Newcastle United seized control of the battle for fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday as Tottenham and Chelsea stumbled in the race for a Champions League qualifying berth.
Two goals from Yohan Cabaye and one from Papiss Cisse gave Newcastle a 3-0 win over Stoke City at St James’ Park, a result that saw the Magpies move up to fourth place with four games remaining.
With Tottenham slipping to a 1-0 defeat against -relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea only managing a 0-0 draw at Arsenal, Newcastle’s hopes of a Champions League spot is in their own hands.
Photo: Reuters
The Magpies lead fifth-placed Spurs by three points having played the same number of games, while Chelsea are languishing in sixth, four points adrift.
Tottenham could have finished the day in fourth, but their miserable recent run of league form continued as they slipped to a 1-0 loss to 10-man QPR at Loftus Road.
Adel Taarabt scored the game’s only goal with a 24th-minute free-kick before being sent off late in the game after a second bookable offense.
Earlier, Chelsea’s bid for Europe suffered a setback with their failure to beat Arsenal at the Emirates.
Nevertheless, Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo was satisfied with the result, which came after a grueling week that included victory over Spurs in the FA Cup before a hard-fought win in their Champions League semi-final first leg with Barcelona.
Wigan Athletic’s hopes of pulling clear of the relegation zone suffered a setback as they lost 2-1 at Fulham, Philippe Senderos scoring an 89th-minute winner to sink the Latics at Craven Cottage.
Senderos’ winner came after Wigan had taken the lead through Emmerson Boyce on 57 minutes, before Pavel Pogrebnyak got Fulham back on level terms.
Blackburn Rovers ended a run of five consecutive defeats to score a 2-0 win over Norwich City at Ewood Park.
The win left Rovers third from bottom, three points adrift of Wigan in 17th place and QPR in 16th, who both have 34 points.
Mauro Formica and Junior Hoilett scored the goals for Rovers as Steve Kean’s side gave themselves a Premier League lifeline.
Meanwhile, Bolton Wanderers remain in the bottom three after being held 1-1 by Swansea at the Reebok Stadium.
Scott Sinclair put Swansea ahead after only six minutes, curling his shot into the far corner after cutting in from the left flank, before Chris Eagles leveled in the 14th minute.
In the other match on Saturday, Aston Villa and Sunderland played out a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
RSS