Fortunebets

Liverpool were brought back down to earth as they slipped to defeat at relegation-threatened Bournemouth just six days on from their historic victory over Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp’s side humiliated their fierce rivals with a 7-0 win at Anfield last Sunday but Philip Billing’s sixth goal of the season was enough for the Cherries to secure a 1-0 victory to move off the foot of the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah shanked a second-half penalty wide to sum up a poor display on a wet and windy south-coast afternoon, with Liverpool missing out on a chance to break into the top four ahead of the second leg of their Champions League tie with Real Madrid.

Bournemouth had been two goals up at league leaders Arsenal last week only to succumb to a stoppage-time winner but their response here was admirable.

Gary O’Neil’s side were buoyed by the return of David Brooks to a matchday squad for the first time in 525 days, the Wales midfielder having been diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021.

Unsurprisingly, it was in-form Liverpool who created the first opportunity of the afternoon as Virgil van Dijk headed a corner goalwards only for the returning Jefferson Lerma to clear off the line.

Bournemouth should have broken the deadlock as Dango Ouattara broke in behind to latch onto a Dominic Solanke pass before trying to round Alisson, tightening the angle as he could only shoot into the side netting.

Birthday boy Andrew Robertson forced a smart stop out of Neto at the other end before Cody Gakpo turned home a Darwin Nunez cross only to be ruled offside.

Ouattara was causing the Liverpool defence all sorts of bother and ultimately it was the Burkina Faso winger who teed up Bournemouth’s opener, shrugging off a Van Dijk challenge before crossing for Billing to turn home.

Van Dijk should have done much better as Liverpool looked to level before the break but he could not make clean contact on a deep Robertson free-kick.

Former Liverpool striker Solanke fired over as the Cherries pushed for a second, Liverpool’s defence resembling their efforts in the 5-2 Champions League defeat by Real Madrid in the first leg of their last-16 clash rather than that which had kept five consecutive clean sheets in the league heading to the Vitality Stadium.

Klopp reacted by sending out the visitors early for the second half, as well as introducing Diogo Jota in place of Harvey Elliott.

Jota was straight into the action, his shot turned behind by Neto, but the chances were not free-flowing for the Reds, with Klopp again turning to his bench as Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Roberto Firmino all came on with 65 minutes on the clock.

Milner was involved immediately, his cross headed goalwards by Jota and striking the arm of Adam Smith, with referee John Brooks pointing to the spot after consulting his pitchside monitor.

Salah, usually so deadly from 12 yards, blazed his spot-kick wide of the post as Bournemouth’s lead remained in tact, substitute Ryan Christie stinging the palms of Alisson as the hosts looked to extend their advantage.

Gakpo blasted over in the dying embers as Bournemouth held on for just a second win from their last 11 league outings to relieve some of the pressure on O’Neil, who was appointed in the aftermath of Liverpool’s 9-0 thrashing of the Cherries earlier in the season.

That win proved something of a false dawn for Klopp’s side and they will now be hoping this loss is a setback rather than the end of a good run of form as their inconsistent campaign took another turn.

Said Benrahma’s penalty lifted West Ham back out of the relegation zone after a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

The Hammers fell behind to an Ollie Watkins header but Benrahma hit back from the spot after Lucas Paqueta was fouled.

West Ham started the day in the bottom three after Bournemouth’s shock win over Liverpool.

They knew a victory would lift them 14th, but they were unable to find a winner with Danny Ings drawing a blank against his old club.

Nonetheless, a draw moved them up to 17th ahead of Bournemouth on goal difference and stretched West Ham’s unbeaten streak against Villa to 10 matches, going back to 2015.

The Hammers are the only team in the top flight yet to score in the opening 15 minutes of a match this season, and that trend continued with Nayef Aguerd steering a Declan Rice free-kick wide and Benrahma volleying Jarrod Bowen’s cross over the top.

Instead, against the run of play, Villa took the lead in the 17th minute with their first attempt on goal, Watkins heading in Alex Moreno’s cross.

The goal made Watkins the first Villa player to score in four consecutive away Premier League matches since Dwight Yorke in 1998.

But West Ham hit back in the 26th minute after Paqueta’s shot was headed off the line by Watkins.

The Brazil midfielder went to retrieve the loose ball and was clumsily brought down by Leon Bailey, with Benrahma confidently converting the penalty high into the net of World Cup-winner Emiliano Martinez.

Villa should have gone in at half-time ahead after another penetrating run by Moreno, whose pass found Jacob Ramsey in the box.

Ramsey squared the ball to Watkins, four yards out, but West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola spread himself and somehow kept the shot out.

Just 20 seconds after the restart Paqueta’s cross found Benrahma at the far post but his volley was straight at Martinez.

Benrahma was in the mood for more goals and he skipped past Matty Cash and Ezri Konsa on the edge of the area before hitting a fierce drive which Martinez tipped over.

Rice survived a VAR check for a foul in the area on Emiliano Buendia which prompted a bout of pushing and shoving, with West Ham’s frustration at Villa’s incessant timewasting beginning to show.

Both teams could have won it late on with Benrahma’s volley at the far post deflected wide by Villa sub Ashley Young and Jhon Duran’s close-range shot clutched by Areola.

Inter Milan reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2011 after a goalless draw in Porto secured their progression.

Romelu Lukaku’s goal four minutes from the end of the first leg was enough to see Inter through, where they join their city rivals AC Milan.

Mehdi Taremi came within inches of forcing the tie to extra time when he rattled the crossbar in the closing stages.

The Portuguese side were reduced to 10 men in the seventh minute of injury time when winger Pepe was shown a second yellow card.

On-loan Chelsea striker Lukaku came on for Inter 20 minutes from time, replacing Edin Dzeko who had come closest to scoring for Simone Inzaghi’s side with a low effort that was saved by Diogo Costa.

Napoli could make it three Serie A clubs in the last eight on Wednesday, holding a 2-0 lead over Eintracht Frankfurt from the first leg.

Erling Haaland scored his 48th goal of the season as Manchester City weathered a storm to reach the Champions League semi-finals with a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich.

The prolific Norwegian recovered from missing a penalty to strike in the 57th minute of tense quarter-final second leg at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday as City progressed 4-1 on aggregate.

Joshua Kimmich registered Bayern’s first goal of the tie with a late penalty but the result was already beyond doubt with City setting up a replay of last year’s semi-final against holders Real Madrid.

Prior to Haaland’s goal effectively killing off the tie, the night had been eventful with Bayern spurning a number of chances and Haaland firing over from the spot.

There was also confusion as Dayot Upamecano was sent off for fouling Haaland only to be reprieved because the City forward had been offside.

Bayern were clearly stung by last week’s 3-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium and were determined to go down fighting.

They began with belief and, feeding off the energy of a boisterous atmosphere, took the game to City.

Kingsley Coman twice got clear down the right in the opening minutes but his final ball was lacking.

The visitors survived a bigger scare when former City winger Leroy Sane raced through on goal but shot wide attempting to fire low past Ederson.

The excitement perhaps got to Bayern’s on-loan City full-back Joao Cancelo as he came up against his parent club, with the Portuguese booked for a bad challenge on international team-mate Bernardo Silva.

There was drama at the other end when Upamecano was shown a red card for tripping Haaland as he broke clear but the decision was overturned after a flag was raised.

Upamecano had another let-off after he was adjudged to have handled an Ilkay Gundogan shot.

Bayern’s players did their best to delay the resulting penalty and, when it was finally taken, Haaland blazed over the bar.

That miss gave Bayern renewed hope and they finished the first half strongly with Coman firing at Ederson and Sane, who earlier had a free-kick saved, shooting wide from distance. Cancelo and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting were also denied at close range.

Tempers frayed before the interval and Gundogan and Kimmich were booked after a coming-together.

Haaland had another opportunity after the break as Bayern, in chasing the tie, began to get stretched but he shot straight at Yann Sommer.

The hosts went close again as a Coman effort squirmed through Ederson’s grasp and rolled across goal but City cleared and Haaland made no mistake at the third time of asking.

Again the Bayern defence was caught out as Kevin De Bruyne led a charge. The Belgian calmly slipped in Haaland and, after skipping around a challenge, he finished emphatically from in front of goal.

That put the tie beyond doubt but Bayern were not quite done. Mathys Tel had a goal chalked off for offside before Kimmich struck from the spot seven minutes from time after Manuel Akanji was harshly penalised for handball.

Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel had to watch the closing minutes from the stands after being shown a red card for letting his frustrations get the better of him.

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota is making up for lost time after his double against Nottingham Forest made it four goals in six days after a year-long barren spell.

However, the 3-2 win was littered with defensive lapses and, after the visitors quickly equalised twice through former Reds defender Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White, it needed the reliable left boot of Mohamed Salah to secure victory.

Even then Liverpool’s progress to within six points of fourth-placed Newcastle was almost when Brennan Johnson lobbed Alisson Becker but was denied by the crossbar.

Jota justified Jurgen Klopp’s decision to name an unchanged side for the third successive game running for the first time since January 2020 as his mini-revival continued.

The Portugal international, who due to injury made just 10 appearances in the first six months of the season, ended his drought with two in Monday’s 6-1 demolition of Leeds and repeated the feat to increase the pressure on fellow relegation strugglers Forest, who have now lost their last six away matches and dropped to second-bottom as a result.

In line with Liverpool’s recent return to form, Trent Alexander-Arnold, in his new hybrid right-back-cum-midfield role, was at the heart of their best work but unlike at Elland Road where he picked apart the naive hosts it was his enduring set-piece quality which created the most danger.

Yet the first half, in which they enjoyed 86 per cent possession but had only a header from Virgil van Dijk tipped over by goalkeeper Keylor Navas and Jota nodding wastefully wide to show for their efforts, gave no indication of the chaos which was to follow after the interval.

Forest, who had to replace the injured Scott McKenna with Joe Worrall on the half-hour mark, had shown little ambition with a 5-4-1 set-up designed to deny their hosts the space through the middle they had exploited so ruthlessly at Elland Road.

But when the breakthrough came two minutes into the second half it was inevitably from a set-piece.

Alexander-Arnold’s outswinging delivery caused panic and Fabinho seized on a loose ball to head goalwards for Jota to nod in from close range.

The lead lasted just four minutes as Forest counter-attacked and Williams blasted home via a deflection off Robertson.

However, Liverpool’s response was instantaneous as Jota exploited a static Forest defence.

Robertson swung over a free-kick and the Portugal international ran from deep to control on his chest unmarked and slot home with the visitors and most of Anfield expecting an offside flag which never came.

Jota was denied a hat-trick when his header was tipped over by Navas but a failure to establish control allowed Gibbs-White to brilliantly volley in the 68th minute and the visiting support could hardly believe it having previously witnessed just five goals in 15 away league matches this season.

But they barely had time to celebrate as Salah put Liverpool ahead for the third and final time from yet another Alexander-Arnold free-kick, although the Egypt international’s left-footed finish required the assistance of a post to go in, joining Robbie Fowler in joint sixth place on the club’s all-time scorers list with 182.

Still Liverpool failed to close the back door and their former striker Taiwo Awonyi, who scored the winner against at the City Ground in October, saw an overhead kick graze the crossbar before Johnson went even closer.
Seasons can be defined by such small margins and, while it maintain Liverpool’s momentum in their quest for Champions League football, it extended Forest’s dismal run to three points from the last 30 available.

Tottenham and Brighton have been fined £100,000 each following the touchline brawl between the two benches in the recent Premier League game.

An ill-tempered match, that saw interim Spurs boss Cristian Stellini and Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi clash before kick-off, flared up in the second half with a mass confrontation between staff from both dugouts.

That led to Stellini, who appeared an innocent bystander, and De Zerbi being sent to the stands and both clubs have now been fined by the Football Association.

An FA statement read: “Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion have been fined £100,000 each for a mass confrontation that occurred during their Premier League match on Saturday 8 April.

“Both clubs admitted they failed to ensure their benches conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and did not behave in a way which is proper during the 58th minute.

“An independent regulatory commission imposed their fines following a subsequent hearing.”

Tottenham’s 2-1 win was shrouded in controversy as Brighton had two goals disallowed and two strong penalty appeals waved away, with the PGMOL chief Howard Webb having to apologise for errors after the game.

Leeds continued their slide towards the Premier League relegation zone as Fulham secured a third victory against the Yorkshire club this season.

Having gone into the game hoping to bounce back from 5-1 and 6-1 home defeats to Crystal Palace and Liverpool respectively, Leeds were unable to impose themselves as they fell to a 2-1 defeat.

After a lacklustre first half at Craven Cottage, Fulham found the breakthrough with Harry Wilson continuing his return to form with a second goal in as many games with a well-timed 58th-minute volley.

Andreas Pereira doubled Fulham’s lead after Illan Meslier came for a cross but was unable to clear, with the ball falling for the unmarked 27-year-old just five yards out.

Leeds pulled one back with 11 minutes to go to inject life into their performance, as Patrick Bamford’s effort was deflected into the back of the net off Joao Palhinha.

The visitors tried to push for an equaliser but, despite a significantly improved performance than in the previous 80 minutes, they were unable to level the game.

Fulham gave away a few needless fouls in the early part of the match, including one just outside the box, which almost led to Leeds’ opener.

Marc Roca curled the ball towards the far corner, with Bernd Leno making his first save of the match.

The first half lacked intensity, despite Leeds’ perilous position and the fact they conceded 11 goals in their last two matches.

Chances were limited throughout the opening period with Pereira resorting to trying his luck from distance just before the break, but his drive was straight at Meslier.

There was a slight increase in pace at the start of the second half, with Willian firing just wide for Fulham in the 49th minute.

After a slightly lacklustre performance, Fulham found the breakthrough in the 58th minute.

Antonee Robinson drove down the middle, before playing in Willian down the left. The Brazilian’s cross was tipped straight into the path of Wilson who volleyed home.

The goal sparked the Cottagers into life as they looked to inflict further misery on Leeds, with Pereira’s direct free-kick rebounding off the crossbar just after the hour mark.

Fulham doubled their lead in the 71st minute. Pereira started the move before Robinson’s cross was not dealt with by Meslier, and no one was picking up the Brazil international who fired into the back of an empty net from five yards.

Leeds pulled one back to set up an exciting finish to the encounter when Bamford’s flick at the far post was deflected into his own net by Palhinha.

Despite eight minutes added on, Fulham – who also beat Leeds 2-0 in the FA Cup fifth round in February – secured a Premier League double over the struggling Whites.

Douglas Luiz grabbed a late equaliser as Aston Villa snatched a 1-1 draw at Brentford.

Ivan Toney looked to have secured a 100th win as Brentford boss for Thomas Frank with his 20th goal of the season.

But Villa have yet to not score in a match since Unai Emery was appointed manager last October, and Luiz kept up that record as their late European challenge just about stayed on track.

Villa were unchanged from their 3-0 win over Newcastle last weekend, but were unable to match that dazzling display against a physical Bees side.

All they had to show for an anaemic first-half performance was Emiliano Buendia’s toe-poke, which forced an early save from David Raya, and a narrowly wide curler from John McGinn.

At the other end Bryan Mbeumo was giving Alex Moreno the runaround, flicking Toney’s pass over the full-back’s head before volleying straight at Emiliano Martinez.

Moreno won their next duel with a goal-saving sliding tackle just as the Cameroon forward was about to sidefoot Vitaly Janelt’s cross into an empty net.

Martinez bravely dived at the feet of Toney as the Bees frontman attempted to steer in Kevin Schade’s low cross.

The Argentina World Cup-winner also raced out of his area to deny Janelt, and must have hurt himself in the process as he was replaced by Robin Olsen at half-time.

Olsen dealt with a looping header from Bees substitute Frank Onyeka, but then made an almighty mess of another header from Schade.

The winger, yet to score for the Bees since joining on loan from Freiburg in January, was presented with an open goal but from a tight angle he fired into the side-netting.

Mbeumo should also have hit the target after racing on to Toney’s ball over the top, only to sky his first-time shot.

A goal was coming, and it arrived in the 65th minute when Mbeumo tormented Moreno once more before swinging in a cross which Ashley Young missed and Toney converted at the far post.

Onyeka should have doubled the lead when he met another Mbeumo cross but he scuffed his effort wide.

It proved a costly miss three minutes from time when, after a goalmouth scramble, Buendia pulled the ball back for Luiz to lash home and snatch a point.

There was still time for Ollie Watkins, who had a quiet game against his old side, to squander a chance to make it a club-record sixth straight Premier League win for Villa when his stoppage-time header flew over.

Riyad Mahrez scored the first FA Cup semi-final hat-trick since 1958 as Manchester City eased into the final with a 3-0 defeat of Sheffield United.

The Algeria international put Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing side ahead with a penalty late in the first half before striking twice more after the hour.

Championship high-flyers United failed to trouble the imperious City, who made light of their draining schedule in the week they also reached the Champions League semi-finals with a commanding performance.

It was their 11th win in 12 games and they now go into Wednesday’s crucial top-of-table Premier League clash with leaders Arsenal with considerable confidence and momentum.

The loss made for an anti-climatic end to the Blades’ superb run in the competition but their main goal of promotion back to the top-flight should soon follow.

Guardiola made six changes but retained the prolific Erling Haaland, who has scored 48 goals this season, in attack.
Surprisingly, however, it was not the Norwegian who dominated the game but one of the players brought into the side – Mahrez.

United were without their two City loanees in Tommy Doyle and James McAtee and the pair were missed as they struggled to gain a foothold in the game.

Yet the outcome could have been different had the Blades taken their one meaningful chance of the game in the second minute.

Iliman Ndiaye should have scored when the ball fell to him following a corner but he shot straight at Stefan Ortega.

The Blades were to rue that miss as they saw very little of the ball thereafter.

To their credit they defended stoutly and initially limited City to few clear-cut chances but it seemed only a matter of time before Guardiola’s men would break through.

Haaland gave United a warning when he rifled in a shot from 35 yards but the whistle had already been blown for a foul.

Mahrez curled a shot wide and Julian Alvarez forced a good save from Wes Foderingham before John Fleck diverted a Bernardo Silva cross dangerously close to his own goal.

United threatened again when Jack Robinson took aim from distance but Ortega was not troubled.

City went ahead just before the interval after Daniel Jebbison brought down Silva in the area.

Mahrez, assuming penalty-taking duties after Haaland fired over against Bayern Munich in midweek, confidently sent Foderingham the wrong way.

The second half continued in much the same fashion, with United struggling to gain any meaningful possession.

City gradually turned the screw and they doubled the lead just after the hour as Mahrez seized the ball in midfield and was allowed to run through unchallenged. With no sign of a tackle as he reached the box, he coolly slotted past Foderingham.

He completed his treble five minutes later. Again the United defence were helpless, this time allowing Jack Grealish to clip in a ball from the left. Mahrez met it with a sweet strike from in front of goal and, despite getting a hand to it, Foderingham was unable to keep it out.

Guardiola then began to turn his attention to Arsenal and made a number of changes. City confidently played out time and will now return to the national stadium in June to face rivals Manchester United or Brighton.

Declan Rice scored again to help West Ham end the perfect week with a vital 4-0 win at Bournemouth to boost their survival chances.

The Hammers fought back from two down to draw with Premier League leaders Arsenal last Sunday and followed it up with a 4-1 victory over Gent on Thursday to book their spot in the Europa Conference League semi-finals.

Relegation has remained a distinct possibility for David Moyes’ side though, but they eased those concerns with a clinical display where first-half goals by Michail Antonio, Lucas Paqueta and Rice put them in control.

Substitute Pablo Fornals added a fourth midway through the second half to help West Ham move up to 13th and six points clear of the bottom three.

Despite their Thursday exploits, Moyes only made two changes at the Vitality Stadium and one was to recall first-choice Lukasz Fabianski in goal.

It meant Antonio got another opportunity to lead the line and he rewarded his manager’s faith with a fifth-minute opener.

For Bournemouth it was all too easy with Aaron Cresswell’s near-post corner powered home by the unmarked Antonio for his 12th goal of the season, but only his fourth in the league.

The Hammers doubled their advantage eight minutes later and again it would have frustrated Cherries boss Gary O’Neil.

Vladimir Coufal won back possession from Marcus Tavernier and controlled Jarrod Bowen’s pass before his looping cross was headed in at the back post by Paqueta, who easily outjumped Jack Stephens.

It continued Paqueta’s encouraging form since the World Cup break and backed up his goal-scoring display in Thursday’s triumph over Gent.

West Ham’s travelling support were enjoying their trip to the south coast and soon singing about rivals Tottenham, who were 5-0 down at Newcastle inside 21 minutes.

Bournemouth were not prepared to throw the towel in yet and Chris Mepham tested Fabianski with a header moments later.

Jefferson Lerma was next to try his luck and Fabianski was again equal to it but his best stop was to come next.

Dominic Solanke muscled his way past Nayef Aguerd and raced into the area but Fabianski saved well with his feet to preserve West Ham’s two-goal lead after half an hour.

Having withstood Bournemouth’s fightback, Moyes’ side then provided a sucker-punch two minutes before half-time through their talisman.

Another Cresswell corner caused problems and, while it was cleared to the back post, Rice was first to the loose ball and on hand to drill home via a deflection to make it back-to-back goals this week.

The Hammers captain was serenaded by the away fans soon after with chants urging him to stay amid talk his future could lie away from the London Stadium after this campaign.

O’Neil responded with Wales forward Kieffer Moore introduced in place of Joe Rothwell at half-time but it failed to have the desired effect.

A triple substitution followed on the hour mark for Bournemouth with Dango Ouattara, the stoppage-time hero at Spurs last weekend, brought on and while he initially caused problems, West Ham were soon celebrating a fourth goal.

Bowen did well down the right and, while his cross was slightly behind Fornals, the substitute managed to back heel into the far corner to make it 4-0 after 72 minutes.

Hammers substitute Maxwel Cornet had a stoppage-time effort ruled out for offside and the West Ham fans finished the game chanting for Rice to stay one more year with this win at least going a long way to confirming their place in the Premier League next season.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth, who have now dropped to 15th, will aim to quickly regroup for the trip to rivals Southampton on Thursday.