The 19th overall meeting between Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola ended in favor of the Catalan maestro, giving him 11 wins, five draws and only three defeats after Manchester City produced a rousing comeback against PSG on Wednesday to take a 2-1 lead back to the Etihad in the Champions League semifinals.
With just four games left to play in the Turkish Süper Lig, front-runner Beşiktaş holds a six-point lead over city rival Galatasaray in second placed and Fenerbahçe in third. Beşiktaş must still take on Fatih Terim and Galatasaray once more before the season concludes, a pivotal clash set for May 9.
It looked like PSG was cruising. The first half went just about as well as Mauricio Pochettino could have hoped, with PSG leading by a goal, looking dangerous whenever it attacked and rarely troubled by Manchester City. One wonders what Poch said to his charges at halftime, because it all fell apart in the second 45, much like the PSG wall that completely failed to defend a Riyad Mahrez free kick.
There was a time when Christian Pulisic’s rumored destination from Borussia Dortmund was Real Madrid. With Gareth Bale fading and Lucas Vázquez not offering as much of a threat, it wasn’t just a fancy of The18 that Pulisic make his way to the Santiago Bernabéu — He Who Must Not Be Named (Florentino Pérez) wanted it.
Early against Real Madrid, Christian Pulisic put the ball on a platter for Timo Werner to score, but his German teammate hit it too close to Thibaut Courtois, whose lanky legs denied Chelsea an early goal. Not long later, Pulisic learned his lesson and opted not to pass, and in doing so put his team in front in the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday in Madrid. The Pulisic goal vs Real Madrid was the opener in a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the UCL semifinals.
Javier "Chicharito" Hernández scored three goals in the opening 60 minutes as the Los Angeles Galaxy earned a 3-2 victory Sunday over the visiting New York Red Bulls to become the only two-win team in MLS two weeks into the season.
It was the second consecutive multi-goal game for Chicharito, who scored just two goals the entire 2020 season for the Galaxy.
Andrew Gutman and Cristian Cásseres Jr. scored goals for the Red Bulls, who are the only Eastern Conference team to lose each of their first two games.
GLASGOW - Rangers were knocked out in the Scottish Cup quarterfinals with a 4-2 defeat on penalties after St Johnstone keeper Zander Clark set up a last-gasp extra-time equalizer and saved two penalties in the shootout to end the Glasgow side's hopes of winning the double.
With the match ending 1-1 after the extra period, James Tavernier missed Rangers' first penalty in the shootout at Ibrox and Kemar Roofe spurned the final one while St Johnstone converted all their kicks to join Hibernian and Dundee United in the last four.
After a six-month spell at the top of LaLiga, Atlético Madrid has ceded control of the division to Barcelona with only five matches remaining (although the two clubs meet on May 8).
On Sunday, Atlético slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Athletic Club at the San Mamés following Iñigo Martínez’s dramatic 86th-minute winner. After an early stretch of 15 wins in 16 games that made Atlético’s title look almost certain, Los Colchoneros have won only five of their last 12 to allow Barça (15 wins in 17) the chance to go top on Thursday against Granada.
El libro de anécdotas del fútbol añadió esta tarde una nueva historia al capítulo de lo surrealista y lo desopilante. Todo gracias a Burgos Bengoetxea, árbitro del Sevilla vs Granada, en la jornada 33 de LaLiga 2021.
LONDON - Manchester City claimed a record-equalling fourth successive League Cup triumph as Aymeric Laporte's late header sealed a deserved 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Spurs had soaked up intense City pressure for most of the game to somehow stay in contention at Wembley Stadium. But City finally made the breakthrough in the 82nd minute from an unlikely source as defender Laporte met Kevin de Bruyne's free kick and headed past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.