As the relentless Manchester City beat Everton in an earlier match and took a four-point lead, Arsenal knew that only a win would be enough to keep their chances of winning.
But they showed weak play against a tricky south coast club, for which Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan scored after the break, which helped Roberto De Zerbi’s team rise to sixth place.
Former Arsenal striker Leandro Trossard hit the crossbar in the first half, but Arsenal looked dejected after Enciso struck in the 51st minute and crushed when Undav crossed for Aaron Ramsdale in the 86th minute.
Estupinan completed Arsenal’s misfortune in the compensatory time.
A fifth league loss this season left Arsenal with 81 points in their two remaining games against City’s 85 points in their three remaining games, and a win for Pep Guardiola’s team next weekend against Chelsea would bring City their fifth title in six seasons.
Brighton has 58 points with four games remaining.
ManCity beat Everton
Ilkay Gundogan scored two superb goals and another goal by Erling Haaland, inspiring Manchester City to a 3-0 victory over Everton on Sunday. Manchester City moved four points ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League standings with their 11th straight win.
With three matches remaining, Pep Guardiola’s team, chasing the triumphators, has 85 points and has an advantage over Arsenal, who will play Brighton & Hove Albion later. Everton remains in a precarious position, one point above the relegation zone in 17th place with 32 points and two games remaining.
Guardiola crossed the Goodison Park pitch to thunderous applause from City fans and held up two fingers to indicate the number of victories they need to guarantee themselves the title.
Sam Kerr’s 68th-minute strike proved decisive, and Chelsea won the trophy for the third straight year, keeping their chances of a league and cup double alive.
The full final broke the previous attendance record for a women’s home club match when Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona in front of 60,739 spectators in 2019.
Chelsea is second in the Women’s Super League, one point behind leader United but with a game to spare. And while a win secured the FA Cup, it could also give Emma Hayes’ team a psychological edge in the closing stages of the title race.
147251This is one of the pieces of the puzzle. I want more, it’s not enough, Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert said. Now we want to win the league. We can only control things that are manageable.
Things might have been different if Leah Galton’s shot in the first minute had not been counted for offside when United got off to a frisky start. But United couldn’t take advantage and the score was 0-0 at halftime before Kerr found the winner after the break.
We switch off at one point, there’s space for Sam (Kerr) that we didn’t give her in the whole game, United manager Mark Skinner said. I’m proud of the girls today, they’re hungry. Their (Chelsea’s) position is what we want to take. We’re a young, hungry team. I need to find the pieces to make sure we’re constantly challenged.
Chelsea have done almost nothing in this game, but they are winners for a reason, they find that little gap.
In addition to winning three consecutive FA Cups, Chelsea has also won the last two consecutive league titles.
Hayes said her team’s know-how in winning trophies is the difference.
We had to kick each other at halftime, she said. We know how to stay in the game, and even though we weren’t at our best, we had to figure out how to change that. We had to have better possession of the ball and then find quality in the final third.
Leading Barça scored 82 points and will have a chance to win their 27th La Liga crown with four games to spare when they meet Espanyol on Sunday night. Asensio sealed Real Madrid’s win in the 70th minute with a shot from the edge of the penalty area that bounced off a defender, outwitted the goalkeeper and into the net.
A chilly night at the Santiago Bernabeu felt like the end of the season. Manager Carlo Ancelotti made eight changes to the starting lineup that drew 1-1 with Manchester City in the first leg in Madrid.
The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Eden Hazard, for the first time since Real Madrid’s 4-1 home win over Mallorca in September.
Hazard’s fourth start of the season will not be remembered for long, as he looked rusty and was replaced in the 61st minute without a shot on goal.
With Barcelona on the brink of the title and only four days away from a crucial game against City, a sloppy Real still dominated, owning 77 percent of the ball, but only one shot on goal before Asensio scored.147252
Getafe could have scored a couple of times in the second half, but Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made two brilliant saves from Munir El Haddadi and Juan Iglesias’ shots.
We needed a win, three points, to come to Manchester with confidence, Real Madrid defender Nacho told DAZN.
We know that this match will have nothing to do with Wednesday’s match. But winning is always positive, and winning strengthens us. Wednesday’s game will be like the final.
After 11 years in England’s top division, Southampton heads to the Championship after a 2-0 loss to Fulham and two games in reserve.
There are two more relegation spots left, and two of the four teams in greatest danger, Leeds and Nottingham Forest, are showing fighting spirit to avoid relegation.
Leeds drew with third-place Newcastle (2-2) and are just one point away from being saved, while Forest drew with Chelsea (2-2) and remain three points above the top three.
Newcastle is now only ahead on goal difference of Man United, who beat Wolverhampton 2-0 and recovered from away defeats to Brighton and West Ham, which allowed Liverpool to return to the race for the top four.
Newcastle and Man United have 66 points each, four more than fifth-placed Liverpool, and all three teams have three games remaining. Liverpool will visit last-place Leicester on Monday.
Tottenham dropped out of the fight for Champions League qualification after a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, who are tied on points with their opponent. They will fight for places in two minor European competitions, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League, with Brighton, who are two points further away, in eighth place, but have three games to spare.
In the other match, Crystal Palace beat Bournemouth 2-0.
Bayern is four points behind Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund can restore the one-point gap by beating Borussia Mönchengladbach at home, but it must remain hopeful that Bayern will lose points in its last two matches.
Bayern will play Leipzig and Cologne, while Dortmund will play Augsburg and Mainz in the last matches of the season.
Bayern missed a couple of good chances before Müller finally made the breakthrough in the 21st minute. Muller, who is the team captain while Manuel Neuer is working on his comeback after a fracturehis leg, for the first time since April 22.
I was happy to get the opener today. It was a great feeling. The stadium exploded – and we kept going, Mueller said.
Joshua Kimmich made the score 2-0 10 minutes after a VAR-assisted penalty after Cedric Brunner hit Jamal Musiala in the face with his hand. The Schalke defender was penalized and Musiala was not seriously injured.
In the second half, Serge Gnabry scored two more goals, Mathis Thiel added another, and Noussair Mazraoui completed the scoring in the compensatory time.
This continued Bayern’s long tradition of smashing Schalke. Since winning in December 2010, Schalke had not beaten Bayern in 23 league games, with Bayern scoring 71 goals in that time.
UNION DREAMING
Union Berlin took its big step toward Champions League qualification with a 4-2 win at home against major rival Freiburg. The win gave Union a three-point lead over fifth-place Freiburg. The top four will qualify for Europe’s main tournament.
Sheraldo Becker put Kevin Behrens ahead in the fifth minute, and in the 36th he scored the second goal himself, skipping past a pair of defenders and pairing with Robin Knohe before firing between the legs of Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flecken.
Becker celebrated wearing a Spiderman mask, for which he was suspended, and a minute later he answered with another goal, again scored by Knohe.
But Vincenzo Grifo served a corner kick, and Manuel Gulde kicked the ball into the Freiburg goal in the 56th minute, and then added a penalty kick in the 70th minute to ensure a thrilling finale.
But the outstanding Becker wasn’t done yet, bursting forward after Jordan Pefok won the ball in midfield and setting up Aissa Laiduni, who in a counterattack in the 80th minute brought matters to a victory. It was Laiduni’s first goal for Union since his winter move from Ferencvaros. Few can be as important.
BOCHUM BREATH
Bochum got out of the relegation zone by beating Augsburg 3-2. Bochum climbed one point above Schalke with two games left to play.
In addition, Eintracht Frankfurt beat Mainz 3-0 and Wolfsburg won 2-1 against Hoffenheim, which is one point above Bochum.
Ten Hag’s team is only one point ahead of fifth-place Liverpool, who are trying to cling to fourth place.
United are firmly in controlThe first time in the season the fight to qualify for the Champions League was over, until the defeats to Brighton and West Ham gave Liverpool hope back.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have won six straight and made United look around nervously.
But Old Trafford, which hosts Wolves on Saturday, has the advantage over Liverpool, who travel to Leicester on Monday.
And Ten Hague is sure they have no reason to fear a challenge from Merseyside.
Of course we can ignore it. Why not? Because it doesn’t matter, Ten Hague said Friday.
We have everything in our hands, and as long as it’s in our hands, we’re in control. As long as it is, we don’t depend on them, we depend on ourselves.
What matters is the opponent we face tomorrow, Wolves. We have to take them seriously. They’ve done a great job. We’re going to focus on that.
United will be hoping that by the time Liverpool play Leicester, they can get a four point lead.
But Ten Hague says his team stays calm.
We’re confident in what we’re doing, we’ve had a lot of success, we’ve won a lot of games, he said.
The way we work, the way we play, the structures are really clear, but we have to follow them and show 100 percent discipline on the rules and principles. When we do that, we succeed.
There is a strong bond and a very good atmosphere at Old Trafford. It’s difficult for opponents to come there and confront us.
England striker Marcus Rashford is a big question for the match against Wolves, while French central defender Rafael Varane returns after a month’s break.
Rashford, United’s top scorer this season with 29 goals, is having problems with his leg.
His injury came at a time when United have scored only three goals in their last six games in all competitions, while Wout Weghorst, Jaydon Sancho, Anthony Marcial and Antoni have gone through barren periods.
Marcus is a big question mark for tomorrow, but we’re glad to have Rafa back, said Ten Hague. He has the experience, he knows how to win, and he will lead us to victory, he will guide us.
