MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola has warned that Manchester City cannot take anything for granted as they seek to claim an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title against West Ham on Sunday.
City have the destiny of the title in their hands as they lead Arsenal by two points going into the final day of the season.
However, Guardiola pointed to the dramatic final day two years ago, when City had to come from 2-0 down late on to beat Aston Villa 3-2 to deny Liverpool the title.
The English champions were also made to sweat to beat Tottenham 2-0 on Tuesday despite many Spurs fans wanting their own side to lose to prevent north London rivals Arsenal claiming their first title for 20 years.
“We would like to be 3-0 up after 10 minutes but that’s not going to happen,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“I’m ready for it to be a tough, tough game. I want to put in the mind of the players, ‘Look at Tottenham, how they fought for every ball’.
“It was the same with Aston Villa two years ago — they were in the same position, they didn’t have anything to play for — and we know what happened.
“Our people have to come here and be ready from the first minute, to be with us and do it together.”
City are attempting to become the first side in history to win four straight English top-flight titles and are on the brink of a sixth Premier League win in the past seven seasons.
Guardiola batted away suggestions that his side do not get the credit they deserve for the scale of those achievements.
“I don’t know what people think but if you ask all the Premier League teams at the start of the season, they would want to be in our position,” he said.
“We have one game left, destiny in our hands. Win our game and we will be champions.
“They (the players) know it is win or win, otherwise Arsenal will be champions.”
Man City will not cruise to Premier League glory, warns Guardiola
https://arab.news/2nmgu
Man City will not cruise to Premier League glory, warns Guardiola
- “We would like to be 3-0 up after 10 minutes but that’s not going to happen,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference on Friday
- “I’m ready for it to be a tough, tough game”
McTominay and Lukaku power title-chasing Napoli to 3-0 win over Empoli
- McTominay nets twice to lead hosts to victory
- Lukaku sets up both goals and scores himself
NAPLES, Italy: Napoli cruised to a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Empoli on Monday with Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku leading the charge as the hosts kept pace with Serie A leaders Inter Milan.
Second-placed Napoli were feeling the pressure after Inter’s 3-1 home win against Cagliari on Saturday but, with six rounds remaining, they trail the Milan side by three points with 68.
The Napoli duo were unstoppable at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona against Empoli, who are second from bottom and two points off the safety zone. The home side created chance after chance and wreaked havoc on the Empoli defense.
“Romelu is a great teammate. He demands a lot from all the team and me to score more goals and create more opportunities for him to score as well,” McTominay told DAZN.
“He’s obviously a great player. He’s had a great career, and we’re so happy to have him.”
It took 18 minutes for Napoli to open the scoring as Lukaku battled free in midfield and passed to the onrushing McTominay, whose low long-range shot bounced over Empoli goalkeeper Devis Vasquez’s outstretched hand and into the corner of the net.
Belgium striker Lukaku added his name to the scoresheet in the 56th minute, latching onto a perfect through ball inside the box and easily finding the net to double the advantage.
McTominay completed his brace in the 61st, again assisted by Lukaku who whipped a cross in from the right for the unmarked Scotsman to power home a header off the underside of the bar.
The two players linked up again shortly after as Lukaku played in McTominay for a counter-attack but the hat-trick opportunity was thwarted by the inside of the post.
Napoli’s comfortable evening took a hit in front of a noisy home crowd minutes later when Napoli defender Juan Jesus had to go off because of what looked like a hamstring injury.
Lukaku had one more chance just before being substituted but could not quite control David Neres’s cross and sent it wide.
In the dying minutes, McTominay had an opportunity to put the ball in the net again from close range but Vazquez produced a stunning save and the flag was in any case up for offside.
With the season moving toward a thrilling finale, McTominay said the focus must be on themselves despite Inter’s advantage.
“We must have fun and think about ourselves. We’re a strong team and must continue with this playing style and attitude. We must think about ourselves and then we’ll see what Inter will do.”
Napoli have a relatively easy run-in on paper with all of their last six opponents currently 10th or lower in the table. They next travel to bottom club Monza on Saturday.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe recovering from pneumonia
- 47-year-old sat out Sunday’s 4-1 Premier League win at home to Manchester United as he was kept in hospital
NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is recovering in hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia and will miss this week’s matches, the Premier League club said on Monday.
The 47-year-old sat out Sunday’s 4-1 Premier League win at home to Manchester United as he was kept in hospital after feeling unwell for several days.
He missed Newcastle securing their first league double over the Old Trafford side since the 1930-31 season.
“A huge thank you to everyone connected with Newcastle United and the wider football community for your messages and warm wishes. They have meant a lot to me and my family,” Howe said in a statement from the club.
Howe has become a hero in Newcastle after arriving at the club in 2021 after coaching Bournemouth and Burnley.
He led the club to a League Cup final triumph over Liverpool in March, becoming the first home-grown coach to win one of England’s top domestic honors since 2008 and securing the club’s first domestic trophy in 70 years.
He was celebrated by 150,000 Newcastle fans in the streets of the city and honored with a massive banner unfurled outside St. James’ Park.
Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones will take charge of the team for the matches against visitors Crystal Palace on Wednesday and away to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Newcastle are fourth in the table with 56 points.
Messi and Miami fire blanks in front of record Chicago Fire crowd
- Chicago, coached by former USA boss Gregg Berhalter, limited Messi and his former Barcelona strike partner Luis Suarez to just a handful of opportunities
- The Fire should have grabbed all three points in the 88th minute when Bamba’s shot was parried out by Ustari but Maren Haile-Selassie put the follow-up shot wide
WASHINGTON: Inter Miami failed to score for the first time this season in Major League Soccer as they were held to a goalless draw by the Chicago Fire on Sunday.
A club-record crowd of 62,358 packed into Soldier Field for the visit of Lionel Messi and his Inter team to witness a gutsy display from the home side.
Chicago, coached by former USA boss Gregg Berhalter, limited Messi and his former Barcelona strike partner Luis Suarez to just a handful of opportunities.
The best effort from Messi, who played the full game, came in the third minute when he unleashed a snap shot from outside the box which was denied by a fine, diving save from Fire keeper Chris Brady.
There was no sense of Chicago being overawed by the big crowd at the stadium they share with the NFL’s Bears and they went close twice in the opening half with Mauricio Pineda forcing Oscar Ustari into a full stretch save and then Philip Zinckernagel striking the outside of the post from a narrow angle.
Suarez had a great chance to put Miami ahead just before the break when Noah Allen floated a ball in but the Uruguayan puts his shot over the bar.
After the break, Chicago enjoyed plenty of pressure with much of the creativity coming from former Lille winger Jonathan Bamba.
The Fire should have grabbed all three points in the 88th minute when Bamba’s shot was parried out by Ustari but Maren Haile-Selassie put the follow-up shot wide.
Bamba was denied again by Ustari moments later but in a frantic finale, Miami also could have stolen a win but, from a promising position, Tadeo Allende dragged his shot wide.
Miami had looked tired after their midweek exertions in their CONCACAF Champions Cup win over Los Angeles FC on Wednesday and coach Javier Mascherano appeared relieved they had picked up a point.
“We came with a very, very big load not only physically, but also mentally. So not losing is always important, too,” he said.
“I’ll take the positives, which is that we didn’t concede a goal. We’d been conceding goals for three games, and today we kept a clean sheet. ... Now, luckily, we have a long week of work, which is a bit of a break for us, after the start of the season we’ve had,” he said.
Former Miami coach Phil Neville saw his improving Portland Timbers team enjoy a 4-2 win at Sporting Kansas City with Venezuelan forward Kevin Kelsy scoring twice.
Portland are unbeaten in five games and move up to fourth in the Western Conference.
The Columbus Crew fought back from a goal down to enjoy a 2-1 win at St. Louis City.
Brazilian Joao Klauss opened the scoring for the home side before Crew defender Steven Moreira levelled with a side-footed volley.
Uruguayan Diego Rossi secured the win with a low drive from outside the box in the 55th minute.
Harvey Barnes brace routs Manchester United as Newcastle rise to fourth place
- Sandro Tonali put Newcastle ahead before Alejandro Garnacho equalized late in the first half
- Barnes provided a welcome tonic for Howe as his second-half brace at St. James’ Park
NEWCASTLE: Harvey Barnes struck twice as Newcastle thrashed troubled Manchester United 4-1 to climb into fourth place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Newcastle were without manager Eddie Howe, who was admitted to hospital on Friday after feeling unwell for several days.
But Barnes provided a welcome tonic for Howe as his second-half brace at St. James’ Park boosted Newcastle’s bid to qualify for the Champions League.
With Howe’s assistants Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones in charge of the League Cup winners, Sandro Tonali put Newcastle ahead before Alejandro Garnacho equalized late in the first half.
Barnes stole the spotlight after the interval, becoming the first Newcastle player to score twice in one league game against United since Alan Shearer in 2000.
Bruno Guimaraes punished a blunder from United keeper Altay Bayindir, who started in place of the dropped Andre Onana, to seal Newcastle’s first four-goal haul against United since 2001.
In the race to reach the Champions League via a top five finish, Newcastle are just one point behind third-placed Nottingham Forest.
They have a game in hand on Forest, as well as fifth-placed Manchester City and sixth-placed Chelsea, who are two points adrift of the Magpies.
United have now gone four games without a win in all competitions, leaving them languishing in 14th place with just six games left to avoid their lowest finish since 1973-74, when they came 21st and were relegated.
They are already certain to suffer their worst points total in the Premier League era, with the previous low 58 in 2021-22.
Ruben Amorim made five changes with an eye on Lyon’s visit to Old Trafford for the Europa League quarter-final, second leg next Thursday, but United were blown away with embarrassing ease.
Bayindir had replaced Onana after the Cameroon keeper’s latest error-strewn display in United’s 2-2 draw at Lyon last Thursday.
But the 26-year-old, signed from Fenerbahce in 2023, endured a woeful first Premier League start.
Newcastle’s opening goal arrived at the climax of a flowing move after United midfielder Manuel Ugarte gave the ball way in the 24th minute.
Kieran Trippier surged forward and found Alexander Isak, who astutely lifted his pass over the defense for Tonali to drive a clinical finish into the far corner from an acute angle 10 yards out.
It was the 19th time United had conceded the opening goal in a league game this season — their joint-most in a single campaign in the competition.
With United out of sync once again, Tonali almost doubled the lead as the Italy midfielder curled just wide from distance.
Bayindir looked nervous when he punched Tino Livramento’s cross straight to Isak, but he redeemed himself with a good save from the Swede’s volley.
United equalized completely against the run of play in the 37th minute.
Diogo Dalot was the catalyst with a buccaneering burst that carried him to the edge of the Newcastle area, where he slipped a precise pass to Garnacho and the Argentine winger fired past Nick Pope.
Having scored for just the second time in 2025, Garnacho went close to another when Pope palmed away his blast on the stroke of half-time.
But Newcastle regained the lead four minutes after half-time as United’s leaky defense was breached again.
Livramento’s low cross was alertly kept in by Murphy beyond the far post and his pass into the six-yard box found Barnes unmarked for a clinical finish.
Zirkzee limped off to add to United’s woes after crumpling to the turf with an apparent hamstring injury.
United were in disarray and Barnes delivered the knockout blow in the 64th minute, dispossessing Noussair Mazraoui and racing clear to drill a fierce strike past Bayindir.
In the 77th minute, Bayindir’s wayward pass went straight to Joelinton, who nodded the ball onto Guimaraes for a composed finish that rubbed salt into United’s gaping wounds.
Bayern fail to make most of Leverkusen slip with Dortmund draw
- Dortmund took the lead through Maximilian Beier in the 48th minute but Bayern hit back with two goals in four minutes, before Waldemar Anton equalized for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining
LEVERKUSEN, Germany: Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were held to a 2-2 home draw with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, failing to take advantage of Bayer Leverkusen’s slip-up earlier in the day.
After defending champions Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Union Berlin, Bayern knew a win would have moved them eight points clear with five games to play.
Dortmund took the lead through Maximilian Beier in the 48th minute but Bayern hit back with two goals in four minutes, before Waldemar Anton equalized for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining.
“We’ve moved a step closer to the championship and we’ve shown we can create plenty of opportunities,” said Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will leave the club after 25 years at the end of the season.
“That should help us in the Champions League on Wednesday,” Mueller added of next week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Inter Milan, with Bayern facing a 2-1 first-leg deficit,
“(We need) to be more clinical,” said Harry Kane. “We’ll have opportunities, it’s about taking them in the right moments.”
Usually the standout fixture on the German football calendar, the buzz around the match was comparatively muted.
The visitors, who trail Barcelona 4-0 in their Champions League quarter-final, arrived in Munich sitting nine spots and 27 points behind in the table.
Bayern, enduring an injury crisis, were camped out near Dortmund’s box for almost the entire first half.
Visiting goalkeeper Gregor Kobel needed to snuff out big chances for Kane and Michael Olize.
Seemingly on the ropes at half-time, Dortmund opened the scoring three minutes into the second period, Beier heading between Bayern goalkeeper Jonas Urbig’s legs to finish off a counter-attack.
With Dortmund in the ascendancy and probing for a second, Kompany brought on Serge Gnabry and the move worked a treat.
The former Arsenal winger created the equalizer for former Dortmund midfielder Raphael Guerreiro on 65 minutes and then scored a goal of his own four minutes later, slaloming through the visiting defense before hammering home.
Dortmund hit back to level again when Anton knocked in a rebound from a Serhou Guirassy shot.
Bayern remain six points ahead of Leverkusen and closing in on regaining the title.
Nursing an ongoing Achilles injury, Bayern center-back Kim Min-jae was substituted in the second half, leaving the Bavarians with just one fit central defender.
Despite welcoming back star midfielder Florian Wirtz from a foot injury, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen lacked fluency in attack, carving out few clear-cut opportunities against Union Berlin.
Wirtz came on after 57 minutes and despite giving his side an initial boost, was unable to break down Union’s defense.
Granit Xhaka had a free-kick from the edge of the box in stoppage time but blasted his shot well over the bar.
“We’re dropping too many points at home,” Leverkusen captain Hradecky said.
“Mathematically there’s a small chance (of defending the title), but the probability has decreased.”
The draw continues a poor April for last season’s unbeaten domestic double winners, who were eliminated from the German Cup semifinals by third-division Arminia Bielefeld.
The draw lifted Union to 34 points, 12 clear of the relegation play-off spot.
The Berliners have taken 11 points from an unbeaten five-game run against Leverkusen, Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg and Wolfsburg.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s hopes of returning to the Champions League took a hit with a 2-1 home loss to Freiburg.
Freiburg snatched all three points when Johan Manzambi scored a 90th-minute header, allowing the visitors to leapfrog their opponents into sixth.
Augsburg continued their strong 2025 with a 2-1 win at lowly Bochum, climbing past Dortmund into eighth. Augsburg have only lost one of their past 13 games.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim took a step toward beating the drop with a 2-0 home win over Champions League hopefuls Mainz, with Andrej Kramaric scoring a brace.
St. Pauli also boosted their hopes of top-division football next season with a 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Holstein Kiel.
