06/03/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | MAR 6, 2026

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SHORTS Liverpool, Wrexham to clash in pre-season friendly

LIAM ROSENIOR labelled Joao Pedro “world class” after the Brazilian striker’s hattrick inspired a 4-1 rout of Aston Villa yesterday. Joao Pedro’s first Premier League treble lifted Chelsea into fifth place, just three points behind fourth-placed Villa in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Cole Palmer also scored on a memorable night for the Blues, who came from behind after Douglas Luiz’s opener to end their three-match winless run in the league. But it was Joao Pedro, with 14 league goals to his credit this season, who earned the acclaim from Rosenior. “He’s a top player. I think he’s growing in confidence. His goal with the left foot is world class. The finish is magnificent,” he said. “But actually, I’m really delighted with his two tap-ins that he got. He was in the right place at the right time. “We worked hard with him on that, but he gets the hat-trick. It’s really hard to single someone out, but I thought it was an outstanding team performance.” It was by far the best display of Rosenior’s two months in charge and, with Manchester United and Liverpool losing during the midweek fixtures, Chelsea have strengthened their push to reach the Champions League. “It’s only significant if we back it up. We have to be consistent,”Rosenior said. “We have massive FA Cup game, then we’ve got huge game in Paris (in the Champions League), and then we’ve got another huge game against Newcastle. “We just need to back it up and not look at the significance of the games. We just need to perform. And if we perform at that level, we’re going to be in a good place.” When Luiz struck inside three minutes, Villa had high hopes of taking a huge step towards bolstering their own Champions League ambitions but their night turned sour. Unai Emery’s men have now won just one of their last six league games. “We are in a bad moment. Why? Maybe we have lost our structure,” Emery said. “Our structure was so, so strong when we were being consistent in different competitions. The objective we have in front, we still have time to recover. “We are accepting the bad moment we are in, we must try to find solutions, this is my concern. “Now is the moment we have to be together and work harder than we did.”– AFP Blues surge as Pedro downs Villa

United’s Harry Maguire (top) reactsas Newcastle’s William Osula celebrates after scoring the winning goal during yesterday’s English Premier League match at St James’ Park. – REUTERSPIC

PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS Liverpool will play Hollywood backed Wrexham on July 29 at Yankee Stadium as part of a three game pre-season series in the United States for both teams. Liverpool will also play Sunderland at Nashville’s Geodis Park on July 25, and Leeds United at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Aug 2. “More than 26 million LFC sup porters live in the USA, the fastest growing fan base of any Premier League club in the country, and the Reds were the most-watched team in the division there last season,” Liverpool said yesterday. “It is also the club’s No. 1 interna tional retail market and hosts 62 Official Liverpool Supporters Clubs across 32 states and International Academies across 12.” Wrexham, who have been owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney since 2021 and have gained global attention through the Emmy Award-winning documentary “Welcome to Wrexham”, will first face Leeds at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on July 25. Following the Liverpool clash, they will take on Sunderland at Philadelphia’s Subaru Park on Aug 2. Wrexham, who also held US tours in 2023 and 2024, have surged from England’s fifth to second tier with three successive promotions, and are currently sixth in the Championship, pushing for a place in the Premier League via the playoffs. Liverpool, who are fifth in England’s top flight, will make their third Yankee Stadium appearance, having previously faced Sporting in a 2-2 draw in 2019 and beaten Manchester City on penalties in 2014. Leverkusen keep in touch with top four A SECOND HALF Christian Kofane goal earned Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 win at Hamburg to draw them closer to the Bundesliga’s top four yester day. The win brought sixth-placed Leverkusen, who will face Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League, three points behind fourth-placed Stuttgart. “We could have ended this one earlier,” Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand told Sky . “We’re happy to have won but it was just one goal – we had one or two goals too few.” Hamburg are 11th, four points clear of the relegation playoff spot. Atalanta grab late equaliser in Italian Cup semis USA international Yunus Musah struck a minute from time to snatch Atalanta a 2-2 draw at Lazio yester day in the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s dinked fin ish put Lazio in front at the start of the second half, with Mario Pasalic turning in a rebound to haul Atalanta level minutes later. An error from Pasalic allowed Boulaye Dia to sneak in and give Lazio the lead again on 87 minutes, but Musah ensured the teams will head to Bergamo for next month’s second leg with the tie level after drilling home late on.

Devils slip Carrick says ‘defeat hurts’ after first loss as United boss M ICHAEL CARRICK said “defeat hurts” after Manchester United’s 2-1 loss at Newcastle yesterday -- the first time he has been beaten as manager of the club. William Osula came off the bench to score the win ner for the 10-man home team at St James’ Park, putting a dent in United’s push for Champions League qualifica tion. Former United midfielder Carrick, who took charge at Old Trafford in January, had won six and drawn one of his seven games in charge before Wednesday’s trip to Newcastle. He was also unbeaten during a previous interim stint at the helm, in 2021. Jacob Ramsey’s dismissal for a second bookable offence sparked a frenzied conclusion to the first half, during which Anthony Gordon put the home side ahead from the penalty spot before Casemiro restored parity. But United failed to capitalise on their man advan tage in the second period and Osula produced a moment of magic at the death, sprinting down the right before cutting inside and curling an unstoppable shot past Senne Lammens. “We are not happy the way we played tonight,” Carrick told TNT Sports . “The way the game panned out we had it in our hands largely but credit to Newcastle and the way they approached it. “We knew it would be tough but we navigated the game to a position where we could kick on but we didn’t. Bitterly disappointed really. “I don’t think it was the 10 men, we just didn’t play good enough. We can’t make excuses for that. We all take responsibility for that.” Carrick said his team, in third place in the Premier League, “need to get back to work and be better for the next game” as they seek to finish in the top five. “We’ve lost one game, we haven’t played well enough but in the grand scheme of things we are in a decent position,” he said. “Tonight hurts but we will be better for the next one. “You have to get back at it, work hard and do the things we did to win the games we’ve won. We can do that, we are a good team. Tonight wasn’t for us.” – AFP

Sociedad edge rivals Bilbao to reach Cup final MIKEL OYARZABAL slotted home a late penalty to fire Real Sociedad into the Copa del Rey final with a 1 0 win over Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao yesterday, securing a 2-0 aggregate semifinal triumph. “Very proud of what the boys have done, over the past two months, it’s pretty amazing,” said Matarazzo. “Our first match was on the fourth of January… and we just reached the cup final.

we managed the tempo well,” Sociedad defender Jon Martin told Movistar . “We didn’t want a lot to happen, and we did well.” “It was a hard-fought game, a Basque derby,“ said Bilbao manager Ernesto Valverde. “We had a clear chance at the end, we could have got back into the game but it wasn’t to be.” Bilbao striker Williams told Movistar : “It feels terrible, it’s a shame, we wanted to reach that final in Seville, I don’t even know what to say. “(For the penalty) there’s that kind of grabbing in every box, every corner, and it’s very difficult (to take).” – AFP

American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo has turned La Real’s fortunes around since arriving in December and his side will face Atletico Madrid in the Seville final on April 18, after they ousted Barcelona. Already holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg at Bilbao’s San Mames, Sociedad produced a sturdy display at the Reale Arena to knock out the 24-time winners.

“The football we’re playing is effective and we want to continue… we’re in the final and we want to win it.” Sociedad have now not lost in their last 10 derby clashes at home against Bilbao, whom they beat in the 2020 final, and rarely looked like letting their advantage slip. “I think having the one goal advantage helped,