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Everton v Chelsea in WSL, Championship, Scottish Premiership and more – clockwatch | Football
Key events
WSL: London City are not finished yet as they score an almost identical goal to their third. Grace Geyoro is this time the happy recipient of the cutback and strokes it home for her first Lionesses goal. London City 4-1 Leicester. A first win since February incoming for the home side.
Scottish Premiership: Big, big thank you to Simon for a taste of some the fitba today. Some feels like a disservice for the Dundee derby. Consider yourself previewed people.
He writes, “Just rolled up at a packed Frews bar in Dundee, minutes from Tannadice where the final Dundee derby of the season kicks off at 2pm today. A win for United, for whom Jim Goodwin is now the longest serving manager since Jim McLean, having recently celebrated three years in charge, would see them well placed to finish top of the bottom six, and leave Dundee looking nervously over their shoulders. A fine day in the City of Discovery, match sold out, both sets of fans in fine fettle for now, three points, and bragging rights for the summer, up for grabs … Come on United!!!”
GOAL! Coventry 2-1 Wrexham
Striker! Coventry’s Victor Torp beats Danny Ward with an absolutely beautiful dipping free-kick. Not in the left corner but the keeper can’t handle the pace with which Torp steams it from flying over to cutting just under the bar. Gorgeous goal to take the lead.
Serie A: Fiorentina v Sassuolo finishes 0-0. Boooo. Or maybe wooo for fans of quintessential calcio?
Championship: Wrexham are going for this and bring on Nathan Broadhead and big Kieffer Moore. Perfect timing for a corner. They go back stick and win another corner that is again cleared easily by Coventry.
WSL: Oh dear. Everton fail to clear their lines and the ball bounces around the box until Erin Cuthbert says thank you very much right on the penalty spot and bangs it into the bottom left corner. 4-1 and out of sight.
Championship: Action at the other end now as Sam Smith has a one-on-one but Coventry’s Carl Rushworth makes a solid save. 1-1 but for how much longer?
Championship: Props to the Coventry fans making an absolute din at the Building Society Building. They might be a little proud and excited about Premier League action next season and who could blame them. Ooooh and Wrexham get a big let off after Dan Scarr gifts the ball to Milan van Ewijk in the box put a poor touch takes the ball out of play when he could have had a tap in.
WSL: Reportage from the fine Tom Garry at Goodison Park …
Chelsea are well on course to win this game now, 3-1 up thanks to Ellie Carpenter poking in from close range to add to Sam Kerr’s double. There has been significant controversy, though, as Kerr was denied what should have been a hat-trick as the officials did not see that her header had comfortably crossed the line, before being flicked away by Courtney Brosnan. Replays showed that Kerr’s header hit a post and bounced clearly over the line but it was not given. We do not have goalline technology in the WSL.
WSL: At London City a goal has quickly been disallowed only for the Lionesses to streak forward again and knock in the easiest of goals. Malou Marcetto taps in the cutback to make it 3-1 against Leicester. Tough for the Foxes who started brightly.
WSL: Chelsea open up Everton with ease and bag a third. Alyssa Thompson steams down the right and finds Ellie Carpenter wide open in the box. She strikes and a defender attempts a block but can only deflect the ball into the net. Blues cruise.
WSL: Chelsea strike quickly in the second half to take a 2-1 lead over Everton. Sam Kerr doubles up. Two chances, two goals. Perfect start after the break.
Thanks Will. Here we go then for some second-half WSL action and Coventry and Wrexham duking it out in the Championship. I have to declare some affiliation with the mighty Shrewsbury at this juncture. Zero bias of course just needed to be said. Moving swiftly on Kieffer Moore is warming up and will be keen to come on as Wrexham search for a win that would give them a juicy three point cushion to Hull outside of the playoffs.
Thanks for joining me. Graham Searles is with you for the next few hours. What an absolute treat for the optics.
Coventry and Wrexham are level, too.
Goodwin scores just before half time to put London City Lionesses ahead against Leicester.
Elsewhere …
Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Tottenham 0-0 Man United
It remains goalless at Tottenham v Man United in the WSL, in case you were wondering.
A potentially big goal at the bottom of the WSL as Shannon O’Brien gives bottom-placed club Leicester the lead against London City Lionesses, who then go down the other end and equalise thanks to Lucia Corrales.
Wrexham are level! Ollie Rathbone, one of their shining stars this season, arrives late to finish a Kabore cross.

Tom Garry
Everton stunned Chelsea in December and they’re causing them problems again. Halfway through the first half it’s currently 1-1, thanks to Yuka Momiki’s long-range strike in the 10th minute having cancelled out Sam Kerr’s well-worked, early opener, which saw Kerr score for the fourth game in a row for club and country. Chelsea are on top but the home side are looking stubborn and disciplined at the back since drawing level. Chelsea can ill-afford to drop points here, in the race for European places.
A bit of a blow for Wrexham’s playoff hopes as Brandon Asante-Thomas gives Championship champions Coventry the lead.
It is already 1-1 in Everton v Chelsea in the WSL. Sam Kerr opened the scoring for the visitors before Yuka Momiki equalised for the Toffees.
Never have I experienced such scenes as those at the Crown Oil Arena, as one is supposed to call it. Had to do a good three rewrites in the space of 10 minutes and then the Wi-Fi broke down, so had to file the first bit on my phone. Glory days for all involved.
I was at Spotland for Rochdale v York yesterday, so I am hoping this work experience will be a lot calmer.
Thanks John. Good afternoon, one and all. What a lovely day for a bit of liveblogging and FA Cup buildup.
Time then to pass the reins to the estimable Mr Will Unwin.

Tom Garry
From Goodison Park.
After Manchester City’s defeat yesterday and with Arsenal busy in European action, the attention in the WSL today primarily turns to the battle for Women’s Champions League places and the pressure is on Chelsea this lunchtime. They have arrived here in sunny Merseyside with a two-point advantage over fourth-placed Manchester United, whom they will face on the final day of the season. Chelsea’s opponents today, Everton, were shock winners the last time these two sides met in the WSL in December, when the Toffees ended what was a 34-game unbeaten league run for Chelsea, so Sonia Bompastor’s team must not take them lightly today. Sam Kerr starts up front for the visitors here, as speculation around her future at Chelsea continues. Her contract expires this summer.
Elsewhere, it’s a potentially decisive day in WSL2 in the race for promotion to the top tier. Birmingham City will be all-but promoted if they can beat Ipswich Town (14:00 kick-off) and they would definitely be promoted if they better Crystal Palace’s result. Charlton, in second place, can also be promoted today if Palace slip up. At the other end of table, Portsmouth desperately need a result at home to Nottingham Forest to try and avoid relegation.
News from Jeddah, via Associated Press
Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia successfully defended the AFC Champions League Elite crown after beating first-time finalist Machida Zelvia of Japan 1-0 on Saturday.
It took an extra-time goal from Saudi international striker Firas Al-Burikan to settle a bad-tempered final in front of 60,000 mainly Al-Ahli fans in Jeddah.
Al-Ahli played with 10 men for almost an hour but Machida was unable to make the advantage count.
“It’s amazing,” said Al-Ahli winger Riyad Mahrez, who won the Uefa Champions League with Manchester City in 2023. “It was difficult for us again. We like to make it difficult for ourselves. Ten against 11 is nearly impossible, I don’t know how we found the strength and the energy. … After the red card we stuck together, we fought more, we ran more until we scored.”
A shock result on Saturday in the WSL, and that opens up some possibilities. Four fixtures at midday, with Arsenal playing their Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea, the reigning WSL champions, could narrow the gap to six points on Sunday with a win over Everton. Arsenal, who also remain in contention for the title, may also now have a renewed sense of optimism with three games in hand.
Coventry v Wrexham teams:
Coventry: Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Dasilva; Onyeka, Grimes; Thomas-Asante, Eccles, Mason-Clark; Haji Wright. Subs: Wilson, Latibeaudiere, Woolfenden, Bidwell, Kesler-Hayden, Torp, Allen, Esse, Simms.
Wrexham: Ward; Hyam, Scarr, Doyle; Kabore, Dobson, James, Rathbone, Thomason; Windass, Smith. Subs: Okonkwo, Cleworth, Brunt, Cacace, Longman, O’Brien, Keillor-Dunn, Broadhead, Moore.
Give this commentary a listen if you can. An, er, interesting choice of metaphor here.
Radio highlight of the year? Coverage from the football radio stations Rasio 5 Live and Talk Sport on Rochdale versus York City. Utterly bonkers stuff. No wonder that the football journalists sounded like they were going to pass out with excitement. Seeing Rochdale score after 5 minutes of extra time, to go into the football league automatically, and then see York City score after 13 minutes of extra time, giving them the automatic promotion instead, was deranged stuff.
Every person there, seeing two big explosions in short order, became modern versions of Tsutomu Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business on 6th August 1945, suffered burns when he saw the first nuclear bomb, but went off to Nagasaki, just in time for 9th August’s second nuclear bomb. He lived until passing from stomach cancer in 2010, aged 93. Now that, THAT, was a man.
York City will probably mainly want Rochdale to get up anyway so they can share their experiences but, if not, a small part of them will think: “See? See? Don’t eff with us!”. I suffer long-term illness but, hearing this on the radio, made me grab my phone and text to explain to people what just happen and to make sure they look out for the coverage. Amazing stuff.
It’s already been a big weekend of European football.
Atlético Madrid first staged a comeback then survived one to beat Athletic Club 3-2. Aitor Paredes gave the Bilbao team the lead in the first half, then early in the second Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sørloth overturned it. Sørloth thought he had made the game safe with his second in stoppage time, but Gorka Guruzeta scored in the 97th minute to set up a nervy finish.
Atlético held on, strengthening their grip on the final qualification spot for next year’s Champions League – but they are still in this year’s, and such a tense game was perhaps less than ideal before a semi-final first leg at home to Arsenal.
In Serie A later, it’s Turin v Milan, with Torino v Inter preceding Milan v Juventus.
Ligue 1 features the Derby de la Mediterranée, Marseille v Nice, with the home team hanging on to a Europa League spot, under Newcastle legend Habib Beye.
Perhaps the biggest game in La Liga is Osasuna v Sevilla, the latter in dire relegation trouble.
We await news of Salah’s injury, and that of Kai Havertz, and Xavi Simons, too. Their seasons may be over, and there are World Cup worries, too.
Relatively calm after Liverpool’s win, but sad after reading more about the injuries affecting Ekitiké, Alisson and Mo. Also deeply disappointed for Saints and a bit miffed for Wolves and Newcastle. Ah well, off to watch some Under-8s playing with joy, strict application of the rules, and no VAR. Handshakes all round!
The Championship promotion race is going to the wire. Southampton v Ipswich on Tuesday is massive. But before that, it’s Wrexham, in a play-off position after Hull’s defeat, being the guests at Coventry’s party.
Some transfer/HR news from Germany. Bayern Munich‘s director of sport, Max Eberl, has revealed that Jackson will be heading back to Chelsea when the loan agreement expires “We will not trigger the option for Nicolas Jackson.” The deal included an obligation to buy, worth £56.2million, if Jackson played at least 45 minutes of 40 matches. More problems for Chelsea, particularly after this farrago last summer.
The Champions League semi-finals are with us, and Bayern v PSG is the first of them on Tuesday. Jonathan Wilson runs the rule.
It probably is the case, as the critics claim, that Premier League teams are wasteful and far less efficient than their continental rivals. But it’s also true that once you get beyond the top couple of teams, every Premier League side is way stronger than its equivalent in any other league in the world, something seen in the domination of the Europa League and Europa Conference League. Aston Villa came sixth in the Premier League last season with revenues of £491m; sixth in France were Lyon with revenues of £141m and sixth in Germany were Mainz with £105m.
That means Bayern or PSG can rest players or take certain periods of certain games a little easier and that leaves them fresher come the end of the season. As the demands on players have increased, it may be that the benefits of not being flogged through an exhausting battle every week have come to outweigh the disadvantages of not being quite so case-hardened as their English opponents.
Will Unwin was at 2026’s equivalent of a “ghost goal”, and saw an amazing pitch invasion as an epic National League title race was decided.
The Minstermen are back in the Football League after a decade away, but it all came down to injury time after 46 matches and 4,140 minutes of football. It was utter chaos as the final fixture included more pitch invasions than goals.
Arsenal, the holders, take on Lyon in the Women’s Champions League.
Suzanne Wrack has spoken to Olivia Smith: “As the season reaches its climax, a Champions League semi-final against Lyon on Sunday is testament to how far up the ladder Smith has climbed. Now, she is heading towards unknown territory: a second season at the same club for the first time in her senior career. “I do feel quite calm now, knowing that I have set down some roots here, but at the end of the day, football is football and you never know what’s next,” she says. “So I’m always on my toes but, right now, I’m kind of laid-back, just enjoying the time here in the present with Arsenal and looking forward to winning more silverware and growing as a player and a person.”
From one of the game’s greatest ever goalkeepers, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, an extract from his autobiography.
I sorted out my mind: “Come on, Gigi,” I said to myself, and I gave myself strength: “When the game is over you can stop playing football. Just take on this hour and a half and then say goodbye to it all.”
Hearts just have to win today:
Such a big game for Leeds, safe from relegation, just about. Now for a chance to play in a first FA Cup semi-final since 1987 and reach a first final since 1973.
Hsve Liverpool seen the last of Mohamed Salah? At least Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz scored for Liverpool against Crystal Palace, a belated downpayment or two.
What a battle at the bottom, West Ham and Spurs both looked down at one point. Amd yet there’s still four games to go, and so much to play for.
Chelsea v Leeds will see Calum McFarlane taking charge, and the caretaker has had to do some sweeping up after Marc Cucurella’s barber was the latest to leak team news.
“Of course, everyone at the club has to feel responsible, staff and players. We need to, the players know that, staff and all that, we’ve spoken. We know the recent form has not been good enough and we’re going to do absolutely everything we can and work as hard as we possibly can to make sure we can put in a good performance on Sunday and I think that’s where it starts.
“I think a lot of football is about momentum and we obviously have had a bit of a losing streak. That can change with one positive result and one positive performance and what we’re going to be able to do.
On the leaks: “It has been addressed. It’s been addressed previously. It’s something that we are looking into and it needs to stop. “We’ve spoken to them about the importance of that and making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
City and Pep Guardiola had Arsenal on their minds, too. The Gunners moved back to the top. Mikel Arteta had City on his mind, by little coincidence.
Saturday’s FA Cup tie was a slowburner but took off in the last 15 minutes. For a brief monent, the shock was on. Then City did City.
Preamble
Good morning, and welcome. Saturday was a big day in the Premier League, and in the FA Cup. We will have all the reaction here. Sunday is all about Chelsea v Leeds, about as evocative an FA Cup tie as there can be, In Scotland, Hibs v Hearts, an Edinburgh derby with so much riding on it, 40 years of hurt in the Jambos’ case.
That and all the morning news, as it happens. Join me.
UK News
David Guetta and Sia’s song Titanium got me through my fertility treatment | Dance music
At the end of 2011, party season was under way but I was in no mood for festivities. Two years into fertility treatment, my body was pumped full of synthetic hormones and felt like a pin cushion, while my head was filled with both the fragile hope of having a baby, and the exhaustion of failed clinical attempts to do so.
I was in my late 20s. I met my husband when I was 22; we got married when I was 25. “I want to have kids young,” I’d told him. It was a feeling I’d harboured since my teenage years. But I’d also had the nagging sense that it might not come easily to me. As it turned out, my intuition was right. Approaching 28, I was a regular on the infertility merry-go-round.
I was recovering from my second miscarriage that year when I heard Sia’s raspy voice on the car radio belting out words that sounded emotionally weighty for an electronic dance number – her David Guetta collaboration, Titanium.
It’s not a song I would have necessarily rated or listened to again – I’m more likely to play 00s R&B and hip-hop – but it came at the perfect time in my life. I had forgotten how days felt before fertility drugs and the diarised cycles of administering them. I’d been constantly wearing a brave face and cramming in hospital appointments before and after work, going about my job through a fog of longing and hormones. It had left me in a “cry on the bedroom floor” kind of a heap. I needed something to drag the hope back into me.
I turned the radio up and listened to the lyrics: “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose / Fire away, fire away.” It felt as if it was talking to and about me, issuing a riposte to all those shots of disappointment that had been fired our way. As Sia’s vocals ascended through the chorus with Guetta’s soaring synths – “Ricochet, you take your aim” – I cried, but I felt myself gaining power with her, too. “You shoot me down, but I won’t fall / I am titanium.” Those were the words I needed to hear.
I felt like a puppet pulled upright again. I streamed it on repeat in the days that followed. I might not have been able to face the work Christmas party but I wasn’t going to languish on the bedroom floor any more.
Over the next months, I spent a lot of time in my car, travelling to work and to fertility appointments to get my blood tested, hormones measured or insides scanned. Listening to Titanium became routine. Each time, its cinematic surge had the same empowering effect and I’d turn up the volume, wind down the windows and defiantly sing along in my terrible voice so it could wash over me.
The following May, when my husband and I headed to the clinic for another IVF embryo transfer, I let it motivate me; when we drove back from scans confirming we were six weeks, then 12 weeks pregnant, I celebrated with it. As I nervously made my way through my pregnancy, I turned to it when I needed the boost.
In January 2013, our first son was born. Today, he is the eldest of three: his brother arrived 15 months later, via IVF too (the last of our fertilised embryos) and four years later, another brother, without fertility treatment. We consider ourselves unspeakably lucky; for many, the outcome is not the same.
In our family, everyone knows Titanium is my fight song. It’s the only big commercial dance hit on my playlists, and a marker of something I overcame.
My kids call me in whenever it streams or plays on TV. When I made my husband a playlist for our 15th wedding anniversary, it’s the song that represented our 2011. And the other week, when he was out with friends, he sent me a voice note from the bar: he’d recorded it playing in the background.
There’s something all-consuming about fertility treatment: you view life only through the filter of your efforts to get pregnant. If you’re lucky, the filter lifts. It did for me, but the fight song remained. So, now, elsewhere in life, when I need a shot of strength and find myself alone in the car, down goes the window and on it goes.
UK News
Parents 'facing uncertainty' as SEN children left without school places
Amy Gibney says she is one of eight families at her child’s school to find out that they don’t have a place for next year.
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UK News
Edinburgh airport reopens after security alert but passengers warned of ‘knock on’ effect | Scotland
Edinburgh airport reopened on Saturday morning after parts of the terminal building were evacuated on Friday night because of a security alert.
An explosive ordnance disposal team was sent to the airport to investigate what Police Scotland described as a “potentially suspicious package” discovered at about 6.50pm on Friday.
An evacuation was ordered and a police cordon was set up, with roads closed.
Passengers faced disruption as result of the operation and the airport warned that schedules would continue to be affected on Saturday.
In a statement at about 3am on Saturday, the airport confirmed it had reopened and would work to restore normal services as quickly as possible.
“Following investigations by specialist teams, the airport has now reopened.
“This incident will have knock-on impacts throughout today and staff are working hard to address these and support passengers.
“Operational teams are continuing to work to restore normal services as quickly as possible.
“Please check with your airline for the latest information on your flight.”
The statement did not provide an update about the examination of the suspicious package.
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