issue was Diego Costa being stretched off after landing awkwardly after 28 minutes, adding to worries of a serious injury.

Prior to that Spurs had been on top, with Jose Sa claiming Son’s shot and turning Dejan Kulusevski’s curling effort wide.

It was still attritional rather than flowing at a subdued Molineux, with stoppages to tend to injuries to Max Kilman and Ben Davies stunting the game’s momentum.

Tottenham still created the best moments of a fairly forgettable first half and, when Ivan Perisic met Son’s deep free-kick, Sa shovelled his header behind.

Son blazed over after Harry Kane’s quick free-kick – his blushes spared by an offside flag – before the visitors went closer in stoppage time.

Perisic’s burst forward was halted by Ruben Neves and Porro curled a 20-yard free kick against the bar.

Just 90 seconds after the restart Spurs rattled the woodwork again when Son’s rising drive, after Kane’s pass, smacked the bar.

The near miss stirred Wolves into life and Nelson Semedo narrowly missed Raul Jimenez’s cutback as the hosts found the urgency which they so sorely lacked.

Traore, on for Pedro Neto at the break, threatened his usual chaos and it was his cross which found Jimenez, only for his header to be parried by Fraser Forster.

Neves twice tested the goalkeeper from distance and Matheus Cunha should have done so much better than shoot wide after Jimenez and Joao Moutinho combined.

Wolves had upped the tempo since the break and finally found the breakthrough with eight minutes remaining.

Jimenez engineered space on the edge of the box and, when Forster parried his drive, Traore’s first-time volley arched over the goalkeeper and dropped in off the bar.

Chelsea’s long goalless run at Stamford Bridge was ended by a second-half header from Wesley Fofana that earned them a 1-0 win over Leeds and brought badly needed respite for Graham Potter.

The defender nodded in Ben Chilwell’s corner eight minutes after half-time to bring a deserved first victory in six Premier League games and help lift a mood that had grown increasingly hostile towards Potter.

The hosts dominated in the first half, going close through Kai Havertz and Joao Felix, who hit the crossbar. It was a different Chelsea to the one so meek in defeats to Tottenham and here against Southampton.

Leeds rallied after falling behind, but anything less than three points would have been crushing for Potter, whose team’s seven-week wait for a home win ended here.

Chelsea were aiming to avoid falling into the Premier League’s bottom half, and the threat of such fresh ignominy seemed to drive the team in the direction of new energy and invention.

The first-half chances came at a quickfire rate. First Chilwell, collecting the ball on the left touchline, swept a cross into the heart of Leeds’ penalty area which was inches away from the head of the diving Havertz.

The German had been the last Chelsea player to score on this ground back on 15th January. The determination to end that drought was readily apparent

The next opportunity fell to Fofana, thumping a header just over from Chilwell’s neat near-post corner. Later, Leeds would be made to rue not heeding how effective that combination could be from a dead ball.

For all Chelsea’s struggles, the team had not lost their fans’ support. When Chilwell floored Crysencio Summerville at the other end as the Leeds forward looked to nip around him and to break into the box, Stamford Bridge roared its approval.

They were on their feet again when Havertz sprinted in behind Leeds’ defence from Raheem Sterling’s pass and looked certain to score, only for Illan Meslier to spread himself magnificently to deny Chelsea’s makeshift number nine.

Next it was Felix’s turn to go agonisingly close, his first-time strike from Raheem Sterling’s pull-back smacking the underside of the crossbar, before Chilwell volleyed wide from six yards out. Leeds were holding on by their fingertips.

The concern for Chelsea was that the game would go the way of so many recent performances, a bright beginning eventually giving way to frustration and inertia as the chances came and went. They could, perhaps should, have been out of sight by half-time. Instead the teams went in level.

The goal, Chelsea’s first at Stamford Bridge for 49 days, sent a wave of relief surging around the ground, and it was the excellent Chilwell who made it. His corner was floated over, and as the bodies rose Fofana got the better Weston McKennie with a fine leap and powered his header beyond Meslier.

Chelsea had not held a lead since early February, and their composure in sight of victory was tested moments later. Luke Ayling fired in a driven cross from the right that was met first-time by the unmarked Georginio Rutter six-yards out.

His effort was bound for the bottom corner and would have sent Chelsea tumbling back to square one, had Kalidou Koulibaly not been in the right place at the right time to deflect it into Kepa Arrizabalaga’s grateful clutch.

All Chelsea’s good work was nearly undone in the most unlikely fashion in stoppage time, Meslier charging forward for a corner and finding himself unmarked, but the goalkeeper’s header lacked the power to beat Arrizabalaga.