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Chelsea, Manchester city, Real Madrid, Atlectico Madrid, PSG were all in action

In the early premier league kick off Crystal palace welcomed Manchester city at Selhoust park

 

Manchester City could clinch the Premier League title on Sunday after two goals in the space of 83 seconds saw off a stubborn Crystal Palace.

City will secure a third title in four seasons if second-placed Manchester United lose at home to Liverpool.

After a scrappy first half at Selhurst Park, Sergio Aguero thumped City ahead with a clinical finish before Ferran Torres drilled in a low shot.

That ended the resistance of Palace, who stay in 13th place.

Roy Hodgson’s side had chances in the first half through Christian Benteke, who flicked a header wide and had a close-range shot blocked by City keeper Ederson.

But once City made their breakthrough when Aguero smashed high into the net, quickly followed by Torres’ precise finish, the result was not in doubt.

Now it is a question of when, not if, Pep Guardiola’s side will be crowned champions again after relinquishing the crown to Liverpool last season.

Brighton 2:0 Leeds united

Danny Welbeck’s five Premier League goals this season is his best return since 2017-18. He last scored more in 2013-14 (nine).

Brighton moved within touching distance of Premier League safety for another season as Graham Potter’s hosts opened a 10-point gap to the relegation places with victory over Leeds United.

With four games to play, the Seagulls – looking to secure a fifth successive term in the top flight – climbed three places to 14th and have a significant margin to 18th-placed Fulham, who lost to Chelsea later on Saturday.

The hosts were rewarded for a positive start at Amex Stadium when Pascal Gross expertly found the bottom corner with a 14th-minute penalty, awarded following Ezgjan Alioski’s clumsy foul on Danny Welbeck.

Potter’s side squandered several chances to extend their advantage, but Welbeck eventually sealed an important victory 11 minutes from time with a composed finish after a sharp turn.

Leeds, missing midfield rock Kalvin Phillips, initially responded to falling behind, but Jack Harrison’s whipped shot was caught comfortably by Robert Sanchez and Dan Burn bravely blocked a thunderous Tyler Roberts strike from the visitors’ best first-half chances.

Brighton’s forward trio of Welbeck, Leandro Trossard and Neal Maupay were all guilty of wasting opportunities – but Stuart Dallas’ dipping first-time attempt with 15 minutes remaining was as close as Marcelo Bielsa’s below-par side came to an equaliser.

Fulham 0:2 Chelsea

Kai Havertz scored twice to boost Chelsea’s grip on a Champions League place and send Fulham closer to Premier League relegation.

Havertz, one of five changes in between the Blues’ Champions League semi-final legs against Real Madrid, latched on to Mason Mount’s through ball to give them an early lead.

He doubled their advantage when he finished after a one-two with Timo Werner.

In between those efforts he also had a goal correctly ruled out for offside.

Fulham had plenty of chances in the first half with Antonee Robinson and Ola Aina forcing good saves from Edouard Mendy.

But they created nothing of note after the break and now sit nine points off safety with four games to go.

Everton 1:2 Aston Villa

El Ghazi’s winner was the only highlight of a relatively flat second half that failed to build on a pulsating first.

Ollie Watkins opened the scoring when he pounced on a mistake by Mason Holgate before slotting past Jordan Pickford.

However, Everton hit back soon after when Dominic Calvert-Lewin powered home a header following a corner.

Home keeper Pickford then twice denied Watkins with excellent saves to keep Villa at bay, while ex-Everton midfielder Ross Barkley struck the post with a low effort from range.

But despite Pickford’s best efforts Villa secured the three points when El Ghazi struck late on.

The defeat leaves Everton eighth on 52 points while Villa are four points behind in ninth.

Away from the premier league we move to la liga as Real Madrid and Atlectico Madrid were all in action

Elche 0:1 Atlectico Madrid

Yannick Carrasco found Llorente inside the box and the forward’s deflected strike beat goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.

Llorente then gave away a spot-kick in the 90th minute after handling the ball.

But Atletico escaped late drama as Fidel Chaves’ penalty beat goalkeeper Jan Oblak but came back off the post.

The win moved Atletico on to 76 points with four games remaining.

They are just two points clear of Real Madrid after Zinedine Zidane’s defending champions beat Osasuna 2-0 later on Saturday.

Real Madrid 2:0 Osasuna
Real Madrid remain two points behind La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid after late goals from Eder Militao and Casemiro sealed victory over Osasuna.

Centre-back Militao eventually ended Osasuna’s resistance when he headed in Isco’s corner after 76 minutes.

Fellow Brazilian Casemiro then met Karim Benzema’s pass to confirm the points four minutes later.

Atletico Madrid had stretched their lead at the top to five points with victory at Elche earlier on Saturday.

Barcelona, who missed the chance to go top in losing to Granada on Thursday, can move level on points with Real with victory against Valencia on Sunday, while fourth-placed Sevilla can stay within three points of the summit if they beat Athletic Bilbao on Monday.

Serie A
Crotone 0:2 inter Milan

Inter Milan closed in on their first Italian Serie A title since 2010 with second-half goals from Christian Eriksen and Achraf Hakimi at Crotone.

Inter will be crowned champions on Sunday if second-placed Atalanta fail to claim all three points at Sassuolo.

Denmark midfielder Eriksen broke the deadlock shortly after being brought on as a substitute by boss Antonio Conte.

Hakimi added another in injury time as the away win also confirmed bottom side Crotone’s instant return to Serie B.

Even if Atalanta earn victory against eighth-placed Sassuolo, Inter know they would need just one point from their final four matches to lift the Scudetto

AC Milan 2:0 Benevento
Goals from Hakan Calhanoglu and Theo Hernandez helps keep AC Milan in champions league places

We now move to Ligue 1 as PSG and Lille were all in action

Lille 2:0 Nice

PSG 2:1 Lens
Lille went back to the top later on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Nice and are three wins from the title.

Neymar slotted in Paris St-Germain’s opener at Parc des Princes, then saw his corner headed in by Marquinhos.

Fifth-placed Lens halved the deficit almost immediately when Ignatius Ganago reacted quickly in the box to fire in but PSG saw out the win.

DFB pokal
Dortmund 5:0 Holstein

Dortmund became the first team to score five goals in the first half of a German Cup semi-final tie – but did not score again after the 41st minute.

Giovanni Reyna scored twice, with Marco Reus, Thorgan Hazard and Jude Bellingham also on the scoresheet.

Jadon Sancho set up Reyna’s opener and England team-mate Bellingham for the fifth.