LARNE from County Antrim have won their third Irish Premiership title in four years, thrashing Glentoran 8-0 at Inver Park. Two Larne players, Matthew Lusty and Andy Ryan, scored hat-tricks, Lusty’s netted in a 27-minute spell. Larne led the league table by 11 points at one stage but saw their advantage reduced to just three. They were denied a potential double by second-placed Coleraine, who beat them in the Irish Cup semi-final 2-1. Coleraine, who clinched the runners-up spot with a 6-2 win against Glentoran with Will Patching a hat-trick. Glentoran’s Patrick Hoban was the league’s leading scorer with 26 goals – earlier in the season, he grabbed six in an away game at Carrick Rangers. Larne’s momentum continued despite a change of ownership. In 2018, they were taken over by Kenny Bruce, the co-founder of PurpleBricks, but he has sold his 50% stake in the club to Redball Global FC. Crowds at Inver Park average around 1,500 which was below the league figure of 1,638 for 2025-26.
Premier League: Arsenal bounce back with Eze
AFTER a traumatic couple of weeks in which they lost the Premier leadership to Manchester City, Arsenal beat Newcastle United 1-0 to go back to the top of the table. Eberechi Eze’s fine goal eased the tension at the Emirates and put them three points clear of City. Manchester United and Liverpool both won, beating Brentford and Crystal Palace respectively, but Aston Villa were beaten 1-0 by Fulham. The struggle against relegation continues for Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, but the situation remained unchanged. West Ham won 2-1 at home to Everton with a goal in added time, while Spurs snatched their first win of 2026 at relegated Wolves. Nottingham Forest pulled away from danger with a 5-0 win at Sunderland with four goals in the first half. This took Forest to 39 points, a total that no side has been relegated with.
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Serie A: Inter – three points from the title
THE Scudetto could be heading to Milan at the weekend if Inter win and Napoli fail to beat Como. Inter went into a two-goal lead away to Torino with Dimarco-created goals from Marcus Thuram and Yann Bisseck, and looked on their way to a healthy win, but the home team netted through Giovanni Simeone and a penalty from captain Nikola Vlašíc. Napoli trounced basement club Cremonese 4-0 with a glittering display from Scott McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne, who both got onto the scoresheet. Napoli’s other goals came from Rasmus Højlund and Alisson Santos. McTominay had the chance to add to his tally, but his tame penalty was easily saved. In the big game of the weekend, AC Milan and Juventus drew 0-0. Two clubs, Verona and Pisa, are as good as down.
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La Liga: Real Madrid making it easy for Barca
FOUR points should be enough for Barcelona to win the La Liga title after they extended their lead at the top of the table to 11 points. Barca won 2-0 at Getafe with goals from Fermín Torres and Marcus Rashford. Real Madrid dropped more points, drawing 1-1 at Real Betis, who equalised in added time through Héctor Bellerín. Vinícius Júnior gave Real Madrid a first half lead. Real Madrid are looking ahead to next season and there are media stories suggesting they are interested in hiring José Mourinho for a second spell at the club. Villareal are doing their best to secure third place, beating Celta Vigo 2-1 with goals from Gerard Moreno and Nicolas Pépé. Atlético Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao by the odd goal in five, with two goals coming from Alexander Sørloth after Antoine Griezmann had equalised an early effort from the visitors.
Bundesliga: Bayern’s stunning comeback
VINCENT Kompany made nine changes from Bayern Munich’s midweek DFB Pokal match against mid-table Mainz and for a while it looked like the plan had backfired. Mainz went into a three-goal lead in the first half but at half-time, Kompany brought on Harry Kane and Michael Olise and later added Jamal Musiala to the side. Nicolas Jackson pulled a goal back on 53 and 20 minutes later, Olise also found the back of the net. Musiala levelled with 10 minutes remaining and Kane – who else?- scored the winner on 83. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund strengthened their bid for second place with a 4-0 success against Freiburg and RB Leipzig beat Union 3-1. At the bottom end, Heidenheim, who are as good as down, put pressure on fellow strugglers St. Pauli, beating them 2-0.
Ligue 1: PSG’s advantage grows
ALTHOUGH Lens demonstrated their character once more with three goals in the last half hour at Brest, their first half performance, that saw them trail 3-0, damaged their title hopes. Florian Thauvin pulled a goal back after 60 minutes and Abdallah Sima added another on 64, before substitute Allan Saint-Maximin saved the day in added time. Paris Saint-Germain have a six-point lead at the top thanks to a 3-0 win at Angers. Goals from Lee Kang-In, Senny Mayulu and Lucas Beraldo made it a comfortable 90 minutes despite a red card for Goncalo Ramos.
Attendances
1: 81,365 – Borussia Dortmund v Freiburg
2: 75,681 – AC Milan v Juventus
3: 73,773 – Manchester United v Brentford
4: 62,454 – West Ham United v Everton
5: 60,314 – Liverpool v Crystal Palace
6: 60,204 – Arsenal v Newcastle United.
And elsewhere …
Scotland: Hearts came back from a goal down to win 2-1 against nine-man Hibernian in the Edinburgh derby.
Greece: OFI won the Greek Cup, beating PAOK 3-2 after extra time.
Portugal: Porto are seven points clear at the top of the table with still unbeaten Benfica in second place.