AS expected, PSV Eindhoven won their third consecutive Eredivisie title with five games to spare. PSV beat FC Utrecht 4-3 but had to wait 24 hours to be crowned as champions – Feyenoord, who had to win at Volendam to keep their very slim hopes alive, were held 0-0, meaning they could not catch the leaders. PSV have 71 points from 29 games and are 17 ahead of their rivals from Rotterdam. Peter Bosz’s relatively young side – only Ivan Perišíc is over 30 – have been top all season and have lost four games and have scored 82 goals in 29 games. While Feyenoord are distant runners-up, Ajax are in fifth having drawn as many games as they have won (12 apiece). The regular PSV side this season cost the club around € 60 million in the transfer market.
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FA Cup: Arsenal double hopes disappear
THERE was no fairy-tale at Stamford Bridge as Port Vale, conquerors of Sunderland in round five, were thrashed 7-0 by a merciless Chelsea side. Manchester City were also taking no prisoners at the Etihad as they tore Liverpool apart by 4-0. Erling Haaland clearly enjoyed his afternoon, scoring a hat-trick. The visiting fans streamed out of the stadium long before the end of the tie. West Ham’s fans were also on their way to the Westfield shopping centre as they trailed 2-0 to Leeds, but two exceptionally late goals brought the game level and sent it into extra time and then penalties. West Ham’s young keeper, Finlay Herrick, saved the first spot-kick, but Leeds won to reach their first FA Cup semi-final since 1987. The one shock the round was at Southampton, where the Saints beat Premier League leaders Arsenal 2-1 with the winning goal coming from Shea Charles with five minutes remaining. The semi-finals have paired Chelsea with Leeds United and Manchester City with Southampton.
Scotland: Rangers the biggest challengers for Hearts
THE Scottish title race has become a three-way affair but while it was looking like a Hearts-Celtic battle earlier in the season, Rangers now look more likely champions than their Glasgow rivals. Unbeaten in 15 games, they won 4-2 against Dundee United at Ibrox with an 85th minute goal from Bojan Biovski clinching the points. Hearts were knocked off the top, albeit temporarily, but 24 hours later, they were held 1-1 by Livingston and went back in front. Celtic, who are three points behind Hearts in third, won 2-1 at Dundee, thanks to a late winner from Kelechi Iheanacho. The final round of fixtures, on May 16, includes Celtic versus Hearts.
Hat-tricks-plus
Erling Haaland: Manchester City (39, 45, 57) 18 minutes versus Liverpool.
Youssoufa Moukoko: FC Copenhagen (6, 25, 51) 45 minutes versus Silkeborg (Pictured)
Kingstone Mutandwa: Ried (62, 69, 93) 31 minutes versus Altach.
Paulos Abraham: Hammarby (42, 44, 48) Six minutes versus Mjällby.
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Serie A: Inter hit five to edge closer
AC MILAN’s 1-0 defeat at Napoli has more or less killed off their title hopes. The game was settled by a 79thminute goal from Matteo Politano. Max Allegri, who rested key players like Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao, has given up on the Scudetto and confirmed Milan’s focus is now on Champions League qualification. Inter won 5-2 against Roma to go nine points clear at the top with returning striker Lautaro Martinez scoring twice. The Argentinian striker has been sidelined by injury for two months. Como are another club with Champions League aspirations and remain in fourth position after drawing 0-0 at Udinese.
Bundesliga: Bayern hit the ton
BAYERN Munich demonstrated they have exciting young talent coming through as they came back from a two-goal deficit at Freiburg thanks to Tom Bischof (20) and Lennart Karl (18). The home side were 2-0 ahead until nine minutes from the end when Bischof netted the first of his brace and then, two minutes into added time, he levelled the scores. In the 99th minute, Karl finished off an Alphonso Davies cross to the far post to give Bayern the points. The three goals took Bayern to 100 in the Bundesliga. Bayern are nine points clear at the top of the table with six games remaining. Borussia Dortmund were 2-0 winners in Stuttgart with two goals in added time from Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt. Bayer Leverkusen were 3-2 down at home to struggling Wolfsburg but scored four second half goals to win 6-3. Frankfurt let a two-goal lead slip at home to Köln and had to be satisfied with a 2-2 draw.
Ligue 1: Lens struggling to keep pace
PSG went four points clear at the top of Ligue 1 after beating Toulouse 3-1, leaving coach Luis Enrique beaming that his side had returned from the international break focused and full of energy. Ousmane Dembélé (2) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored the goals for the league leaders. Lens, meanwhile, lost the Derby du Nord at Lille by 3-0. The game was paused briefly after discriminatory chanting from the home fans. Lille, who are in third place, scored through Hákon Haraldsson, Felix Correia and Matias Fernandez-Pardo. PSG are now firm favourites, but Lens host them on May 13.
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Austria: Advantage Sturm
STURM Graz won 2-0 in Vienna against Rapid, but the game was marred by an incident that saw Sturm’s Filip Rozga being struck by objects thrown at him by the Rapid fans. Sturm’s scorers were Albert Vallçi and Seedy Jatta, giving them a win that puts them four points clear of RB Salzburg, Rapid and LASK. Salzburg trailed at half-time at Hartberg but scored two goals in two minutes early in the second period through Karim Konaté and Sōta Kitano. LASK trounced Austria Wien 4-1 with all the goals coming in the first half.
Attendances
1: Inter Milan v Roma – 75,267
2: Atlético v Barcelona – 67,710
3: West Ham v Leeds United – 62,260
4: Stuttgart v Dortmund – 60,000.
La Liga: Barca pulling away – Real losing it
THE La Liga title seems to be heading towards Barcelona who now have a seven-point margin over Real Madrid. Real were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by relegation-threatened Mallorca despite having Kylian Mbappé back in the side. The home side went ahead late in the first half and Real thought they had saved the day when they levelled with two minutes of normal time remaining through Eder Militao. Mallorca regained the lead in the 91st minute, Muriqi netting his 19th of the season. Barca travelled to Atlético Madrid later in the day and came back from a goal down to win 2-1, with Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski scoring. The two teams will meet twice in the Champions League quarter-finals.