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Erik ten Hag insisted Manchester United players were “better than this” after their 2-2 draw at Bournemouth ensured they had won just one of their most recent seven Premier League matches.
The result meant Ten Hag’s side slipped below Newcastle United to seventh in the league standings — a position they have never finished below in the Premier League era. When asked if finishing eighth or lower was a concern for this season, the United boss responded: “I don’t comment on that question. That is not important in this moment.”
Bruno Fernandes twice levelled for United in Saturday’s draw at Bournemouth; Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert gave the home side the lead either side of a powerful close-range finish from the Portuguese midfielder, who equalised again from the penalty spot in the second half .
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Erik ten Hag insists Manchester United players ‘better than this’ after Bournemouth draw
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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti insists that Eder Militao is in contention to start against Manchester City in the second leg of the side's Champions League quarter-final.
The tie is finely poised at 3-3 after last week's first leg draw in Madrid. Militao has not started a match in any competition since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee during Madrid's opening game of the season.
He appeared as a substitute in Saturday's one-goal win at Mallorca, having briefly featured from the bench against Athletic Bilbao two weeks previously.
"No, no, it was a very demanding game, with (Vedat) Muriqui, and I preferred not to start Militao," Ancelotti explained after the game when asked if Saturday's selection meant Militao would not start at City. "I was thinking of giving him more minutes in the second half apart, but the game did not allow this. I put him on in the last few minutes to bring on a defender who was better in the air".
Speaking on the win at Mallorca, sealed with a long-range Aurelien Tchouameni strike, Ancelotti added: "It's a very important victory that brings us closer, but it's not won yet, there are still many games to go. We are on a very good run."
Real Madrid are 11 points clear of Barcelona, whose game in hand is at Cadiz tonight, with seven rounds of league action remaining.
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Eder Militao’s recovery at Real Madrid – and what’s next after Sunday’s ‘reward’
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Elliot Lee has sent a cheeky message to co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney following Wrexham's promotion: "Fire up the jet for Vegas!"
The Welsh club booked a return to League One with a 6-0 thrashing of Forest Green Rovers, a result that proved enough to get over the line thanks to both Milton Keynes Dons and Barrow dropping points.
Thousands of elated fans poured on to the the Racecourse Ground pitch at the final whistle to kick-start a promotion party that the players hope will include a repeat of last season's all-expenses trip to Las Vegas courtesy of the club's Hollywood owners.
"The main message we are sending to Rob and Ryan is to fire up the jet for Vegas," says Lee, who set the ball rolling in the rout of Forest Green by netting the opening goal.
Wrexham's players enjoyed the trip of a lifetime following their National League title success, hailed as conquering heroes when walking into Hakkasan Nightclub and then being treated to an exclusive dinner on the terrace at the famous Bellagio Hotel.
McElhenney joined the squad on the trip and it is understood the owners have again offered to fly the entire squad out once the season is over.
Neither owner could be at Saturday's game due to work commitments. But both followed events closely via TV, with McElhenney watching the game with his son Leo in Los Angeles before then calling manager Phil Parkinson to pass on his thanks.
"Rob rang up just as I popped into the office," says the 56-year-old. "I don't think he was expecting me to be there to answer. So, we had a great chat. Obviously, him and Ryan would have loved to be here today.
"They obviously deserve a lot of credit because the support they have given myself and all the staff — and the backing they give the players — they deserve this. I am sure they'll be celebrating wherever they are in the US.
"I hope they can get over before the end of the season. Owning a football club is tough. No an easy job at all and you need to savour these promotions."
With promotion now sealed, Parkinson has handed his players a few days off to savour the moment - just as he did last season when the National League title was sealed with a game to spare.
"Wrexham will be quite lively tonight," said the Wrexham manager. "I want all the supporters to savour this. The lads will have a few days off, which they deserve. Both physically and mentally."
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How Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney secured another Hollywood promotion
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Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Manchester United drew at Bournemouth.
Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert twice gave Bournemouth the lead either side of a first half Fernandes strike, before the Portuguese levelled things up in the second half from the penalty spot.
United have now just won once in their last seven Premier League games, slipping to seventh in the standings as Bournemouth stay 12th.
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Bournemouth 2 Man Utd 2: More defensive lapses but Bruno to the rescue – The Briefing
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Nuno Espirito Santo expressed his frustration at Nottingham Forest’s "missed opportunity" to claim a precious victory over Wolves.
The Forest head coach saw his side draw 2-2 with his former club Wolves at the City Ground, following a game in which the home side had plenty of attacking threat — but paid the price for their defensive frailty.
A win would have put a three point gap between Forest and the relegation zone but now the buffer is only one point between them and Luton Town, who were beaten 5-1 at Manchester City.
Goals from Morgan Gibbs-White — against his former club — and Danilo helped Forest come back from behind to take a 2-1 lead, only for Matheus Cunha to score his second of the game for Wolves.
His first was an outstanding goal — but one that owed a lot to some poor defending, as he carried the ball half of the length of the pitch, before cutting into the box to score — while the second saw Forest concede their 22nd set-piece goal of the campaign.
“It’s very frustrating for me, for all of us… the players, the fans. It’s very frustrating because we were better and it’s a missed opportunity so we are sad and disappointed,” said Nuno. “I think we did enough (to win). I was disappointed with the way we conceded but offensively we were the better team; the more dominant. We had chances.
“I think it was (a wasted opportunity). There’s one player in the box, we allowed them to turn inside… too soft and the second goal is bad defending. Wolves’ equaliser came from a corner, exposing Forest’s problems defending set-pieces again.
“We have to look at all of them in a realistic way and today the organisation was good,” said Nuno. “But we should have done better individually.”
Forest are next in action away to relegation rivals Everton next Sunday, with Nuno adding: “We are in a fight, it’s going to be a tough one but we’ll give it our all."
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How much has Nuno Espirito Santo changed Nottingham Forest? And will it be enough?
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Wolves defender Craig Dawson may undergo surgery on a groin injury this week, boss Gary O'Neil has said.
Dawson, 33, was an unused substitute in Saturday's 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest. He has started 25 Premier League matches this term but has not been selected since the defeat at Newcastle on March 2.
“Daws was available for 10 minutes tops if we needed him," O'Neill said after the match. "He might have surgery this week on a groin issue that's been causing him some problems.
“He needs to go and see someone because he's not feeling comfortable at the moment. He put himself up for the last two squads to try to help the group.
“I don’t know if it would be season-ending. It depends what comes back this week but I know he's really struggling. He is playing through some pain, but is trying to train to help."
O’Neil also said Rayan Ait-Nouri failed a fitness test yesterday afternoon with a calf injury but the medical staff do not envisage it being a long lay-off.
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Dominic Solanke can't stop scoring!
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Pep Guardiola says Manchester City defender John Stones is “fine” after the England international was an unused substitute during their 5-1 win over Luton Town this afternoon.
Stones has struggled with injuries all season but played 90 minutes in their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid on Tuesday, which City drew 3-3. Phil Foden was also an unused substitute against Luton, having scored at the Bernabeu in midweek.
“He has some problems, some niggles,” Guardiola said on Stones after the Luton win. “He's fine! He's not injured, but he felt uncomfortable.”
City went ahead against Luton after an early own goal from Daiki Hashiota but did not score again until a superb half-volley from Mateo Kovacic found the roof of the net in the 64th minute. Erling Haaland then converted a 79th-minute penalty before Ross Barkley scored Luton’s consolation goal shortly after.
Jeremy Doku added City’s fourth with Josko Gvardiol getting the fifth in added time.
City are back in action on Wednesday when they host Madrid at the Etihad Stadium.
Wrexham have secured promotion to League One, the third tier of English football, after a 6-0 victory over Forest Green Rovers at the Racecourse Ground.
Two goals in the space of six first-half minutes from Elliot Lee and Paul Mullin put Phil Parkinson’s side in control, with an own goal from the visiting side’s defender Ryan Inniss ten minutes later before Mullin added a fourth before the break to take the game away from Forest Green.
Ryan Barnett netted a fifth goal in the 63rd minute before substitute Jack Marriott completed the scoring in the 84th minute.
Read the full story below.
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Wrexham promoted to League One after 6-0 win over Forest Green Rovers
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Sam Lee analyses how Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League
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Manchester City 5 Luton 1: Guardiola’s (almost) perfect day ahead of Madrid
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The 3pm GMT games are all over, here's how they finished:
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Antony has missed out on a place in the Manchester United squad to face Bournemouth through injury.
The Brazilian was a surprise absentee from Erik ten Hag's 20-man squad, although Marcus Rashford has been declared fit enough to start the match despite being a fitness doubt beforehand.
Scott McTominay, though, has also missed out due to a knee injury.
As reported earlier, youngsters Ethan Wheatley, Harry Amass and Habeeb Ogunneye are on the bench.
Man Utd XI: Onana; Dalot, Kambwala, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund.
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Ethan Wheatley in Manchester United squad for first time for Bournemouth trip
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Ange Postecoglou has told Tottenham that "growth is painful" after they lost 4-0 at Newcastle United, the worst result of his tenure.
Alexander Isak netted twice with Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schar also on the scoresheet for a dominant Newcastle side against Spurs, who were second-best throughout.
Postecoglou was quizzed on how his squad will look to recover from the manner of the defeat. "The same as every other game," he responded. "There's no point sitting around feeling sorry for yourself.
"There's another game in two weeks. We've just got to get ready for that. It's not the first time it's happened to us and it won't be the last. It's part of our growth. Sometimes that growth is painful. That's part of it and you've just got to embrace it, use it and get ready for the next challenge.
"You've always been quite complimentary about the mentality of this group of players since you've got here. Yep, yeah, we have to make sure that we stay consistent with that."
Tottenham return to action on April 28 with a Premier League match against north London rivals Arsenal.
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Newcastle 4 Tottenham 0: Superb Isak, Van de Ven’s bad day, Bruno’s yellow joy – The Briefing
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A Daiki Hashioka has Manchester City 1-0 early on against Luton Town.
Erling Haaland spurned a one-on-one with Thomas Kaminski, before Jeremy Doku saw an effort blocked and then the Norwegian's acrobatic volley deflected in off Hasioka.
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Newcastle 4 Tottenham 0: Superb Isak, Van de Ven’s bad day, Bruno’s yellow joy – The Briefing
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Leeds had the opportunity to go top after Leicester's shock 1-0 defeat at Plymouth Argyle last night.
But Daniel Farke's side suffered a 1-0 loss of their own, with Blackburn Rovers winning at Elland Road courtesy of a Sammie Szmodics second-half goal.
Blackburn had lost their lost game 5-0 at Bristol City on Tuesday but that win temporarily moves them up to 16th in the Championship relegation battle.
Leeds remain on 87 points, one behind Leicester and Ipswich Town, with the latter hosting Middlesbrough later on.
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But much to work on for Tottenham...
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Gio Reyna is making his first start for Nottingham Forest today as they host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
The 21-year-old USMNT international has only featured six times as a substitute for Forest since joining on loan from Borussia Dortmund in the January transfer window, remaining on the bench twice and twice failing to make the matchday squad. He also featured as a late substitute in the 1-0 FA Cup defeat against Manchester United in January.
Reyna, though, was key for the U.S. during the March international break, registering two assists and a goal in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final and final as his side lifted the trophy.
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Headlining the 3pm team news are Ivan Toney and Phil Foden, who are only on the bench for Brentford and Manchester City respectively.
City do recall Ederson but Rodri is given a rest and named among the substitutes for the visit of Luton Town.
Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri, though, is not fit enough to make the matchday squad with Matheus Cunha replacing him in their starting line-up for their trip to Nottingham Forest.