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RESULTS

FA Cup, Quarter-finals: Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester City. City are the first side in men’s FA Cup history to reach the semi-finals in seven consecutive seasons. Preston North End 0-3 Aston Villa. Villa’s win over Preston is their biggest winning margin in an FA Cup game since January 1999, while Marcus Rashford broke his four-month scoring drought with a brace. Brighton & Hove Albion 0 - 0 Nottingham Forest (Forest win 4-3 on pens). Nottingham Forest won a third straight FA Cup penalty shootout to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in 34 years.

Editor’s note: The FA Cup semi-final draw has taken place—Nottingham Forest will face Manchester City, and Crystal Palace will play Aston Villa. Semi-finals will be played at Wembley on April 26 and April 27.

More results…

• FA Cup QF: Fulham 0-3 Palace (Report)

• WSL: Man Utd 2-0 Everton | Brighton 1-2 Man City | Palace 0-4 Arsenal | Leciester 1-1 Spurs | Liverpool 1-2 Villa | Chelsea 2-2 West Ham (Table)

• La Liga: Barcelona 4-1 Girona (Report / Table)

• Serie A: Fiorentina 1-0 Atalanta | Inter 2-1 Udinese | Napoli 2-1 AC Milan (Table)

• Ligue 1: Saint-Etienne 1-6 PSG | Reims 3-1 Marseille | Monaco 2-1 Nice (Table)

• MLS: All results (More)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Barcelona’s ‘Ineligible’ Player

Osasuna have launched an appeal claiming that Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez was ineligible to play against them on Thursday. The rescheduled match saw Osasuna lose 3-0.

Martinez, who withdrew from the Spain squad for their Nations League games due to an injury, played the full 90 minutes against Osasuna. According to Fifa’s regulations, players who do not join or leave their national team for medical reasons “may not play matches for [their] club during the five calendar days following the end of the international period.” Osasuna argues this rule rendered Martinez ineligible to play.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation’s regulations state that if a club fields a player who does "not meet the requirements to participate", the club shall forfeit the match, and the opposition will be declared the winner. The appeal result could impact this year’s La Liga title race, with Barcelona just three points ahead of Real Madrid (See Table). It’s unclear when a decision on the appeal will be made.

Arsenal Dating Show

Arsenal FC have launched a dating show as part of the club’s new documentary series called The Big Match. The north London club are inviting supporters to take part as singles will be brought together on a match day for a blind date in a bid to find love.

Applicants must be single, British citizens over 18 who can prove they support Arsenal. They must also detail whether they smoke, vape or drink, and outline their preferred age, height and “usual type” for a partner. The deadline to apply is April 11.

Elite football clubs across the globe are increasingly considering themselves content providers. Not only is this a way of attracting a younger audience, but a report found that engaged fans spend six times more than casual fans.

In other news, Arsenal have confirmed the appointment of Andrea Berta as the club’s new sporting director. The Italian has a strong reputation after spending 12 years at Atletico, responsible for the signings of Jan Oblak, Antoine Greizmann, Rodri, Julian Alvarez, Luis Suarez and more. Learn more about Berta here.

VAR Protests

Norwegian football fans staged a number of protests (paywall) across the top two divisions after the governing body voted to keep using VAR. The technology was kept despite its professional clubs voting to discontinue it in January.

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) has been in favour of keeping VAR ever since it was introduced to Eliteserien in 2023. In response to the professional clubs voting against VAR, the NFF asked all 450 member clubs–comprising mostly amateur clubs who do not use VAR–to vote on whether to maintain the technology. The vote ended 321 in favour of keeping the system and 129 against.

Protests against VAR have been frequent in Norway, with one match abandoned after supporters threw fishcakes, tennis balls and smokebombs onto the pitch. In Europe, only Sweden have rejected implementing VAR after a backlash from fans in May last year. Dive deeper into Sweden’s decision here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Paris Saint-Germain, 21 points clear and unbeaten in Ligue 1, are just one point away from winning the league with seven matches left to play; PSG face 14th-placed Angers on April 5 next (More)

> Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), is exploring a deal to purchase Spanish second-tier side Malaga, a week after it was announced PSG’s owner QSI were interested in the club (More)

> Kylian Mbappe scored the winner as Real Madrid fought back to beat Leganes 3-2 (Highlights / Report); he has matched Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut season goals (33) for Real Madrid, albeit in 10 more games | Barcelona go three points clear at the top of the La Liga table after their 4-1 win over Girona—their ninth straight league win (Table)

> After 18 matches, Chelsea Women are still unbeaten in the Women’s Super League and six points clear after a 2-2 draw to West Ham (More)

> Thomas Muller’s contract will reportedly not be extended at Bayern Munich (More) | RB Leipzig have sacked head coach Marco Rose (More)

Americas

> Lionel Messi scores after coming off the bench in Inter Miami’s 2-1 win over Philadelphia Union (See Goal via X); Miami lead the Eastern conference table with a game in hand | Vancouver Whitecaps remain top of the Western conference despite a goalless draw away at Toronto (Conference Tables)

> A $20m medical malpractice lawsuit has been won by former Portland Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson against the club’s team doctor (More) | Billionaire businessman David Blitzer is in advanced talks to sell a large stake in both Real Salt Lake of MLS and the Utah Royals of NWSL after owning both franchises since 2022 (More)

> Brazil has dismissed head coach Dorival Junior following Tuesday's 4-1 loss to Argentina (More)

> Dani Alves, former Brazil and Barcelona right-back, has been acquitted of sexual assault (More) 

Rest of the World

> Auckland FC extend their lead by seven at the top of the men’s A-League table after a 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar (More) | Melbourne City, unbeaten all season, remain top of the women’s A-League table with a 1-0 away win at Wellington (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Friday’s Poll: Do you think cracking down on emotional celebrations is a bad thing for the game?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🤕 Yes... (54%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (42%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (4%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🤕 I.P: “Emotions are part of any game. How can we stop anyone from showing their emotions, win or lose? It's part of being human. As long as it's not physical, let players display their emotions. Next thing you know, they're going to ban players from crying when they lose or win.”

• 🤕 J.D.G: “Emotional celebrations are a natural part of soccer—it's all about the passion and intensity of the game. Cracking down on them could diminish the raw emotion and excitement that players and fans love.”

• 🙅‍♂️ J.M: “Play the game. It’s ok to celebrate, but excessive celebrations are not okay. You are getting paid millions of dollars to do your job. Do your job. I’m a teacher and I don’t take my shirt off and throw it to a student when kids do well on my test because I taught a great lesson.”

• 🙅‍♂️ N.M: “It depends on what the celebration is. There's still some level of sportsmanship and decency expected regardless of the emotions involved. Getting swept up in emotions shouldn't be an excuse for unsportsmanlike or vulgar behavior.”

EXTRA TIME

How goalkeepers have changed over time.

Man City and the league’s financial scandal—but in 1906.

The internet debates whether this is Mbappe’s first-ever freekick goal.

Bayern Munich’s 25-26 third kit leaked.

Newcastle’s open-top city-wide celebrations. (w/photos)

You’ve probably never seen a goal like this. (via X)

Why FA Cup semi-finals are played at Wembley.

Player replicates Adebayor’s revenge celebration.

Chelsea's first team beaten 3-0 by U21s.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Kylian Mbappe has equaled Cristiano Ronaldo's debut season goal tally of 33 at Real Madrid. Can you name the only other player to score 33 goals in their first season at the club?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

La Liga

• Celta Vigo vs Las Palmas (20:00)

Serie A

• Verona vs Parma (17:30)

• Lazio vs Torino (19:45)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006-07.