LONDON – There will be a Manchester derby in next month’s FA Cup final after Manchester United won a penalty shootout against Brighton to set up a clash against Manchester City.
Victor Lindelof scored the decisive penalty to give United a 7-6 win in the shootout after Solly March had blazed his spot kick over the bar, said Xinhua.
While defeat was cruel on Brighton after a thrilling game, which either side could have won in 90 minutes or during extra time, Manchester United’s progress showed their resilience after Thursday’s Uefa Europa League exit to Sevilla and the loss of Harry Maguire to their long list of injured defenders.
Riyad Mahrez scored a hat trick on Saturday as Manchester City showcased their quality with a 3-0 win over Sheffield United in the first semi-final.
The Algerian broke Sheffield’s dogged defence with a 43rd-minute penalty and secured the win with excellent goals in the 61st and 66th minutes.
In the Premier League, Newcastle United took a massive step yesterday towards assuring a top-four finish, while mortally wounding Tottenham’s aspirations of a rapid return to the Uefa Champions League, when they subjected Spurs to a first-half blitz of goals in a 6-1 thrashing.
Two goals from Jacob Murphy and one from Joelinton put Newcastle 3-0 up after just nine minutes, and two more from Alexander Isak after 19 and 21 minutes made it 5-0.
Harry Kane pulled a goal back after the break, but Callum Wilson netted Newcastle’s sixth of the afternoon in the 67th minute to round off an incredible win.
League leaders Arsenal dropped two more points with a 3-3 draw at home to bottom side Southampton, and would have lost but for goals from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka in the last two minutes of the game.
The result leaves Arsenal five points ahead of Manchester City before their clash in Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
Brentford and Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Douglas Luiz’s 87th-minute goal, saving a point for Villa after Ivan Toney had put Brentford ahead in the 65th minute.
That allowed Liverpool to move a point behind Aston Villa. Two goals from Diogo Jota and one from Mohamed Salah allowed them to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 after the visitors had twice levelled through Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White.
West Ham took a big step towards safety with a 4-0 win away to Bournemouth with first-half goals from Michail Antonio, Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice, before Pablo Fornals added a late fourth. Bournemouth’s scant consolation is they are still five points above the relegation zone.
Dean Smith’s home debut as Leicester City coach ended in a huge 2-1 win against Wolverhampton, which ended a four-game losing streak and lifted them out of the bottom three. Matheus Cunha put Wolves ahead, but Kelechi Iheanacho levelled and Timothy Castagne netted a second-half winner.
Leicester’s win dumps Everton in the bottom three, despite the latter’s 0-0 draw away to Crystal Palace.
Leeds United are also in desperate trouble after Harry Wilson and Andreas Pereira condemned them to a 2-1 defeat at Fulham. – Bernama, April 24, 2023
