THIS year’s Women’s FA Cup final will be between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The semi-finals saw United surprisingly beat holders Chelsea 2-1 in front of just under 7,000 people. United took the lead after 60 seconds through Lucy Garcia and added a second with a Rachel Williams header on 23. Lauren James pulled one back in first half added time. England keeper Mary Earps pulled off some fine saves to keep Chelsea at bay, but United hung on to avenge their cup final defeat last season. Tottenham also won 2-1 against Leicester City at the Tottenham stadium, watched by a crowd of 18,000. Leicester led through Jutta Rantala but Jessica Naz drew Spurs level seven minutes from the end. In extra time, there were just two minutes to go when Martha Thomas headed the winner. The final is on May 12 at Wembley.
The Premier League title race swung in favour of Manchester City at the weekend, with Pep Guardiola’s side winning handsomely and their nearest rivals, Arsenal and Liverpool, both losing at home. City are now two points clear with six games to go. They won 5-1 against Luton Town with five different goalscorers. Erling Haaland, who leads the Premier goalscoring chart, was on the scoresheet with a penalty just before he was substituted. Arsenal were beaten by Aston Villa at the Emirates, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins scoring in the last seven minutes. Liverpool, meanwhile, lost 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace, Eberechi Eze scoring in the 14thminute. Liverpool enjoyed 70% of possession and had 21 shots on goal. For the second time in three days, the Reds were beaten on their own turf, the Palace defeat coming after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League. Tottenham suffered a blow to their Champions League aspirations when they were beaten 4-0 by Newcastle United.
Football in Plovdiv in Bulgaria has received a boost from the government, who have provided grants totalling € 35.7 million so the city’s two clubs can complete their new stadium projects. Lokomotiv and Botev have received the cash from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, just before Bulgaria’s administration was taken over by a caretaker government. It’s not the first time the two clubs have received cash to build their grounds – in 2020, € 18.5 million was provided, but the big problem is the rising cost of the new arenas. The two Plovdivs are currently in the top six in the Bulgarian league.
Among the most high profile management jobs to be filled in the summer are at Bayern Munich and Liverpool. Bayern, who have just been deposed as German champions for the first time since 2012, have apparently shown an interest in Zinedine Zidane, who has been off the scene since leaving Real Madrid for the second time in 2021. There have been rumours for some time that Zidane is keen to return to the game. He won three Champions Leagues as coach of Real as well as two La Liga titles. Liverpool, after being linked with Xabi Alonso and Ruben Amorim, are also considering Niko Kovac, the former Bayern Munich, Monaco and Wolfsburg coach.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 