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.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS