Napoli Delay Inter’s Title Celebrations with 4-0 Win Over Cremonese

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Cremonese - Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy - April 24, 2026 Napoli's Rasmus Hojlund scores their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Cremonese - Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy - April 24, 2026 Napoli's Rasmus Hojlund scores their second goal. (Reuters)
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Napoli Delay Inter’s Title Celebrations with 4-0 Win Over Cremonese

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Cremonese - Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy - April 24, 2026 Napoli's Rasmus Hojlund scores their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Cremonese - Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy - April 24, 2026 Napoli's Rasmus Hojlund scores their second goal. (Reuters)

Napoli cruised to a ‌4-0 win at home to Cremonese on Friday, a result which means Serie A leaders Inter Milan will have to wait at least another week to celebrate the title win and leaves the visitors in serious relegation trouble.

Napoli are second in the standings on 69 points, nine behind Inter who are away to Torino on Sunday and three points ahead of AC Milan who host Juventus.

Cremonese are third from bottom, level on 28 points with Lecce who are in the safety zone ahead of a trip to Hellas Verona on Saturday. Verona are second ‌from bottom on ‌18 points and look Serie B bound along ‌with ⁠bottom club Pisa.

With ⁠their title defense all but over, Napoli were still keen to impress after a dismal performance last weekend when they failed to register a single shot on target in a 2-0 home loss to Lazio.

"After Lazio, we spoke, I coach intelligent guys and they understood what didn't work," Napoli boss Antonio Conte told DAZN before kickoff.

"Today we have to ⁠get back on track."

Conte's men duly obliged.

Scott McTominay was ‌denied by the onrushing keeper Emil Audero ‌in an early attack, but his opening goal quickly followed in the ‌third minute.

McTominay collected Kevin De Bruyne's pass, took one touch to ‌control before rifling a low shot to the bottom corner of the net for his ninth league goal of the season.

Napoli created plenty of chances before doubling their lead on the stroke of halftime with an own goal.

Rasmus Hojlund ‌slipped as he got his shot away, but the ball took a wicked deflection off Filippo Terracciano ⁠to wrongfoot Audero ⁠and Napoli finished the game off in stoppage time before the break.

After McTominay made an acrobatic pullback from the byline to keep the ball in play, De Bruyne battled to win possession from Youssef Maleh in the area and drilled his shot beyond Audero.

Napoli continued where they left off after the interval. Keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic threw the ball to Alisson Santos who ran the length of the pitch unchallenged before firing home from the edge of the area.

Amir Rrahmani rattled the Cremonese crossbar and Audero denied McTominay from the penalty spot late on as Napoli failed to add to their goal tally, but Conte, and the home fans, will be more than happy with an impressive performance.



Manchester United's Fernandes Named Premier League Player of the Season

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Nottingham Forest - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - May 17, 2026 Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes in action REUTERS
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Nottingham Forest - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - May 17, 2026 Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes in action REUTERS
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Manchester United's Fernandes Named Premier League Player of the Season

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Nottingham Forest - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - May 17, 2026 Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes in action REUTERS
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v Nottingham Forest - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - May 17, 2026 Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes in action REUTERS

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was named the Premier League player of the season on Saturday after guiding his club to third place in the standings while equaling the league's assists record with a game to spare. Fernandes tied the league record of 20 assists jointly held by former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry and ex-Manchester City playmaker Kevin De ⁠Bruyne.

The Portugal international ⁠also scored eight goals as United secured a third-place finish to qualify for the Champions League.

The 31-year-old was nominated alongside Arsenal's title-winning trio of Gabriel, David Raya and Declan Rice, ⁠Manchester City duo Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White and Brentford striker Igor Thiago.

Fernandes emerged as the Premier League's best playmaker this season when he created a league-high 132 chances. The next best player was Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai, who created 89 chances, Reuters reported.

Fernandes was named the Football Writers' Association ⁠men's ⁠player of the year earlier this month while he also picked up the club's Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year honor for the fifth time.

He has the opportunity to make the Premier League assists record his own on Sunday when United travel to Brighton & Hove Albion for the final game of the season.


North Korean Team Wins Asian Women's Champions League Soccer Title

Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
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North Korean Team Wins Asian Women's Champions League Soccer Title

Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
Naegohyang Women's FC players celebrate with the trophy during the victory ceremony after the AFC Women's Champions League final football match between North Korea's Naegohyang Women's FC and Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon on May 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

North Korea’s Naegohyang FC defeated Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0 to win soccer's Asian Women’s Champions League on Saturday in the South Korean city of Suwon.

Kim Kyong Yong scored the only goal of the game, her fourth of the tournament, just before halftime.

The North Korean international forward, who also scored the winning goal in the semifinal win over South Korea’s Suwon FC on Wednesday, shot home from inside the area after receiving the ball from Kim Jung who broke free of the Japanese defense, The Associated Press reported.

Watched by a sparse crowd at Suwon Sports Complex, just south of Seoul, the team from Pyongyang had more chances than Tokyo in what was a tight game and deserved to win just the second edition of the 12-team continental tournament, following Wuhan Jiangda’s triumph a year earlier.

The triumph continues unprecedented success for North Korea in women’s soccer. In 2024, the national team won both the U-20 and U-17 World Cups, and successfully defended the latter in 2025.

At a continental level, North Korea won the 2024 Women’s Asian Cup and the 2024 and 2026 U-17 tournament.

“We don’t have enough time to explain the evolution of our national football programs,” Naegohyang head coach Ri Yu Il said prior to the final.

“We have a specialized player development system. Players are well-trained from a young age and as they grow older, they contribute to good performances at AFC or FIFA competitions.”


Thauvin Inspires Lens to Maiden French Cup Title with 3-1 Win Over Nice

Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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Thauvin Inspires Lens to Maiden French Cup Title with 3-1 Win Over Nice

Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Final - RC Lens v OGC Nice - Stade de France, Saint Denis, France - May 22, 2026 RC Lens' Adrien Thomasson lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Coupe de France REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

RC Lens claimed their first French Cup with a 3-1 victory over Nice after Florian Thauvin scored one goal and set up another to help land the trophy at the Stade de France on Friday.

Thauvin, a 2018 World Cup-winner omitted from France's squad for next month's finals, opened the scoring before his perfect corner was headed in by Odsonne Edouard for Lens' second goal.

Djibril Coulibaly pulled one back for Nice on the stroke of halftime, Reuters reported.

Lens' second-half substitute Abdallah Sima sealed the ⁠victory with 12 minutes ⁠remaining, sparking wild celebrations among the 50,000 Lens fans who travelled to Paris hoping to see their club claim a first trophy since the 1999 League Cup.

The triumph capped a remarkable season for Lens, whose only top-flight title came in 1998 and who ⁠finished runners-up to Paris St Germain in Ligue 1 this season.

Nice, meanwhile, face Ligue 2 side St Etienne on May 26 and 29 in a two-legged playoff to preserve their top-flight status.

After a shaky start from both sides, Lens, who had Robin Risser to thank for two spectacular saves, took the lead in the 25th minute when Thauvin collected Matthieu Udol’s cross in the area and found the net with a clinical ⁠left-footed effort.

The ⁠Northerners doubled their lead in the 42nd with Edouard beating Maxime Dupe with a header from Thauvin’s corner.

Coulibaly, 17, reduced the arrears on the stroke of halftime, heading home a Jonathan Clauss corner.

Nice came close to levelling on the hour, but Antoine Mendy's header crashed onto the bar.

But Lens wrapped it up in the 78th minute as Sima, who had replaced Edouard 12 minutes earlier, outmuscled two Nice defenders to beat Dupe with a low shot for his fifth goal in six appearances in the competition.