Championship side Southampton reached the FA Cup quarterfinals with a shock 1-0 win against Fulham on Sunday.
Ross Stewart’s ice-cool penalty in stoppage-time at Craven Cottage sealed Southampton’s fifth-round upset.
It was an embarrassing loss for Fulham manager Marco Silva, who paid the price for a selection gamble that backfired.
Silva made nine changes to following a disappointing 1-0 defeat against West Ham in the Premier League earlier this week, but his switches failed to produce the desired result.
Southampton won it in the first minute of stoppage-time when Finn Azaz was fouled by Fulham defender Joachim Andersen and Stewart drilled his spot-kick past Benjamin Lecomte.
Relegated from the Premier League last season, they are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2022.
Southampton’s success served as a fitting tribute to the greatest day in the club’s history.
Their players wore a yellow commemorative kit to mark 50 years since they wore the same shirts when Bobby Stokes’ sealed then second-tier Southampton’s shock 1976 FA Cup final win against Manchester United at Wembley.
Southampton’s current crop still have a way to go to emulate the achievement of Lawrie McMenemy’s men.
But Tonda Eckert’s side are unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions as they chase FA Cup glory and a place in the Championship play-offs.
Later on Sunday, Sunderland travel to Port Vale, who sit bottom of League One, and Leeds host second-tier Norwich, while West Ham meet Brentford on Monday.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool have already booked their places in the quarterfinals. (JapanToday)
Liverpool moved into the FA Cup quarterfinals with a 3-1 win against Wolves on Friday as the Reds avenged their painful Premier League loss at Molineux just 72 hours earlier.
Arne Slot’s side struck twice in quick succession in the second half through Andrew Robertson’s long-range rocket and a predatory Mohamed Salah finish.
Curtis Jones wrapped up a much-needed fifth round victory for Liverpool after their embarrassing 2-1 defeat against the Premier League’s bottom club three days earlier.
Hwang Hee-chan’s late reply was no consolation for Wolves.
Branded “slow and predictable” by furious captain Virgil van Dijk following that calamity, Liverpool set the record straight on their return to the West Midlands.
Despite spending £450 million ($599 million) on new signings in the close season, Liverpool have mounted a woeful title defence, leaving the FA Cup and the Champions League as their last chances for silverware.
Languishing in sixth place in the Premier League — 19 points behind leaders Arsenal — Slot needs to deliver a trophy to ease the mounting pressure in his turbulent second season at Anfield.
Liverpool remain in contention for a ninth FA Cup triumph, and a first since 2022, while they step up their Champions League challenge with a last 16 first leg trip to Galatasaray on Tuesday.
Slot made four changes for the Wolves rematch, including three in defence as Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Ibrahima Konate were all dropped.
Avoiding relegation remains unlikely for a team currently 12 points from safety, but as well as beating Liverpool, Wolves also recently drew with Premier League leaders Arsenal and defeated Aston Villa.
Well aware of their impending fate, Wolves fans mocked Liverpool with chants of “2-1 to the Championship” in the first half.
Liverpool’s 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha nearly silenced the taunts with a low drive that forced a good save from Sam Johnstone.
Ngumoha carried Liverpool’s lone threat in the opening period, his goal-bound strike headed clear by Joao Gomes after an incisive raid.
Despite Ngumoha’s best efforts, it was another uninspired half from Liverpool in a season scarred by criticism of their prosaic approach.
Slot’s men finally conjured a rare moment of magic to break the deadlock in the 51st minute.
Salah and Jones worked the ball to Robertson and he thundered a superb strike into the far corner from 20 yards.
It was the Scotland left-back’s second goal this season and his first since September.
After scoring against Wolves on Tuesday, Salah was back on target to double the lead two minutes later.
When Salah pounced on Robertson’s cross with a close-range finish, the Egyptian’s ninth goal this season was initially disallowed for offside before VAR overturned the decision.
Adding to the good news for Slot, German playmaker Florian Wirtz came off the bench in the closing stages after missing three games with a back injury.
Jones put the seal on Liverpool’s fifth win in their last six matches, caressing his shot past Johnstone in the 74th minute.
Liverpool switched off in stoppage time as Hwang ran onto Johnstone’s long punt to slot past Alisson Becker. (JapanToday)
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior said Friday he has no fixed number one goalkeeper after dropping Robert Sanchez from his starting line-up in midweek.
The English manager brought in Denmark’s Filip Jorgensen for the 4-1 victory at Aston Villa days after Sanchez, who has been the first choice this season, struggled in a defeat against Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Rosenior was asked on the eve of Chelsea’s FA Cup tie against second-tier Wrexham to explain his goalkeeping policy.
“For me, genuinely, I look at the goalkeeper position maybe differently for each game,” he said. “I want there to be competition in every area of the pitch.
“I know traditionally if there’s a change of goalkeeper it’s like ‘He’s now the number one’. It’s not the case, it’s not the case at all.
“So we will try and pick the best team possible for each game.”
Rosenior played down potential fears over rhythm and confidence.
“You need continuity, but you need to win games of football,” he said. “There’s different ways, modern coaching or old school or anything.
“I will pick the team I think is best to win each game. I don’t think I’ve kept the same 11 in any game that we’ve played.
“Now, people can say we need continuity, and if we lose, then we don’t have enough continuity. If we win, then it’s the right decision.”
Rosenior, who took charge at Stamford Bridge in January, said Spain’s Sanchez had reacted well to being dropped.
“I’ve spoken about (winger Alejandro) Garnacho and the way he’s responded to not being in the team,” he said.
“If we’re going to be successful, I’m sure in the short and long term you need a group, you need a squad with the right mentality and Rob so far has been absolutely magnificent in that.”
Rosenior said he was expecting a tough battle in Saturday’s fifth-round tie at Hollywood-backed Wrexham, who have enjoyed three successive promotions and are now in a Championship play-off spot.
“When you see a club grow, develop, improve and come up through the leagues, it’s a great story,” said the Chelsea boss as he paid tribute to Wrexham counterpart Phil Parkinson.
“They’ve done a great job, I think Phil’s done an incredible job…We know it’s going to be a really difficult game. It’s a club that’s ( on the rise and there’s a good energy in them.” (Channels)
Tottenham’s Premier League survival hopes took another blow on Thursday with a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace.
Spurs — one of the richest teams in Europe and a founding member of the Premier League — is just one point above the relegation zone and without a domestic win in 2026.
The latest defeat was the fifth in a row and the third under new coach Igor Tudor, who was tasked with the responsibility of turning the season around.
He watched as Spurs capitulated in front of a home crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — conceding three goals in the first half, having taken the lead and then gone down to 10 men when Micky van de Ven was sent off.
Palace took full advantage by scoring three times in seven minutes before the break.
Ismaila Sarr scored twice — one from the penalty spot — with Jorgen Strand Larsen getting the other for the visitors.
That was after Dominic Solanke had given Spurs lead in the 34th minute. Van de Ven was red-carded four minutes later for bringing down Sarr in the box. (JapanToday)
Aurelien Tchouameni believes Real Madrid’s 2-1 win against Benfica to seal a 3-1 win on aggregate in the Champions League knock-out play-offs was a “victory for everyone who stands against racism”.
Vinicius Junior scored the decisive goal to send Madrid into the last 16 of the competition, just eight days after he was allegedly racially abused by Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni in the first leg of the tie.
“This is a victory for everyone who stands against racism,” midfielder Tchouameni said after the victory.
“Many things, I think there are more important things than the match, than football.
“Vinicius keeps his confidence and keeps focused on what he needs to do.”
Prestianni was suspended for the fixture but travelled with the squad to Madrid. The club denied the allegations and Benfica president Rui Costa claimed they would not “permit a racist player within the squad”.
Real fans held up banners with messages of support for Vinicius – who had scored the only goal in Lisbon – before kick-off at the Santiago Bernabeu.
And as the players took to the field, the messages – “No to racism” and “Respect” – were read out.
Benfica made the perfect start, levelling the tie after 14 minutes through Rafa Silva, but Aurelien Tchouameni put Madrid back in charge with a powerful strike from distance.
But the defining moment belonged to Vinicius, who scampered through on goal to seal the deal for the hosts with 10 minutes remaining. He wheeled away in celebration, soaking in the roar from the home support with a dance by the corner flag – a goal that effectively ended the contest and carried emotional weight and significance.
UEFA had imposed a provisional sanction on Prestianni on Monday, ruling him out of the tie, although the Argentinian winger had travelled to Madrid as part of the Benfica squad.
Benfica had appealed against the decision to ban Prestianni, but UEFA dismissed the Portuguese club’s case on Wednesday afternoon.
“Mr Gianluca Prestianni remains provisionally suspended for the next UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible,” a UEFA statement read.
UEFA appointed an ethics and disciplinary investigator (EDI) following the first leg and made a swift decision.
UEFA said on Monday the imposition of a provisional suspension was “without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies”.
The Brazilian left the field and refused to return, resulting in a stoppage in play that lasted 10 minutes of last Tuesday’s first leg.
It came after Vinicius had given his team the lead with a wonderful individual strike, curling the ball home from a tight angle five minutes into the second half.
After celebrating in front of the home fans, he became suddenly and visibly upset about something said to him and immediately informed the referee, who stopped the match.
Benfica boss Jose Mourinho, who was roundly criticised for his comments about the incident after the game, did not conduct the usual pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Mourinho appeared to intimate after the first leg that the winger had brought any abuse upon himself with his celebration and said that “a stadium where Vinicius plays, something happens, always”.
Anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out responded by accusing Mourinho of “gaslighting”.
Mourinho was expected to watch the second leg from the stands after being sent off in Lisbon for angrily shouting towards referee Francois Letexier.
Real will play either Sporting Lisbon or Manchester City in the last 16 when the draw is made from 11am on Friday. (SkySports)
The president of Iran’s soccer federation says he does not know if the national team can play World Cup matches in the United States following the surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment of his country.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 as Iran traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by the bombardment.
The U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raised the risk of regional instability.
Iran has been drawn in Group G at the World Cup and is scheduled to play in Los Angeles – where it faces New Zealand and Belgium on June 15 and 21, respectively – before it plays Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
The United States is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11-July 19.
Fans from Iran were already banned from entering the U.S. in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration.
FIFA did not immediately reply to an email from The Associated Press over the current situation regarding Iran’s participation in the World Cup. (JapanToday)
Arsenal passed the latest test of its Premier League title credentials with a crucial 2-1 win against Chelsea on Sunday, and Manchester United climbed up to third by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 to boost its pursuit of a return to the Champions League.
Jurrien Timber’s second-half goal saw Arsenal re-establish a five-point lead over second-place Manchester City after Pep Guardiola’s team kept the pressure on at the top by beating Leeds on Saturday.
Victory against Chelsea saw Arsenal overcome another of its major rivals and move a step closer to a first league title since 2004. It leaves the visit to City next month as potentially the last major hurdle for Mikel Arteta’s team, which has no other games against the rest of the current top seven in the standings.
“We have the feeling that we have to win and win and win. You win so many games, but it is not enough to open the gap. That is the level of this league,” Arteta said.
Benjamin Sesko’s seventh goal in eight games sealed victory for United against Palace and moved it above Aston Villa in third on goal difference.
At the other end of the standings, Tottenham’s winless run extended to 10 games after a 2-1 loss at Fulham — leaving it mired in a fight to avoid relegation. Nottingham Forest also failed to pull further away from the drop zone after a 2-1 loss at Brighton.
Arsenal had to respond after City closed the gap to two points a day earlier. And if Arsenal goes on to claim the title, it may well look back on this win as a decisive moment.
Even when down to 10 men, after Pedro Neto was sent off in the second half, Chelsea pushed deep into added time for an equalizer.
David Raya produced a stunning save to push Alejandro Garnacho’s goalbound cross away as the seconds ran down at the Emirates. And the home fans breathed a sigh of relief when Liam Delap’s goal was ruled out for offside in the dying moments.
In the end, Arsenal’s threat from set pieces proved the difference again. William Saliba put the home team in front, converting from a corner after 21 minutes.
And after Piero Hincapie’s own-goal got Chelsea back into the game in first-half added time, Timber headed in from another corner in the 66th.
With 16 goals from corners this season, Arsenal has tied the record for a Premier League season, according to stats provider Opta.
“It feels like a big result,” United captain Bruno Fernandes said after his team beat Palace.
United’s latest win boosted its push for a return to the Champions League and further strengthened Michael Carrick’s credentials to be given the coach’s job on a long-term basis.
He remains unbeaten since being given a contract to the end of the season in January, with a record of six wins in seven games. His cause may also have been helped after overcoming a Palace team coached by Oliver Glasner, who was one of the early favorites to get the job when United fired Ruben Amorim at the start of the year.
Over two spells as United coach, Carrick has picked up 23 points from nine games. Opta said it was the joint highest points total for a manager after his first nine games in the league’s history — equaling Ange Postecoglou’s start at Tottenham.
“This place means a lot to me so to have the sort of positivity and everyone enjoying going to the games and watching it and for me to have an influence on that, I’m not going to lie, it feels good,” Carrick said. (JapanToday)
Lazar Samardzic slotted home a stoppage-time penalty to complete a dramatic 4-1 victory for Atalanta against Borussia Dortmundon Wednesday, sending the Italian side into the Champions League’s last 16 with a comeback 4-3 aggregate triumph.
Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini was sent off after his studs caught the head of Atalanta’s Nikola Krstovic in the penalty area and Samardzic converted the spot kick in the 98th minute to send the Italians through. Atalanta will now face either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the round of 16, with the draw on Friday.
The hosts had to fight back following last week’s 2-0 loss in Germany, and Gianluca Scamacca tapped in at the far post to give them a fifth-minute lead as they got off to a dream start. Dortmund had their share of chances but it was their keeper, Gregor Kobel, who was busiest in the first half, twice denying Nicola Zalewski. He was beaten, however, on the stroke of half-time when Davide Zappacosta’s shot was deflected into the net off Bensebaini to make it 2-0.
The Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi made the save of the match when he tipped Serhou Guirassy’s low drive wide in the 49th minute, to protect their two-goal advantage. Dortmund went even closer in the 53rd with Maximilian Beier’s shot bouncing off the post. Instead it was the hosts who scored again thanks to Mario Pasalic’s header at the far post to go 3-0 up and take control of the tie.
Dortmund, however, hit back with the substitute Karim Adeyemi adding instant pace to their game and curling his 75th-minute shot into the top corner as the visitors pushed to take the contest into extra time.
But Bensebaini then tried to clear a cross in the box with a backheel, catching the head of Krstovic who went down bleeding. The hosts were awarded a penalty following a lengthy VAR review and Samardzic beat Kobel to send his team through with the last kick of the game.
The Atalanta defender Sead Kolasinac said he went through “a whirlwind of emotions” in the final seconds. “When the referee decided for a penalty, I didn’t know who would take it. All our penalty takers had been substituted, but luckily Lazar converted brilliantly,” Kolasinac told DAZN.
Emre Can, the Dortmund captain, said his error-prone side deserved their elimination. “If you make so many individual errors, it’s going to be difficult to progress… we were very unlucky, but to be honest we didn’t deserve to advance.”
Elsewhere Paris Saint-Germain, the holders, edged out 10-man Monaco to reach the last 16, a 2-2 draw giving Luis Enrique’s side a 5-4 aggregate victory.
PSG won 3-2 away in the first leg last week, but Maghnes Akliouche scored to give Monaco the lead on the night and level the tie on aggregate.
Mamadou Coulibaly’s second-half sending-off for the visitors then proved the catalyst for Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to score for PSG and seemingly finish off the tie, although Jordan Teze made it 2-2 late on.
“At the end, when they scored, we felt stressed and it was scary,” said Désiré Doué, who scored twice for PSG in the first leg. “The objective is to dominate the whole match, but you also have to know how to come back from behind. Next time, we’ll try not to concede a goal, that’s important.”
Galatasaray, meanwhile, fended off a rousing fightback by 10-man Juventus as Victor Osimhen struck in extra time to help earn the Turkish side a 7-5 aggregate victory.
Trailing 5-2 from the first leg, Juventus were given hope by Manuel Locatelli’s first-half penalty but they appeared doomed when the defender Lloyd Kelly was sent off on 48 minutes. Remarkably, the hosts forced extra time with goals from Federico Gatti and Weston McKennie but eventually ran out of steam, Osimhem and Baris Yilmaz scoring late to send Galatasaray through to a meeting with either Liverpool or Tottenham. (Guardian)
Benjamin Sesko came off the bench to fire Manchester United up to fourth in the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Everton to extend Michael Carrick’s unbeaten start in charge of the Red Devils.
Sesko is yet to start in Carrick’s six games but has hit top form since Ruben Amorim was sacked in last month.
The Slovenian, who scored just twice in his first 22 appearances after a £74 million ($100 million) move from RB Leipzig, has netted six goals in his last seven games.
Victory lifts United three points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool in the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League, with only the top five set to qualify.
The quality of the United move that led to the winner 19 minutes from time was out of character with an otherwise uninspired 90 minutes.
Everton have now failed to win in seven home games as they struggle to adapt to life at their new 52,000 capacity Hill Dickinson Stadium.
David Moyes’ men missed the chance to move up to seventh as they remain on the fringes of the fight for a place in Europe next season.
Everton won 1-0 when the sides last met at Old Trafford in November despite playing almost the entire match a man down.
United have been transformed since former midfielder Carrick took the reins, but lacked rhythm as both sides played for the first time in 13 days.
Jordan Pickford saved from Amad Diallo inside two minutes with the only notable chance of the first half.
Bryan Mbeumo was preferred again ahead of Sesko in a centre forward role and missed his one opportunity early in the second period when he blasted over from a narrow angle.
But Mbeumo did have a part to play in a brilliant team move to earn the visitors all three points.
Sesko laid the ball off to Matheus Cunha deep inside his own half before sprinting downfield to slot in Mbeumo’s perfectly-weighted pass.
United had to see out a late Everton rally as Senne Lammens tipped over Michael Keane’s piledriver from long range.
But after keeping just two clean sheets all season prior to Amorim’s departure, they have kept three in six under Carrick to close in on a return to the Champions League for the first time in three seasons. (JapanToday)
Eberechi Eze reignited Arsenal’s title ambitions in the Premier League by being the scourge of Tottenham once again.
Three months after scoring a hat trick against Spurs, the England midfielder netted two more goals against Arsenal’s fiercest rival in a 4-1 away win on Sunday. Viktor Gyokeres also scored twice for the leaders.
Eze came close to joining Tottenham in the summer, only for Arsenal — his boyhood club — to swoop in and sign him instead for a reported 60 million pounds ($80 million). Spurs are suffering even more now — his only goals since the start of November have come against them.
Arsenal rebounded after two straight draws that have let second-place Manchester City back in the title conversation.
The Gunners regained their five-point lead but City has a game in hand and still has to host Mikel Arteta’s team in the league in mid-April. They also meet in the English League Cup final on March 22.
It proved to be a tough start to life as Tottenham manager for Igor Tudor, who has made a habit of picking up good results early in his tenures at previous clubs.
Not this time, though. Tottenham did equalize two minutes after conceding the opener to Eze when Randal Kolo Muani dispossessed Declan Rice and drilled home a finish for 1-1 in the 34th.
Gyokeres made it 2-1 with a shot from the edge of the area in the 47th and Eze stretched the lead in the 61st with a rebound after Bukayo Saka’s shot was saved. Gyokeres scored again in stoppage time.
Arsenal has 10 league games remaining in its bid for a first top-flight title since 2004.
Alexis Mac Allister just didn’t give up.
After having an 89th-minute goal disallowed following a VAR check, the Argentina midfielder scored again in the seventh minute of stoppage time — and this time it survived a video review — to earn Liverpool a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest.
The dramatic end at the City Ground centered completely on Mac Allister, who thought he’d scored without knowing anything about it after turning his back on a clearance by Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina.
The ball rebounded off Mac Allister and into the net, but the VAR spotted it had struck his arm and the goal was scrubbed out.
However, he was on hand off virtually the last kick of the game when Virgil van Dijk’s header was spilled by Forest goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. Barely six meters out, Mac Allister could hardly miss as he sidefooted the ball into the net.
There was a VAR check to see if Van Dijk was offside but the goal was given.
Liverpool stayed in sixth place but was tied on points with fourth-place Chelsea and fifth-place Manchester United, whose game in hand is at Everton on Monday.
With doubts swirling around the future of Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner, his team dug out a 1-0 win over last-place Wolverhampton thanks to a last-minute goal.
Evann Guessand prodded home a far-post finish after coming on as a substitute.
Ahead of the game, Glasner, who led Palace to FA Cup glory last season, was non-committal about whether he would be staying at the club until the end of the season. He has already said he’ll be leaving in the summer.
The Austrian coach also urged Palace’s supporter base to “stay humble” and fans made their feelings about those comments known on Sunday, raising a banner that read, “Opportunities missed – board inept. Fans disrespected – Glasner finished.”
Wolves stayed 17 points off safety.
It wasn’t long ago that Sunderland was the only Premier League team with an unbeaten home record.
Now, the Black Cats have lost two straight at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland was defeated 3-1 by Fulham, which had two goals from Mexico striker Raul Jimenez — one of which was from the penalty spot.
Ten days ago, Sunderland lost 1-0 to Liverpool for its first home defeat of the season.
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