Sports
Real Madrid beat Villarreal 2-0 to level leaders Barca
Fede Valverde and Vinicius Junior strikes helped Real Madrid bounce back from their first defeat since January with a 2-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday in La Liga.
Los Blancos lost in the Champions League at Lille but are still unbeaten in the Spanish top flight and moved level with leaders Barcelona before the Catalans visit Alaves on Sunday.
Valverde’s deflected effort and a rocket from Vinicius allowed Madrid to put a four-point gap between them and their third-placed opponents, who battled well but came up fractionally short in the capital.
Madrid’s victory was marred by a late injury to defender Dani Carvajal, who had to be taken off on a stretcher.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti started Kylian Mbappe after the French striker had recovered from a thigh problem.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker could only appear from the bench in Madrid’s disappointing midweek display.
Mbappe, whom France have not selected for upcoming Nations League fixtures, was quiet at the Santiago Bernabeu as his team ground out victory with a determined, rather than inspiring, performance.
The forward sent an early volley off-target from Luka Modric’s corner.
Instead it was midfielder powerhouse Valverde who broke the deadlock after 14 minutes.
The Uruguayan’s drive from distance deflected off Villarreal playmaker Alex Baena and arced beyond the reach of goalkeeper Diego Conde.
The visitors, enjoying a strong start to the season under coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, came close when Nicolas Pepe’s header clipped the top of the crossbar. Then Thierno Barry headed over from close range.
Mbappe had one further chance, bursting into the area with his electric pace, but goalkeeper Conde managed to dispossess him with an outstretched leg.
Villarreal appealed for a penalty early in the second half when Aurelien Tchouameni, playing at centre-back, pulled down Barry, but the French striker was offside.
Baena hit the side-netting of Andriy Lunin’s goal with a free-kick, nearly catching out the Ukrainian goalkeeper standing in for the injured Thibaut Courtois.
Vinicius flashed a shot narrowly wide, before his strike partner Mbappe was replaced with 20 minutes to go by Rodrygo Goes.
Brazil striker Vinicius, who is hoping to win a first Ballon d’Or later in October, netted the second with a superb effort from outside the area, which ripped into the top corner.
In stoppage time, Spanish right-back Carvajal suffered an injury while attempting to clear the ball under pressure from Yeremy Pino.
Earlier nine-man Celta Vigo earned a 1-0 win at bottom of the table Las Palmas.
The Canary Islanders were unable to record their first win of the season even after Ilaix Moriba and Iago Aspas’s red cards for Celta, who climbed to ninth thanks to Borja Iglesias’ goal.
Osasuna moved into fifth with a 1-1 draw at Getafe, while Espanyol beat Mallorca 2-1 and Rayo Vallecano won at Valladolid by the same score.
Sports
Meet New Head Coach As Chelsea Sack Liam Rosenior
Chelsea have sacked Liam Rosenior as manager after just 107 days in charge, as a result of a poor run of performance that saw the club suffer five consecutive Premier League defeats without scoring.
The club confirmed the decision in a statement on Wednesday, saying it was not taken lightly but was necessary due to “recent results and performances” falling “below the necessary standards”.
“Chelsea Football Club has today parted company with Head Coach Liam Rosenior.
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, we would like to place on record our gratitude to Liam and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the Club.
“Liam has always conducted himself with the highest integrity and professionalism following his appointment midway through the season,” the statement read.
Chelsea added that the former Strasbourg manager leaves with the club still competing in the FA Cup and chasing European qualification.
“Liam has always conducted himself with the highest integrity and professionalism following his appointment midway through the season,” the statement read.
Chelsea added that the former Strasbourg manager leaves with the club still competing in the FA Cup and chasing European qualification.
“Everyone at Chelsea FC wishes Liam every success in the future,” the statement added.
Rosenior, who was appointed in January on a six-year contract to replace Enzo Maresca, departs with Chelsea seventh in the Premier League and seven points off the Champions League places.
Meanwhile, Calum McFarlane will now take charge of the team as interim head coach until the end of the season, beginning with Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds at Wembley, with support from existing backroom staff.
“As the club works to bring stability to the head coach position, we will undertake a process of self-reflection to make the right long-term appointment,” Chelsea said.
Rosenior’s exit comes after a run that included defeats to Newcastle, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Brighton, with Chelsea failing to score in all five games.
Sports
Man City Defeat Burnley To Top EPL Table
Manchester City defeated Burnley 1-0 in the English Premier League (EPL) encounter at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.
Manchester City took control of the EPL title race thanks to Erling Haaland’s early goal against the Clarets, who are relegated to the English Championship with the defeat.
Manchester City took the lead in five minutes when Haaland darted through Burnley’s defence to meet Jeremy Doku’s through ball and expertly chipped the goalkeeper for his 24th league goal of the season.
The Norwegian striker also went close later but was denied by the post, and City went into the break with only a one-goal lead.
Burnley improved in the second half with Lyle Foster’s deflected strike inches wide of the post, before Quilindschy Hartman tested Gianluigi Donnarumma with a powerful effort.
The visitors, however, weathered the storm and regained control, but efforts from Doku, Haaland, Rayan Cherki, and Nico O’Rilley all went close but were all denied.
They, however, held on to take all three points and stretch their unbeaten run to 11 matches, while Burnley are winless in nine games.
Pep Guardiola’s side return to the top of the table for the first time since the first week of the season, ending Arsenal’s 200 days at the top.
Both teams are on the same 70 points and the same goal difference, but City has scored more goals to claim the top spot.
Burnley, however, return to the Championship after only one season in the top flight, and are the second team after Wolverhampton Wanderers to confirm their relegation status.
Sports
Finally, former Premier League champions Leicester relegated to English division three
Former Premier League champions Leicester were relegated to the third tier for only the second time in their history after a 2-2 draw against Hull on Tuesday.
Gary Rowett’s side needed a victory at the King Power Stadium to keep alive their slender hopes of avoiding relegation.
But the Foxes were denied by Oli McBurnie’s second-half equaliser, which condemned them to League One just 10 years after they were crowned English champions in a fairytale triumph.
Liam Millar put Hull ahead in the 18th minute before Leicester equalised through James Justin’s 52nd-minute penalty.
Luke Thomas put Leicester ahead two minutes later, but McBurnie extinguished their dreams of a great escape with his 63rd-minute leveller.
Second-bottom Leicester are seven points from safety with just two games left.
Leicester will play in the third tier for the first time since 2008-09 following an astonishing decline over the last five years.
“We have to learn. I think the club have to accept this is the horrible part of the journey of a football club,” Rowett said.
“This club won the Premier League not too many moons ago. That was an incredible high at the time for the fans, for everyone associated with the club.
“I think everyone saw that as an amazing achievement. I think we can be equally as disappointed with how poor this moment is.”
It is a third relegation in four seasons for Leicester, who dropped out of the Premier League in 2023 and 2025.
After Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and company defied 5,000-1 odds by winning the Premier League in 2016, Leicester reached the Champions League quarter-finals the next season and won the FA Cup in 2021.
But Leicester’s golden era is a distant memory as they face the unpalatable prospect of playing the likes of Bromley, Mansfield and Wycombe next season.
“The bigger picture is you don’t get relegated over three or four games, you get relegated over a season,” Rowett said.
“The club has to rise again but it has to learn its lessons because it’s certainly been a season of an awful lot of regret.”
Crashing out of the Premier League in limp fashion three years ago should have been a wake-up call for Leicester’s Thai owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and much-maligned sporting director Jon Rudkin.
But Leicester’s hierarchy were painfully slow to address numerous flaws on the pitch, while the club’s ruinous finances have cost them with a six-point deduction this season for breaching spending rules.
Vardy’s departure at the end of last season severed the last tie with the title-winning squad.
Marti Cifuentes, hired to lead a promotion push, struggled to rebuild an unbalanced and inexperienced squad before his sacking in January.
Interim boss Andy King was unable to turn the tide and relegation fears began to mount after Leicester blew a 3-0 half-time lead in a dismal 4-3 defeat against Southampton.
By the time Rowett was hired in February, the Foxes were two points from safety and the former Leicester defender has mustered only one win from his 12 matches since.
Boardroom blunders have been the defining influence on Leicester’s plummet towards League One.
Claudio Ranieri, architect of their title-winning campaign, was sacked just months after lifting the trophy, with Craig Shakespeare and then Claude Puel proving inadequate replacements.
Brendan Rodgers, who masterminded the club’s FA Cup triumph and two fifth-placed finishes in the Premier League, was dismissed as relegation beckoned in 2023.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Coventry clinched the Championship title with a 5-1 rout of Portsmouth.
Frank Lampard’s side had sealed promotion back to the top flight after a 25-year absence with a draw at Blackburn on Friday.
Millwall climbed to second place with a 3-1 win at Stoke, while fourth-placed Southampton’s bid for automatic promotion was dented by a 2-2 draw against Bristol City.
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