Chelsea

LONDON — Chelsea suffered an FA Cup fourth-round scare on Saturday when they had to come from behind and needed extra time and a penalty save to beat League One Plymouth Argyle 2-1 with goals from Spaniards Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.

Plymouth shocked the Premier League side when defender Macaulay Gillesphey nodded the ball home from a free kick by former Chelsea player Jordan Houghton in the eighth minute, sparking wild celebration and a shower of green balloons from the travelling fans.

Having waited almost a year for another shot at top-level management, Frank Lampard has been tasked with as tough a challenge as it gets: resurrecting an Everton side in turmoil.

It is not the best time to be a Toffees supporter, and protests outside Goodison Park have become commonplace.

Fans have called for the board to be sacked, pleaded with the club last summer not to appoint former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, and made clear — in graffiti as well — their opposition to the proposed hiring of Vitor Pereira over Lampard.

LONDON - Chelsea kept alive their remote Premier League title chances with a 2-0 win over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, set on their way by an exquisite strike from Hakim Ziyech which was quickly followed up by a Thiago Silva header.

Ziyech scored one of the best goals of the season in the 47th minute when he received the ball on edge of the box after a surging run by Callum Hudson-Odoi, and the Moroccan's curling, dipping shot dropped into the top corner with Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris rooted to the spot.

Sam Kerr broke Tim Cahill’s Australia all-time scoring record and then kept scoring during an 18-0 destruction of Indonesia to open the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup on Friday in Mumbai. Kerr finished with five goals to move to 54 strikes for the Matildas, four more than Cahill. 

Barring a Manchester City disaster, the 2021-22 Premier League title race appears all but sorted as City defeated second-place Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday. The victory was City’s 12th straight in the league as the defending champions look set to win a fourth Premier League title in the last five seasons.

Despite the close score Manchester City looked the clear favorite throughout the 90 minutes. I apologize to my fellow Americans, but the attack force of Christian Pulisic, Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech was as dangerous as a dandelion.

The Sergiño Dest Chelsea rumors are at an all-time high for the 2022 winter transfer window. Dest has been seeking a move away from the Catalan club for some time now as the American has fallen out of favor with Barcelona’s new manager, Xavi.