Holders Arsenal dumped out of FA Cup by clinical Watford
Jamie McGeever, Reuters
Holders Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 home defeat by Watford in the quarter-finals on Sunday ending their quest to win the trophy for the third straight season and increasing the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger.
Goals from Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura after the break put Watford in control while a late strike from Danny Welbeck was all the hosts could muster despite several chances, leaving them set to end the season without any silverware.
Arsenal were aiming to become the first side since Blackburn Rovers in the 1880s to win the Cup for three years in a row but instead they slumped to a third consecutive home defeat in all competitions for the first time since November 2002.
Having to overhaul a 2-0 deficit at European champions Barcelona in their Champions League last 16 return leg next week and standing eight points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City with only nine games left, the FA Cup was Arsenal's most realistic chance of a trophy this season.
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Martial keeps United's hopes alive after Payet masterpiece
Reuters
Manchester United striker Anthony Martial kept their FA Cup hopes alive when he struck eight minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw with West Ham United in Sunday's quarter-final tie at Old Trafford.
West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet looked to be sending the 11-times Cup winners tumbling out of the competition with a wondrous, curling free kick in the 68th minute.
But with time running out, United's young French starlet Martial hooked Ander Herrera's cross back into the net from the narrowest of angles.
United will now have a replay at what will be the last Cup tie to be staged at West Ham's Boleyn Ground in the Londoners' final season there before they move to the Olympic Stadium.
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PSG demolish Troyes 9-0 to clinch Ligue 1 title
Reuters
Four goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic spurred Paris St Germain to their fourth successive Ligue 1 title with a 9-0 rout of Troyes, becoming the first team to win the championship after 30 matches.
Ibrahimovic's sensational nine-minute hat-trick at the start of the second half followed goals from Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot. Matthieu Saunier's own goal and further strikes by Cavani and Ibrahimovic completed the biggest away victory in Ligue 1 history.
PSG moved up to 77 points, 25 clear of second-place Monaco, winning the league with eight games still to play.
The championship is the sixth in the club's history and the fastest-ever Ligue 1 victory, breaking the record set by Gerard Houllier's Olympique Lyonnais in 2007, who won the title after 33 matches.
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Dortmund ease past Mainz as fan dies in stands
Reuters
Borussia Dortmund scored in each half to ease past Mainz 05 2-0 on Sunday and stay five points off leaders Bayern Munich with eight matches left in the season.
The Ruhr valley club were never troubled in the game, overshadowed by the death of a fan in the tribunes from an apparent heart attack, and should have scored more goals were it not for Mainz's Loris Karius.
The keeper single-handedly kept the scoreline low, denying Dortmund on more than six occasions with a string of outstanding saves as fans kept quiet, stunned by the sudden death among them.
Dortmund said a second fan had also suffered a heart attack but was resuscitated and in a stable condition in hospital.
"During the game there was a tragic incident where two people had to be resuscitated. One person did not make it," Dortmund said in a brief statement. "We are filled with grief and our thoughts are with the families."
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"Unbelievable" Kane boosts Spurs' title push with double
Reuters
Harry Kane was hailed as "unbelievable" after the England striker's 21st and 22nd goals of the season inspired Tottenham Hotspur to a routine win at hapless Aston Villa on Sunday that boosted their Premier League title ambitions.
Kane ended Villa's resistance in the space of three minutes either side of halftime, taking his tally to 18 goals in his last 20 league appearances, assisted on each occasion by a superb delivery from Dele Alli.
Kane's double left a delighted Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino to enthuse in an interview with BBC: "Harry Kane is an unbelievable guy who works hard for the team. I am very pleased for him."
The victory for Spurs consigned bottom-placed Villa to a 20th league defeat of the season while Pochettino's side moved just two points behind leaders Leicester City at the top of the table.
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Third-placed Real grab last-gasp winner at Las Palmas
Reuters
Real Madrid's Casemiro headed a late winner to earn a barely deserved 2-1 victory at Las Palmas in La Liga on Sunday as they moved back within four points of second-placed Atletico Madrid.
Casemiro nodded home from a corner two minutes after the home side's Willian Jose struck in the 87th to equalise after a misplaced pass from Madrid substitute Mateo Kovacic.
Sergio Ramos's flicked header had given Real the lead in the 24th against a determined Las Palmas, who had won their previous three league games to move clear of the relegation zone.
Third-placed Real are 10 points clear of Villarreal, who lost 4-2 at Sevilla in a game between fourth and fifth, but are 12 points off leaders Barcelona who beat Getafe 6-0 on Saturday.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
