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Write about: Sunderland v Manchester United, Fulham v Bournemouth, and more: football – live | Soccer
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Key events
Sunderland 0-0 Manchester United: Senne Lammens does well to get down and save a fierce shot from Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey, who is causing the Manchester United defence all sorts of problems this afternoon.
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: It’s a nightmare scenario for Brighton’s Japan international Kaoru Mitoma, who is forced off with a hamstring injury a little shy of a month before the start of the World Cup. Here’s hoping it’s not too bad. Japan kick off their campaign with a match against the Netherlands on 14 June.
GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Bournemouth (Rayan)
Premier League: Not long after Junior Kroupi hit the bar, Bournemouth take the lead courtesy of a deflected shot from Rayan.
Rayan breaks the deadlock at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: The visitors hit the woodwork again, with Hwang latching on to a ball over the top from Mosquera and rolling his effort against the foot of the far post.
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: Mateus Mane steers a header against the bar as Wolves try to reduce their arrears at the Amex Stadium.
Scottish Premiership: Kilmarnock have doubled their lead against St Mirren courtesy of a Findlay Curtis shot in the 46th minute. With Livingston already down, this season’s Scottish League Cup winners are being forced into a relegation playoff by the team just above them.
Fulham: Roy Hodgson isn’t the only former Fulham manager watching assorted players get sent off at Craven Cottage this afternoon. Jean Tigana and Chris Coleman are also present. If any of Scott Parker, Claudio Ranieri, Slavisa Jokanovic, Kit Symons or Felix Magath are present, I haven’t spotted them.
An email: “What’s the Basque for ‘not that type of player’?” writes Andy Flintoff (not that one). Asking for Andoni Iraola a friend.”
Premier League half-times
Championship playoff first leg
League One playoff first legs
Scottish Premiership half-times
Red card! Fulham down to 10 men!
Andy Madley has been sent to his monitor for a second time and upgrades another yellow to a red, brandishing this one in the direction of Fulham’s Joachim Anderson. The Dane receives his marching orders for a bad, completely unnecessary challenge on Adrien Truffert. Both Bournemouth and Fulham are down to 10 men.
Sunderland 0-0 Manchester United: Joshua Zirkzee is played down the right by Bruno Fernandes but his effort is half-hearted and doesn’t trouble Robin Roefs in the Sunderland goal.
Fulham 0-0 Bournemouth: Joachim Anderson leaps to meet a Harry Wilson cross to the far post, only to see his header hit the woodwork.
Red card! Bournemouth down to 10 men!
Premier League: Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie has just had a yellow card for a nasty challenge on Timothy Castagne upgraded to a red after a VAR intervention that prompted referee Andy Madley to trot to his pitchside monitor. It’s 0-0 at Craven Cottage, where the Cherries are down to 10 men.
He’s off! early bath for Ryan Christie. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Premier League: Rodrigo Muniz has missed the pick of the chances for Fulham in their match against Bournemouth at Craven Cottage, where Roy Hodgson is enjoying the afternoon sunshine. It remains scoreless by the Thames.
Premier League: Mason Mount blocks a Noah Sadiki chance with an arm that is down by his side not long after Brian Brobbey had fired a low shot narrowly wide. Sunderland are dominating Manchester United but it remains scoreless at the Stadium of Light.
League One playoff: In acres of space bearing down on goal, all Louie Barry needed was a pass to feet to be presented with an gilt-edged chance to fire Stockport ahead against Stevenage. Sadly, Adamah Sidibeh played the pass behind him and a great counter-attack goes to waste.
Middlebrough 0-0 Southampton
Championship playoff semi-final first leg match report: Southampton will start Tuesday’s second leg as favourites but Boro cannot be discounted after dominating large tracts of a scoreless game thoroughly overshadowed by a spying scandal. Louise Taylor reports from the Riverside Stadium …
Scottish Premiership: Stuart Armstrong gives Aberdeen the lead against Dundee United at Pittodrie, while Hibernian have just gone 2-0 up against Falkirk courtesy of a downward header from Josh Campbell, his second goal of the match.
League One playoff: There’s little or nothing to report from the semi-final first leg between Stevenage and Stockport County. The wait for our first goal in three EFL playoff matches across two divisions goes on …
Scottish Premiership: In news I should have included in the last post, Falkirk are losing at home against Hibs in the match between fifth and sixth. Josh Campbell fired Hibs in front after three minutes. Meanwhile at Dens Park, Cameron Congreve has just put Dundee a goal up against Livingston.
Scottish Premiership: Kilmarnock have gone a goal up at St Mirren, who are in danger of being forced into a relegation playoff by rivals desperate to avoid finishing second from bottom of the table, just above already-relegated Livingston.
Premier League: It’s scoreless at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland are in the ascendency early doors. Noah Sadiki found himself in a one-on-one with Senne Lammens but couldn’t beat the United goalkeeper, while a few moments previously Chemsdine Talbi sent a shot from distance fizzing narrowly wide of the upright.
GOAL! Brighton 2-0 Wolves (Dunk 5)
Premier League: Maxime De Cuyper turns provider again, sending the ball towards the far post from a corner, where Lewis Dunk scores with a header from four yards out.
Dunk doubles the Seagulls lead! Photograph: Jaimi Joy/ReutersLewis Dunk shows the corner flag who’s boss. Photograph: Jaimi Joy/Reuters
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Wolves (Hinshelwood 1)
Premier League: Jack Hinshelwood has headed Brighton into an extremely early lead against Wolves from six yards out. Maxime De Cuyper provided the cross and Hinshelwood steered the ball home to make it three goals in his last three games. He has another 89 minutes and 22 seconds to improve that tally in this match.
Jack Hinshelwood heads the opener for Brighton against Wolves. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Tick-tock: Kick-off in our three o’clock games is just a couple of minutes away. Prediction time: Enzo Le Fee to score the first of the top flight goals at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland’s host Manchester United.
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
Premier League: The final whistle at Anfield was greeted by a loud chorus of boos as Liverpool were held by a Chelsea side who came from behind to end a run of six straight defeats. Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring for Liverpool with a fine strike from the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, only for Liverpool’s lead to be cancelled out when Wesley Fofana got the faintest of touches to an Enzo Fernandez free-kick that was almost certainly going in anyway.
Virgil van Dijk applauds home fans following Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea at Anfield. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton
Championship playoff semi-final first leg: Boro dominated the game but survived a late Southampton onslaught. This tie will be settled at St Mary’s on Tuesday night, although Saints will be sweating over the outcome of an independent disciplinary commission investigation into alleged misconduct in the build-up to today’s game.
Samuel Edozie (left) and Riley McGree battle for the ball during the Championship playoff semi-final between Southamppton and Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. Photograph: Andy Commins/PA
Scottish Premiership
League leaders Hearts have a tricky assignment at Motherwell tonight, while second-placed Celtic host Rangers tomorrow. In the meantime, there are a number of other matches taking place at three o’clock.
Sunderland defender Reinildo Mandava rocks up at the Stadium of Light for his team’s appointment with Manchester United. Photograph: Craig Cowan/Every Second Media/Shutterstock
Brighton v Wolves line-ups
Brighton: Verbruggen, Kadioglu, van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper, Baleba, Gross, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Fulham’s players take in the spring air at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Ben Whitley/PA
WSL: Arsenal have seen off Aston Villa 3-0 in their WSL match at Villa Park. Alessia Russo scored either side of Frida Maanum’s strike to guarantee Arsenal a place in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds but with a game in hand over second-placed Chelsea, they can still finish second and book their automatic place in the league stage.
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton: Boro are in the ascendency but it remains scoreless at the Riverside Stadium in the Championship playoff semi-final first leg. Billy Munday is keeping that tabs on that one …
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Now Liverpool have a goal ruled out for offside, with the flag correctly going up at Cody Gakpo’s expense as he teed up Curtis Jones to nod home from close range. Replays show he had strayed offside but it was careless on his part. We’re approaching the hour at Anfield, where the tackles are flying in and an entertaining encounter could go either way …
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Cole Palmer thought he had capitalised on a defensive mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Giorgi Marmadashvili to fire Chelsea into a deserved lead at Anfield shortly after half-time, only for his effort to be ruled out because Marc Cucurella was a smidgen offside in the build-up. Liverpool are second best at Anfield but have got off the hook thanks to VAR. Scott Murray has the latest …
WSL: Manchester City won the title without playing and with a game to spare when Arsenal failed to beat Brighton in midweek. This afternoon, Aston Villa are hosting Arsenal in the only Women’s Super League match being played this weekend.
Alessia Russo and Frida Maanum have struck three goals between them to give the visitors a commanding lead at Villa Park, where a win for Arsenal will guarantee them a place in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds. With a game in hand, they will fancy their chances of overtaking second-placed Chelsea and going straight into the league stage.
Frida Leonhardsen-Maanum (left) and Alessia Russo have scored three goals between them for Arsenal at Villa Park this afternoon. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
Premier League: With their destiny in their own hands, Arsenal have the advantage in the Premier League title race but will they hold off Manchester City’s challenge? Harry Paterson investigates …
Arsenal: Having forged a new spirit of togetherness and defiance among his players in recent weeks, Mikel Arteta has laughed off the tut-tutting of the ‘celebration police’ and urged all concerned to retain their focus ahead of tomorrow’s crucial match against relegation-threatened West Ham. Ed Aarons reports …
Arsenal have attracted criticism from the ‘celebration police’ after their head coach, players and fans were all spotted acting in a suspiciously exuberant manner after qualifying for their first Champions League final in 20 years. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Bournemouth: The club have confirmed Álex Jiménez has been omitted from their squad for today’s game at Fulham after they opened an investigation relating to social media posts, writes Ben Fisher.
Bournemouth have launched an investigation into alleged social media exchanges between Alex Jimenez and an individual who appears to state that they are a 15-year-old girl. Photograph: Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Southampton: On the eve of theirChampionship playoff semi-final first leg against Middlesbrough, Southampton were charged with misconduct by the English Football League after a man alleged to be a member of Tonda Eckert’s coaching staff was caught spying on a Boro training session. Louise Taylor reports …
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton: It’s scoreless at half-time in the first leg of the playoff semi-final and Billy Munday is hiding in some bushes, binoculars in hand monitoring proceedings from the Riverside Stadium …
West Ham: David Sullivan, the club chair, said the move to the London Stadium showed they were not a ‘tinpot club’ but West Ham are circling the Premier League drain and now a very real relegation threat looms. Words: Jacob Steinberg.
While the pick of today’s English top flight matches doesn’t start under the clockwatch … em, watch, we have several Premier League encounters to keep us ammused before all eyes turn to events at the Etihad Stadium. Liverpool and Chelsea got the afternoon action under way, with Liverpool knowing a win will guarantee them Champions League football next season. Ryan Gravenberch struck in the sixth minute to put them 1-0 up, only for Wesley Fofana to help a poorly-defended Enzo Fernadez free-kick over the line to pull Chelsea level 10 minutes before the break.
In one of trio of three o’clock kick-offs, Bournemouth travel to Fulham, hoping to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification with a win over mid-table hosts who are also in the hunt for a European place. Brighton are also in the European qualification mix and welcome already-relegated Wolves.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland host Manchester United with the visitors all but guaranteed a third place finish in the league if they can beat Wearside hosts whose Premier League record against United is little short of dismal. We’ll have team news, build-up and updates from the Scottish Premiership and the League One playoff semi-final first leg between Stevenage and Stockport County as the domestic season hurtles towards its conclusion.
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Key events
Sunderland 0-0 Manchester United: Senne Lammens does well to get down and save a fierce shot from Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey, who is causing the Manchester United defence all sorts of problems this afternoon.
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: It’s a nightmare scenario for Brighton’s Japan international Kaoru Mitoma, who is forced off with a hamstring injury a little shy of a month before the start of the World Cup. Here’s hoping it’s not too bad. Japan kick off their campaign with a match against the Netherlands on 14 June.
GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Bournemouth (Rayan)
Premier League: Not long after Junior Kroupi hit the bar, Bournemouth take the lead courtesy of a deflected shot from Rayan.
Rayan breaks the deadlock at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: The visitors hit the woodwork again, with Hwang latching on to a ball over the top from Mosquera and rolling his effort against the foot of the far post.
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: Mateus Mane steers a header against the bar as Wolves try to reduce their arrears at the Amex Stadium.
Scottish Premiership: Kilmarnock have doubled their lead against St Mirren courtesy of a Findlay Curtis shot in the 46th minute. With Livingston already down, this season’s Scottish League Cup winners are being forced into a relegation playoff by the team just above them.
Fulham: Roy Hodgson isn’t the only former Fulham manager watching assorted players get sent off at Craven Cottage this afternoon. Jean Tigana and Chris Coleman are also present. If any of Scott Parker, Claudio Ranieri, Slavisa Jokanovic, Kit Symons or Felix Magath are present, I haven’t spotted them.
An email: “What’s the Basque for ‘not that type of player’?” writes Andy Flintoff (not that one). Asking for Andoni Iraola a friend.”
Premier League half-times
Championship playoff first leg
League One playoff first legs
Scottish Premiership half-times
Red card! Fulham down to 10 men!
Andy Madley has been sent to his monitor for a second time and upgrades another yellow to a red, brandishing this one in the direction of Fulham’s Joachim Anderson. The Dane receives his marching orders for a bad, completely unnecessary challenge on Adrien Truffert. Both Bournemouth and Fulham are down to 10 men.
Sunderland 0-0 Manchester United: Joshua Zirkzee is played down the right by Bruno Fernandes but his effort is half-hearted and doesn’t trouble Robin Roefs in the Sunderland goal.
Fulham 0-0 Bournemouth: Joachim Anderson leaps to meet a Harry Wilson cross to the far post, only to see his header hit the woodwork.
Red card! Bournemouth down to 10 men!
Premier League: Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie has just had a yellow card for a nasty challenge on Timothy Castagne upgraded to a red after a VAR intervention that prompted referee Andy Madley to trot to his pitchside monitor. It’s 0-0 at Craven Cottage, where the Cherries are down to 10 men.
He’s off! early bath for Ryan Christie. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Premier League: Rodrigo Muniz has missed the pick of the chances for Fulham in their match against Bournemouth at Craven Cottage, where Roy Hodgson is enjoying the afternoon sunshine. It remains scoreless by the Thames.
Premier League: Mason Mount blocks a Noah Sadiki chance with an arm that is down by his side not long after Brian Brobbey had fired a low shot narrowly wide. Sunderland are dominating Manchester United but it remains scoreless at the Stadium of Light.
League One playoff: In acres of space bearing down on goal, all Louie Barry needed was a pass to feet to be presented with an gilt-edged chance to fire Stockport ahead against Stevenage. Sadly, Adamah Sidibeh played the pass behind him and a great counter-attack goes to waste.
Middlebrough 0-0 Southampton
Championship playoff semi-final first leg match report: Southampton will start Tuesday’s second leg as favourites but Boro cannot be discounted after dominating large tracts of a scoreless game thoroughly overshadowed by a spying scandal. Louise Taylor reports from the Riverside Stadium …
Scottish Premiership: Stuart Armstrong gives Aberdeen the lead against Dundee United at Pittodrie, while Hibernian have just gone 2-0 up against Falkirk courtesy of a downward header from Josh Campbell, his second goal of the match.
League One playoff: There’s little or nothing to report from the semi-final first leg between Stevenage and Stockport County. The wait for our first goal in three EFL playoff matches across two divisions goes on …
Scottish Premiership: In news I should have included in the last post, Falkirk are losing at home against Hibs in the match between fifth and sixth. Josh Campbell fired Hibs in front after three minutes. Meanwhile at Dens Park, Cameron Congreve has just put Dundee a goal up against Livingston.
Scottish Premiership: Kilmarnock have gone a goal up at St Mirren, who are in danger of being forced into a relegation playoff by rivals desperate to avoid finishing second from bottom of the table, just above already-relegated Livingston.
Premier League: It’s scoreless at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland are in the ascendency early doors. Noah Sadiki found himself in a one-on-one with Senne Lammens but couldn’t beat the United goalkeeper, while a few moments previously Chemsdine Talbi sent a shot from distance fizzing narrowly wide of the upright.
GOAL! Brighton 2-0 Wolves (Dunk 5)
Premier League: Maxime De Cuyper turns provider again, sending the ball towards the far post from a corner, where Lewis Dunk scores with a header from four yards out.
Dunk doubles the Seagulls lead! Photograph: Jaimi Joy/ReutersLewis Dunk shows the corner flag who’s boss. Photograph: Jaimi Joy/Reuters
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Wolves (Hinshelwood 1)
Premier League: Jack Hinshelwood has headed Brighton into an extremely early lead against Wolves from six yards out. Maxime De Cuyper provided the cross and Hinshelwood steered the ball home to make it three goals in his last three games. He has another 89 minutes and 22 seconds to improve that tally in this match.
Jack Hinshelwood heads the opener for Brighton against Wolves. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Tick-tock: Kick-off in our three o’clock games is just a couple of minutes away. Prediction time: Enzo Le Fee to score the first of the top flight goals at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland’s host Manchester United.
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
Premier League: The final whistle at Anfield was greeted by a loud chorus of boos as Liverpool were held by a Chelsea side who came from behind to end a run of six straight defeats. Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring for Liverpool with a fine strike from the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, only for Liverpool’s lead to be cancelled out when Wesley Fofana got the faintest of touches to an Enzo Fernandez free-kick that was almost certainly going in anyway.
Virgil van Dijk applauds home fans following Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea at Anfield. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton
Championship playoff semi-final first leg: Boro dominated the game but survived a late Southampton onslaught. This tie will be settled at St Mary’s on Tuesday night, although Saints will be sweating over the outcome of an independent disciplinary commission investigation into alleged misconduct in the build-up to today’s game.
Samuel Edozie (left) and Riley McGree battle for the ball during the Championship playoff semi-final between Southamppton and Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. Photograph: Andy Commins/PA
Scottish Premiership
League leaders Hearts have a tricky assignment at Motherwell tonight, while second-placed Celtic host Rangers tomorrow. In the meantime, there are a number of other matches taking place at three o’clock.
Sunderland defender Reinildo Mandava rocks up at the Stadium of Light for his team’s appointment with Manchester United. Photograph: Craig Cowan/Every Second Media/Shutterstock
Brighton v Wolves line-ups
Brighton: Verbruggen, Kadioglu, van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper, Baleba, Gross, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Fulham’s players take in the spring air at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Ben Whitley/PA
WSL: Arsenal have seen off Aston Villa 3-0 in their WSL match at Villa Park. Alessia Russo scored either side of Frida Maanum’s strike to guarantee Arsenal a place in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds but with a game in hand over second-placed Chelsea, they can still finish second and book their automatic place in the league stage.
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton: Boro are in the ascendency but it remains scoreless at the Riverside Stadium in the Championship playoff semi-final first leg. Billy Munday is keeping that tabs on that one …
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Now Liverpool have a goal ruled out for offside, with the flag correctly going up at Cody Gakpo’s expense as he teed up Curtis Jones to nod home from close range. Replays show he had strayed offside but it was careless on his part. We’re approaching the hour at Anfield, where the tackles are flying in and an entertaining encounter could go either way …
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Cole Palmer thought he had capitalised on a defensive mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Giorgi Marmadashvili to fire Chelsea into a deserved lead at Anfield shortly after half-time, only for his effort to be ruled out because Marc Cucurella was a smidgen offside in the build-up. Liverpool are second best at Anfield but have got off the hook thanks to VAR. Scott Murray has the latest …
WSL: Manchester City won the title without playing and with a game to spare when Arsenal failed to beat Brighton in midweek. This afternoon, Aston Villa are hosting Arsenal in the only Women’s Super League match being played this weekend.
Alessia Russo and Frida Maanum have struck three goals between them to give the visitors a commanding lead at Villa Park, where a win for Arsenal will guarantee them a place in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds. With a game in hand, they will fancy their chances of overtaking second-placed Chelsea and going straight into the league stage.
Frida Leonhardsen-Maanum (left) and Alessia Russo have scored three goals between them for Arsenal at Villa Park this afternoon. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
Premier League: With their destiny in their own hands, Arsenal have the advantage in the Premier League title race but will they hold off Manchester City’s challenge? Harry Paterson investigates …
Arsenal: Having forged a new spirit of togetherness and defiance among his players in recent weeks, Mikel Arteta has laughed off the tut-tutting of the ‘celebration police’ and urged all concerned to retain their focus ahead of tomorrow’s crucial match against relegation-threatened West Ham. Ed Aarons reports …
Arsenal have attracted criticism from the ‘celebration police’ after their head coach, players and fans were all spotted acting in a suspiciously exuberant manner after qualifying for their first Champions League final in 20 years. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Bournemouth: The club have confirmed Álex Jiménez has been omitted from their squad for today’s game at Fulham after they opened an investigation relating to social media posts, writes Ben Fisher.
Bournemouth have launched an investigation into alleged social media exchanges between Alex Jimenez and an individual who appears to state that they are a 15-year-old girl. Photograph: Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Southampton: On the eve of theirChampionship playoff semi-final first leg against Middlesbrough, Southampton were charged with misconduct by the English Football League after a man alleged to be a member of Tonda Eckert’s coaching staff was caught spying on a Boro training session. Louise Taylor reports …
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton: It’s scoreless at half-time in the first leg of the playoff semi-final and Billy Munday is hiding in some bushes, binoculars in hand monitoring proceedings from the Riverside Stadium …
West Ham: David Sullivan, the club chair, said the move to the London Stadium showed they were not a ‘tinpot club’ but West Ham are circling the Premier League drain and now a very real relegation threat looms. Words: Jacob Steinberg.
While the pick of today’s English top flight matches doesn’t start under the clockwatch … em, watch, we have several Premier League encounters to keep us ammused before all eyes turn to events at the Etihad Stadium. Liverpool and Chelsea got the afternoon action under way, with Liverpool knowing a win will guarantee them Champions League football next season. Ryan Gravenberch struck in the sixth minute to put them 1-0 up, only for Wesley Fofana to help a poorly-defended Enzo Fernadez free-kick over the line to pull Chelsea level 10 minutes before the break.
In one of trio of three o’clock kick-offs, Bournemouth travel to Fulham, hoping to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification with a win over mid-table hosts who are also in the hunt for a European place. Brighton are also in the European qualification mix and welcome already-relegated Wolves.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland host Manchester United with the visitors all but guaranteed a third place finish in the league if they can beat Wearside hosts whose Premier League record against United is little short of dismal. We’ll have team news, build-up and updates from the Scottish Premiership and the League One playoff semi-final first leg between Stevenage and Stockport County as the domestic season hurtles towards its conclusion.
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Key events
Sunderland 0-0 Manchester United: Senne Lammens does well to get down and save a fierce shot from Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey, who is causing the Manchester United defence all sorts of problems this afternoon.
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: It’s a nightmare scenario for Brighton’s Japan international Kaoru Mitoma, who is forced off with a hamstring injury a little shy of a month before the start of the World Cup. Here’s hoping it’s not too bad. Japan kick off their campaign with a match against the Netherlands on 14 June.
GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Bournemouth (Rayan)
Premier League: Not long after Junior Kroupi hit the bar, Bournemouth take the lead courtesy of a deflected shot from Rayan.
Rayan breaks the deadlock at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: The visitors hit the woodwork again, with Hwang latching on to a ball over the top from Mosquera and rolling his effort against the foot of the far post.
Brighton 2-0 Wolves: Mateus Mane steers a header against the bar as Wolves try to reduce their arrears at the Amex Stadium.
Scottish Premiership: Kilmarnock have doubled their lead against St Mirren courtesy of a Findlay Curtis shot in the 46th minute. With Livingston already down, this season’s Scottish League Cup winners are being forced into a relegation playoff by the team just above them.
Fulham: Roy Hodgson isn’t the only former Fulham manager watching assorted players get sent off at Craven Cottage this afternoon. Jean Tigana and Chris Coleman are also present. If any of Scott Parker, Claudio Ranieri, Slavisa Jokanovic, Kit Symons or Felix Magath are present, I haven’t spotted them.
An email: “What’s the Basque for ‘not that type of player’?” writes Andy Flintoff (not that one). Asking for Andoni Iraola a friend.”
Premier League half-times
Championship playoff first leg
League One playoff first legs
Scottish Premiership half-times
Red card! Fulham down to 10 men!
Andy Madley has been sent to his monitor for a second time and upgrades another yellow to a red, brandishing this one in the direction of Fulham’s Joachim Anderson. The Dane receives his marching orders for a bad, completely unnecessary challenge on Adrien Truffert. Both Bournemouth and Fulham are down to 10 men.
Sunderland 0-0 Manchester United: Joshua Zirkzee is played down the right by Bruno Fernandes but his effort is half-hearted and doesn’t trouble Robin Roefs in the Sunderland goal.
Fulham 0-0 Bournemouth: Joachim Anderson leaps to meet a Harry Wilson cross to the far post, only to see his header hit the woodwork.
Red card! Bournemouth down to 10 men!
Premier League: Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie has just had a yellow card for a nasty challenge on Timothy Castagne upgraded to a red after a VAR intervention that prompted referee Andy Madley to trot to his pitchside monitor. It’s 0-0 at Craven Cottage, where the Cherries are down to 10 men.
He’s off! early bath for Ryan Christie. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Premier League: Rodrigo Muniz has missed the pick of the chances for Fulham in their match against Bournemouth at Craven Cottage, where Roy Hodgson is enjoying the afternoon sunshine. It remains scoreless by the Thames.
Premier League: Mason Mount blocks a Noah Sadiki chance with an arm that is down by his side not long after Brian Brobbey had fired a low shot narrowly wide. Sunderland are dominating Manchester United but it remains scoreless at the Stadium of Light.
League One playoff: In acres of space bearing down on goal, all Louie Barry needed was a pass to feet to be presented with an gilt-edged chance to fire Stockport ahead against Stevenage. Sadly, Adamah Sidibeh played the pass behind him and a great counter-attack goes to waste.
Middlebrough 0-0 Southampton
Championship playoff semi-final first leg match report: Southampton will start Tuesday’s second leg as favourites but Boro cannot be discounted after dominating large tracts of a scoreless game thoroughly overshadowed by a spying scandal. Louise Taylor reports from the Riverside Stadium …
Scottish Premiership: Stuart Armstrong gives Aberdeen the lead against Dundee United at Pittodrie, while Hibernian have just gone 2-0 up against Falkirk courtesy of a downward header from Josh Campbell, his second goal of the match.
League One playoff: There’s little or nothing to report from the semi-final first leg between Stevenage and Stockport County. The wait for our first goal in three EFL playoff matches across two divisions goes on …
Scottish Premiership: In news I should have included in the last post, Falkirk are losing at home against Hibs in the match between fifth and sixth. Josh Campbell fired Hibs in front after three minutes. Meanwhile at Dens Park, Cameron Congreve has just put Dundee a goal up against Livingston.
Scottish Premiership: Kilmarnock have gone a goal up at St Mirren, who are in danger of being forced into a relegation playoff by rivals desperate to avoid finishing second from bottom of the table, just above already-relegated Livingston.
Premier League: It’s scoreless at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland are in the ascendency early doors. Noah Sadiki found himself in a one-on-one with Senne Lammens but couldn’t beat the United goalkeeper, while a few moments previously Chemsdine Talbi sent a shot from distance fizzing narrowly wide of the upright.
GOAL! Brighton 2-0 Wolves (Dunk 5)
Premier League: Maxime De Cuyper turns provider again, sending the ball towards the far post from a corner, where Lewis Dunk scores with a header from four yards out.
Dunk doubles the Seagulls lead! Photograph: Jaimi Joy/ReutersLewis Dunk shows the corner flag who’s boss. Photograph: Jaimi Joy/Reuters
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Wolves (Hinshelwood 1)
Premier League: Jack Hinshelwood has headed Brighton into an extremely early lead against Wolves from six yards out. Maxime De Cuyper provided the cross and Hinshelwood steered the ball home to make it three goals in his last three games. He has another 89 minutes and 22 seconds to improve that tally in this match.
Jack Hinshelwood heads the opener for Brighton against Wolves. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Tick-tock: Kick-off in our three o’clock games is just a couple of minutes away. Prediction time: Enzo Le Fee to score the first of the top flight goals at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland’s host Manchester United.
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
Premier League: The final whistle at Anfield was greeted by a loud chorus of boos as Liverpool were held by a Chelsea side who came from behind to end a run of six straight defeats. Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring for Liverpool with a fine strike from the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, only for Liverpool’s lead to be cancelled out when Wesley Fofana got the faintest of touches to an Enzo Fernandez free-kick that was almost certainly going in anyway.
Virgil van Dijk applauds home fans following Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea at Anfield. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton
Championship playoff semi-final first leg: Boro dominated the game but survived a late Southampton onslaught. This tie will be settled at St Mary’s on Tuesday night, although Saints will be sweating over the outcome of an independent disciplinary commission investigation into alleged misconduct in the build-up to today’s game.
Samuel Edozie (left) and Riley McGree battle for the ball during the Championship playoff semi-final between Southamppton and Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. Photograph: Andy Commins/PA
Scottish Premiership
League leaders Hearts have a tricky assignment at Motherwell tonight, while second-placed Celtic host Rangers tomorrow. In the meantime, there are a number of other matches taking place at three o’clock.
Sunderland defender Reinildo Mandava rocks up at the Stadium of Light for his team’s appointment with Manchester United. Photograph: Craig Cowan/Every Second Media/Shutterstock
Brighton v Wolves line-ups
Brighton: Verbruggen, Kadioglu, van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper, Baleba, Gross, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Fulham’s players take in the spring air at Craven Cottage. Photograph: Ben Whitley/PA
WSL: Arsenal have seen off Aston Villa 3-0 in their WSL match at Villa Park. Alessia Russo scored either side of Frida Maanum’s strike to guarantee Arsenal a place in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds but with a game in hand over second-placed Chelsea, they can still finish second and book their automatic place in the league stage.
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton: Boro are in the ascendency but it remains scoreless at the Riverside Stadium in the Championship playoff semi-final first leg. Billy Munday is keeping that tabs on that one …
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Now Liverpool have a goal ruled out for offside, with the flag correctly going up at Cody Gakpo’s expense as he teed up Curtis Jones to nod home from close range. Replays show he had strayed offside but it was careless on his part. We’re approaching the hour at Anfield, where the tackles are flying in and an entertaining encounter could go either way …
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Cole Palmer thought he had capitalised on a defensive mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Giorgi Marmadashvili to fire Chelsea into a deserved lead at Anfield shortly after half-time, only for his effort to be ruled out because Marc Cucurella was a smidgen offside in the build-up. Liverpool are second best at Anfield but have got off the hook thanks to VAR. Scott Murray has the latest …
WSL: Manchester City won the title without playing and with a game to spare when Arsenal failed to beat Brighton in midweek. This afternoon, Aston Villa are hosting Arsenal in the only Women’s Super League match being played this weekend.
Alessia Russo and Frida Maanum have struck three goals between them to give the visitors a commanding lead at Villa Park, where a win for Arsenal will guarantee them a place in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds. With a game in hand, they will fancy their chances of overtaking second-placed Chelsea and going straight into the league stage.
Frida Leonhardsen-Maanum (left) and Alessia Russo have scored three goals between them for Arsenal at Villa Park this afternoon. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters
Premier League: With their destiny in their own hands, Arsenal have the advantage in the Premier League title race but will they hold off Manchester City’s challenge? Harry Paterson investigates …
Arsenal: Having forged a new spirit of togetherness and defiance among his players in recent weeks, Mikel Arteta has laughed off the tut-tutting of the ‘celebration police’ and urged all concerned to retain their focus ahead of tomorrow’s crucial match against relegation-threatened West Ham. Ed Aarons reports …
Arsenal have attracted criticism from the ‘celebration police’ after their head coach, players and fans were all spotted acting in a suspiciously exuberant manner after qualifying for their first Champions League final in 20 years. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Bournemouth: The club have confirmed Álex Jiménez has been omitted from their squad for today’s game at Fulham after they opened an investigation relating to social media posts, writes Ben Fisher.
Bournemouth have launched an investigation into alleged social media exchanges between Alex Jimenez and an individual who appears to state that they are a 15-year-old girl. Photograph: Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Southampton: On the eve of theirChampionship playoff semi-final first leg against Middlesbrough, Southampton were charged with misconduct by the English Football League after a man alleged to be a member of Tonda Eckert’s coaching staff was caught spying on a Boro training session. Louise Taylor reports …
Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton: It’s scoreless at half-time in the first leg of the playoff semi-final and Billy Munday is hiding in some bushes, binoculars in hand monitoring proceedings from the Riverside Stadium …
West Ham: David Sullivan, the club chair, said the move to the London Stadium showed they were not a ‘tinpot club’ but West Ham are circling the Premier League drain and now a very real relegation threat looms. Words: Jacob Steinberg.
While the pick of today’s English top flight matches doesn’t start under the clockwatch … em, watch, we have several Premier League encounters to keep us ammused before all eyes turn to events at the Etihad Stadium. Liverpool and Chelsea got the afternoon action under way, with Liverpool knowing a win will guarantee them Champions League football next season. Ryan Gravenberch struck in the sixth minute to put them 1-0 up, only for Wesley Fofana to help a poorly-defended Enzo Fernadez free-kick over the line to pull Chelsea level 10 minutes before the break.
🔴Manchester United vs Sunderland LIVE | Premier League 2026 | Epl Live | eFootball PES 21 Simulation
In one of trio of three o’clock kick-offs, Bournemouth travel to Fulham, hoping to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification with a win over mid-table hosts who are also in the hunt for a European place. Brighton are also in the European qualification mix and welcome already-relegated Wolves.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland host Manchester United with the visitors all but guaranteed a third place finish in the league if they can beat Wearside hosts whose Premier League record against United is little short of dismal. We’ll have team news, build-up and updates from the Scottish Premiership and the League One playoff semi-final first leg between Stevenage and Stockport County as the domestic season hurtles towards its conclusion.
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