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EPL: Chelsea vs Palace ends in draw as Newcastle sink Spurs

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By Ojomah Austin.

Chelsea suffered fresh frustration after blowing the lead in a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, while Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 as Manchester United and Liverpool prepared for their Premier League showdown on Sunday.

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have won only once in the first three league games of the Italian’s reign after a chaotic close season.

Beaten by Manchester City on the opening weekend, Chelsea powered to a 6-2 win at Wolves last weekend before scraping into the UEFA Conference League group stage after a 2-1 loss at Servette on Thursday.

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Former Leicester boss Maresca insists his expensive Chelsea rebuild, featuring a host of new signings, is ahead of schedule despite their inconsistent start.

Jadon Sancho’s loan move from Manchester United was the final piece in Chelsea’s overhaul since last term and the winger was introduced to the crowd before taking his seat in the director’s box next to Blues co-owner Behdad Eghbali.

But Sancho can’t have been impressed by his new team as they failed to kill off Palace after Noni Madueke picked out Cole Palmer and his pass was slotted home by Nicolas Jackson in the 25th minute.

– Isak fires Newcastle –
Maresca was furious after Palace midfielder Will Hughes avoided a second yellow card for a foul on Palmer.

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Looking for their first point this season after defeats against Brentford and West Ham, Palace made the most of that escape to draw level in the 53rd minute.

England midfielder Eberechi Eze unfurled a superb curling finish that flashed past Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez from 20 yards.

Eze’s eye-catching goal and a late close-range miss by Jackson ended Chelsea’s run of 14 successive wins against Palace in all competitions.

At St James’ Park, Wilson Odobert, Pape Sarr and Pedro Porro all wasted good chances for Tottenham in the early stages.

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Newcastle took the lead spectacularly in the 37th minute when Lloyd Kelly pulled the ball back to Harvey Barnes, who unleashed a sublime volley into the far corner from 10 yards.

Tottenham equalised in the 56th minute as Newcastle defender Dan Burn accidently diverted the ball into his own net while trying to clear after Brennan Johnson’s cross eluded Nick Pope, who had weakly parried James Maddison’s shot in the build-up to the goal.

Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali came on for his first Premier League appearance in over 10 months after his ban for breaching betting rules.

The Magpies went back in front in the 78th minute when Jacob Murphy ran onto Joelinton’s defence-splitting pass and laid on a tap-in for Alexander Isak.

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Unbeaten Newcastle’s second win in three league games condemned Tottenham to a first defeat this term, with the north London derby against Arsenal next up after the international break.

Liverpool travel to Old Trafford in Sunday’s late game as Reds boss Arne Slot gets his first taste of the bitter rivalry with United.

Hired from Feyenoord to succeed Jurgen Klopp in the close season, Slot has overseen 2-0 wins against Ipswich and Brentford in his first two games.

Slot’s fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag is already under pressure at United after their 2-1 defeat at Brighton last weekend

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Watch highlights of Manchester United’s 5-4 ‘comeback’ win over Lyon in Europa League

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Manchester United staged a remarkable comeback against French side Lyon, securing a thrilling 5-4 victory in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, April 17, 2025.

Midfielder Manuel Ugarte opened the scoring for United in the 10th minute, calmly slotting home a pull-back from a teammate. Before the end of the first half, defender Diogo Dalot netted a second goal to extend their lead.

However, Lyon mounted a strong second-half response. Corentin Tolisso capitalised on a spilled save from Andre Onana to pull one back, and Nicolás Tagliafico leveled the score with a composed finish past the goalkeeper.

In extra time, Ryan Cherki scored in the 104th minute to give Lyon the lead, followed by Alexandre Lacazette, who made it 4-2 with a well-placed effort.

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United responded with renewed intensity. Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty to narrow the gap, Kobbie Mainoo equalized in the 120th minute, and a dramatic header from Harry Maguire sealed a stunning 5-4 victory at Old Trafford.

The Premier League side advanced to the semi-finals of the Europa League with a 7-6 aggregate scoreline.

Manchester United will face Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals, scheduled for May 1 and May 8, 2025.

The other semi-final tie will feature Bodo/Glimt against Tottenham Hotspur.

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Watch highlights of the match below:

 

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Champions League: Arsenal cut Real Madrid to size with 5-1 aggregate win

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Arsenal staved off Champions League holders Real Madrid’s superstars and rich history of unlikely comebacks to snatch a 2-1 victory on Wednesday and reach the semi-finals with a superb 5-1 aggregate triumph.

The Gunners’ 3-0 quarter-final first leg triumph last week gave them a vital cushion in the Spanish capital as they made the final four for the first time since 2009, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.

Bukayo Saka, who missed a first-half penalty, sent Arsenal ahead and although Vinicius Junior levelled the 15-time winners were never close to making up the deficit.

Gabriel Martinelli rubbed salt in their wounds with a stoppage-time winner for Arsenal, who have never lifted the Champions League trophy.

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“We knew we were going to suffer but we knew we were going to win,” Declan Rice, who netted two stunning free-kicks in the first leg, told TNT Sports.

“It’s such a special night for this club, it’s a historic night for this club… we want to win this competition.”

Los Blancos, far more brittle than when they won a Champions League and La Liga double last season, were convinced they could turn the game around but created too little against Arsenal’s tight defence.

The Premier League side held their nerve to reach the semi-finals for only the third time in their history.

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“It’s a difficult moment… it was a difficult game, we didn’t have all the chances we would have liked,” Madrid’s Lucas Vazquez told Movistar.

“We needed a bit more with the ball, maybe a bit more patience to be able to break through a very well organised defence — they did their job.”

Kylian Mbappe chested home in the opening stages but was clearly offside, with the forward gesturing to the crowd to turn up the volume to create the fabled aura which helps Madrid pull off near-impossible feats at the Santiago Bernabeu.

David Alaba was booked for hacking down Saka as Madrid tried to add the grit they badly lacked in their first leg demolition in London, and the Arsenal winger also had a drive fielded well by Thibaut Courtois.

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Arsenal were awarded a penalty seemingly out of the blue when the VAR booth instructed French referee Francois Letexier to review an incident from an earlier corner.

Raul Asencio pulled back Arsenal forward Mikel Merino in the area and Letexier pointed to the spot, to the bemusement of the home crowd.

– Saka penalty saved –

Saka stepped up to take it but his poorly-executed Panenka, skewing off to the left, was saved by Courtois.

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It spurred Real Madrid on and soon they had a penalty of their own, when Mbappe hit the turf after Rice tussled with him.

However after a lengthy VAR review Letexier was called to take a second look and he then decided Arsenal’s two-goal first leg hero Rice had not fouled the French superstar.

The breaks in play, along with Arsenal’s dallying at every opportunity, disrupted Madrid’s momentum and they struggled to threaten Gunners stopper David Raya.

For all of Madrid’s bluster the goalkeeper did not need to make a save in the first half.

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Martin Odegaard, facing his former employers whom he joined as a ‘wonderkid’ a decade ago, helped forge Arsenal’s opening goal after 65 minutes.

The Norwegian linked with Merino, who slipped Saka in behind and the Englishman made amends for his penalty blunder with an ice-cool dinked finish.

Four goals ahead in the tie Arsenal thought their work was done, with defender William Saliba not concentrating on the edge of his box in possession.

Vinicius stole the ball away from him and beat the out-of-position Raya to level, two minutes after Saka’s opener.

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Madrid’s increasingly slim hopes were dashed when Mbappe limped off with an ankle problem with 15 minutes remaining, and Martinelli made sure with a cool finish after Merino set him up.

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Inter edge past Bayern to set up Champions League semi against Barcelona

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Inter Milan reached the semi-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday after drawing 2-2 with Bayern Munich to win a pulsating last-eight tie 4-3 on aggregate.

Italian champions Inter will face Barcelona in the semis after goals in the space of three minutes from captain Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard cancelled out a Harry Kane strike for Bayern which levelled the tie in the 52nd minute.

Eric Dier’s looping header in the 75th minute earned Bayern a draw on the night in soaking and blustery Milan but that wasn’t enough for Vincent Kompany’s side to continue their bid to be crowned Kings of Europe for a seventh time.

Simone Inzaghi’s side came through in awful conditions at the San Siro where a combination of heavy rain and driving winds affected both teams’ ability to play their best football, but added uncertainty and tension to an already highly-charged occasion.

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Inter are still on for a repeat of the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010, as they are also three points ahead of Napoli in Italy’s top flight and face AC Milan in the semi-finals of the domestic cup.

And Wednesday’s win showed that Inter are more than capable or reaching the final of Europe’s elite club competition, as they did two years ago when they were narrowly beaten by Manchester City.

Bayern had won all three of their previous Champions League away matches at Inter, but after Pavard crashed home his first goal for the club in the 61st minute there was no way back for the injury-hit Bundesliga leaders.

Inter will also benefit from playing the second leg of their showdown with Barca, who they beat in the semi-finals on their way to victory in Madrid 15 years ago, at the San Siro.

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– Treble dream –

The hosts didn’t come alive until their fans, who had been sat and stood in silence for the first 20 minutes in protest at ticket prices, burst loudly in song.

By that time the wind had picked up so much that one Inter cross almost swung back out of the penalty box, but even with the wind in their faces the hosts were on the up.

Thuram just failed to get a touch on Francesco Acerbi’s scuffed finish in the 29th minute, and moments later Hakan Calhanoglu crashed powerful shot just wide of the upright.

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Bayern reacted and pushed Inter back into their own area for the final minutes of the opening half, but a combination of the conditions, desperate defending and poor finishing kept the match scoreless at the break.

Inter started the second half the stronger but Kane levelled the tie with a brilliantly taken goal, shifting onto his right and drilling a low shot through Federico Dimarco’s leg’s and past Yann Sommer.

Just moments before Kane had rookie Bayern goalkeeper to thank for stopping him scoring an own goal, but not long afterwards Martinez re-established Inter’s advantage when he controlled Dimarco’s corner and lashed home.

And Pavard decided the tie three minutes later with a bullet header against his former club from another corner, sending the San Siro wild with delight.

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That wasn’t it though as Dier moved Bayern back to within a goal of extra-time, but when Sommer smothered Kane’s header in stoppage time Inter’s treble dream was kept alive.

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