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BUNDESLIGA ROUNDUP: INJURY-HIT BAYERN HELD BY UNION BERLIN AHEAD UCL CLASH WITH PSG

Depleted Bayern Munich were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday, three days before their Champions League return leg at Paris Saint-Germain.

Teenager Jamal Musiala beat three defenders to give Bayern the lead midway through the second half at the Allianz Arena only for Marcus Ingvartsen to equalise for Union four minutes from time.

“That is very annoying,” Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer told Sky. “We played well over long stretches and would have deserved the victory.”

In Paris on Tuesday, European champions Bayern need to overturn a 3-2 first-leg defeat in the quarter-finals and started reserve team players Tiago Dantas, on a season-long loan from Benfica, and Josip Stanisic against Union.

The club world champions have nine players sidelined, including injured top-scorer Robert Lewandowski and winger Serge Gnabry, who was quarantined after testing positive for Covid-19.

Musiala showed great footwork to pick his way through the Union defence for the opening goal, only for Ingvartsen to beat Stanisic to the ball and grab the visitors’ late equaliser.

Off the field, tensions are brewing between sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and coach Hansi Flick, who has Neuer’s backing.

“I think Hansi Flick is the right coach for us,” said Neuer.

The draw trims Bayern’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga table to five points ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, who romped to a 4-1 win at Werder Bremen.

Leipzig dominated throughout and raced into a 3-0 lead as Dani Olmo gave them the lead before Alexander Sorloth netted twice.

Although Milot Rashica pulled a goal back for Bremen, Marcel Sabitzer made it 4-1 midway through the second half.

The sides meet again in Bremen on April 30 in the German Cup semi-finals.

Eintracht Frankfurt took another key step towards reaching the Champions League for the first time since 1960 with a thrilling 4-3 home win over Wolfsburg.

Daichi Kamada, Luka Jovic, Andre Silva and Erik Durm all netted for Frankfurt.

Third-placed Wolfsburg pulled goals back through Ridle Baku and Wout Weghorst before Frankfurt’s Brazilian defender Tuta turned the ball into his own net for an own goal five minutes from time.

Knauff rescues Dortmund

The result leaves Frankfurt with a seven-point cushion in fourth after fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund, later earned a dramatic 3-2 win at Stuttgart.

Dortmund need to overturn a 2-1 first leg defeat at home to Manchester City on Wednesday in the Champions League.

Substitute striker Ansgar Knauff came off the bench to score Dortmund’s winner on only his third league appearance.

The 19-year-old, who made his Champions League debut in the defeat at City after being promoted from the reserves, dribbled clear following Erling Braut Haaland’s pass to score his first Bundesliga goal.

“It’s been an unbelievable week with my Champions League debut and first Bundesliga goal,” said Knauff. “I hope things keep going so well.”

This was Haaland’s sixth game without a goal for club or country, but he claimed two assists.

The visitors were 1-0 down at half-time, but after Jude Bellingham equalised, Haaland left the ball for Marco Reus to put Dortmund 2-1 up.

Daniel Didavi fired Stuttgart level before Knauff hit the winner 10 minutes from time as Dortmund avenged their 5-1 thrashing at home by Stuttgart last December.

Borussia Moenchengladbach earned a 2-2 draw at Hertha Berlin despite playing 77 minutes a man down after goalkeeper Yann Sommer was shown an early red card for fouling Jhon Cordoba.

Goals by forwards Alassane Plea and Lars Stindl had put Gladbach in control after Santiago Ascacibar gave Hertha the lead with a superb strike, before Cordoba equalised just after the break.

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IBRAHIMOVIC GETS TWO ASSISTS AND A RED CARD IN MILAN WIN AGAINST PARMA

Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up two goals but was also sent off as AC Milan won 3-1 at relegation-threatened Parma on Saturday to keep its small Serie A title hopes alive.

Ibrahimovic had a hand in both Milan’s first-half goals but was shown a straight red card on the hour mark. Riccardo Gagliolo reduced the deficit but substitute Rafael Leão sealed the result in stoppage time as Milan moved to within eight points of league leader Inter Milan, which hosts Cagliari on Sunday.

Milan is in a tight fight for second place with Juventus and Atalanta. Both play on Sunday.

In Parma, Milan got off to a perfect start as Ibrahimovic sent a throughball to Ante Rebic, who gathered with his back to goal, spun round and fired powerfully into the top right corner.

The 39-year-old Ibrahimovic was also involved in Milan’s second, a minute from the break. Theo Hernandez played a one-two with the Sweden forward and touched it onto Franck Kessie, who drilled into the bottom left corner.

Parma had a triple chance to get back into the match five minutes into the second half but Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled off a double save to deny first Andrea Conti and then Graziano Pelle, and Juraj Kucka’s attempt was over the bar.

Ibrahimovic was sent off shortly after for something he appeared to say to referee Fabio Maresca and Parma got back into the match six minutes later. A ball was floated to the back post and Pelle nodded it across to Gagliolo, who managed to prod in from close range.

Milan held on and made sure of all three points when Diogo Dalot raced down the right and rolled across for fellow substitute Leão to fire into the bottom right corner, shortly after coming off the bench.

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KAI HAVERTZ STARS, PULISIC HITS BRACE AS CHELSEA THRASH PALACE TO MAINTAIN TOP FOUR HOPES

Kai Havertz starred to help Chelsea get their top-four hopes back on track with a comfortable 4-1 win at Crystal Palace.

The Germany international ended his long drought in the Premier League with an early strike at Selhurst Park and caused the hosts constant problems in easily one of his best displays for the club.

Christian Pulisic also impressed and grabbed a brace while Kurt Zouma was on target in the first half for Thomas Tuchel’s men, who moved up to fourth with this routine victory in south London.

Play got under way at Selhurst Park after a two-minute period of silence following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip on Friday.

Once the action started it was the number two at this Palace who took centre stage, with the booming voice of Roy Hodgson’s assistant Ray Lewington heard prominently during the first five minutes.

It had been a regular feature of football behind closed doors, but an anomaly happened with eight minutes played when Havertz grabbed only his second Premier League goal since a £71million summer switch.

Vicente Guaita made a fine save to deny Christian Pulisic moments earlier before Eberechi Eze was dispossessed deep inside his own half and it proved costly.

Havertz won the ball back and was found by Callum Hudson-Odoi in the penalty area where he produced a fine curled left-footed strike from eight yards to open the scoring.

The composure for the finish had been lacking by the German in previous appearances, with this his second goal from his last 28 club outings after an initial bright start to life at Stamford Bridge.

Former Bayer Leverkusen attacker Havertz was not finished there and within 120 seconds, he had assisted Pulisic to make it 2-0 with a cutback as the winger smashed into the roof of the net from close range.

Both had struggled for goals this term, but it was the American’s second in as many starts while Tuchel saw his players again respond to last weekend’s shock loss to West Brom having beat Porto in midweek.

Havertz almost had a goal of the season contender in the 22nd minute but his volley after a wonderful flick over Patrick Van Aanholt was saved.

It was 3-0 with 30 minutes played, though, when Kurt Zouma headed home a Mason Mount free-kick to ensure Chelsea would finish the night in the top four.

Antonio Rudiger nearly joined his fellow centre-back on the scoresheet prior to half-time, but Van Aanholt cleared his goalbound effort to ensure the damage for the hosts was limited to three at the break.

Ben Chilwell was the next Blues defender to be presented with an opportunity and Tuchel’s high standards were on display when the German threw his hands up in the air following the missed effort by the full-back early into the second period.

With Porto up next on Tuesday, the Chelsea manager was able to withdraw Jorginho after an hour but Palace added some tension to the occasion by pulling a goal back in the 63rd minute.

Jeffrey Schlupp made an immediate impact from the bench and crossed in for Benteke to grab his sixth goal of the campaign with a smart header in what was the Eagles’ first effort of the match.

Normal service was quickly resumed when Gary Cahill made a last-ditch block against his old club to deny Mount, but a fourth goal arrived with 78 minutes played.

Substitute Reece James was afforded too much space on the right by a weary home defence and Pulisic finished off his delivery at the back post to wrap up the scoring.

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ALEXANDER-ARNOLD NETS LATE WINNER TO EDGE STUBBORN ASTON VILLA AT ANFIELD

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s superb stoppage-time goal helped Liverpool come from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 for a first home win since 16 December that boosted their hopes of a top-four finish.

Liverpool started strongly and Mohamed Salah had their best chance, but shot wide when through on goal.

Villa went ahead two minutes before half-time against the run of play, Ollie Watkins controlling John McGinn’s pass before firing beneath Alisson.

Salah drew Liverpool level on 57 minutes with their first goal from open play at Anfield in 765 minutes, nodding in after Emiliano Martinez had saved Andrew Robertson’s shot.

Trezeguet almost restored Villa’s lead but his shot hit a post, before he headed the rebound wide.

In added time, shortly after Martinez had saved spectacularly from Thiago, Alexander-Arnold curled the ball brilliantly into the far corner to win it.

By ending a run of six straight home defeats Liverpool go fourth on 52 points, while Villa are 10th on 44 points.

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STUART DALLAS NETS BRACE AS 10-MAN LEEDS UTD SHOCK MAN CITY WITH 2-1 VICTORY

Stuart Dallas struck a last-gasp winner as 10-man Leeds stunned runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

The Northern Irishman raced onto a fine through ball from Ezgjan Alioski and flicked past Ederson for his second goal of the game in injury time.

City had been pressing for a winner having finally taken advantage of Liam Cooper’s sending-off to cancel out Dallas’ 42nd-minute opener through Ferran Torres 15 minutes from time.

Cooper was dismissed in the final minute of the first half for a poor challenge on Gabriel Jesus following a VAR review.

The result left City, who had dominated most of the game, still needing 11 points to secure their third title in the space of four seasons.

City, having made seven changes following their midweek Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund, were slow out of the blocks.

Leeds played some neat football and did get behind the hosts’ defence on a couple of occasions early on but failed to capitalise. Their best opening saw Tyler Roberts break into the box on the right but his ball across goal was too far behind Patrick Bamford.

City gradually began to increase the tempo and Ferran Torres had a good effort brilliantly blocked by Cooper at point-blank range following a corner. Jesus’ follow-up attempt was also blocked.

Raheem Sterling came more into the game but was denied a penalty after the ball jumped up and caught Luke Ayling on the arm following a jinking run.

Sterling then blasted over before spurning an even better opportunity, dragging a first-time shot horribly wide, after being teed up by a charging Fernandinho.

City were made to pay for that miss as Helder Costa broke down the left and passed inside to Bamford. Dallas then latched onto an inviting lay-off on the edge of the area, hitting a firm low shot that left Ederson rooted to the spot as it rebounded in off the base of the post.

It was a lead that came against the run of play and Leeds’ hopes of hanging onto it almost immediately suffered a blow as Cooper was dismissed for a bad challenge on Jesus.

Referee Andre Marriner initially showed a yellow card after Cooper caught the Brazilian on the knee in his follow-through but revised that to red after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.

City chased the equaliser in the second half with Oleksandr Zinchenko forcing a good save from Illan Meslier and Bernardo Silva volleying wide from close range. Ilkay Gundogan fired over and Fernandinho had a powerful effort palmed over by Meslier, who also saved from Joao Cancelo.

The equaliser finally came 15 minutes from time as Silva flicked the ball into the path of Torres and the Spaniard clipped it past Meslier.

City continued to press but Leeds surprisingly had the final say as Dallas broke clear and slid a fine finish through the legs of Ederson. It was Leeds’ first victory against one of the established ‘big six’ since their promotion.

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FIFA SUSPENDS PFF OVER THIRD PARTY INTERFERENCE

The Bureau of the FIFA Council on Wednesday suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect due to third-party interference, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.

This situation was prompted by the recent hostile takeover of the PFF headquarters in Lahore by a group of protestors and an alleged decision by certain individuals to remove the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee of the PFF led by Haroon Malik and to hand over the leadership of the PFF to Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah, the world game governing body said in a statement.

Earlier, FIFA had issued a letter warning that, should the illegitimate occupation of the PFF headquarters not be lifted and the office-bearers recognised by FIFA not be permitted free access to the building to carry out their mandate, the matter would be immediately submitted to the Bureau of the Council for decision. As the situation remains unchanged, the Bureau of the Council has decided to suspend the PFF. This suspension will only be lifted once FIFA has received confirmation from the normalisation committee of the PFF that the PFF’s premises, accounts, administration and communication channels are again under its full control and it can continue to carry out its mandate without further hindrance.

The Bureau of the FIFA Council also decided to suspend the Chadian Football Association (FTFA) with immediate effect due to government interference. The suspension was prompted by the recent decisions of Chadian government authorities to permanently withdraw the powers delegated to the FTFA, establish a national committee for the temporary management of football and seize control of the FTFA’s premises. The suspension will be lifted once the relevant government decisions have been repealed and the FTFA and its management, led by President Moctar Mahamoud Hamid, have confirmed to FIFA that the FTFA premises are again under its control.

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SERIE A: LUKAKU, MARTINEZ LEADS INTER TO 10TH STRAIGHT WIN

Internazionale moved 11 points clear at the top of Serie A as Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez struck in a 2-1 win over Sassuolo on Wednesday, the runaway leaders’ 10th consecutive league victory.

Belgium striker Lukaku guided a header into the top corner in the first half before his Argentine partner finished off a counter-attack to continue the Nerazzurri’s charge towards the title

Sassuolo dominated possession at San Siro but were frustrated by a stubborn home defence until Hamed Traore curled home a superb finish five minutes from time.

“It was very important for us, to climb up the table and increase the gap,” Martinez said after the match. “At the start of the second half of the season we had a talk, and now we’re doing everything that the coach wants.”

With nine matches left, Inter are firmly on course to win their first Serie A title since 2010 with 71 points, 11 ahead of second-placed AC Milan. Sassuolo remained ninth with 40 points.

The fixture was postponed on March 20 after a COVID-19 outbreak in the Inter squad.

The rescheduled date gave Antonio Conte’s side a chance to stretch their lead, and they wasted little time as Lukaku’s glancing header found the top corner from Ashley Young’s cross after 10 minutes.

Jeremie Boga was denied by a last-ditch Milan Skriniar block and Pedro Obiang’s shot was held at the second time of asking by Samir Handanovic, but the visitors could not make their 68% possession count.

The hosts hit on the counter for their second after 67 minutes, as Lukaku found Martinez with a pass and the striker arrowed a shot home.

Sassuolo found a way back into the match in style when Traore struck a half volley into the top corner.

Inter went close to a late third as Sassuolo pushed for an equaliser, substitute Alexis Sanchez’s lob landing on the roof of the net and Lukaku having an effort disallowed for offside.

Conte led the Juventus to the first three titles of their nine-year run, before taking over the Inter job in 2019 with the aim of shifting the balance of power back to Milan.

“To think that in two years we have made up so many points on the dominant force of the league for the last nine years, I could not have imagined it in my wildest dreams,” Conte said.

“It does not mean we are better than Juve, who have a very strong team. We rolled up our sleeves and started to work in an important way towards an objective, to be credible.

“The league was always dominated by one team and we have managed to change that. That has motivated us a lot, it was a boost for everyone, especially for the many guys who are fighting for this goal for the first time.

“Last year we played in a Europa League final, now we are aiming to achieve the maximum objective.”
ESPN

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CHELSEA PUNISH WASTEFUL PORTO TO PUT ONE FOOT IN UCL SEMIS

A classy goal from Mason Mount on Wednesday helped Chelsea to a 2-0 first-leg win over Porto, whose wasteful finishing could have scuppered their hopes of springing another Champions League upset in the quarter-finals.

Mount’s slick turn and shot in the first half would have been painful enough for Porto, who were the better side for large spells of this first leg in Seville but repeatedly lacked the precision to take advantage.

Instead, their misery was compounded by Ben Chilwell capitalising on a mistake at the back to score a late second that gave Chelsea another away goal and leaves them on the brink of the semi-finals.

They were away goals only in name given both these teams were playing in the unfamiliar Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where they will meet again next week, just with the home and away roles reversed.

Porto were in the home dug-out, wore their home kit, had a large club banner in the empty stand behind one goal and their anthem was the one that played out before kick-off.

And Chelsea played the part too, delivering a classic away performance of soaking up the pressure and hitting their opponents on the counter-attack, their quality in the final third proving decisive.

Real Madrid could lie in wait for the victors, after they beat Liverpool 3-1 on Tuesday.

Chelsea’s win also goes some way to easing the shock of Saturday’s 5-2 loss at home to West Brom in the Premier League, which ended Thomas Tuchel’s 14-match unbeaten start as coach.

Tuchel decided Thiago Silva’s 29 minutes before being sent off in that game were not enough to hone his sharpness, meaning Andreas Christensen was picked in the back three.

And Antonio Rudiger also returned, despite his training ground scuffle with Kepa Arrizabalaga on Sunday, which Tuchel described as a “serious situation”.

Porto were regarded as the plum draw in the last eight, despite seeing off Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus in the last 16, their task made harder this time by the suspensions of Mehdi Taremi and top scorer Sergio Oliveira.

But they were the aggressors from the outset, with Chelsea surrendering the ball and the chances.

Porto had six shots to Chelsea’s one before half-time, with Mateus Uribe grazing the top of the net with an early volley and the excellent Otavio almost catching Edouard Mendy out with a corner before Zaidu Sanusi smashed over the rebound.

Chelsea, though, showed them what ruthlessness looked like when Jorginho fired a pass into Mount on the edge of the area inside the right channel. Mount took it on his back foot and twisted away from the sliding Zaidu, before firing a cool finish into the far corner.

Porto kept coming in the second half and kept missing too. Moussa Marega snuck in but his shot was saved by the feet of Mendy before Jesus Corona feathered Luis Diaz through but he took too long. Diaz curled wide after a good run by Wilson Manafa.

Chelsea absorbed them and then hit them with a sucker-punch, Mateo Kovacic’s ball over the top miscontrolled by Corona, allowing Chilwell to steam clear, round the goalkeeper and finish.

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UCL: MBAPPE ON THE DOUBLE AS PSG BEAT BAYERN 3-2 IN QUARTER FINAL FIRST LEG

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 3-2 in a thrilling first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie in Munich on Wednesday.

Mbappe’s goals bracketed strikes from Marquinhos, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Thomas Muller to give the defending champions — who were without star striker Robert Lewandowski — a steep hill to climb for the return leg in Paris next week.

PSG went ahead just three minutes after the opening whistle with a quick counter-attack that the excellent Mbappe finished off after Neymar rolled the ball into his path on the right.

The visitors had the goal in the net in the 12th minute through Julian Draxler, but the side judge rightly ruled Mbappe offside in the build up.

PSG went two goals in front after 28 minutes when Marquinhos settled and stroked home from a smart Neymar pass that caught the Bayern back line out of position.

Bayern, who’d peppered PSG with shots all night, got a deserved goal through Choupo-Moting in the 37th minute, and tied the game in the 60th minute with a characteristic Muller header in the box.

Mbappe, though, put the Parisians ahead for good eight minutes later with a fine individual effort from another counter-attack — the World Cup winner cutting in from the left and beating Manuel Neuer at the near post.

The goals marked the young France international’s seventh in the Champions League knockout stages, passing Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the most in PSG history. The brace — his third in the UCL knockouts — also tied Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland for the second most by a player before turning 23 in the competition’s history. Lionel Messi had four such games.

“It was a difficult game against the best team in Europe right now,” Mbappe said after the match. “But it is just the first game. [Next week] we have to play with confidence and play again like a team.”

“It was a superb team performance above all, and I benefited from that. We suffered, but we suffered as a team.”

Bayern’s Muller rued the number of missed chances after the game.

“We should have scored far more goals,” Mueller said. “Of course, we can talk about conceding goals, but if you win 6-3 or 5-3 then no one can complain.

“If we had shown the killer instinct that characterises us then it would have been a different game.”
ESPN

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KELVIN DE BRUYNE SIGNS MAN CITY CONTRACT EXTENSION TILL 2025

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2025.

The Belgium international, whose existing deal was due to expire in 2023, is 30 in June and now looks set to see out most of the remainder of his career at the Etihad Stadium.

De Bruyne has had a glittering spell since joining the club from Wolfsburg in 2015, winning seven major trophies, which could become 11 by the end of the season if City are successful in their hunt for the quadruple.

But, ominously for the rest of Europe, he reckons the best is yet to come for himself and Pep Guardiola’s team.

“I could not be happier. Since joining City in 2015, I have felt at home,” he said. “I love the fans, my family are settled here in Manchester and my own game has developed really well.

“This football club is geared for success. It offers me everything I need to maximise my performance, so signing this contract was a straightforward decision.

“I am playing the best football of my career and I honestly feel there is more to come.

“Pep and I see football in the same way. Having that relationship with a manager is so important to me because our objectives are totally aligned, and we want the same things.

“My focus now is on ensuring we have a successful end to the current campaign. Our results and performances so far have been excellent, but we need to make sure we end the season with the silverware we deserve.”

De Bruyne, who was named as the Professional Footballers’ Association’s player of the year in 2020, is having another impressive campaign, with seven goals and 16 assists, and director of football Txiki Begiristain knows they have one of the best footballers in the world.

Begiristain said: “This is a very significant moment for this football club. Kevin is, without question, one of the best players in world football.

“His performance level has been remarkably consistent since coming to City, and in the last few years he has developed into one of the game’s elite players.

“His talent is unquestionable – but he is also a consummate professional whose dedication to Manchester City during his time here has been nothing short of remarkable. He constantly seeks to improve, and his approach is the perfect blueprint for any young player looking to carve out a career.

“We are delighted he is our player and I look forward to watching him during his peak years here at Manchester City.”