Author: AFP

Ousmane Dembele guided Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) into the Champions League semi-finals as a 2-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday completed a 4-0 aggregate win for the holders.

To compound the English champions’ woes, Hugo Ekitike suffered a serious-looking injury that could end his season and hinder Liverpool’s chances of being back among Europe’s elite next season.

Arne Slot’s men sit fifth in the Premier League and will end the campaign trophyless after being kept at arm’s reach by a PSG side that did not need to be at their brilliant best to reach a third consecutive semi-final.

Defeat means there will be no glorious goodbye for Mohamed Salah after nine memorable years on Merseyside.

Slot showed little sentiment as he dropped the Egyptian to the bench on his final Champions League appearance in red.

Alexander Isak was preferred up front as the most expensive player in Premier League history started for the first time since breaking his leg in December.

However, Salah was forced into action after just half an hour as Ekitike suffered a nasty-looking injury that could ruin his World Cup hopes with France.

The former PSG striker crumpled in a heap, holding his lower right leg with a suspected ruptured Achilles.

Salah nearly made an immediate impact as from his cross, Matvey Safonov made a fine save from Milos Kerkez before Marquinhos produced a remarkable block to deny Virgil van Dijk the opening goal.

PSG had plenty of chances to have put the tie to bed in the Parc des Princes last week and were profligate once more in the first half.

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Giorgi Mamardashvili scrambled back towards his line to punch away Dembele’s attempted chip before the Ballon d’Or winner blazed over from close range with just the Georgian to beat.

Slot admitted before kick-off that Isak could only last for 45 minutes due to a lack of match practice, and the Swede made way for Cody Gakpo at half-time in a further blow to Liverpool’s firepower up front.

Kerkez had the best chance to set up a grandstand finale when he sliced wide another inviting Salah delivery.

Liverpool thought they had been gifted a lifeline when Alexis Mac Allister was awarded a very generous penalty for minimal contact by Willian Pacho, but VAR intervened to instruct referee Maurizio Mariani to reverse his original decision.

But as Liverpool poured forward in desperation, they became a sitting duck for the rapid PSG counter-attack.

Dembele finally killed the tie off 18 minutes from time when he cut onto his left foot and curled into the bottom corner from outside the box.

The French international then inflicted the final blow with a cool finish from Bradley Barcola’s cross in stoppage time.

PSG will face a tougher test against the in-form Bayern Munich or 15-time winners Real Madrid in the last four.

But after ending the Qatari-backed French champions’ long wait to conquer Europe last season, Luis Enrique’s men remain on course to become the only side other than Madrid to retain the competition in the Champions League era.

READ: Ben Stokes breaks silence on rift with coach Brendon McCullum

England captain Ben Stokes has dismissed suggestions of a collapse in his relationship with coach Brendon McCullum, although he says the way they work together will “look a little bit different” this season.

Stokes and McCullum, a former New Zealand captain, have been in a close alliance since joining forces in 2022. But there appeared to be a difference in their respective approaches as England slumped to a woeful 4-1 series Ashes loss in Australia.

As all-rounder Stokes opted for a more grinding, disciplined approach, as the series wore on, while McCullum continued to stand by his mantra of ultra-aggressive ‘Bazball’ cricket.

Both men backed each other in public at the end of the series, and Stokes reiterated that position following media reports that a post-Ashes review had revealed tensions between the duo.

“Saying we weren’t aligned, I think, is a massive overstatement,” Stokes said in an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board published Tuesday.

“When you’re in a position of leadership along with someone else, if anyone thinks that you’re always going to agree on everything, then it’s just impossible.”

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England are back in Test action in June, against New Zealand, before taking on Pakistan at home as well. Stokes said there would be a change in how he worked with McCullum as the team look to return to winning ways ahead of the 2027 Ashes in England.

“I’m very confident in mine and Brendon’s ability to be able to work together, because we’ve done it for such a long period of time now, but work together in a slightly different way,” he said.

“The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be. That’s always been the thing since we started. It might just look a little bit different now to how that operates — on the back of four years working together.

“Hopefully we’ll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win.”

Ben Stokes is currently recovering from a facial injury after being struck by a stray ball in pre-season training, but is expected to lead England in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4.

READ: Pakistan fast bowler set to join Yorkshire for T20 Blast

Bayern Munich veteran Manuel Neuer is saddling up for Wednesday’s Real Madrid quarter-final second leg at home in what could be his final season before riding off into the sunset.

Though not the risk-hungry, ‘sweeper keeper’ of his prime, the two-time Champions League winner was outstanding in Bayern’s 2-1 first-leg victory in Madrid.

Named man of the match, Neuer made nine saves and succeeded in keeping Real’s danger men Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior at bay, for the most part.

Neuer, who turned 40 in March, has a contract in Munich until the end of the season.

Bayern seem willing to offer their long-time ‘keeper and captain another year, but Neuer has repeatedly said he is still weighing up his future.

The 2014 World Cup winner has struggled with muscle injuries in the past two seasons. Normally, the first name on the teamsheet, this campaign, he has missed 11 games as he battles persistent calf muscle strains.

Having already ruled himself out of World Cup contention this summer, ending the season with a third Champions League crown alongside a record-equalling 13th Bundesliga title would be a perfect sign-off.

While Bayern have always sat atop German football, Neuer’s arrival alongside other modern greats, including Thomas Mueller, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger, helped push the club into the stratosphere.

Bayern Munich had never won more than three Bundesliga titles in a row before Neuer signed in 2011, but have only missed out twice in the 15 subsequent seasons.

Two of Bayern’s six Champions League titles have come with Neuer between the sticks.

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Neuer’s spectacular saves make highlight reels, but his leadership has been crucial as Bayern have rebuilt from 2023-24’s third-place Bundesliga finish, to once again contend for the Champions League.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, in just his second season managing a club with Champions League ambitions, said so after the first leg.

“Manu only has to say one sentence, and he brings order to the team. That’s why his role to me as a leader is just as important as what he does on the pitch,” Kompany said, adding Neuer “made things much easier for me at the beginning than I thought”.

Heading into Wednesday’s return leg, Manuel Neuer is the only current Bayern player to have experienced victory over two legs against Madrid. Since getting past the Spaniards in the 2012 semi-finals, Bayern had not even won a match against Los Blancos in their eight meetings, up until last week.

And the Gelsenkirchen native will have even more motivation to get across the line against Real this time around. Two years ago, with Bayern ahead against Los Blancos in the dying stages of their semi-final return leg, Neuer spilt a Vinicius shot, which Joselu tapped in to level things up.

Minutes later, Joselu scored again, and Bayern were eliminated, with Real going on to win the title at Wembley.

Despite their first-leg lead, Bayern know their opponents well, with 29 games between the sides, no European fixture has been played more, and remain wary of the Champions League specialists.

Real suffered another La Liga setback on Friday and are now nine points behind Barcelona, but Joshua Kimmich recognised that the 15-time winners can turn it on when they have the Champions League anthem ringing in their ears.

“It doesn’t matter at all what form Kylian Mbappe and his teammates are in. When it’s the Champions League, they perform,” Kimmich said Saturday.

“We know exactly who we are playing against. It’s a brutally difficult task,” Leon Goretzka said the same day. “We know how quickly they can create scoring opportunities. We know what to expect.”

READ: Blessing Muzarabani penalised by PCB for violating PSL contract

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has been named the leading men’s cricketer in the world by Wisden Almanack, while India’s Deepti Sharma was named the leading women’s cricketer on Monday.

The UK-based Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which dates back to 1864, is an annual record of all major cricket worldwide and is regarded as the sport’s “Bible”.

The publication named four Indian players who starred in a thrilling 2-2 drawn Test series in England last year among its five cricketers of the year.

Men’s Test captain Shubman Gill, spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj were all on the list.

The only English player in the group of five was former Test opener Haseeb Hameed, who led Nottinghamshire to the County Championship in 2025.

Players can only receive the award once in their careers, and it is based predominantly on performances during the previous English season.

Gill also received the Wisden Trophy for Test performance of the year after he scored 269 and 161 in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Deepti Sharma succeeds compatriot Smriti Mandhana as Wisden’s leading women’s cricketer of the year for her all-round performances in India’s 50-over World Cup triumph, with Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc receiving the men’s award.

Starc, 36, claimed 55 Test wickets at 17.32 in 11 Tests in the calendar year, including a career-best haul of 6 for 9 against West Indies.

He then backed that up with 18 wickets in the first two Tests of the 2025-26 Ashes, en route to a series-winning haul of 31 at 19.93.

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Meanwhile, Sharma, 28, was India’s player of the tournament as they claimed their maiden 50-over women’s World Cup crown with a 52-run win over South Africa in the final in Navi Mumbai.

In the course of the campaign, she scored 215 runs at 30.71 alongside 22 wickets at 20.40, and excelled in the final with a run-a-ball 58 and a match-sealing haul of 5 for 39.

The prolific Abhishek Sharma was named Wisden’s leading T20 cricketer of the year.

Wisden editor Lawrence Booth, however, criticised the increasing Indian influence on English domestic cricket’s Hundred, with four of the eight franchises now linked to owners of Indian Premier League teams after a huge influx of private investment.

“The competition’s new ownership structure risks turning The Hundred into an IPL proxy event, more for the benefit of Indian businessmen than English cricket,” wrote Booth.

He also pulled no punches in labelling England’s woeful Ashes campaign as “feckless, reckless and legless”.

England, humiliated 4-1 by Australia, were criticised for insufficient planning, confused tactics and an over-relaxed approach to off-field behaviour, highlighted by reports of excessive drinking during a mid-tour break.

“In the game’s long history, it is hard to think of a privilege so carelessly squandered, a chance so blithely spurned,” wrote Booth.

“England were feckless, reckless and legless. These were the wing-and-a-prayer Ashes and England got what they deserved. What a waste. What a shame.”

READ: Babar Azam reflects on Peshawar Zalmi’s unbeaten run in PSL 11

Noah Okafor fired Leeds to a long-awaited 2-1 win over 10-man Manchester United at Old Trafford as the Premier League strugglers boosted their bid to avoid relegation on Monday.

Okafor punished United’s sloppy defending with a brace in the first half before Lisandro Martinez was sent off after pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair after the interval.

Casemiro got one back for United, but Leeds held on for their first win against United since a shock 2010 FA Cup success when they were in the third tier.

The Yorkshire club were able to celebrate their first top-flight win against United since 2002 and their first league victory at Old Trafford in 45 years.

A first win in seven league matches lifted Daniel Farke’s side six points clear of the relegation zone, with six games left to preserve their top-flight status after last season’s promotion.

As well as battling for survival, Leeds are through to the FA Cup semi-finals, where they face Chelsea at Wembley on April 26.

While Manchester City and Liverpool are United’s main rivals, their fans’ enmity with Leeds supporters goes back decades, featuring numerous clashes between hooligan gangs.

That made the defeat a bitter pill to swallow for United fans, who booed Michael Carrick’s side at full-time.

It was only Carrick’s second defeat in 11 games since he replaced the sacked Ruben Amorim as interim boss in January.

United remain in third place, seven points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea in the race to qualify for the Champions League via a top-five finish.

The last time United played Leeds, Carrick was on holiday with former Old Trafford team-mate Wayne Rooney and their respective families in Barbados.

Carrick has revitalised United since taking charge, but one win from their last four games is a step back.

United’s trip to Chelsea on Saturday offers another chance to take a step towards returning to Europe’s elite club competition for the first time since 2023-24.

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Leeds had failed to score in their previous four league games, but they blew United away with a blistering start.

When Jayden Bogle whipped a fifth-minute cross towards Dominic Calvert-Lewin, United defender Leny Yoro was unable to clear, and Okafor pounced with a clinical finish from 10 yards.

With Harry Maguire suspended, United were shambolic at the back in the first-half and Okafor netted again after more defensive miscues in the 29th minute.

United made a hash of clearing twice in quick succession, and the ball was eventually worked to Okafor, whose strike took a hefty deflection off Yoro as it flashed past Senne Lammens.

Carrick’s men were back in action for the first time in 24 days, and they looked rusty after the enforced break.

Lisandro Martinez was forced to make a last-ditch tackle on the goal-line to stop Ao Tanka scoring a third for Leeds after the Japan midfielder danced around Lammens.

Benjamin Sesko’s effort was cleared off the line soon after the interval, and United’s nightmare evening continued when Martinez saw red in the 56th minute.

Martinez needlessly tugged Calvert-Lewin’s long hair, and referee Paul Tierney sent him off after consulting the pitch-side monitor.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, United reduced the deficit in the 69th minute when Casemiro met Bruno Fernandes’ cross with a thumping header past Karl Darlow from six yards.

It was Fernandes’ 17th league assist this season, closing the gap on the single-season record of 20 held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

Calvert-Lewin squandered a golden opportunity to wrap up the points, heading straight at Lammens from close-range.

Darlow made a superb save from Sesko’s header before Casemiro, and Manuel Ugarte had efforts cleared off the line as Leeds held firm in a frantic finale.

READ: Liverpool need ‘very special’ night to stun PSG, says Arne Slot

Arne Slot admits Liverpool will need a “very special” performance to overturn their 2-0 deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.

Slot’s side are on the brink of being eliminated by PSG for a second successive season after a disappointing display in Paris last week.

Liverpool failed to muster a single shot on target at the Parc des Princes and Slot acknowledged they will have to improve significantly to stun Luis Enrique’s team at Anfield.

“We know we need an exceptional performance to go to the next round but that’s completely normal when you face the champions of Europe,” Slot told reporters on Monday.

“In the 49 home games we have played under me, 36 times we were able to score two goals or more.

“Yes, we have not played all these 49 games against Paris Saint-Germain, I realise that, but the Premier League and Champions League opponents we had were very strong.

“So there is a belief we can do special things tomorrow but we need to be very, very, very special to achieve that.”

Slot has come under mounting scrutiny following Liverpool’s woeful defence of the Premier League title and their embarrassing FA Cup quarter-final exit in a 4-0 thrashing at Manchester City.

After three successive defeats against Brighton, City and PSG, Liverpool kept the critics at bay, for a few days at least, with a 2-0 win against Fulham on Saturday.

But a tame exit from the Champions League would intensify the pressure on Slot ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Everton.

Slot knows Liverpool need to at least put up a better fight than in Paris, where they struggled to retain possession and rarely troubled the PSG defence.

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“We are playing the champions of Europe so that makes the task more difficult but not impossible,” he said.

“For now let’s just focus on the job on hand, start aggressive and make sure we can get back in the tie.

“Even Saturday showed how important a goal is… minutes (later) we scored the second. That is what football is about, a goal can change the momentum, which happened negatively for us at Manchester City.”

While Slot was criticised for Liverpool’s passive first-leg performance, the Reds boss insisted his side could win with a similar approach at Anfield.

“People probably find it very hard what I am about to say now but the approach is not so different tomorrow than it was in Paris. For the people who know me I never tell them to play in a low block for 90 minutes,” he said.

“You could see we pressed them high on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, seven or eight of those moments led them to being one-on-one with our goalkeeper.

“The last time we faced each other they had the ball for 76 percent of the time, so that’s the first thing we have to change tomorrow, to have the ball more.

“If we have it more then it’s nice to have the attacking threat on the pitch and that’s what we will have tomorrow.”

READ: Atletico captain issues bold statement ahead of Barcelona clash

Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke said Monday his team must play with “personality” to stop Barcelona mounting a Champions League quarter-final comeback.

The Rojiblancos earned a 2-0 first-leg win at Camp Nou last week and host the Spanish champions on Tuesday, aiming to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2017.

Five-time winners Barcelona reached the final four last season and arrive at the Metropolitano stadium determined to fight their way back into the tie and ramp up the pressure on the hosts.

“It’s hugely important to beat the press they usually put on,” Koke told reporters.

“They’re a team that presses very high, that pushes their line almost up to the halfway line, that presses you, that suffocates you.

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“That’s where our personality comes in, when it’s time to play, to want the ball, to make ourselves available, to make runs in behind.”

The match is the third between the sides in the last fortnight and the sixth they have played this season, with Atletico knocking Barca out in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

“We’ve faced each other many times throughout this year,” continued the midfielder.

“We know each other perfectly, and it’s going to be very important to take the ball off them, attack the spaces well, and have the personality to want the ball and not lose it.”

Koke scored against Barca in the 2014 quarter-finals as Atletico — who have never won the competition — went on to reach the final, as they did in 2016, losing on both occasions to rivals Real Madrid.

“I’ve watched that goal quite a few times,” admitted Koke.

“It’s true that when these kinds of matches start coming around, you try to motivate yourself and you try to visualise a lot of positive things that happened, like in 2014, like in 2016, and like in the first leg a week ago.”

Atletico coach Diego Simeone kept his cards close to his chest ahead of the second leg, refusing to say whether goalkeeper Jan Oblak was fit to start or elaborate much on anything at all.

“We’re fully aware of the strong opponent we’ll have in front of us,” said the coach. “But we’re also clear about our objective, which is to go through.”

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A Ghanaian Premier League footballer, Dominic Frimpong, has been killed after armed robbers attacked his team on the way back from an away fixture on Sunday, the Ghana Football Association said Monday.

Berekum Chelsea FC said in a statement that “masked men wielding guns and assault rifles” fired on the team bus and forced the players to take cover in the bushes.

The robbery, according to Ghana police, occurred around 10:30 pm local time (2230 GMT) along the Ahyiresu-Kwame Dwumor Sreso road in the Nyinahin District in the southern region of Ashanti.

Police said Frimpong sustained gunshot wounds and died in the hospital while receiving treatment.

“Another victim, George Owusu Afriyie, 52, was also robbed of 4,500.00 cedis ($408),” the police said in a statement.

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The Ghana Football Association described the incident as “tragic” and a “huge loss to Berekum Chelsea but also to Ghana football as a whole.”

“Dominic was a promising young talent whose dedication and passion for the game embodied the spirit of our league,” it said in a statement.

The 20-year-old forward joined Berekum Chelsea FC on loan from Aduana Stars FC at the beginning of the year.

He played 13 games and scored two goals for the club, according to local media.

READ: ICC announces record prize money for Women’s T20 World Cup 2026

Lille continued its strong pursuit of an automatic Champions League spot and reclaimed third place in Ligue 1 with a convincing 4-0 win against 10-man Toulouse at the Stadium de Toulouse on Sunday.

Full-backs Thomas Meunier and Romain Perraud netted either side of the break, before Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Olivier Giroud wrapped up the victory to send Bruno Genesio’s side back above Marseille into the final Champions League qualification spot.

Lille have 53 points, one more than Habib Beye’s Marseille in the battle for a direct spot in the league phase of the next edition of Europe’s premier club competition.

“We did what we had to,” Lille coach Genesio said. “We knew this match was important, but there are still five more to go, and we’ll need to keep performing as we have been doing lately.”

Right-back Meunier’s deflected effort finished off a slick team move to send Lille in front on 23 minutes.

Lille celebrated the goal by flocking to their coach, who recently lost his father.

Genesio said he was “deeply moved” by the unexpected gesture, adding: “It shows the spirit of this team, and it is also thanks to that that we are achieving the results we are.”

The hosts, safely ensconced in 10th spot in the table, seemed to already have one eye on their upcoming French Cup semi-final with surprise Ligue 1 title challengers Lens and rarely threatened, barring one frantic corner on the quarter hour, which saw the ball rebound off the Lille goal.

The encounter was ultimately decided inside the opening five minutes of the second period.

Nabil Bentaleb threaded an excellent through-ball for Fernandez-Pardo to run onto before he was hauled down by a retreating Mark McKenzie, who promptly received his marching orders.

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From the resulting set-piece, left-back Perraud drilled a fizzing low shot from a central position 25 yards out from goal, which flew past Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes.

Belgian forward Fernandez-Pardo then made it three as the 21-year-old turned on captain Benjamin Andre’s pass and stroked home right-footed on 55 minutes.

Giroud converted from the spot two minutes from time to notch his seventh goal of the league campaign.

Lyon, fifth, remained in contention for direct Champions League qualification with a 2-0 home win over mid-table Lorient later on Sunday.

The breakthrough came for Paulo Fonseca’s side four minutes into the second period as Real Madrid loanee Endrick came off the bench at the interval to supply a pinpoint cross onto the head of Roman Yaremchuk.

Corentin Tolisso, also introduced at half-time by Portuguese coach Fonseca, ensured the hosts would claim all three points in the 56th minute when he nodded into the empty goal after Yvon Mvogo had denied Endrick one-on-one.

Nice drew 1-1 with Le Havre in a battle of two sides seeking to put more distance between themselves and the relegation play-off spot.

Ally Samatta sent Le Havre ahead on 41 minutes, before Ali Abdi grabbed a vital leveller for the hosts just shy of the hour.

Nice trail their opponents by one point but remain four clear of 16th-placed Auxerre.

READ: Manchester City rout Chelsea to close gap on leaders Arsenal

Manchester City ignited the Premier League title race with a second-half blitz that sealed a 3-0 win against Chelsea as they closed the gap on leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s side produced a devastating spell immediately after half-time, with Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi scoring in the space of six minutes at Stamford Bridge.

Jeremy Doku wrapped up a statement victory to ensure City took advantage of Arsenal’s shock 2-1 home defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Second-placed City are now only six points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, setting up a seismic showdown against the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium on April 19.

Having beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final and thrashed Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, City are hitting form at just the right time.

Their bid for a seventh English title under Guardiola appeared to be fading after successive draws with strugglers West Ham and Nottingham Forest in their previous two league matches.

A disjointed first half against Chelsea suggested City might waste a golden opportunity to pile pressure on Arsenal.

But Guardiola’s half-time team-talk had the desired effect, and City can now target next weekend’s do-or-die visit from Mikel Arteta’s spluttering team.

If City win that blockbuster clash, they will be within three points of Arsenal, who blew substantial leads in the 2023 and 2024 title races, allowing Guardiola’s men to pip them to the trophy.

Arteta said the defeat to Bournemouth was a “punch in the face” and City’s success in west London was another body blow for the Spaniard.

City have won 29 of their 32 league games in the month of April in recent seasons, underlining their ability to thrive when the title pressure mounts.

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After winning their first four league matches following Liam Rosenior’s arrival from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca, Chelsea have won just one of their last seven, losing three in a row to leave the Blues boss facing some difficult questions.

Chelsea, who haven’t beaten City since the 2021 Champions League final, were again without Enzo Fernandez after Rosenior’s controversial decision to drop the Argentine midfielder for hinting he might leave in the summer.

Sixth-placed Chelsea looked subdued without Fernandez, and they trail four points behind Liverpool in the race to qualify for the Champions League via a top-five finish.

Lacking energy and cohesion in a sloppy start, City were fortunate not to fall behind when Marc Cucurella’s clinical finish was disallowed for a tight offside.

City also let Pedro Neto in far too easily for a stinging strike that forced Gianluigi Donnarumma to save at his near post.

It took City 35 minutes to mount an incisive raid as Bernardo Silva stretched to meet O’Reilly’s cross, but Robert Sanchez made a fine save from the midfielder’s close-range effort.

But City stepped up after the interval, and O’Reilly made the breakthrough in the 51st minute.

Rayan Cherki whipped an in-swinging cross towards O’Reilly, and the City left-back reprised his League Cup final heroics with another clinical header from close range.

Six minutes later, Cherki again showed the creative genius that has won over Guardiola despite some impetuous moments in his first season in Manchester.

The France playmaker glided past a gaggle of Chelsea players on the edge of the area before threading a sublime pass to Guehi, who looked more like a forward than a centre-back as he smashed a perfect strike into the far corner from 12 yards.

Manchester City benefited from Chelsea’s wretched defending for their third goal in the 68th minute. Sanchez rolled the ball to Moises Caicedo even though the Chelsea midfielder was surrounded by three City players, and Doku pounced, racing into the area to drill home as Guardiola celebrated a priceless result.

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