Football

Chelsea survived a spectacular late overhead kick from Mehdi Taremi to overcome Porto and confirm a place in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in seven years. Thomas Tuchel's side went into this 'home' last-eight second leg - with both games being played in Seville during the current Covid-19 pandemic - protecting a two-goal lead they only briefly threatened to surrender in the dying seconds following Taremi's brilliant finish. Chelsea, who will now face either Liverpool or Real Madrid in the

Atletico Madrid went back to the top of La Liga, by only one point, after labouring to a draw against Real Betis. Defending champions Real Madrid had gone top on Saturday after beating third-placed Barcelona 2-1. Yannick Carrasco put Atletico ahead when he latched onto a loose ball and tapped home but Cristian Tello levelled with a cushioned finish. Veteran keeper Claudio Bravo made two fantastic saves in injury time to deny Angel Correa a winner for Atletico. Diego Simeone's Atletico - who

Real Madrid climbed to the top of La Liga on Saturday after Karim Benzema's flicked finish helped them claim a thrilling 2-1 victory over Barcelona in a wild Clasico at Valdebebas. Benzema's superb piece of skill and a deflected Toni Kroos free-kick put Madrid in charge and while Oscar Mingueza pulled one back for Barca, they fell to defeat in what could be Lionel Messi's final appearance in this fixture. Victory means Real Madrid go level on points with Atletico, with the top

Manchester City suffered just a fourth Premier League defeat of the season as 10-man Leeds United shocked the runaway leaders thanks to Stuart Dallas' double in a 2-1 win at the Etihad on Saturday. Dallas opened the scoring three minutes before half-time, but hope of a famous win for Marcelo Bielsa's men seemed to have disappeared when captain Liam Cooper was shown a straight red card in first-half stoppage time. The visitors withstood a City bombardment until Ferran Torres equalised 14 minutes from time. But Leeds still

Roma Khanna on Saturday stepped down as the tournament director of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and AFC Women's Asian Cup, to be held in India in 2022, citing personal reasons. Khanna had spearheaded the bid for the U-17 World Cup back in 2019, and was later appointed as the tournament director for the local organising committee. She also successfully led the bid for AFC Women's Asian Cup, which India is set to host next year in January. "I would like to thank AIFF

Former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has received some "flattering" offers to return to management since his dismissal by the London side in January, but the 42-year-old said he will wait until the right opportunity comes along. Former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has received some "flattering" offers to return to management since his dismissal by the London side in January, but the 42-year-old said he will wait until the right opportunity comes along. Chelsea dismissed club great Lampard after only 18 months in charge,

MADRID - Real Madrid found an unlikely ally in Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, who hit out at Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp after he labelled Madrid’s Alfredo di Stefano stadium a training pitch. Klopp was unimpressed at having to play Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Di Stefano, where his side lost 3-1. Madrid have played at the Di Stefano, which is situated in their training base, since last June with renovations taking place at their usual Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Barca travel

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Friday said he was overwhelmed after receiving effusive praise from his Leeds United counterpart Marcelo Bielsa ahead of their Premier League clash on Saturday. Argentine Bielsa, who steered Leeds back to the top flight after a 16-year absence this season, described Guardiola as a magical man and said he had given up trying to emulate the Spanish coach’s style of play. Guardiola, who previously hailed Bielsa as one of the most important influences on his trophy-laden managerial

Xavi Hernandez added another feather to his cap as manager when his champion side Al-Sadd finished the Qatar Stars League campaign without losing a single game after winning the final match of the season on Friday.Having already sealed the title when second-placed Al-Duhail were mathematically out of the title race last month, Al-Sadd beat Qatar Sports Club 3-0 to finish with 19 victories and three draws in their 22 games to win the title by 13 points.The former Barcelona and Spain midfielder previously

MADRID - Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Granada in the Europa League quarter-final first leg to put their side in the driving seat. In a game where clear-cut chances were sparse, the highlight of a dull opening quarter came when a streaker somehow managed to find his way onto the pitch, despite crowds not being allowed to attend the match due to COVID-19 protocols. Rashford’s goal just past the half hour was the game’s standout

LONDON: Slavia Prague boosted their hopes of a first European semi-final since 1996 as Tomas Holes headed a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Arsenal in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday. It looked as though substitute Nicolas Pepe's 86th-minute effort had given the hosts a narrow advantage to take to the Czech Republic for next week's second leg. But defender Holes forced a header past Bernd Leno from a corner in the 93rd minute to deflate Arsenal

MUNICH - Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe scored twice to steer the visitors to a 3-2 victory over holders Bayern Munich in a topsy-turvy Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday. On a snowy evening in the Bavarian capital, Mbappe fired in his eighth goal of the competition in the 68th minute after Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 37th and Thomas Mueller on the hour had cancelled out a two-goal PSG lead. It was Bayern’s first Champions League loss in more than two

SEVILLE, Spain - Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel praised his side for overcoming the shock of last week’s 5-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion as they beat Porto 2-0 in Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg. Chelsea conceded more than double the amount of goals against struggling West Brom as in their previous 14 games under Tuchel but looked like their usual selves against Porto, winning thanks to goals from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell. “We had a lot of excellent results together, then

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel praised midfielder Mason Mount’s attitude after the England international scored his first Champions League goal in Wednesday’s 2-0 win against Porto in Seville. Mount and Ben Chilwell scored to put Chelsea in the driving seat ahead of the “home” leg of the quarter-final on April 13, which will also be played in Seville due to COVID-19 travel restrictions between Portugal and England. Since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge in January, Mount has scored five goals in all

Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara said he has been subjected to online racial abuse every day since his confrontation with Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela in the Europa League last month. Kamara complained of being racially abused by Kudela in their last-16 match, with the incident sparking a furious response from his Rangers team mates and saw players clash on the pitch and in the tunnel afterwards. Kudela has denied the allegation and Slavia have stood by him, lodging an official complaint with Scottish police,

FIFA has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) due to third-party interference and also the Chadian Football Association (FTFA) with immediate effect due to government interference, soccer’s global governing body said on Wednesday. A group of football officials led by Ashfaq Hussain, which was elected by the Supreme Court in 2018 to run the PFF but was not recognised by FIFA, took over the headquarters last month and seized control from the FIFA Normalisation Committee headed by Haroon Malik, local media reported. FIFA

SINGAPORE: Starting this weekend, up to 250 fans will be allowed into stadiums to watch Singapore Premier League games, said the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on Wednesday (Apr 7). “Following discussions with the relevant regulatory agencies, a maximum of 250 fans will be admitted inside match venues from 10 April,” said FAS. The move will begin with game week six of the league, which will be held this Saturday and Sunday. To gain entry at any match venue, fans will have to

Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said his team are ready to play their Serie A match against Napoli on Wednesday (Apr 6) but added that he would respect any COVID-19 postponement forced on them by the local health authority in Turin. The Turin health authority said the match was not at risk despite recent COVID-19 cases at Juventus, with three players testing positive after returning from international duty. Leonardo Bonucci, Merih Demiral and Federico Bernardeschi tested positive this week and will miss the rescheduled

NORWICH, England: Norwich City moved within striking distance of promotion back to the Premier League after one season when they thrashed woeful Huddersfield Town 7-0 helped by a Teemu Pukki hat-trick to move eight points clear at the top of the Championship on Tuesday. The Canaries are now within five points of guaranteeing an immediate return to the top flight after Finland striker Pukki's superb display was supported by goals from Emiliano Buendia, Todd Cantwell, Kieran Dowell and substitute Jordan Hugill. Norwich have

Manchester City posted net losses of 126 million pounds ($175 million) for the 2019-20 season after their finances took a huge hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Premier League club said on Tuesday. Revenue dropped 11% to 478.4 million pounds during the 2019-20 campaign, which was halted in March and resumed behind closed doors three months later. The losses were a result of a decline in matchday and broadcasting revenues, while the late finish to last season meant revenue from almost a quarter