Man City 3-0 Brentford: Haaland, Doku & Marmoush net to keep title race alive

Manchester City moved two points behind Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table and boosted their goal difference as three second-half goals clinched a 3-0 win over Brentford.

2025/2026 Premier League

3 - 0

Doku (60')

Haaland (75')

Omar Marmoush (90'+2')

Match Report 

Jeremy Doku, whose double salvaged a 3-3 draw with Everton on Monday, produced an almost identical curling finish to break the deadlock in the 60th minute before Haaland backheeled a close-range second then set up the third for Omar Marmoush.

The victory keeps the pressure on Arsenal ahead of their game against West Ham at the London Stadium on Super Sunday, and means they are only one goal behind the Gunners for goal difference.

Brentford were aggrieved by several refereeing decisions that went against them, the first of which saw Matheus Nunes cleared by VAR after a last-man challenge on Kevin Schade which sent the Brentford forward tumbling to the ground.

Later in a tense first half, a prone Bernardo Silva was only booked for hitting out at the leg of Brentford defender Nathan Collins with his arm. Brentford had a penalty appeal turned down in the second half after another coming together between Nunes and Schade.

Man City XI: Ake, Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Haaland, Guehi, Reijnders, Antoine Semenyo, Matheus Nunes, Cherki, Doku, Nico O'Reilly

Subs: Kovacic, Stones, Ruben Dias, Foden, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Nico González, James Trafford, Savinho

Brentford XI: Kristoffer Ajer, Kelleher, Mathias Jensen, Mikkel Damsgaard, Aaron Hickey, Keane Lewis-Potter, Nathan Collins, Kevin Schade, Igor Thiago, Yegor Yarmolyuk, Michael Kayode

Subs: Henderson, J. Dasilva, Janelt, Nelson, Ethan Pinnock, Hákon Valdimarsson, Van den Berg, Dango Ouattara, Kaye Furo

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Man Utd 3-2 Liverpool: Mainoo decides Old Trafford thriller as MU seal top-5 spot, Cunha & Sesko net

Kobbie Mainoo scored the winner as Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-2 at Old Trafford to secure Champions League qualification for next season. 

2025/2026 Premier League

3 - 2

Matheus Cunha (6')

Benjamin Sesko (14')

Mainoo (77')

Szoboszlai (47')

Gakpo (56')

Match Report

Following Bournemouth's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, the Red Devils needed one point to be certain of finishing in the Premier League's top five.

It looked as though they would take all three comfortably after a lightning start had them 2-0 up inside 14 minutes. Matheus Cunha's strike deflected in off Alexis Mac Allister, then Freddie Woodman was unfortunate to see the ball bounce in off Benjamin Sesko after he got a hand to Bruno Fernandes' header across goal.

Fernandes passed up a good chance to put United 3-0 up before half-time, but Michael Carrick's team then lost control of the contest within 11 minutes of the restart. 

Dominik Szoboszlai intercepted Amad Diallo's loose pass and carried the ball from deep before finishing across Senne Lammens, who then gifted Liverpool their equaliser.

Mac Allister latched onto the goalkeeper's loose pass and found Szoboszlai, who immediately teed up Cody Gakpo for a first-time finish.

Lammens atoned by preventing an own goal from Luke Shaw, and United made the most of that reprieve when Mac Allister's weak clearance fell to Mainoo in the 77th minute.

The midfielder, who signed a new five-year contract at Old Trafford earlier this week, confidently placed a first-time effort into the bottom-left corner, as United guaranteed their place among Europe's elite for next season.

Liverpool still need a maximum of four points to join them in clinching a top-five finish, with Chelsea, Aston Villa and Brentford their final three opponents.

Carrick has won eight of his nine home Premier League games as United manager (L1), including his previous interim spell in 2021. 

He is only the sixth manager – and the first from England – to win eight or more of his first nine home matches in the competition, and the first since Antonio Conte with Chelsea in 2016-17 (also 8/9).

After 14 minutes, it was the earliest they had ever gone 2-0 up in a Premier League match against Liverpool (previous fastest was 18 minutes, in September 1999). It was also the earliest the Reds had been 2-0 down in any Premier League game since February 2023 against Wolves (12 minutes).

Arne Slot's team fought back to 2-2 and, at one point, United's remarkable run of not losing a home league game when leading at half-time (which now stands at 399 matches) was under threat.

But Mainoo's first Premier League goal in 718 days (versus Newcastle United in May 2024) clinched the victory, sealing United's first Premier League double over Liverpool since 2015-16.

Man Utd XI: Casemiro, Maguire, Luke Shaw, Bruno Fernandes, Dalot, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Senne Lammens, Benjamin Sesko, Mainoo, Ayden Heaven

Subs: Mount, Mazraoui, Altay Bayındır, Ugarte, Malacia, Zirkzee, Amad Diallo Traore, Yoro, Patrick Dorgu

Liverpool XI: Van Dijk, Robertson, Freddie Woodman, Konate, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Gravenberch, Jeremie Frimpong, Wirtz

Subs: Joe Gomez, Chiesa, Milos Kerkez, Ármin Pécsi, Trey Nyoni, Kieran Morrison, Rio Ngumoha, Will Wright, Mor Talla Ndiaye

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Inter 2-0 Parma: Nerazzurri clinch Serie A title with three rounds to spare, Thuram & Mkhitaryan net

Inter Milan have won the Serie A title for the 21st time, reclaiming the Scudetto with a 2-0 win over Parma at San Siro and ending the Crociati’s four-match unbeaten run in the process.

2025/2026 Serie A

2 - 0

Thuram (45'+1')

Mkhitaryan (80')

Match Report

Napoli’s goalless draw yesterday meant a point would be enough, but Inter weren’t making it easy for themselves early on, giving Enrico Del Prato a free header from close range, though had he found the target, the home side may have been spared by the offside flag. Four minutes later, it was Inter’s turn to go close with a headed chance – Denzel Dumfries nodding wide when cutting in to meet Nicolò Barella’s ball. Despite confirming their safety in the previous round, Parma weren’t on the beach just yet, and 20 minutes in Mateo Pellegrino was wasteful with a rushed volley when he had time to take a touch.

The Nerazzurri were millimetres away from breaking the deadlock midway through the half when Barella linked up superbly with Petar Sučić and Pio Esposito before firing against the underside of the bar, and Zion Suzuki scrambled the ball clear before anyone in black & blue could pounce on the rebound. Parma had kept clean sheets in their previous two games, and they were almost halfway to an unlikely third in succession, until first-half added time, when they were unlocked by a simple Piotr Zieliński through ball to Marcus Thuram, who set himself before guiding home his sixth goal in the last five league games to put Inter ahead at HT.

The floodgates failed to open for the home side early in the second half, though against a side to have scored 25 times all season, one goal was quickly looking to be enough for Cristian Chivu’s side, for whom Sučić’s blocked effort was the only shot at either end before the hour mark. Federico Dimarco was Inter’s driving force as the final quarter of the match began, twice getting free down the left and sending dangerous low balls into the box, but one was just behind Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and the other blasted over by Dumfries.

Substitute Lautaro Martínez finally produced the first shot on target of the half when he collected Barella’s cutback but sent it straight at Suzuki in the 78th minute, but not only did the second arrive just two minutes later, but it killed the game and secured the title. This time Martínez was the provider, sending a low cross over from the right for the sliding Mkhitaryan to tap in. It’s five wins in six for Inter and 11 home matches unbeaten, but a second scudetto in three years is the only thing that matters for Il Biscione. The offside flag denied Nesta Elphege a consolation for Carlos Cuesta’s side who suffered just a second away defeat in seven, and are now 10 H2H matches without a win.

Inter XI: Sommer, Zielinski, Dimarco, Barella, Akanji, Thuram, Dumfries, Bastoni, Yann Bisseck, Petar Sučić, Pio Esposito

Subs: Darmian, Mkhitaryan, De Vrij, Acerbi, Calhanoglu, Di Gennaro, Lautaro, Frattesi, Josep Martínez, Carlos Augusto, Luis Henrique, Andy Diouf, Ange-Yoan Bonny, Matteo Cocchi, Mattia Mosconi

Parma XI: Strefezza, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Emanuele Valeri, Zion Suzuki, Enrico Delprato, Bernabe, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Mandela Keita, Alessandro Circati, Mateo Pellegrino, Mariano Troilo

Subs: Nahuel Estévez, Pontus Almqvist, Lautaro Valenti, Gaetano Oristanio, Oliver Sørensen, Filippo Rinaldi, Jacob Ondrejka, Edoardo Corvi, Franco Carboni, Nesta Elphege, Christian Ordóñez, Sascha Britschgi

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Espanyol 0-2 Real Madrid: Vini Jr nets double as Bellingham and Gonzalo Garcia assist

 Vinícius Júnior's second-half double earned Real Madrid a 2-0 win at RCD Espanyol to delay Barcelona’s title celebrations, as Los Blancos kept a first clean sheet in LaLiga since February 8. 

2025/2026 La Liga

0 - 2

Vinicius (55')

Vinicius (66')

Match Report

Espanyol were in the strange position of knowing they could hand the title to city rivals Barça if they took anything from the game, and they could have gone ahead inside three minutes when Roberto Fernández scuffed a shot wide from 15 yards out. The hosts did not look like a team who had failed to win any of their previous 16 matches (D6, L10) as they made a strong start, although they were grateful to see Vinícius’ deflected effort cannon off the post in the eighth minute. That chance signalled a change of momentum as Real took control, before the hosts briefly thought they had been reduced to 10 men when Omar El Hilali received a straight red card for a late challenge on Vinícius in the 25th minute. However, referee Jesús Gil Manzano downgraded it to a booking after consulting the pitchside monitor. 

The home fans’ furious reaction to that decision appeared to spark Espanyol into life, and Tyrhys Dolan blazed a good chance over the crossbar. Federico Valverde then nodded straight at Marko Dmitrović before Brahim Díaz fired over on the turn for Real, while Andriy Lunin made a brilliant save to keep out Leandro Cabrera’s close-range header in first-half stoppage time.

Real had 45 minutes to delay the Barça party, and they made the breakthrough 10 minutes after HT when Vinícius exchanged passes with Gonzalo García in the box, before slotting past Dmitrović. Ramon Terrats almost equalised instantly with an acrobatic effort, but the ball struck a team-mate and looped over the crossbar, before the midfielder curled just wide of Lunin’s far post. Vinícius would not be upstaged, though, and doubled the lead midway through the half when he took Jude Bellingham’s back-heel in his stride and fired into the top corner. It was the Brazilian’s 21st goal of the season across all competitions, and his eighth goal involvement in the past seven games against Espanyol (G5, A3).

Carlos Romero fired straight at Lunin as the hosts searched for a response, but it was in vain as they failed to score for the fourth time in five matches. This hard-fought victory ends Real’s three-game winless run on the road, but they must beat Barcelona at Camp Nou next Sunday to keep their very faint title hopes alive for another week. Meanwhile, Espanyol are still waiting for their first win of 2026 and could find themselves only three points above the bottom three if Sevilla beat Real Sociedad on Monday.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

4' Ruben Sanchez receives a quality pass and releases a rocket of a shot, but his effort goes just wide

8' Vini Jr smashed a shot from the edge of the box, but the ball only crashed against the post

10' Vini Jr is brought down by the defender from behind

14' Mendy is not able to play anymore and Fran Garcia replaces him

22' Yellow Card! Brahim Diaz goes into the book for a previous late challenge

26' Red card awarded to Omar El Hilali is reduced to a yellow following the VAR review!

41' Fran Garcia sends a cross into the box to meet Valverde, but the captain's header is saved

44' Brahim gets to a rebound and unleashes a shot inside the box, but it sails just high

49' Cabrera heads the ball towards the net, but Lunin is alert and denies the effort

50' Yellow Card! Alexander-Arnold booked as he commits a nasty foul by bringing down his opponent

54' Brahim Diaz and Thiago Pitarch go off, Gonzalo Garcia and Mastantuono come on

56' GOAL! Vini Jr waves past the defenders and unleashes a shot into the net! Espanyol 0-1 Real Madrid

66' GOAL! Bellingham provides a back-heel pass to assist Vini Jr score! Espanyol 0-2 Real Madrid

76' Romero's attempt around the edge of the box goes low towards the target, but Lunin makes a save

79' Mastantuono receives a pass and strikes towards the bottom corner, but the keeper denies his effort

81' Vini Jr sprays a wonderful pass out to Gonzalo Garcia, who just sends the ball over the crossbar

Line-ups

Espanyol XI: Rubén Sánchez, Cabrera, Dmitrovic, Calero, Exposito, Ramón Terrats, Tyrhys Dolan, Urko González de Zárate, Omar El Hilali, Roberto Fernández, Carlos Romero

Subs: Kike, Pere Milla, Charles Pickel, Miguel Rubio, Jofre Carreras, José Salinas, Ángel Fortuño, Antoniu Roca, Clemens Riedel, Alex Almansa, Lluc Castell, Ferran Gómez

Real Madrid XI: Rudiger, F Mendy, Alexander-Arnold, Valverde, Brahim, Lunin, Tchouameni, Vinicius, Bellingham, Dean Huijsen, Thiago Pitarch

Subs: Alaba, Fran García, Camavinga, Álvaro Carreras, David Jiménez, Gonzalo García, Raúl Asencio, César Palacios, Fran González, Sergio Mestre, Franco Mastantuono

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