Football News

ARSENAL 5-0 CHELSEA - OLIVER HOLT AT THE EMIRATES: So much for The Choke. So much for the idea that Arsenal are somehow preternaturally inclined to lose their nerve in the white heat of a title race. So much for the idea that we might as well have handed the Premier League trophy to Manchester City already. Arsenal are not choking. They are resurgent. They have dealt with the blip of their home defeat to Aston Villa and elimination from the Champions League and now they are playing like kings again. They can see the finish line and they are sprinting towards it. They did not just beat Chelsea last night. They humiliated them. That is not a particularly high bar this season, admittedly, but Arsenal looked back to their very best in a 5-0 rout in which Martin Odegaard was breathtakingly brilliant and Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were not far behind.

Thiago Silva's wife (right with the defender) delivered another cryptic dig at Chelsea following their 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal. The Blues suffered a humiliating defeat at the Emirates Stadium, as former player Kai Havertz and Ben White both bagged themselves a brace, after Leandro Trossard had opened up the scoring. Silva, 39, came off the bench after 78 minutes to provide experience to a youthful Chelsea starting XI.

Jackson was looking to close Tomiyasu down after he bypassed Conor Gallagher in the middle of the pitch but ended up clattering into him. 

Chelsea's social media team couldn't bring themselves to name Kai Havertz after he scored twice against them. While Havertz felt no shame celebrating in front of the Chelsea fans despite having a prior relationship with the club after joining Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen from £75m back in 2020.

Replacing Jurgen Klopp won't be an easy job, but in Arne Slot, the Reds might find a strong solution to an unenviable task.   The Feyenoord boss has emerged as a strong contender to succeed Klopp at Anfield this summer,  after fan-favourite Xabi Alonso opted to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for another season, while talk has run cold on the prospects of Ruben Amorim making the switch from Sporting Lisbon. He is a man who Tottenham supporters will be well aware of, as he looked on course to replace Antonio Conte a year ago after his excellent work in Rotterdam. Yet, there was a twist in the tale, as the 45-year-old opted to stay at Feyenoord and sign a new contract.

CHRIS WHEELER: Erik ten Hag came out swinging on Tuesday and branded his critics 'a disgrace' over the backlash from Manchester United 's FA Cup semi-final win over Coventry. Having denied that United's collapse was 'embarrassing' in his after-match press conference at Wembley, Ten Hag doubled down ahead of Wednesday's Premier League clash with Sheffield United as he rounded on his detractors and defended his record.

ALVISE CAGNAZZO: We have only just entered the final month of the Serie A season, but the league title was officially decided this weekend as Inter Milan claimed their 20th Scudetto. Simone Inzaghi's men wrapped up the championship in exactly the way they would have wanted, beating arch-rivals AC Milan 2-1 on Monday night - which piled pressure on Rossoneri boss Stefano Piolo (inset left). Inter's early coronation has in part been due to Juventus's collapse in the second half of the season, and they were held to a 2-2 draw on Friday by relegation-threatened Cagliari. Meanwhile, Victor Osimhen (inset right) and his Napoli side hit a new low with their loss to Empoli.

TOM COLLOMOSSE: Nottingham Forest's remarks about Stuart Attwell have left them under attack from all sides but the club's explosive statement after their defeat at Everton was the straw that broke the camel's back. Throughout the campaign Forest have felt they have been on the wrong end of poor decisions from the officials and the three penalties they believe they were denied at Goodison Park has tipped them over the edge. They will surely regret the manner of their post on X, which claimed Attwell was a fan of Forest's relegation rivals Luton.

Manchester United have privately accepted replacing Erik ten Hag at the end of the season would come with a certain degree of risk, chiefly because of the lack of an outstanding candidate. The Dutchman avoided humiliation as his side beat Coventry 4-2 on penalties in the FA Cup semi-finals, after the Championship side fought back from 3-0 down to force extra time. But while ten Hag has taken his side to a third final in two seasons, his future hangs by a thread after Sunday's near-fatal collapse against Mark Robins' men.

Ruben Amorim is unlikely to book a move to either Liverpool or West Ham ahead of next season according to reports in Portugal. The Sporting Lisbon manager has been the focus of significant interest by both the Reds - who will say goodbye to longstanding manager Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season, and West Ham, whose current head coach David Moyes remains undecided on his future at the London Stadium. Amorim has previously also caught the eye of West Ham's rivals in the capital Chelsea, but came closest to appearing to show favour on Monday when he flew to London - where he is believed to have held talks with the Hammers. 

Aston Villa have reportedly extended the contract of boss Unai Emery until 2027, amid interest from elsewhere. The Spaniard, 52, has had a stunning impact at Villa Park since joining from Villarreal in October 2022. After taking over a side who were just one point clear of the relegation zone, Emery guided them to a seventh place finish and qualification for the Europa Conference League. In fact, from his appointment to the end of last season, Villa picked up 49 points from 25 games, a record that was only bettered by Man City, Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool.

Former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has arrived at Southwark Crown Court to give evidence in a trial that sees football agent Saif Rubie accused of sending her a threatening email during her tenure at the west London club. The Russian-Canadian football administrator was a key figure under the club's former owner Roman Abramovich, and is at the centre of the court case after receiving an email from Rubie in which he is alleged to have demanded payment for Kurt Zouma's move from Chelsea to West Ham in 2021.

Manchester United's penalty shootout FA Cup semi-final win over Coventry City brought more questions than answers - both in terms of Erik ten Hag and his players.  This has been a season riddled by mistakes on and off the pitch for United and with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team now assuming control of football operations, a summer shake-up feels inevitable.  United are looking to raise £100million through player sales and for some shown the door that will mean accepting a sizeable loss on their initial transfer outlay. Mail Sport runs through Manchester United's squad to work out who stays and who goes.