Silva strikes late as Man City sink Chelsea to reach FA Cup final

Silva strikes late as Man City sink Chelsea to reach FA Cup final
Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez in action with Manchester City’s Rodri Soccer Football during their FA Cup — Semi Final at Wembley Stadium on Apr. 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 20 April 2024
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Silva strikes late as Man City sink Chelsea to reach FA Cup final

Silva strikes late as Man City sink Chelsea to reach FA Cup final
  • Pep Guardiola’s side were second best for long periods of the semifinal
  • Chelsea wasted a string of chances before Silva delivered the knockout blow six minutes from full-time

LONDON: Bernardo Silva fired Manchester City back into the FA Cup final as the Portugal midfielder’s late strike sealed the holders’ 1-0 win against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s side were second best for long periods of the semifinal, but Chelsea wasted a string of chances before Silva delivered the knockout blow six minutes from full-time.
Shaken by their Champions League quarter-final loss against Real Madrid on penalties in midweek, City took a while to shake off the gloom from the end of their treble bid.
They were hampered by the absence of Norway striker Erling Haaland after he suffered a knock against Real, with Julian Alvarez unable to make an impact as his replacement.
City were bailed out by Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson’s profligacy and Guardiola will hope the hard-fought success provides a timely lift as they chase a Premier League and FA Cup double.
City face Manchester United or Coventry, who meet on Sunday, in the final on May 25 and will retain the Premier League title if they win their last six games.
It will be City’s 13th final in the competition and potentially a repeat of last year’s 2-1 win over United in the Wembley Manchester derby.
Beaten by Liverpool in the League Cup final in February, Chelsea’s wait to win their first domestic trophy since the 2018 FA Cup goes on for another season.
It was a bitter blow for Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino, who has endured a difficult first season in charge and remains without silverware in England.
The semifinal was billed as in-form Chelsea forward Cole Palmer’s chance to punish his old club for selling him to the Blues in September.
Guardiola said Palmer was asking to leave City for two years before he eventually joined Chelsea, where he has scored 23 goals in all competitions this, including 11 in his last six games.
Palmer, who scored four times in Monday’s 6-0 rout of Everton, was a constant threat for Chelsea, but ultimately it was his team’s lack of killer instinct that proved decisive.
Palmer’s pin-point pass sent Jackson racing into the City area early on, but his strike lacked the accuracy to beat Stefan Ortega in a miss that foreshadowed Chelsea’s fate.
Jackson wasted a golden opportunity to give Chelsea the goal their dominance deserved.
Enzo Fernandez’s pass split the City defense, but Jackson opted to go around Ortega rather than shoot and the chance was gone as Nathan Ake scurried back to clear.
Playing with more purpose and quality than City, Pochettino’s team threatened again as Palmer cleverly shimmied past Rodri for a low drive from 12 yards that was well saved by Ortega.
It was the first time lethargic City had failed to muster a first half shot on target since a game against Everton in February.
Jackson, in the midst of a terrible debut season, was put clean through on goal by Conor Gallagher immediately after the interval.
But the much-maligned striker’s shot was palmed away by Ortega, who clawed away a close-range header from Jackson seconds later.
City finally tested Djordje Petrovic through Phil Foden’s snap-shot, but the Serbian was equal to his powerful strike.
Chelsea appealed in vain for a penalty when Jack Grealish’s arm blocked Palmer’s free-kick, while Moises Caicedo was fortunate to escape a second booking for a crunching tackle that forced Grealish to limp off.
Grealish’s replacement Jeremy Doku drew an immediate save from Petrovic with a near-post blast.
Doku’s presence lifted City and the Belgian played a part as they stole the victory in the 84th minute.
Advancing with intent toward the Chelsea area, Doku slipped a pass to Kevin de Bruyne, whose low cross was pushed out by Petrovic to Silva for a close-range finish that deflected home as Guardiola punched the air in relief.


Milan crisis deepens after 3rd straight Serie A loss, this time to Lazio

Milan crisis deepens after 3rd straight Serie A loss, this time to Lazio
Updated 03 March 2025
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Milan crisis deepens after 3rd straight Serie A loss, this time to Lazio

Milan crisis deepens after 3rd straight Serie A loss, this time to Lazio
  • Milan dropped to ninth in the standings and were leapfrogged by Roma after Claudio Ranieri’s team fought back to beat 10-man Como 2-1
  • Sixth-placed Bologna rallied to beat relegation-threatened Cagliari 2-1

MILAN: AC Milan fell further into crisis on Sunday as a stoppage-time penalty condemned them to a 2-1 defeat at home to Lazio in the Italian league.

Despite being reduced to 10 men, Milan managed to level in the 84th minute but Pedro converted a penalty in the eighth minute of stoppages.

This was Milan’s third straight Serie A loss amid a disastrous run that also saw the Rossoneri crash out of the Champions League.

Milan dropped to ninth in the standings and were leapfrogged by Roma after Claudio Ranieri’s team fought back to beat 10-man Como 2-1.

Lazio climbed back into fourth place — a point above Juventus, which hosts Hellas Verona on Monday.

Sixth-placed Bologna rallied to beat relegation-threatened Cagliari 2-1.

Late (and even later) drama

Lazio were also looking to get back to winning ways following two Serie A draws and being knocked out of the Italian Cup midweek by Inter Milan, also at San Siro.

Mattia Zaccagni gave Lazio the lead in the 28th minute. His initial attempt was saved by Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan but Zaccagni tapped in the rebound.

Milan’s chances of getting something from the match diminished in the 67th when defender Strahinja Pavlovic was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Lazio midfielder Matteo Guendouzi

Milan neverthless managed to find an equalizer when Rafael Leao whipped in a cross from the left for an unmarked Samuel Chukwueze to head in at the far post.

But there was even later drama when Lazio was awarded a penalty on video review after Maignan brought down visiting forward Gustav Isaksen. Pedro struck the spot kick into the bottom right corner.

Bologna boosts top 4 hopes

Riccardo Orsolini scored twice to help Bologna boost their chances of qualifying for the Champions League again.

Cagliari surprisingly reached the break ahead in Bologna after Roberto Piccoli’s 22nd-minute header.

But Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano made three changes at halftime and his team leveled almost immediately as Orsolini converted a penalty after Cagliari midfielder Mattia Felici fouled Nicolò Cambiaghi — one of those substitutes.

Cambiaghi also rolled the ball across for Orsolini to tap in and complete the turnaround eight minutes later.

Cagliari are three points above the relegation zone.

Impact subs

Substitute Alexis Saelemaekers took just 120 seconds to help Roma turn their match round.

Roma were trailing at home to Como following Lucas Da Cunha’s goal on the stroke of halftime.

But the match changed in the 61st minute. Saelemaekers, who had only just come off the bench, played a one-two with Zeki Çelik and then a stroke of luck saw his effort deflected by Como defender Edoardo Goldaniga, going in off the underside of the crossbar.

It quickly got worse for Como as they almost immediately went down to 10 men when defender Marc-Oliver Kempf was sent off following a second yellow card.

Halftime substitute Artem Dovbyk scored the winner in the 76th, volleying in a cross from Devyne Rensch — who had been on the field for less than two minutes.

It was Roma’s 11th league match unbeaten since a loss at Como on Dec. 15 and sent Ranieri’s team up to eighth, six points below Juventus.

Empoli, who surprisingly knocked defending champions Juventus out of the Italian Cup midweek, drew 1-1 at Genoa to remain in the bottom three, one point from safety.

Torino won 2-0 at bottom club Monza.


Barcelona routs 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 to go top in Spain

Barcelona routs 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 to go top in Spain
Updated 03 March 2025
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Barcelona routs 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 to go top in Spain

Barcelona routs 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 to go top in Spain
  • “Very happy with the match we played,” Araujo said. “It was important to win and become leaders again. It was a great effort by the team”

MADRID: Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 rout over 10-man Real Sociedad to regain the lead in Spain on Sunday.
Gerard Martín, Marc Casadó, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski scored a goal each to put Barcelona one point ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid at the top of the Spanish league. Barcelona is three points ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Real Betis on Saturday, when Atletico beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at home.
“Very happy with the match we played,” Araujo said. “It was important to win and become leaders again. It was a great effort by the team.”
Sociedad played a man down from the 17th minute after Aritz Elustondo was sent off with a straight red card for grabbing Barcelona forward Dani Olmo to stop a breakaway.
“It was a clear red card,” Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said. “After that there was no game. It’s already hard 11 against 11 against them, you can imagine with a man down.”
It was the sixth win in a row for Barcelona in the league, and the second loss in three matches for Sociedad, which stayed in ninth place.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick rested some regular starters ahead of the team’s Champions League match at Benfica on Wednesday in the first leg of the round of 16.
Prolific Lewandowski
Barcelona was in control from the start at Montjuic stadium, with Martín scoring in the 25th and Casadó in the 29th. Araujo added to the lead in the 56th and Lewandowski closed the scoring in the 60th for his eighth goal in his last nine matches.
Lewandowski now has 34 goals this season in all competitions, one more than the 33 he scored in what had been his previous best season with the Catalan club in 2022-23.
Sociedad, which along with Barcelona, Madrid and Atletico is playing in the Copa del Rey semifinals, struggled from the start and had no attempts on goal. Barcelona had 33 total attempts.
Sociedad defender Hamari Traoré entered the match in the second half to mark his return to action nearly six months after having to undergo knee surgery.
Earlier Sunday, striker Diego García scored two minutes into second-half stoppage time to give 16th-placed Leganes a 1-0 win over 14th-placed Getafe in a match between teams from the Madrid area.
Valencia later Sunday has a chance to move out of the relegation zone with a win at Osasuna.


Welbeck sinks Newcastle as Brighton reach FA Cup quarters

Welbeck sinks Newcastle as Brighton reach FA Cup quarters
Updated 02 March 2025
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Welbeck sinks Newcastle as Brighton reach FA Cup quarters

Welbeck sinks Newcastle as Brighton reach FA Cup quarters
  • The Seagulls have never lifted the Challenge Cup and last reached the final in 1983

NEWCASTLE: Danny Welbeck sent Brighton into the FA Cup quarterfinals as his extra-time strike clinched a dramatic 2-1 win against Newcastle in a stormy clash scarred by red cards for both teams.

Alexander Isak’s penalty put Newcastle ahead in the fifth-round tie at St. James’ Park.

Former Newcastle winger Yankuba Minteh equalized before the break, setting the stage for an explosive second half.

Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon was sent off for violent conduct in the 83rd minute after shoving Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke in the head.

Brighton were also reduced to 10 men late in the second half when Tariq Lamptey was dismissed for a second booking.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side emerged victorious thanks to Welbeck’s strike in the closing stages of extra time.

Brighton have never lifted the FA Cup and last reached the final in 1983 when they lost in a replay against Manchester United. The Seagulls have won five successive matches since their 7-0 thrashing at Nottingham Forest.

They are through to the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons after winning at St. James’ Park for the second time this season.

It was a bitter blow for Newcastle, who haven’t won a domestic trophy since landing the 1955 FA Cup, while their last major trophy was the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Unless Newcastle appeal against Gordon’s three-match ban, they will be without one of their key players for the League Cup final against Premier League leaders Liverpool at Wembley on March 16.

Newcastle made a vibrant start as Harvey Barnes lofted a pin-point cross to the far post, where Isak blazed over from close-range after his initial effort was blocked by Adam Webster.

Isak tested Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen with a long-range drive before Newcastle took the lead in the 22nd minute.

Minteh conceded a penalty with his rash challenge on Tino Livramento. Isak confidently lashed the spot kick into the top corner.

It was Isak’s 22nd goal in all competitions this season and the Sweden striker had the ball in the net again with a ferocious blast, only for an offside flag to curtail his celebrations.

Newcastle looked in complete command when Anthony Gordon cut inside for a curler that Verbruggen saved at full stretch.

But Brighton snatched an equalizer against the run of play in the 44th minute.

Joao Pedro’s superb pass picked out Minteh inside the area and the Gambian’s shot took a deflection as it flashed past Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka.

It was a sweet moment for Minteh, who joined Brighton from Newcastle last year in a £30 million ($37 million) deal.

Gordon saw red with seven minutes left in normal time, the England star lashing out at Van Hecke as they challenged for the ball after play was stopped for offside against Isak.

Lamptey followed Gordon down the tunnel in stoppage-time after the Brighton defender’s rash foul on Jacob Murphy.

Fabian Schar thought he had volleyed Newcastle’s winner in stoppage-time, but the defender was ruled offside after a VAR check.

Brighton came on strong in extra time. Dubravka made a fine stop to keep out Diego Gomez’s rocket from the edge of the area.

Newcastle had wilted and Welbeck won it for the Seagulls in the 114th minute, racing onto Solly March’s defense-splitting pass and clipping his shot over Dubravka.


Fenerbahce’s Mourinho has four-match ban halved after appeal

Fenerbahce’s Mourinho has four-match ban halved after appeal
Updated 02 March 2025
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Fenerbahce’s Mourinho has four-match ban halved after appeal

Fenerbahce’s Mourinho has four-match ban halved after appeal
  • Mourinho was handed a fine and the ban over his comments about Turkish referees after a game at rivals Galatasaray
  • The penalties were due to “derogatory and offensive statements toward the Turkish referee“

ANKARA: Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho’s four-match suspension has been halved by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) following a review of the club’s appeal.
Mourinho was handed a fine and the ban over his comments about Turkish referees after a game at rivals Galatasaray, where he criticized the match officials in a press conference following the 0-0 Super Lig draw on Monday.
The TFF fined the 62-year-old Portuguese 1.6 million Turkish lira ($43,963.89) but that was reduced to 558,500.
The penalties were due to “derogatory and offensive statements toward the Turkish referee” and accusations of chaos and disorder in Turkish football, according to the TFF.
The TFF said Mourinho’s remarks violated sports ethics, promoted violence and disorder and could incite fan incidents.
Monday’s game was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge.
Fenerbahce issued a statement on Tuesday defending Mourinho, saying his comments were taken out of context and deliberately distorted.
Former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mourinho has previously been fined and suspended for his comments about Turkish match officials.
On Friday, Fenerbahce said Mourinho filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray after they accused him of making racist statements.
The Portuguese manager will return for Fenerbahce’s Super Lig match against Samsunspor on March 16.
Fenerbahce are second in Turkiye’s Super Lig, six points behind fellow Istanbul side Galatasaray.


Real Madrid lose at Betis as Isco spearheads a 2-1 comeback win over former team

Real Madrid lose at Betis as Isco spearheads a 2-1 comeback win over former team
Updated 02 March 2025
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Real Madrid lose at Betis as Isco spearheads a 2-1 comeback win over former team

Real Madrid lose at Betis as Isco spearheads a 2-1 comeback win over former team
  • Madrid’s loss left them level on points with Barcelona, which host Real Sociedad on Sunday
  • Atletico Madrid are one point behind before they play fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao later on Saturday

BARCELONA: Real Madrid stumbled in the three-way race for the Spanish league title as Isco Alarcón guided Real Betis to a 2-1 comeback win over the defending champion on Saturday.
The former Madrid player delivered a corner kick that was headed in by fellow midfielder Johnny Cardoso in the 34th minute, canceling out Brahim Díaz’s opener for Madrid.
Isco then put Betis ahead from the penalty spot in the 54th after he passed to Jesús Rodríguez and Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger knocked the Betis forward down in the area.
Madrid’s loss left them level on points with Barcelona, which host Real Sociedad on Sunday. Atletico Madrid are one point behind before they play fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao later on Saturday.
Kylian Mbappé was back starting for Madrid after missing one game because of a dental problem. Coach Carlo Ancelotti substituted him with 15 minutes left, possibly looking ahead at Tuesday’s Champions League round-of-16 game against Atletico.
Isco torments old team
Isco left Madrid three years ago, having helped them win five Champions League titles before he lost his starting job and then struggled to get off the bench.
But Madrid might wish they had him back after the 32-year-old midfielder was the most decisive player on the field at the Benito Villamarin.
Isco, however, shared the credit for the win with his teammates.
“Madrid has the best players and a million different ways they can hurt you, so if they weren’t for the hard work of the entire team we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” Isco said, before adding that he was still “grateful” for his time at Madrid.
The playmaker also showed he has not been slowed down by a leg injury that likely cost him a spot on Spain’s European Championship side last summer. He returned to the field in December and is playing like he’d never been away.
“It is a dream of any player to play for his national team,” Isco said after the win. “I haven’t played for Spain in six, seven years, so of course I would like to.”