Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-1 on Sunday to book their place in an all-London FA Cup final, helped by two errors from United goalkeeper David de Gea and an own goal by Harry Maguire.
Chelsea, who will face city rivals Arsenal in the Aug. 1 showpiece, had lost to United three times this season but looked brighter from the start at Wembley and took control with goals either side of halftime from Olivier Giroud and Mason Mount.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard — who made 29 appearances for the club between 2011 and 2014 — is back on our radar after scoring the first goal of his career while playing for Sweden’s Helsingborg.
In a match between Allsvenskan strugglers, Helsingborg escaped with a draw against Falkenberg after Lindegaard came forward for a corner kick in the 90th minute and planted a towering header inside the far post.
Tottenham striker Harry Kane looked back to his best with two quality goals as his side dealt a huge blow to Leicester City's top-four hopes with a 3-0 victory in the Premier League on Sunday.
Kane struggled for sharpness when the season resumed last month, a legacy of the serious hamstring injury that sidelined him from Jan. 1, but the striker produced a dazzling display as Spurs boosted their Europa League qualifying hopes.
Barcelona’s LaLiga title defense came to a sputtering end last Thursday following a 2-1 loss to Osasuna, a defeat that Lionel Messi called a microcosm of Barça’s “erratic and weak” 2019-20 team. That inconsistency was again highlighted in Sunday’s final league match of the season as the Blaugrana raced to a 3-0 halftime lead against Alavés en route to a 5-0 win.
With the team trying to stay sharp ahead of its rescheduled Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Napoli on Aug. 8, Ernesto Valverde named a strong starting XI against 15th-place Alavés.
AFC Bournemouth’s five-year stay in England’s top flight (the club’s first stint in its 121-year history) is almost certainly at an end following Sunday’s 2-0 loss to South Coast rivals Southampton. The match-winner was scored by Danny Ings, taking his total to 21 on the season and just two behind Jamie Vardy in the Premier League Golden Boot race.
In a must-win — or at least draw — match for Eddie Howe’s side, it was 12th-place Southampton that dominated proceedings and earned its ultimate reward in the 41st minute thanks to Ings' precise finish from 18 yards out.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says their 2-0 victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup semifinal on Saturday could convince striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to commit his future to the north London club.
Aubameyang, 31, scored in either half to fire Arsenal past holders City at an empty Wembley.
Aubameyang, the club's top scorer this season with 25 goals in all competitions, is out of contract at the end of next season and has not yet agreed to an extension.
Before Manchester City’s FA Cup semifinal, Kyle Walker said he thought his team could score as many as eight goals if things go well against Arsenal. Indeed, the Citizens could have scored eight on Saturday, creating chance after chance against a Gunners defense that still has plenty of deficiencies.
“It’s a knockout game, it’s what both teams do in both boxes that makes the difference,” Walker said before the match. “I think we have proven that when we’re on fire and things go our way, we can go and score three, four ... and maybe even seven or eight.”
NORWICH, England — Relegated Norwich City endured a nightmare final Premier League home game of the season as they had two men red-carded and conceded an own goal in a 2-0 defeat by Burnley on Saturday.
The bottom club's hopes of ending a miserable eight-game losing streak evaporated in a crazy end to the first half with Emiliano Buendia sent off after 35 minutes for an elbow and Josip Drmic following him 10 minutes later for a lunging tackle.
He watches matches perched on a bucket, lives in a one-bedroom flat above a shop and holds his staff meetings in a local Costa coffee shop.
Marcelo Bielsa, who has taken Leeds United back to the English Premier League after a 16-year absence, is one of soccer's most endearing and enigmatic characters and has developed a cult following in many of the places he has coached.
Pep Guardiola is one of many coaches who said they have been inspired by Bielsa although the Argentine's relatively modest trophy cabinet does not match his widespread influence.
BARCELONA — Lionel Messi has rarely been known for speaking out but he could not help himself when analysing what has been a disastrous season finale for Barcelona and did not hold back after Thursday's limp 2-1 LaLiga defeat at home by Osasuna.
Calling his side "weak," "inconsistent" and "very easy to score against," the club captain called for urgent changes after surrendering the league title to Real Madrid, saying it was no good to use their rivals' relentless form as an excuse.
"Messi explodes," ran the cover of newspaper Mundo Deportivo.