Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal: Marouane Fellaini scores injury-time winner to secure top-four finish

Marouane Fellaini’s injury-time header gave Manchester United a 2-1 win in Arsene Wenger’s last game at Old Trafford with Arsenal.

Substitute Fellaini popped up in the 91st minute with a well-directed header from Ashley Young’s left-wing cross to give Jose Mourinho the points over rival Wenger, who hasn’t won a league game at Old Trafford since 2006.

Paul Pogba had given United the lead (16) from close range, but former United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan levelled after the break (51) with a neatly-placed low effort from the edge of the box.

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Andres Iniesta: Barcelona legend ‘more than just a player’ to his admirers

Six minutes into the second half of Barcelona’s Copa del Rey final victory over Sevilla last Saturday, Andres Iniesta received possession in the centre of the field, 30 yards from goal.

He flicked a square ball to Lionel Messi, continued his run into the box, received a perfect return pass, danced around Sevilla goalkeeper David Soria and slotted the ball into the net from a narrow angle.

It was a brilliant goal, and a deeply symbolic moment for a man who has now, as expected, announced he is leaving. Symbolic because it was a moment of quintessential Iniesta: the shuffle, the vision, the execution. Symbolic because it involved a flash of instinctive understanding with Messi. Symbolic because it was probably his last piece of significant action in Spanish football.

Half an hour later, with the game dying out, Barca boss Ernesto Valverde substituted Iniesta so he could receive a standing ovation from the 67,500 crowd at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.

Fighting back tears, the 33-year-old applauded in response to the fans who rose as one – even the Sevilla supporters whose hearts he had helped to break – to salute a universally loved legend.

The word legend absolutely applies to Iniesta, who will head away from the Nou Camp after winning 32 trophies and making nearly 700 appearances, having first joined the club more than two decades ago at the age of 12.

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Ken Bates adamant the FA must not sell Wembley Stadium

Former chairman of Wembley National Stadium Limited Ken Bates tells Johnny Phillips why the FA should not consider selling Wembley.

One of the key figures involved in the building of Wembley Stadium has launched a blistering attack on the Football Association, in the wake of a proposed sale of the stadium to billionaire Shahid Khan.

Ken Bates was chairman of Wembley National Stadium Limited between 1997 and 2001 and oversaw the initial stages of the project to build the country’s national stadium.

“I’m saying it must not be sold. The FA are just the custodians of the national game for the people of this country,” says Bates.

“They have no moral authority to sell it as it doesn’t belong to them. The directors of the FA are just passing through, they are the trustees. How dare they even consider selling it. The FA never had a proper home until we got Wembley.”

Khan – who has made an offer believed to be in the region of £800m – says he hopes to complete the purchase of Wembley in the next eight to 12 weeks. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham owner said that England games would remain at the venue and that the name would be retained, but Bates believes that once the stadium is sold, there will be no guarantees.

“Talk is cheap, we’ve heard that sort of thing before haven’t we?” Bates adds. “I have not heard an upside to this yet. It’s ridiculous. If we went and bought Madison Square Garden in New York and said ‘oh, we’re happy for the Americans to have their teams playing there when they want’, do me a favour – can you imagine that? I would suggest Mr Khan concentrates on getting Fulham back into the Premier League.”

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Liverpool 5-2 Roma: Mo Salah scores twice in Champions League semi-final first leg

Mo Salah struck twice against his former club as Liverpool took command of their Champions League semi-final against Roma, despite late lapses in a 5-2 first-leg win on another memorable Anfield night.

The PFA’s Player of the Year hit a stylish first-half double – taking his goal tally in a stunning season to 43 – before Sadio Mane (56) and Roberto Firmino (61, 69) scored to put a first Champions League final since 2007 firmly in sight.

Liverpool had been imperious in Jurgen Klopp’s 150th game in charge but Edin Dzeko pounced with nine minutes remaining and Diego Perotti converted an 85th-minute penalty to shift the mood and give Roma unlikely hope.

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Fifa set to meet over $25bn offer to launch two tournaments

Fifa is planning to hold a special meeting next month at which two lucrative tournaments could be given the go-ahead.

Football’s world governing body is said to have held “promising” consultations in recent weeks with regional confederations, individual football associations and leading clubs over the creation of a revamped Club World Cup and a new ‘Nations League’.

The tournaments would generate $25bn (£17.9bn) in revenue.

A source close to the organisation told BBC Sport that if the governing body believes there is an appetite for the competitions, it will invite its ruling council members to an extraordinary session which will likely be held at its headquarters in Zurich and is tentatively scheduled for mid-May.

Europe’s elite clubs have recently called for fewer matches, mandatory rest periods for players, and the alignment of confederation tournaments but Fifa officials are confident their proposals meet those demands and have held “positive” talks with top sides in recent days.

“Not everyone will agree with this but we want to give an opportunity to discuss the offer that has been made,” said the source.

“The discussions so far have been promising. This is not about selling football. We have serious investors and the secure finances would be shared with everyone involved in the game.”

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FA Cup and Premier League: talking points from the weekend’s action

Harry Kane is out of sorts, Joe Hart soars before being floored, and Stoke must choose between youth and experience up front

Guardian sport

Mon 23 Apr 2018 08.12 BST Last modified on Mon 23 Apr 2018 08.13 BST

1) Southampton look for positives
While Southampton will take something from getting this far in the world’s most celebrated domestic cup competition there are other, more pressing priorities, such as making a late dash for safety in the Premier League. Can they take any hope from their performance? Not from the first half. Olivier Giroud’s goal at the beginning of the second period forced Mark Hughes to change things, however, and it was to his team’s benefit. A 3-5-2 became a 3-4-3 and suddenly Charlie Austin was getting service. Southampton will feel they could and should have had an equaliser before Chelsea settled the game, with Austin the likely outlet. The substitutes Dusan Tadic and Nathan Redmond, meanwhile, were assertive and threatening. Southampton need that level of performance again, from the first whistle, against Bournemouth next weekend. Paul MacInnes

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Arsène Wenger jumped because he feared push from Arsenal board

Arsène Wenger took the seismic decision to walk away from Arsenal on his own terms because he was mindful of the very real threat that he would be sacked at the end of the season.

The club’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, and other directors had grown increasingly concerned by the team’s dismal Premier League performance and the huge number of fans who have chosen to stay away from home matches in recent weeks.

The Guardian understands the club began a drive to cold call Red Members of their supporter scheme on Wednesday to offer season tickets for 2018-19 in the face of record numbers of non-renewals. Red Members are below Gold and Silver members in terms of priority.

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal’s departing general, deserves a fitting farewell
Read more
Wenger had routinely said he would fulfil the remaining year on his contract but the wagons have circled for some time. The chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has made a series of appointments on the technical side as part of his “catalyst for change” agenda – most notably those of the head of football relations, Raúl Sanllehí, and the head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat.

The impression has been that Gazidis was putting a succession plan into place while Wenger was in the building.

Wenger has felt the pressure from board level, although there was a sense of shock among the squad when he informed them before a community event and a training session on Friday morning that he would step down from what he has referred to as his life’s work at the end of the season.

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Steven Pienaar sees Football Welcomes as great way to bring people together

Steven Pienaar retired from football at the start of March but that did not stop him from lacing up his boots again last week. Like the final days of his illustrious career, however, it did not quite go exactly to plan. “I actually joined in for a bit of five-a-side,” he says. “It was OK – the kids were happy because I lost twice but maybe tomorrow we can get some revenge.”

The South African, who made more than 200 appearances for Everton in two spells, was back on Merseyside in his new role as club ambassador to take part in a weekly coaching session for refugees and asylum seekers. Part of Everton in the Community’s efforts to provide support for some of Liverpool’s most deprived people, Pienaar knows all about battling against the odds.

Middlesbrough give refugees football kit and feeling of belonging
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Born in the township of Westbury in Johannesburg during the apartheid years, the 36-year-old’s career took him to Ajax as a teenager and also encompassed spells with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham and Sunderland.

Now, with a record number of 60 clubs from across the country set to take part in Amnesty UK’s second Football Welcomes initiative this weekend after the success of last year’s inaugural event, Pienaar is hoping schemes like Everton’s can continue to improve the assimilation process.

“We are working with kids from different parts of the world and trying to give them an opportunity to learn English,” he says. “Football is a special sport which brings people together – whatever problems you are having in your life they all seem to go away when you get on to the pitch. I was born in apartheid South Africa and I know how sport, including football, can help to bring people together and break down barriers. I’ve been in that situation and I’ve always wanted to get involved with the community.”

Started in 2015, it is estimated 140 young people from 25 countries including Eritrea, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia have already benefited from Everton’s community project. Similar initiatives such as Middlesbrough’s Club Together scheme have sprung up around the country as Britain’s football clubs attempt to help ease the transition to a new country.

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On Saturday, 12 Premier League clubs including Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham, Crystal Palace and West Ham will be among those showing their support and solidarity with refugees through a variety of activities and events.

“It’s wonderful to see even more clubs laying aside their rivalries this weekend and coming together to say refugees are welcome here,” says Naomi Westland, Amnesty UK’s Football Welcomes manager. “At a time when politics is often dominated by hate-filled and divisive rhetoric, this shows that there is another story to be told. Football clubs are at the heart of their communities and have a vital role to play in helping people who have fled conflict and persecution settle in to a new country and culture.”

Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka, Victor Moses of Chelsea, Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri and Manchester City women’s striker Nadia Nadim are among a number of players currently employed by English clubs who were once refugees. They are following in the footsteps of six children who escaped the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s who became professionals, including Norwich’s Antonio and José Gallego. More than 80 years on, the Championship club is hosting Norfolk Welcomes – Football Welcomes, with children from 61 local schools sending questions to the club’s Bosnia and Herzegovina international Mario Vrancic, whose family escaped the Balkan war in the 1990s. “It was clear the war in Bosnia was coming and we had to leave to find safety,” he recalled this week. “My entire family went to different countries. The hardest thing was leaving my grandparents behind and trying to start a new life in a new country.”

A number of other initiatives down the football pyramid will also be taking place, including tournaments run by refugee teams in Chichester, Plymouth, Manchester and Leeds, with Women’s Super League sides Durham, Reading, Sunderland and Tottenham all offering free tickets for their matches.

Pienaar, who played just four matches for Bidvest Wits in his homeland before being forced to retire due to mounting injury problems, now plans to move into coaching after this summer’s World Cup. He is grateful to be a part of Everton’s community work after not having the chance to bid farewell when he left the club in 2016. “In my last season I was fighting with a lot of injuries and I knew my contract was coming to an end,” he says. “I just wanted to go out on the field just to say goodbye. I was disappointed but it’s in the past and we just have to move on. To get the chance to come back and do something like this with Everton is fantastic.”

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Manchester United’s “professional” 2-0 win at Bournemouth proved the players want to feature in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Tottenham, according to manager Jose Mourinho.

Manchester United’s “professional” 2-0 win at Bournemouth proved the players want to feature in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Tottenham, according to manager Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho made seven changes to his side as United bounced back from Sunday’s surprise home defeat by bottom club West Brom.

Chris Smalling and substitute Romelu Lukaku scored in either half at the Vitality Stadium to give United a four-point lead over third-place Liverpool in the table, with four games remaining.

Mourinho had described this match as an opportunity for players to secure a place in the team to face Spurs in a competition which represents United’s final chance of winning a trophy this season.

FA Cup semi-finals: Man Utd v Tottenham live on BBC
He said Lukaku, Antonio Valencia, who was rested, and Nemanja Matic would return to the startling line-up at Wembley, while others had given him plenty to think about.

“I will not play this XI but all of them told me they want to play,” said Mourinho.

“This win was based on good attitude, professionalism and a determination to win an important match for us because now it’s difficult to not finish in the top four.”

Who played themselves into Mourinho’s Wembley plans?
This was the reaction Mourinho demanded after the deflating result against West Brom, which confirmed neighbours Manchester City as champions.

With the title gone and patience running thin, Luke Shaw, Marouane Fellaini and Matteo Darmian were among those recalled while goalkeeper David de Gea, who captained the side, Smalling, Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba were the only survivors from the weekend.

This was far from vintage United yet it was an improvement on the performance against West Brom, which Mourinho described as “complicated”.

In contrast to Sunday, Pogba was solid, if unspectacular, while Herrera’s defence-splitting ball for Lingard to tee up Smalling to slide in for the opener was the pass of the night.

Lingard has a healthy goalscoring record at Wembley and his energetic performance against Bournemouth might earn him a starting place against Spurs.

United’s 49th competitive game of the season had an end-of-season feel about it but their goals were well crafted and the points hard earned.

Lukaku’s finish, eight minutes after replacing Lingard, came after a driving run and pass by Pogba.

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Brighton edged closer to Premier League safety with a hard-earned point against a much-changed Tottenham side.

Harry Kane’s 26th league goal of the season, following Gaetan Bong’s error, put Spurs in sight of an 11th away win.

But Brighton were behind for just two minutes, Pascal Gross levelling with an excellent penalty after Serge Aurier had caught Jose Izquierdo.

The Seagulls are without a win in six games but are eight points above the relegation zone with four games left.

Spurs almost won it through an own goal when Shane Duffy deflected Christian Eriksen’s cross a fraction wide.

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