LONDON: Manchester United won the FA Cup after stunning defending champion Manchester City 2-1 in the final at Wembley on Saturday.
United’s first silverware of the season deprived crosstown rival City of the first back-to-back English league-cup doubles. United also qualified for the Europa League next season.
The final was a repeat of last year’s which City won 2-1, and Pep Guardiola’s team did not give up their trophy without a fight.
Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring in the 30th minute after mistakes from City defender Josko Gvardiol and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
Kobbie Mainoo then added a second goal in the 39th to spark passionate celebrations from manager Erik ten Hag, whose job was under intense scrutiny going into the final.
United were in control at halftime but City piled the pressure on in the second half and eventually got back into the game through substitute Jeremy Doku’s long range shot into the bottom corner in the 87th.
By that point Erling Haaland had hit the bar, Kyle Walker had forced goalkeeper Andre Onana into two outstretched saves, and substitute Julian Alvarez missed the target from close range with only the keeper to beat.
It is United’s 13th FA Cup, one behind Arsenal’s record of 14. And it is Ten Hag’s second trophy in as many years at the club after winning the League Cup last year.
Players and staff embraced him on the field after the final whistle as the Dutchman managed to end a troubled campaign on a high.
Watching on were the United co-owners, Americans Joel and Avram Glazer and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.
Speculation about Ten Hag’s future dominated the buildup, and it was widely anticipated he would lose his job regardless of the result after overseeing United’s worst league season in 34 years.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team and winning the cup,” he said before kickoff.
It was a very different story for City. After becoming the first English team to win four titles in a row, they were aiming to set a new benchmark by completing back-to-back doubles. City’s parade in Manchester on Monday to celebrate the historic league success will not include the FA Cup.
City dominated possession in the first half but United posed the more threatening attacks and took the lead through Garnacho.
The Argentine winger sparked panic in City’s defense when chasing onto a hopeful punt from Diogo Dalot deep in his half. Gvardiol was quicker to the ball, but his headed back pass went over the onrushing City goalkeeper Ortega to leave Garnacho with an open net to tap home.
If that goal benefited from luck, United’s second came from a slick attack, with Garnacho at the heart of it again when cutting in from the right wing and playing in Bruno Fernandes.
The United captain hit a first-time no-look pass to Mainoo, who coolly slotted past Ortega.
“It’s been a tough season with ups and downs. This is the only thing we’ve had to look forward to,” Mainoo said. “We knew we had to come together. The preparation for this game has been amazing. We’ve shown we can compete and win games.”
Man United win the FA Cup after stunning Man City 2-1 in the final
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Man United win the FA Cup after stunning Man City 2-1 in the final
- United’s first silverware of the season deprived crosstown rival City of the first back-to-back English league-cup doubles
- United also qualified for the Europa League next season
Chances of Alonso staying in Leverkusen ‘50-50’, says CEO
- Carro told reporters that “my gut feeling is that it’s 50-50” Alonso would stay
- “If a team he has played for comes, we would sit down and discuss it and we wouldn’t stand in his way”
MADRID: Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said Monday the club had a 50-50 chance of holding onto manager Xabi Alonso amid rumored links between the coach and Real Madrid.
Carro also revealed the club had a “gentlemen’s agreement” with Alonso, allowing him to leave to coach one of the clubs he played for as a player for a fee.
Alonso, who played for Real and last year took Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double, has been linked with the top job at the Bernabeu, with current coach Carlo Ancelotti rumored to be headed for the exit.
Speaking ahead of the Laureus Sports Awards, where the club is nominated for breakthrough of the year after their debut Bundesliga win last season, Carro told reporters that “my gut feeling is that it’s 50-50” Alonso would stay.
“Xabi has no exit clause, but we have a gentleman’s agreement. If a team he has played for comes, we would sit down and discuss it and we wouldn’t stand in his way,” he said.
Carro said the club “needs clarity” and “the decision needs to be in the next three or four weeks. We cannot wait until the end of the season.”
“We are not naive, the position of the coach is very important for a club and it is true that we are preparing for next season with him.
“We have worked with him every day; he is fully committed to this preparation.”
After winning the title last season, Leverkusen have fallen back slightly and sit eight points behind league leaders Bayern Munich with four games remaining.
Leverkusen were eliminated from the Champions League by Bayern and were knocked out in the semifinals of the German Cup by third-division Arminia Bielefeld
Despite the drop off, the club is still on track for its second best points total.
Carro also said he believed star midfielder Florian Wirtz, 21, “has a contract until 2027 and I believe he will play for us next year.”
Norwich sack Thorup and name Wilshere as interim coach
- Norwich lost 3-1 at Millwall on Monday
- “Jack Wilshere ... will take charge of the first team on an interim basis ” Norwich said
LONDON: Norwich City have sacked Danish manager Johannes Hoff Thorup following a poor run of results and appointed his assistant and former England midfielder Jack Wilshere as interim coach until the end of the season, the Championship club said on Tuesday.
Norwich lost 3-1 at Millwall on Monday and have slipped to 14th place in the second-tier table with 53 points.
Sporting Director Ben Knapper said: “Whilst we made this appointment with a long-term focus and in line with our wider club strategy and direction, unfortunately recent results and performances have deemed it necessary for us make a change.
“Jack Wilshere ... will take charge of the first team on an interim basis for our two remaining Championship fixtures” Norwich added on their website.
The 33-year-old former Arsenal player Wilshere has been assistant coach at Norwich since October 2024.
The Pope with ‘two left feet’ who loved the ‘beautiful game’
- Messi: A different Pope, close, Argentinian... Rest in peace, Pope Francis
- His love of football was inseparable from his loyalty to the San Lorenzo club in Buenos Aires, where he went to watch matches with his father and brothers
VATICAN CITY: His predecessor loved Mozart, but Pope Francis’s passion was football — for him “the most beautiful game” and also a vehicle to educate and spread peace.
From Argentine compatriots Lionel Messi and the late Diego Maradona to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gianluigi Buffon, Francis received the greatest stars of football at the Vatican, signing dozens of shirts and balls from around the world.
And the admiration flowed both ways. Following news of the Pope’s death on Monday at the age of 88, Messi took to Instagram to pay tribute.
“A different Pope, close, Argentinian... Rest in peace, Pope Francis,” the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner posted. “Thank you for making the world a better place. We will miss you.”
Francis often recounted playing as a young boy on the streets of Buenos Aires, using a ball made of rags.
While admitting he was “not among the best” and that “he had two left feet,” he often played as goalkeeper, which he said was a good way of learning how to respond to “dangers that could arrive from anywhere.”
His love of football was inseparable from his loyalty to the San Lorenzo club in Buenos Aires, where he went to watch matches with his father and brothers.
“It was romantic football,” he recalled.
He maintained his membership even after becoming pope — and caused a minor uproar when he received a membership card from rivals Boca Juniors as part of a Vatican educational partnership.
Francis kept up to date with the club’s progress thanks to one of the Vatican’s Swiss Guards, who would leave results and league tables on his desk.
On Monday, San Lorenzo’s home page showed a large photo of a smiling pope under the club’s blue-and-red striped emblem, and the words: “Goodbye forever, Holy Father!”
Football is often compared to a religion for its fans, and Francis held numerous giant masses in football stadiums during trips abroad.
French Bishop Emmanuel Gobilliard, the Vatican delegate for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, said he understood the crucial role played by football.
“Whether you are an amateur or professional footballer, whether you like to watch it on television, it makes no difference: this sport is part of people’s lives,” he said.
But it was not just an end in itself — Francis, a Jesuit, also saw football as a way of spreading peace and education, despite the money and corruption linked to the sport.
In 2014, the Olympic stadium in Rome hosted an “inter-religious match” for peace at his initiative.
“Many say that football is the most beautiful game in the world. I think so too,” Francis declared in 2019.
As early as 2013, addressing the Italian and Argentine teams, Francis reminded players of their “social responsibilities” and warned against the excesses of “business” football.
The pontiff’s love for the game inspired a scene in a film “The Two Popes,” in which former pope Benedict XVI and then-cardinal Jorge Bergoglio watch the 2014 World Cup final between their two countries, Germany and Argentina.
It was pure fiction, as the soon-to-be Francis gave up watching television in 1990 — the year West Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup final hosted by Italy — while his predecessor preferred classical music and reading.
His enthusiasm for football said UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Monday bore “witness to a joyful spirit and his ability to connect with people through warmth and a sense of shared humanity.”
Francis never mentioned the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, which took place in the midst of a dictatorship when he was a provincial leader of the Jesuits.
But he dedicated an entire chapter of his 2024 autobiography to Maradona, whose infamous “hand of God” goal helped Argentina beat England in their 1986 World Cup quarterfinal clash.
“When, as pope, I received Maradona in the Vatican a few years ago... I asked him, jokingly, ‘So, which is the guilty hand?’” he said in 2024.
And asked once who was the game’s greatest player, Maradona or Lionel Messi, the pope hedged his bets.
“Maradona, as a player, was great. But as a man, he failed,” Francis said, referring to his addictions to cocaine and alcohol.
He described Messi as a “gentleman,” but added that he would choose a third, Pele, “a man of heart.”
Olaroiu’s UAE appointment has been 10 years in the making
- Romanian coach is now tasked with taking the Whites to their first World Cup since 1990
- Olaroiu has regularly been linked to take over as coach of the UAE national team after winning 14 club trophies in the country
DUBAI: If the UAE Football Association’s bold plan comes to fruition, 2025 will be remembered as the year unfulfilled dreams became reality.
After nearly a decade of recurring speculation, the widely respected Cosmin Olaroiu was finally unveiled this weekend as the Whites’ new head coach on a two-year deal. Last month’s surprise dismissal of ex-Portugal boss Paulo Bento has allowed the garlanded Romanian space to arrive on the back of a decorated career in Asia, featuring 14 trophies won during 10 campaigns in the UAE — plus five further successes with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, Qatar’s Al-Sadd and China’s now-defunct Jiangsu Suning.
That this imposing tally could be further added to next month in the finals of the AFC Champions League Two and President’s Cup when gloriously seeing out his Sharjah tenure, as reported by local daily newspapers Al-Khaleej and Al-Bayan, speaks volumes about the 55-year-old managerial behemoth.
There could be no one more qualified, or longer coveted, to resuscitate his adopted country’s ambition of direct entry to World Cup 2026 from third place in the third round’s Group A.
A high-pressure pair of deciding qualifiers feature a must-win home clash on June 5 against Uzbekistan — who are four-points clear in the second-and-final automatic spot — and a face-off at second-bottom Kyrgyzstan five days later.
Time would always be in short supply for Bento’s replacement once the decision was made to axe him the morning after March’s deeply unconvincing, last-gasp 2-1 win against bottom-placed North Korea. The annual rigours of May’s compact fixture list guarantees it.
Olaroiu has unmatched knowledge of the Whites’ squad and an enviable winning touch. This is the man to secure the UAE only a second outing in football’s grandest event.
Since the shine began to wear off a “Golden Generation” during World Cup 2018’s fitful cycle, Olaroiu’s name would always appear in conjunction with the UAE job.
The former Al-Ain and Al-Ahli/Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club supremo was cast as the alluringly unattainable target when eight permanent managerial selections — including two stints for Bert van Marwijk — were made since Mahdi Ali stepped aside in March 2017.
This time, however, felt different.
Unease defined Bento’s 20-month spell. No one could question a CV that contained a Euro 2012 semi-final with Portugal or record four-year stint at South Korea that culminated with World Cup 2022’s first round-of-16 tie since 2010’s edition.
Undoubted highlights followed with two maulings of perennial rivals Qatar, especially November’s Fabio De Lima-fueled 5-0 victory.
Yet plentiful contrasting memories existed. A 2023 Asian Cup exit in the round of 16 on penalties to debutant Tajikistan, October’s grim 1-1 home draw with North Korea that has caused such lasting damage in the third round and winless group-stage exit from 26th Arabian Gulf Cup.
Last month’s toothless 2-0 qualifying defeat in Iran also featured a shock switch to an unfamiliar 5-4-1 formation. Days later at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, composed Uzbekistan equipped themselves expertly in a characterful 2-2 draw that leaves them in control of their qualifying destiny, no matter the UAE’s results.
At the UAE FA’s Al Khawaneej headquarters, uncertainty surrounded Bento’s ability to steer the team. There were doubts not only related to securing automatic qualification, but also about navigating the intricate back-up route, which could involve two additional AFC rounds and an intercontinental play-off.
The stars aligned and with Olaroiu soon unattached at Sharjah, a once-fantasy appointment swiftly materialized.
A deep understanding of the ubiquitous 4-2-3-1 formation deployed in the Middle East and the characters required to make it tick fell heavily in the Romanian’s favour. There are further unquantifiable, but vital, elements involved.
Chief among them is winning spirit. A rare ability to inspire it was on display, once again, earlier this month when Sharjah produced two second-half stoppage time goals in the second leg of an exacting AFC CL tie against Saudi Arabia’s Al-Taawoun to proceed into next month’s final with Lion City Sailors of Singapore.
The King will also not fear a meeting with runaway ADNOC Pro League leaders Shabab Al-Ahli in the 2024-2025 President’s Cup decider.
Sharjah’s Shahin Abdulrahman, Majid Rashid, Mohammed Abdulbasit and Majed Hassan were curiously ignored by Bento. Future recalls would not be a surprise.
The club’s Brazil-born trio of Caio, Marcus Meloni and Luanzinho should grow into pivotal figures within the national set-up. Olaroiu will bolster their inductions.
Will an olive branch also be offered to 85-goal UAE record scorer Ali Mabkhout, rejuvenated at Al-Nasr? The 34-year-old was an unused substitute at the 2023 Asian Cup.
Al-Wasl talisman Ali Saleh was another to fall foul of Bento’s regime who has the unquestionable talent to be a lead figure once more in white.
So far, so perfect. The only blemish on Olaroiu’s record is a lack of international experience.
A small taste came on loan with Saudi Arabia at the 2015 Asian Cup. His Green Falcons were brought down to earth by a group-stage exit in the wake of losses to China and Uzbekistan.
Rather than be cast purely in a negative light, a natural-born winner’s unquenched desire to prove himself on the global stage could be to the UAE’s significant benefit.
At long last, a most-anticipated coaching appointment has been secured.
In Olaroiu, the Whites gain a proven winner and sharp tactician, trusted to deliver when it matters most. If history is to be made in June, his leadership could provide the spark to reignite a nation’s belief.
Barcelona take a commanding 4-1 lead over Chelsea in Women’s Champions League semifinals series
- Romeu: There’s huge evidence in soccer that you can’t ever rely on a first-leg lead. We are going to have a beautiful battle over there at Stamford Bridge”
- Chelsea will host the return semifinal leg next Sunday and the winner on aggregate will advance to the final in Lisbon next month
BARCELONA, Spain: Barcelona recovered from a missed penalty by Alexia Putellas to take a commanding 4-1 lead over Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League semifinals on Sunday.
Putellas had her penalty kick saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton in the 12th minute but the Catalan club rallied with a pair of goals by substitute Claudia Pina and one each from Ewa Pajor and Irene Paredes.
Sandy Baltimore scored for Chelsea.
“No winning scoreline is enough,” Barcelona coach Pere Romeu said. “There’s huge evidence in soccer that you can’t ever rely on a first-leg lead. We are going to have a beautiful battle over there at Stamford Bridge.”
Chelsea will host the return semifinal leg next Sunday and the winner on aggregate will advance to the final in Lisbon next month.
It was the eighth straight win for defending champion Barcelona in the European women’s competition. It has scored 40 goals across those eight consecutive wins since losing 2-0 to Manchester City.
Barcelona and Chelsea are meeting in the last four for the third consecutive season. Barcelona has advanced each time.
“I still believe in my team and my players, 100 percent,” Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor said. “It’ll be difficult, but the main goal is to score early in the return leg. In football everything is possible, so let’s try to win the game and, if we score early, maybe we can put Barcelona under pressure.”
Pajor opened the scoring in the 35th and Pina added to the lead in the 70th, not long after entering the match.
Baltimore pulled the visitors closer four minutes later, but Paredes gave Barcelona a two-goal lead again in the 82nd.
Pina added a fourth in the 90th at the Johan Cruyff stadium.
“When I’m on the bench, we’ve already spent a whole week analyzing a rival like Chelsea,” Pina said. “You have lots of ideas in your head. When the game goes on, you progress those ideas and look at where your teammates are already creating gaps in the opponents’ defense.”
In the other semifinal series, Lyon weathered a second-half rally by Arsenal to claim a 2-1 away win on Saturday, putting the record eight-time champions on course for another Women’s Champions League title match.
