Sports - Saturday, April 18, 2026

Liverpool face competition from Manchester United and Real Madrid to sign Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton. Transfer Talk has the latest.

Manchester United beat Chelsea to move closer to a Champions League return and silence the growing Michael Carrick doubters.

NFL says no probe into Vrabel over resort photos Patriots silent on whether team will launch review Russini resigned from job after images surfaced The NFL is not investigating Mike Vrabel’s behavior after published photos of the New England Patriots coach and former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini at an Arizona resort prompted her resignation and an internal investigation at The New York Times-owned sports outlet. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed to the Associated Press on Saturday the league is not looking into the matter. The Patriots didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether the team has launched its own review of Vrabel’s actions. Continue reading...

Here's what has stood out from the latest playoff games of the Eastern Conference's first round.

Match of the Day pundits Ashely Williams and Joe Hart analyse Ayden Heaven's performance against Chelsea after the young defender played a key role in Manchester United's win alongside strong performances from other senior players.

The two clubs are struggling to relive former glories and fans are not happy as the overlords make them foot the bill English football’s two best teams are from London and Manchester. On Sunday, they meet to decide this season’s Premier League title . Chelsea and Manchester United are not those clubs. Both have dropped from the local prominence they once commanded. If United have a top-four place nailed down, there is significant drop-off from Arsenal and Manchester City. Those two clubs’ gap to Chelsea becomes close to a chasm. Brentford, level on points, may soon enough surpass Chelsea as west London’s best team. United are far closer to a renaissance, though there have been many false dawns since 2013. Both clubs share much in common in the betrayal of previous legends. Rebellion reigns among Chelsea fans. They staged a protest against their current ownership, joined this time by ultras from Strasbourg, both groups raging against the unwelcome changes BlueCo’s stewardship has brought, all for a debt mountain that makes little obvious sense. Continue reading...

Here's what has stood out from the latest playoff games of the Western Conference's first round.

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior admits his side face a "mountain to climb" as their campaign unravels at a crucial juncture following defeat by Manchester United.

Atlético Madrid 2-2 Real Sociedad (aet: 3-4 on pens) Lookman 19, Alvarez 83; Barrenetxea 1, Oyarzabal 45+1pen History has a pair unexpected heroes. Unai Marrero, a 24-year-old back-up goalkeeper, born in San Sebastián and raised at Real Sociedad, saved two penalties in the shootout to put his boyhood club within a single shot of victory on the what his captain had called the night of their lives. Then he embraced Pablo Marin, the former ballboy who now walked towards him carrying all of their hopes on his shoulders, kissed him on the cheek and asked his teammate to take them over the line. So Marin, 22, and on as a substitute, did just that, stepping up and securing only the fourth Copa del Rey in la Real’s history, defeating Atlético Madrid from the spot. Last time they had won it, in 2021, it took a penalty. This time it took six of them; Mikel Oyarzabal, as he had done then, scored one during the 90 minutes on the way to a 2-2 draw and three more men did in the shootout. Back then, Real Sociedad had won the trophy it in an empty stadium, unable to avoid the feeling that something was missing. Now at last they had done it in front of thousands of fans in Seville – there to see a trophy lifted for the first time in 38 years. Continue reading...

Match of the Day pundit Ashley Williams praises Pedro Porro's attacking play but thinks he needs to do more defensively with his team in a relegation battle.