Palmer Stars for Chelsea as Newcastle Beaten 3-2 in English League Thriller 

Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring the 2-1 lead during the English Premier League soccer match Chelsea FC vs Newcastle United, in London, Britain, 11 March 2024. (EPA)
Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring the 2-1 lead during the English Premier League soccer match Chelsea FC vs Newcastle United, in London, Britain, 11 March 2024. (EPA)
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Palmer Stars for Chelsea as Newcastle Beaten 3-2 in English League Thriller 

Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring the 2-1 lead during the English Premier League soccer match Chelsea FC vs Newcastle United, in London, Britain, 11 March 2024. (EPA)
Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring the 2-1 lead during the English Premier League soccer match Chelsea FC vs Newcastle United, in London, Britain, 11 March 2024. (EPA)

Cole Palmer capped an impressive display with a goal and an assist as Chelsea beat Newcastle 3-2 in a pulsating English Premier League match on Monday.

In front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate, the 21-year-old Palmer pulled the strings in midfield for the London club.

His 11th goal this season made him the sixth Chelsea player to score in five consecutive league matches. Chelsea has not lost a league game at home in the month of March since 2001.

The result cut the four-point gap between Newcastle in 10th and Chelsea in 11th to one point.

Palmer’s goal came 12 minutes into the second half. He found space just outside the Newcastle penalty area and fired home a low shot.

Nicolas Jackson gave the home side the lead after six minutes when he diverted a shot from Palmer past Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Although it lost in-form winger Anthony Gordon to injury 10 minutes before halftime, Newcastle fought back and eight minutes later got an equalizer when Alexander Isak found the net with a perfectly placed shot from 18 yards out.

Substitute Mykhailo Mudryk made it 3-1 to Chelsea in the 76th just five minutes after replacing Raheem Sterling.

Jacob Murphy got a goal back for the visitor in the 90th but his rasping strike was not enough to stop Chelsea taking all three points and prevent Newcastle from recording its first home-and-away double over the Blues since the 1986-87 season.

Howe told the BBC Gordon's injury “looks like a knee problem and it doesn’t look too good at the moment — it is unclear.”

The injury to defender Dan Burn looked less serious, he added.



African Players in Europe: Marmoush, Sarr Strike in FA Cup Wins

Manchester City's Egyptian striker #07 Omar Marmoush (C) shoots to score their second goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Bournemouth and Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England on March 30, 2025. (AFP)
Manchester City's Egyptian striker #07 Omar Marmoush (C) shoots to score their second goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Bournemouth and Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England on March 30, 2025. (AFP)
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African Players in Europe: Marmoush, Sarr Strike in FA Cup Wins

Manchester City's Egyptian striker #07 Omar Marmoush (C) shoots to score their second goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Bournemouth and Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England on March 30, 2025. (AFP)
Manchester City's Egyptian striker #07 Omar Marmoush (C) shoots to score their second goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Bournemouth and Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England on March 30, 2025. (AFP)

Egyptian Omar Marmoush and Senegalese Ismaila Sarr scored to help Manchester City and Crystal Palace secure FA Cup semi-finals places at the weekend.

Marmoush netted his fifth goal for City since a January move from Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth.

Back in England after Africa Cup of Nations qualifying duty, Sarr put Palace two goals ahead en route to a 3-0 London derby victory at Fulham.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the FA Cup and major European leagues:

ENGLAND

OMAR MARMOUSH (Manchester City)

He came off the bench to send City into the semi-finals with the second-half winner at Bournemouth. Pep Guardiola's side, who will face Nottingham Forest at Wembley in April, trailed to Evanilson's first-half strike in the quarter-final. Erling Haaland levelled in the 49th minute before Marmoush netted in the 63rd minute as he took Nico O'Reilly's flick and fired past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

ISMAILA SARR (Crystal Palace)

Sarr helped the Eagles reach the semi-finals with the second goal in their victory at Fulham. Eberechi Eze put Palace ahead in the first half before Sarr struck in the 38th minute. Eze skipped down the left and whipped an inch-perfect cross to Sarr, who evaded his marker and headed past Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno for his ninth goal in all competitions this season. Palace will play Aston Villa in the semi-finals as they look to reach the final for the first time since 2016.

SPAIN

PATHE CISS (Rayo Vallecano)

Senegalese midfielder Ciss produced a brilliant header to put Vallecano ahead against Alaves in their 2-0 win. The 31-year-old made a darting run to the near post and flashed a header across goal and into the top corner. It was his third goal of the season in La Liga and he is playing an important role in Rayo's push for European football.

ITALY

ZITO LUVUMBO (Cagliari)

The 23-year-old Angola winger, in his fifth season at Cagliari, scored in injury time of his team's 3-0 win over rock-bottom Monza to help ease relegation fears. Cagliari are now six points above the Serie A drop zone. Gianluca Gaetano, who had scored the second goal, created the opportunity for Luvumbo with a long over-the-top through ball.

GERMANY

AMINE ADLI, VICTOR BONIFACE (Bayer Leverkusen)

Nigerian Boniface and Moroccan Adli scored in the second half as defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen came from behind to win 3-1 at home to relegation-threatened Bochum. Boniface converted a cross with his knee on 60 minutes and Adli slid the ball into the net with three minutes of regular time remaining.

ELIAS SAAD (St Pauli)

Tunisian Saad temporarily silenced supporters of league leaders Bayern Munich by equalizing midway through the first half of a match his club eventually lost 3-2 to lie three points above the relegation zone. Saad moved unnoticed into the Bayern area and tapped the ball into the net.

FRANCE

ABDOULAYE TOURE (Le Havre)

The Guinea midfielder scored a pair of first-half penalties as Le Havre beat Nantes 3-2 to end an eight-match winless run at home and boost their Ligue 1 survival hopes. Toure, who started both of his nation's World Cup qualifiers this month, is his club's top scorer this season with seven goals after netting four times in the past three games.