Cole Palmer on Monday capped an impressive display with a goal and an assist as Chelsea beat Newcastle United 3-2 in a pulsating Premier League match.
In front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate, the 21-year-old Palmer pulled the strings in midfield for the London club.
His 11th goal this season made him the sixth Chelsea player to score in five consecutive league matches. Chelsea have not lost a league game at home in the month of March since 2001.
Photo: Reuters
The result cut the four-point gap between Newcastle in 10th and Chelsea in 11th to one point.
Palmer’s goal came 12 minutes into the second half. He found space just outside the Newcastle penalty area and fired home a low shot.
Nicolas Jackson gave the home side the lead after six minutes when he diverted a shot from Palmer past Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Although they lost in-form winger Anthony Gordon to injury 10 minutes before halftime, Newcastle fought back and eight minutes later got an equalizer when Alexander Isak found the net with a perfectly placed shot from 18m out.
Substitute Mykhailo Mudryk made it 3-1 to Chelsea in the 76th minute, just five minutes after replacing Raheem Sterling.
Jacob Murphy got a goal back for the visitors in the 90th minute, but his rasping strike was not enough to stop Chelsea taking all three points and prevent Newcastle from recording their first home-and-away double over the Blues since the 1986-1987 season.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Howe told the BBC that Gordon’s injury “looks like a knee problem and it doesn’t look too good at the moment — it is unclear.”
An injury to defender Dan Burn looked less serious, he added.
Serie A
Photo: AFP
AP, ROME
Udinese Calcio on Monday took a big step away from the Serie A relegation zone when they beat SS Lazio 2-1 on the road.
Udinese’s only previous win this year was against Juventus. Their dismal run has brought them just seven points from a possible 27 and left them in 17th place, one spot above the relegation zone, but Monday’s win lifted Udinese four places to 13th. Lazio remained ninth.
La Liga
AP, MADRID
UD Almeria’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla on Monday extended their winless streak to 28 games, a La Liga record.
Almeria captain Adrian Embarba gave the home side the lead seven minutes before halftime, but their lead vanished as Sevilla score twice in the final 10 minutes through Dodi Lukebakio and Lucas Ocampos.
A stoppage-time equalizer from the head of Marco Milovanovic was some consolation, but it still left Almeria four points adrift of Granada at the bottom of La Liga with 10 games remaining.
Granada also have a game in hand.
Asia
AFP, RIYADH
Cristiano Ronaldo scored in extra-time on Monday, but Al Nassr were dumped out of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals on penalties by Al Ain.
The 39-year-old Portuguese was the only Al Nassr player to score in the shoot-out as his Saudi Arabia-based side went out 3-1 on penalties, the tie having ended 4-4 on aggregate.
It was a frustrating night for the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward, who missed a sitter from 3m with the goal gaping in regulation time in Riyadh.
In yesterday’s quarter-finals, Ulsan beat Jeonbuk 1-0 to advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Al Ittihad and Al Hilal were to play after press time last night.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS