LIVERPOOL: Liverpool moved level on points with Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah extended his scoring streak at Anfield with a double in a 3-0 win over Brentford on Sunday.
The Egyptian took his tally for the season to 12, nine of which have come at Anfield, as Liverpool continued their perfect record at home this season.
Nine of Salah’s goals have come from Darwin Nunez assists and the Uruguayan played provider to break the deadlock after being frustrated in front of goal earlier in the first half.
Twice Nunez had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside.
But his clever pass into Salah was met with a calm finish into the far corner to open the floodgates on 39 minutes.
Salah is the first player ever to score in each of Liverpool’s first six home league games of a season.
Brentford had their chances as Alisson Becker was needed to make great saves to deny Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo.
However, there was no way back for the Bees once Salah was left unmarked to head in Kostas Tsimikas’ cross to the back post on the hour mark.
Diogo Jota then fired in the third 16 minutes from time as Liverpool made it nine wins and 27 goals from nine games at Anfield in all competitions this season.
City can restore their three-point lead at the top of the table when the champions travel to Chelsea later on Sunday.
Aston Villa made it 13 consecutive home wins in the Premier League as Unai Emery’s side eased past Fulham 3-1.
Antonee Robinson’s own goal and a sweet strike from outside the box by Villa captain John McGinn put the hosts in command by half-time.
A superb counter-attack, rounded off by Ollie Watkins, secured the points midway through the second half, before Raul Jimenez pulled a goal back for Fulham.
Victory lifts Villa up to fifth and within a point of the top four.
West Ham snapped their streak of three consecutive Premier League defeats with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest.
Lucas Paqueta’s fine strike had given the Hammers a perfect start after three minutes, but they needed to rely on their threat from set-pieces to turn the game around in the second half.
Goals either side of the break from Taiwo Awoniyi and Anthony Elanga had put Forest 2-1 up.
However, two James Ward-Prowse corners were headed in by Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek to ease any rising pressure on David Moyes.
Brighton may have enjoyed famous back-to-back victories over Ajax in the Europa League, but the Seagulls struggles domestically go on after Sheffield United snatched a 1-1 draw from the Amex.
Roberto De Zerbi’s men were in complete control as Simon Adingra opened the scoring.
But Brighton were forced to see out the final 20 minutes with 10 men when Mahmoud Dahoud was sent-off and the Blades took advantage to level through Adam Webster’s own goal.
A point edges Sheffield United off the bottom of the table and within four points of safety.
Salah extends scoring streak to send Liverpool joint top of Premier League
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Salah extends scoring streak to send Liverpool joint top of Premier League
- The Egyptian took his tally for the season to 12, nine of which have come at Anfield, as Liverpool continued their perfect record at home this season
Time running out for Arsenal as Man City hunt Premier League glory
- Arsenal, boasting a superior goal difference, need City to stumble but the signs are not promising
- Newcastle and Chelsea are both making a late-season charge for a European place, helped by Manchester United’s slump
LONDON: Arsenal have barely put a foot wrong in the Premier League in 2024 but, as the title race approaches the finish line, they desperately need a favor from Fulham, who host relentless Manchester City this weekend.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, who travel to Manchester United, are one point clear at the top of the table with two matches to play but Pep Guardiola’s men, crucially, have a game in hand.
Nottingham Forest will take a huge step toward safety if they beat in-form Chelsea, who are battling Newcastle and Manchester United for a European spot.
Here’s a look at three talking points ahead of the action.
When the 2023/24 fixture list came out, Sunday’s trip to Manchester United would have seemed a tricky task for Arsenal, but it is not looking that way now.
The Gunners, chasing their first Premier League title for 20 years, are likely to have been dislodged from the top of the table by the time they kick off at Old Trafford on Sunday.
That is because second placed City, in the hunt for a historic fourth straight Premier League title, are in action at Fulham the previous day.
City are unbeaten against the London side in 21 games in all competitions.
Arsenal will be confident they can beat a sputtering United team, who appear increasingly likely to miss out on European football next season after their embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Monday.
City’s game in hand is next week at Tottenham, where they have never even scored a goal in the league, but Spurs’ form has deserted them and Erling Haaland is back to his marauding best.
Arsenal, boasting a superior goal difference, need City to stumble but the signs are not promising.
Newcastle and Chelsea are both making a late-season charge for a European place, helped by Manchester United’s slump.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are in pole position to take either a Europa League or UEFA Conference League spot, depending on results in the last few rounds of the Premier League and in the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United.
They could even finish in fifth spot if Tottenham implode further.
Sixth-placed Newcastle, who host Brighton on Saturday, have won five of their past seven league games.
Free-scoring Chelsea were well off the pace just weeks ago, but a run of one defeat in their past 12 league games has given them hope of salvaging a troubled season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men travel to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest knowing a win will keep alive their hopes of a European spot.
Nottingham Forest learned this week that an appeal against their four-point penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules had been unsuccessful, but they are still close to securing top-flight safety.
If Forest better Luton’s result against West Ham they will be on the brink of securing a third straight year in the top-flight.
It has been a rollercoaster season for Forest, who were charged with improper conduct by the Football Association earlier this month after the club criticized VAR Stuart Attwell on social media following their defeat to Everton.
Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo said he had “already moved on” after the failed appeal over their points deduction.
They are favorites to avoid the drop but if results go against them this weekend, they could yet face a shootout for survival with Burnley on the final weekend.
Fixtures
Saturday (1400 GMT unless stated)
Fulham vs. Man City (1130), Bournemouth vs. Brentford, Everton vs. Sheff Utd, Newcastle vs. Brighton, Tottenham vs. Burnley, West Ham vs. Luton, Wolves vs. Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest vs. Chelsea (1630)
Sunday
Manchester United vs. Arsenal (1530)
Monday
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool (1900)
Yokohama’s Kewell and Al-Ain’s Crespo meet again for a continental title. This time it’s in Asia
- Victory in Asia could send the Sydney-born coach back into Europe
- Crespo, who won league titles in England and Italy as a player with Chelsea and Inter Milan, has already had success as a coach
TOKYO: Harry Kewell and Hernan Crespo will shake hands as head coaches with the Asian title on the line on Saturday, almost two decades after facing each other when Liverpool met AC Milan in the famous 2005 UEFA Champions League final.
Kewell is now in charge of Yokohama F. Marinos, the Japanese club hosting Al-Ain of the UAE on Saturday in the first leg of the Asian Champions League final series.
He was the victor in ‘05 when Liverpool recovered from a 3-0 deficit to triumph in a penalty shootout. Crespo scored two goals for Milan in Istanbul that day but ended as a losing finalist. He’s hoping to lift the Asian trophy at Al-Ain after the second leg on May 25.
Unlike Al-Ain, continental title winner in 2003 and finalist in ‘05 and ‘16, Yokohama has never before reached this stage of the continental club championship.
Kewell has led the five-time J.League winner through the knockout stages, including a comeback victory over Ulsan HD of South Korea in the semifinals.
After a 1-0 first leg loss in the semifinals, the 45-year-old Kewell — the third successive Australian to take charge of Yokohama following Ange Postecoglou and Kevin Muscat — invoked the spirit of Liverpool’s historic comeback 19 years ago.
“I was part of a special team that night that was able to come back from a scenario where a lot of people thought it was dead and buried,” Kewell said. “It just goes to show that a game is never finished, especially when you’ve got a hunger and a desire in a team.
“And I see that hunger and desire in this team to go out there and do something magical.”
Kewell’s coaching career is yet to reach the heights of his time as a player who starred for Leeds United and Liverpool in the English Premier League and represented Australia at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. A stint with Crawley Town in England’s fourth division in 2017 was the first of his three short-term jobs head coaching before he arrived at Barnet, where he was fired after just seven games in 2021.
Invited by Postecoglou to join the coaching staff at Scottish giant Celtic in 2022, Kewell worked as an assistant there until he took over at Yokohama last December.
Victory in Asia could send the Sydney-born coach back into Europe.
Crespo, who won league titles in England and Italy as a player with Chelsea and Inter Milan, has already had success as a coach .
After winning trophies in South America, he led Al-Duhail to the 2023 Qatar league title. The season was blighted by a heavy 7-0 loss to Al-Hilal in the semifinals of last season’s Asian Champions League.
With Al-Ain, the 48 year-old Crespo got the better of the Saudi club at the same stage last month, winning 5-4 on aggregate in the semifinals.
Al-Ain went into that semifinal series on the back of a victory over another Saudi club — Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
“We talk so much about the two teams we eliminated because we were underdogs in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and we went through,” Crespo said. “We always need to say thankyou to the players, congratulations to the players. They believe, they work hard, they fight, and they deserve to go through … I’m very happy to be part of it.”
Leverkusen beat Roma to make Europa League final and extend unbeaten run
- Bundesliga champions will meet Atalanta in the final
LEVERKUSEN: Bayer Leverkusen are through to the Europa League final 4-2 on aggregate after a stoppage-time goal from Josip Stanisic snatched a 2-2 draw at home on Thursday, extending their unbeaten run to a record 49 games.
In a rematch of last season’s Europa League semifinal, Roma came to Leverkusen 2-0 down after the first leg but levelled the tie up despite having little possession thanks to penalties in each half from Leandro Paredes.
With the tie heading for extra time, Alex Grimaldo curled in a corner which goalie Mile Svilar failed to catch, the ball going into the net after bouncing off Roma defender Gianluca Mancini.
Stanisic then kept Leverkusen’s stunning record of late goals alive by scoring on the counter in the seventh minute of added time, breaking Benfica’s European unbeaten record dating back to 1965.
“We had chances to score goals early and didn’t — but hey we will in Dublin,” Leverkusen boss Alonso told RTL.
“It was a special evening. There were tense moments but it showed the personality and the mentality of the team.”
“We didn’t know ourselves how we were 2-0 behind,” Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka said.
“To come back against a team like this is unbelievable — our desire is incredible. We’re in the final, we’re on our way to making our dream a reality and will do everything to bring the trophy back to Leverkusen.”
Bundesliga champions Leverkusen will meet Atalanta, who beat Marseille 3-0 (4-1 on aggregate), in the final in Dublin on May 22 with hopes of a remarkable treble still alive.
Alonso again mixed things up tactically and made six changes including surprisingly leaving star attackers Florian Wirtz, Victor Boniface and former Roma striker Patrik Schick on the bench, instead leading the line with Adam Hlozek.
The changes did not impact Leverkusen’s rhythm as the hosts exploded onto the pitch, carving Roma up with creative, fluid movement.
Roma by contrast brought the fight and tried to unsettle the Bundesliga champions, picking up four yellow cards inside the opening 30 minutes.
Exequiel Palacios was the target for much of Roma’s roughhousery but the Argentinian World Cup winner almost had revenge after 29 minutes when his low shot hit the inside of the post and came close to bouncing in off goalkeeper Svilar’s back.
Svilar produced a spectacular double save to keep out shots from Amine Adli and Hlozek on the 38-minute mark.
Roma sent a long ball up the other end and within moments the referee pointed to the spot, after Roma’s Bayer Leverkusen-loanee Sardar Azmoun went down in a tussle with Jonathan Tah.
Palacios’ Argentinian teammate Paredes sent the ball down the middle and Roma were 1-0 up and back into the tie just before half-time.
The second half began like the first, with Leverkusen unable to make their dominance count on the scoreboard — before Roma won another spot-kick, this time via VAR for a handball against Hlozek.
Paredes scored again, sending the ball left to take a two-goal lead in the match and level the tie.
Roma held on for dear life and went to ground frequently to hold onto the lead, reminiscent of their performance at the same venue in last year’s semifinal which netted a 0-0 draw and a spot in the final.
Roma coach Daniele De Rossi was proud of his side and said: “We played a heroic game — they’re strong. We tried but had few shots. The lads played an incredible game.”
But with nine minutes remaining, Leverkusen won another corner which Grimaldo swung through the hands of goalie Svilar, who clattered into Chris Smalling, the ball then bouncing in off the face of Mancini.
Roma pushed forward hoping to send things to extra time but Bayern loanee Stanisic hit the Italians on the counter, sending his team-mates sprinting from the bench and keeping his side’s season-long unbeaten run alive.
Riyadh’s recyclable football fan zone a ‘world-first for sustainability’
- Each recycled plastic pallet used in the fan zone’s construction has been repurposed to create a seating layout that promotes interaction among football fans
Riyadh: A football fan zone in Riyadh constructed entirely from recycled plastic pallets is a “world-first for sustainability,” its backers have said.
Spearheaded by Saudi Arabian Logistics, the eco-friendly project in the capital’s Laysen Valley will provide football fans with a dynamic environment to watch Roshn Saudi League matches.
With a seating capacity of more than 250, the fan zone will deliver action-packed viewing of the final five matches of the league amid anticipation for the crowning of the champion.
Each recycled plastic pallet used in the fan zone’s construction has been repurposed to create a seating layout that promotes interaction among football fans.
SAL designed the project with an eye on Saudi Arabia’s ambitious sustainability goals, including combating plastic pollution and promoting a circular economy.
SAL Managing Director and CEO Faisal Albedah, told Arab News about the inspiration behind the fan zone.
“Our dedication at SAL to sustainability and creativity served as the impetus for constructing the first-ever fan zone made entirely of plastic pallets, which are used on a daily basis in our 18 stations around the Kingdom in partnership with the Oil Sustainability Program,” he said.
The company wanted to play a role in tackling environmental concerns and curbing deforestation by demonstrating the utility of repurposed materials, he added. As the logistical sponsor of the Saudi Pro League, SAL has also pledged to unite communities through a shared enjoyment of football.
Mohammed Al-Tayyar, program director at the OSP, highlighted the significance of plastic pallets in environmental sustainability and economic efficiency. “From an environmental perspective, the material is recyclable, and time and resource efficient, as they are both durable and eliminate the need to cut trees to manufacture wooden pallets,” he told Arab News.
Plastic pallets outlast their alternatives and can be reused more than 250 times, leading to a reduction in CO2 emissions, he added.
The launch of the fan zone marks a major milestone in Riyadh’s sporting landscape and signals a shift toward sustainable approaches in fan engagement. As spectators gather in Laysen Valley to witness the climax of the Roshn Saudi League, they will not only partake in the thrill of competitive football, but also champion the cause of environmental sustainability.
Since the fan zone opened, the response from spectators has been “overwhelmingly positive,” added Al-Bedah.
“The attendees for our first event exceeded 200 fans cheering for both teams, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli. This encouraging response validates the efficacy of our strategy and motivates us to expand and follow the path of bringing more cutting-edge initiatives to the ground.”
Al-Tayyar said that the Oil Sustainability Program has plans to replicate the success of the fan zone in other industries. “We aim to find, replicate and alter sustainable solutions for transportation, materials and utilities to meet global needs,” he added.
As the final matches of the Roshn Saudi League kick off, spectators at the fan zone are hoping that history can be made not only on the pitch, but also in the realm of sustainable sports infrastructure.
Spanish judge confirms Rubiales will stand trial for kiss on player after Women’s World Cup final
- The judge in January found sufficient evidence to also believe Rubiales also unsuccessfully pressured Hermoso to appear in a video he produced and published while public outroar grew against him
- A trial date has not been set
MADRID: Former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales will stand trial on charges of sexual assault and coercion for kissing forward Jenni Hermoso without her consent after last year’s Women’s World Cup final, a Spanish judge confirmed Wednesday.
Judge Francisco de Jorge had ruled in January that Rubiales’ kiss was “unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising fashion.” Spanish news agency EFE reported that he has confirmed the charges.
Prosecutors seek a prison sentence of two and a half years for Rubiales for the alleged sexual assault and for allegedly trying to coerce Hermoso to publicly support him amid the public backlash following the World Cup decider in Sydney.
The judge also ruled that former Spain coach Jorge Vilda, the sports director of Spain’s men’s team, Albert Luque, and the federation’s former head of marketing, Ruben Rivera, will also stand trial for trying to pressure Hermoso, EFE said.
The judge in January found sufficient evidence to also believe Rubiales also unsuccessfully pressured Hermoso to appear in a video he produced and published while public outroar grew against him.
A trial date has not been set.
FIFA banned Rubiales for three years until after the men’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire before the next women’s tournament in 2027. Spain’s sports authority also ruled him unfit to hold a post in sports management for three years.
