Right, that’s the afternoon’s live chat done. There’s more to come, of course, with Manchester City v Wolves kicking off in a few minutes, after an afternoon that brought cheer for Nottingham Forest fans and more despair for those of Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton.
So it’s bye from me. Go and join Rob:
Ivan Toney is still struggling to get up to speed after returning from his gambling ban. Ben Bloom has more on that, and on something of a nonevent derby against Fulham:
Aaron Bower was at Bramall Lane, watching a vital win for Nottingham Forest:
Nottingham Forest took a significant step towards Premier League safety as two goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and another from their captain, Ryan Yates, piled more misery on bottom-placed Sheffield United. The victory moved Forest three points clear of Luton Town with two games remaining
Full-time: Real Madrid 3-0 Cadiz
As I was saying …
Updated
Goal! Real Madrid 3-0 Cadiz (Joselu 90+3)
They could yet be partying in Madrid (again) tonight, as Joselu makes sure of victory. Unless Barcelona win a tricky game at Girona, Los Blancos will seal the title tonight. That one kicks off imminently.
Burnley are now five points adrift of safety with only two matches – away at Spurs and at home to Forest – remaining. Will Unwin was at Turf Moor to pick over their defeat by Newcastle.
Two years ago Newcastle defeated Burnley to send them down to the Championship and the Clarets’ 22nd loss of this season felt like having the same result this time around as the hosts capitulated.
More full-times
Let’s do a bit of a classified:
Premier League
Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth
Brentford 0-0 Fulham
Burnley 1-4 Newcastle
Sheffield United 1-3 Nottingham Forest
Scottish Premiership
Aberdeen 1-0 St Johnstone
Celtic 3-0 Hearts
Dundee 1-3 St Mirren
Motherwell 4-1. Livingston
Ross County 2-1 Hibs
Bundesliga (selected)
Dortmund 5-1 Augsburh
Stuttgart 3-1 Bayern Munich
Full-time: Brentford 0-0 Fulham
Nothing to see here.
Full-time: Sheffield United 1-3 Nottingham Forest
All over at Bramall Lane, and perhaps for Luton and Burnley’s survival hopes too. To compound matters, the Blades had Anel Ahmedhodzic sent off for a daft pointless foul in the closing seconds.
Full-time: Burnley 1-4 Newcastle
Newcastle’s fine form continues with a ruthless demolition of Burnley, who now look doomed, five points off safety. It’s been quite the day for Blackburn fans.
Full-times: Celtic 3-0 Hearts, which tees up next week’s Old Firm nicely, and Motherwell 4-1 Livingston, which seals the latter’s relegation. Ross County have a vital 2-1 win over Hibs
Updated
Apologies for relative radio silence from the GTech Community Stadium but still nowt doing between Brentford and Fulham, defences on top, Brentford perhaps shading it chances-wise.
Updated
The Falkirk Invincibles 2023-24 is back on! An 85th minute penalty has made it 2-2 v Alloa…
Not my words, the words of Simon McMahon.
Goal! Burnley 1-4 Newcastle (O'Shea 86)
Those Clarets fans still in Turf Moor are given a goal to half-heartedly applaud but it’s all too late. It’s a fine header, mind, from Johann Gudmundsson’s cross.
Updated
Goal! Celtic 3-0 Hearts (O'Riley 87pen)
This has never looked in doubt, and Matt Riley converts from the spot to sink Hearts and pile pressure on Rangers for their game against Kilmarnock tomorrow.
Big goal at the bottom – Ross County lead Hibs 2-1.
Goal! Real Madrid 2-0 Cadiz (Bellingham 68)
The fatigued England star didn’t start today but he’s come on and made an instant impact off the bench for the champs elect
Bellingham… second touch, goal.
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) May 4, 2024
Erling Haaland starts for Manchester City! As does Phil Foden. A long evening beckons for Wolves, and the inimitable Rob Smyth is all over it:
In Scotland, Celtic remain in control against Hearts at 2-0 up, while soon-to-be-relegated Livingston have scored a consolation to trail 1-4 at Motherwell. Joel Nouble the scorer.
And the beauty of our audience is that they supply us with bite-sized match reports. Here’s Kari Tulinius:
VfB Stuttgart were considerably better than Bayern, with Kane and company barely getting within sniffing distance of goal in the second half. When Sané came on, he gave the Swabian defense a bit of trouble, but they adjusted and snuffed out the threat. All three goals were well taken, and the Boys from Cannstatt could have scored a couple more. On the evidence of this match, Real Madrid will have little to worry about.
Bundesliga full-times
Silas Katompa Mvumpa rubbed salt in Bayern’s wounds with a stoppage-time goal to give Stuttgart a 3-1 win. In contrast, Dortmund won 5-1.
Borussia Dortmund 5-1 Augsburg
Woflsburg 3-0 Darmstadt
Werder Bremen 2-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
Stuttgart 3-1 Bayern Munich
It’s all over for Livingston’s top-flight status in Scotland, Theo Bair has just put Motherwell 3-0 up against them.
Goal! Sheffield United 1-3 Nottingham Forest (Hudson-Odoi)
The Callum Hudson-Odoi renaissance continues apace, the forward finishing a quick move and firing home from the edge of the area. It’s his second of the afternoon and the 100th goal the Blades have conceded this term. The likelihood of all three promoted sides coming straight back down grows ever stronger. Which is kind of depressing.
Updated
Goal! Real Madrid 1-0 Cadiz (Brahim Díaz 51)
That title gets closer, Diaz taking a pass from Modric and firing into the top corner.
Updated
More travails on the domestic front for Bayern Munich, Jeong Woo-Yeong has struck for Stuttgart on 83 minutes to put them 2-1 up.
Goal! Burnley 0-4 Newcastle (Isak 55)
The respite does not last long, the irrepressible Isak making amends from close range to round off a slick break. What a player he is. And this is becoming a catastrophic day for Burnley.
Updated
Newcastle miss penalty.
Eddie Howe’s side spurn a chance to make it four, Isak seeing a weak penalty saved. But …
Goal! Sheffield Utd 1-2 Nottingham Forest (Yates 51)
What a moment this could be. Ryan Yates smashes home from eight yards to score his first Premier League goal, and what a time for it. And all the Blades’ good first-half work is coming to nothing once more.
Updated
“Apologies to Falkirk fans everywhere,” pleads Simon McMahon, “as I may have jinxed them just as they were on the verge of going the entire league season unbeaten, though a late first half goal has given them hope after they trailed 2-0 at home to local rivals Alloa just before half time.” 1-2 it remains.
Updated
It’s half-time at the Bernabéu and goalless between Real Madrid and Cadiz. If it stays like that, Carlo Ancelotti’s side won’t be able to mathematically clinch it, though let’s face it, it’s in the bag.
Half-times
Scores on the doors in our featured games are as follows:
Premier League
Brentford 0-0 Fulham
Burnley 0-3 Newcastle
Sheffield United 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Scottish Premiership
Celtic 2-0 Hearts
Motherwell 2-0 Livingston
Ross County 1-1 Hibs
La Liga (latest)
Real Madrid 0-0 Cadiz (3.15pm KO)
Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund 5-1 Ausgburg (2.30pm KO)
Stuttgart 1-1 Bayern Munich (2.30pm KO)
Right, I’m off for a cup of tea. Back in a bit
Livingston are heading for the drop out of the Scottish Premiership, Sam Nicholson doubling Motherwell’s lead at Fir Park.
Sounds like a cracker at Bramall Lane – Chris Wood hits the bar for Forest. Rather less happening in west London; still goalless and scrappy between Brentford and Fulham. Defences on top.
Updated
Goal! Burnley 0-3 Newcastle (Guimaraes 40)
Game over? Newcastle are rampant now and another sweetly made goal surely puts this game beyond Burnley; is their Premier League status similarly kaput?
Updated
Archer (twice) and Hamer all go close within two minutes. Sheffield United are well on top here, but as so often, they’re not going in
Goal! Burnley 0-2 Newcastle (Longstaff 35)
The afternoon gets still worse for Vincent Kompany’s side, Longstaff converting neatly after being played in by Murphy. You’d fancy Newcastle for sixth place now, given the form of other sides “tussling” for that position.
Updated
Sheffield United are still having a good go though, neat interplay between Bogle and Brereton Diaz tee-ing up the former to fire narrowly wide. Then Brereton Diaz misses an even better chance, opting to shoot on a breakaway instead of rolling it to Archer in a better position.
Updated
Goal! Sheffield United 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Hudson-Odoi 27)
Forest hit back to bolster their chances of survival. “An absolute worldie,” trills Paul Merson on Sky Soccer Saturday, of Hudson-Odoi’s venomous swerving shot to crown a fine move instigated by Danilo. And the Blades aren’t exactly resilient once they surrender a lead. More angst for Burnley …
Updated
Jeremy Boyce has thoughts about Kalvin Phillips:
So the one-club man’s bad decision (not entirely his) to try the two-then-three-club-trick hasn’t worked out. I’d love to have read his mind the day he signed for Citeh. I’m seeing dollar signs, on and off-field success, England caps, trophies, medals, respect, vindication. I’m really sorry it hasn’t worked out for him personally. I can’t help feeling that (as a Leeds fan) both he and Leeds would have been better off if he’d stayed put. You live and learn, all being well, but given the short length of a footie player’s career that doesn’t give you much margin for error.
Goal! Celtic 2-0 Hearts (Kyogo 21)
A glorious run and shot by Kyogo doubles the leaders’ advantage. At the bottom, Livingston are 0-1 down at Motherwell, and with Ross County drawing 1-1 with Hibs, that spells curtains for the bottom club Livi if it stays like this.
Updated
Goal! Burnley 0-1 Newcastle (Wilson 19)
Totally against the run of play, Newcastle lead. Callum Wilson converting a rebound after a slick counterattack involving Sean Longstaff and Alexander Isak.
Updated
Goal! Sheffield Utd 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Brereton Diaz 17 pen)
Brereton Diaz makes no mistake from the spot, stirring hope in Burnley and Luton. Just confirming the penalty award, it was for a foul by Montiel, drawn by Brereton Diaz. Montiel is booked.
Updated
Penalty to Sheffield United!
For handball or a foul against Montiel, we think. After consultations, it’s given.
Updated
What news of Brentford v Fulham? Willian gives it away clumsily, Toney nipping in to seize on a backpass, the shot come back off the bar and Lewis-Potter can’t convert the rebound
Harry Kane has just equalised for Bayern Munich from the penalty spot at Stuttgart, who took an early lead through Leonidas Stergiou. 1-1. While Dortmund are now 4-1 up against Augsburg – another for Moukoko and one for the old stalwart, Marco Reus. A handy tune-up, this, by BVB ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Paris.
Updated
Early soundings from Turf Moor are of Burnley intensity and dominance, Bruun Larsen having two early chances. Still 0-0
Goal! Celtic 1-0 Hearts (Kyogo 4)
Hatate’s cross back in from a corner is nodded home by Kyogo to give the leaders just the start they need against a some-time bogey side.
Updated
Golden early chance for Forest at Bramall Lane. The ever-enterprising Morgan Gibbs-White put it on a plate for Chris Wood but the striker missed.
WSL full-time: Brighton 0-1 Aston Villa, Alisha Lehmann’s 64th-minute goall decisive.
David Hytner was at the Emirates watching Arsenal stay in the title race with a comprehensive win over Bournemouth. Here’s his on-whistle report:
Borussia Dortmund have gone 2-0 up at home to Augsburg, Donyell Malen adding to Youssoufa Moukoko’s opener. In Spain, Real Sociedad have beaten Las Palmas 2-0 at home. La Real remain sixth.
Our old mucker Simon McMahon checks in with his Scottish preview:
In Scotland, Celtic have the chance to move six points clear at the top should they beat Hearts today, with second place Rangers not playing until tomorrow. Livingston’s relegation from the top flight could be confirmed today at Motherwell, while Aberdeen host St. Johnstone and Ross County play Hibs. A word too for John McGlynn’s Scottish League One champions Falkirk, who will end their 36 game league campaign unbeaten should they avoid defeat at home to Alloa.
The party on the pitch is in full swing at Portman Road. Our man Jonathan Liew has been there to soak it up:
How can you not adore football on days like this? How can you walk these streets and not feel the passing of time, the 22 years of watching and waiting, a volcano of ennui and frustration finally bubbling over into something strange and beautiful?
Updated
Kalvin Phillips news: in which the word “career” is asked to do some notably heavy lifting:
What “career”? https://t.co/q2opcSoWSC
— Brian Williams (@BrianWill26) May 4, 2024
WSL latest
It’s finished Everton 2-2 Tottenham, the visitors coming from 0-2 down to level in a four-goal first half. Aston Villa, contemplating life without Carla Ward, lead 1-0 at Brighton with around a quarter of an hour.
Full-time: Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth
And that’s that. A dominant performance from Mikel Arteta’s side earns its reward, though Bournemouth had a couple of decisions to quibble with.
Birmingham are relegated to League One
The Blues are in the third tier for the first time since Barry Fry took them up in 95 as a result of Plymouth, Blackburn and Wednesday winning, despite their own 1-0 win over Norwich. A penny for John Eustace’s thoughts …
Updated
Goal! Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth (Rice 90+6)
A sumptuous team goal makes absolutely sure for the Premier League leaders. Over to you, City.
And Plymouth have stayed up, beating Hull 1-0
Ipswich are in the Premier League!
The full-time whistle goes at Portman Road, fans flood the pitch. Kieran McKenna’s side seal it with a dominant 2-0 win over Huddersfield, whose relegation is confirmed. It’s hard to overstate what an achievement this is by Ipswich, given the ever-increasing stratification of the Championship between those doped by parachute payments and those without them. The two sides who came up with them last season have struggled but Ipswich have just stormed on. Immense.
Big goal at the bottom of the Championship: Blackburn are staying up, now 2-0 up at beach-adjacent champions Leicester, the effervescent Sammy Szmodics scoring the second. Given the mess Rovers are in off the pitch, this is a huge boost
Brentford v Fulham teams
Brentford: Flekken, Lewis-Potter, Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Reguilon, Damsgaard, Norgaard, Janelt, Mbeumo, Toney. Subs: Maupay, Schade, Wissa, Jorgensen, Ghoddos, Onyeka, Roerslev, Valdimarsson, Yarmolyuk.
Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Joao Palhinha, Lukic, Iwobi, Andreas Pereira, Willian, Rodrigo Muniz. Subs: Rodak, Tete, Jimenez, Wilson, Broja, Cairney, Traore, Ream, De Cordova-Reid.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest teams
Sheff Utd: Foderingham, Trusty, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Bogle, Hamer, Arblaster, Brooks, Osborn, Brereton, Archer. Subs: Brewster, Grbic, Norwood, Vinicius Souza, Ben Slimane, Larouci, McAtee, Holgate, Osula.
Nottm Forest: Sels, Montiel, Boly, Murillo, Aina, Yates, Danilo, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood. Subs: Turner, Sangare, Kouyate, Awoniyi, Toffolo, Dominguez, Niakhate, Reyna, Origi.
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh (Lancashire)
Meanwhile, Bournemouth are in a bit of a funk about a contentiously disallowed goal, ruled out for a foul by Solanke on Raya when the Cherries argued they had a shout for a foul against them. More here.
Burnley v Newcastle teams
Burnley: Muric, Assignon, O’Shea, Esteve, Vitinho, Berge, Cullen, Odobert, Brownhill, Bruun Larsen, Foster. Subs: Trafford, Taylor, Gudmundsson, Rodriguez, Benson, Ekdal, Fofana, Amdouni, Ndayishimiye.
Newcastle: Dubravka, Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Hall, Jacob Murphy, Bruno Guimaraes, Longstaff, Wilson, Isak, Gordon. Subs: Dummett, Joelinton, Ritchie, Barnes, Pope, Almiron, Anderson, White, Alex Murphy.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Bournemouth
Leandro Trossard curls in a fine goal and that should be enough to keep the title race boiling. Join Tim de Lisle for more.
Preamble
Greetings all, and welcome to the afternoon leg of a breathless sporting Saturday. While we digest the hows, whys and do-you-mind-if-I-don’ts of the Championship finale, we’ve got a couple of significant Premier League matches to now home in on. Luton’s failure to beat Everton last night has encouraged Nottingham Forest, whose fate is consequently in their own hands and they’ll expect to put daylight between themselves and the drop zone with a win at doomed Sheffield United. Burnley still fancy their survival chances too, after promising recent displays, and host a Newcastle side with eyes on a Europa League slot. Elsewhere, local bantz but not much else is at stake when Brentford host Fulham.
Further afield, Real Madrid can clinch the Spanish title today if they beat Cádiz at home in a 3.15pm BST kick-off and Barcelona fail to win at Girona in their game at 5.30pm. In the Bundesliga, dethroned Bayern Munich can at least make sure of the runners-up slot if they win at third-placed Stuttgart, while Dortmund will be looking to follow their dynamic display against PSG with a win over Augsburg as they look to close the gap on fourth place.
There’s also signifcant action in Scotland, with the leaders, Celtic, hosting third-placed Hearts looking to stretch their three-point advantage over Rangers (who play Kilmarnock tomorrow) while the battle for survival hots up with second-bottom Ross County hosting Hibs and third-bottom St Johnstone at Aberdeen, Oh, and there’s the National League North playoff final between Brackley and Boston to stay across. Go nowhere!
