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Man City Drops More Points after Draw with Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix, left, celebrates scoring with teammates during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in London, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix, left, celebrates scoring with teammates during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in London, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
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Man City Drops More Points after Draw with Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix, left, celebrates scoring with teammates during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in London, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix, left, celebrates scoring with teammates during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in London, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Manchester City's Premier League title defense took another blow after a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Four-time defending champion City ended a seven-game winless run on Wednesday by beating Nottingham Forest, but dropped more points with the draw at Selhurst Park, The Associated Press reported.
It could have been worse for City after Palace led twice.
Pep Guardiola's team is fourth in the standings and eight points behind leader Liverpool, which has a game in hand after its derby with Everton was postponed due to a storm.
Aston Villa was fifth after winning against last-placed Southampton 1-0, and Brentford beat Newcastle 4-2.
A win would have lifted City to second and cut the gap to Liverpool to six points, but it was behind after four minutes when Daniel Munoz scored for Palace.
Erling Haaland leveled by halftime with a header, but Maxence Lacroix restored Palace's lead in the 56th.
Rico Lewis equalized again for City in the 68th and was sent off in the 84th for a second yellow card.
“I like everything about my team, when we’re in the situation we’re in,” Guardiola said. “We have a lot of problems within the squad. We fought incredible, we gave everything, we take the point."
Villa wins After an eight-game winless run, Villa has back-to-back victories and is just two points behind City.
Jhon Duran's goal in the 24th held up for all three points against Southampton at Villa Park and followed Wednesday's win against Brentford.
Duran has been a super sub for Villa but scored on his first league start this season. He has nine goals in all competitions, five of them as a substitute.
Southampton was bottom of the standings and eight points adrift of safety.
Newcastle routed Newcastle has gone four games without a win after being routed by Brentford.
In a thrilling first half at Gtech Community Stadium, Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for the home team before Alexander Isak equalized for Newcastle.
Yoane Wissa made it 2-1 to Brentford, but Harvey Barnes leveled again.
Nathan Collins put Brentford ahead again 11 minutes into the second half, and Kevin Schade ensured Newcastle was beaten by making it 4-2 in the 90th.

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Sports

Leverkusen in Battle for Top-four Spot as Dortmund Look to Next Season

Bayer Leverkusen's Danish head coach Kasper Hjulmand looks on ahead the German first division Bundesliga football match between Bayer leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg in Leverkusen on April 4, 2026. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP)
Bayer Leverkusen's Danish head coach Kasper Hjulmand looks on ahead the German first division Bundesliga football match between Bayer leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg in Leverkusen on April 4, 2026. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP)
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Leverkusen in Battle for Top-four Spot as Dortmund Look to Next Season

Bayer Leverkusen's Danish head coach Kasper Hjulmand looks on ahead the German first division Bundesliga football match between Bayer leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg in Leverkusen on April 4, 2026. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP)
Bayer Leverkusen's Danish head coach Kasper Hjulmand looks on ahead the German first division Bundesliga football match between Bayer leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg in Leverkusen on April 4, 2026. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP)

Bayer Leverkusen will be battling for a top-four spot when they travel to second-placed Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, with the hosts already looking to next season following what is likely to be a trophyless campaign.

Leverkusen, Bundesliga champions in 2024, are currently in sixth place on 49 points, four points off fourth place which brings a Champions League berth next season.

Dortmund are second on 64 points, nine behind leaders Bayern Munich with only six matches remaining. RB Leipzig in third and fourth-placed VfB Stuttgart are both on 53.

Leverkusen will be hoping a 6-3 comeback win over VfL Wolfsburg last week -- their first ⁠league victory in ⁠four matches -- will provide the spark for a strong season run-in that includes their German Cup semi-final against Bayern on April 22.

"This important win can give us a push for the remaining matches," said Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand, who took over from Erik ten Hag after just two matches into the league campaign.

The ⁠Dane knows he has to deliver to have any chance of staying on in the job, and his team have their work cut out with games against fellow Champions League hopefuls Leipzig and Stuttgart to come in May, Reuters reported.

The situation in Dortmund is far less urgent with the club having all but secured second spot following a strong domestic campaign under Niko Kovac.

However, with Bayern nine points clear in the league they are likely to end the season without silverware.

"It is not what we want because with ⁠a club ⁠like Dortmund your standards have to be always high, and you try to play every single game to win and to win titles," said Dortmund's Fabio Silva.

"We are not fully happy because we cannot realistically fight for a title for now, but of course we can improve a lot of things, and we can win a lot more than titles to keep building this team and this club."

Leaders Bayern, buoyed by Tuesday's 2-1 victory at Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final first leg, travel to relegation-threatened St Pauli.

The Bavarians are a goal away from equaling the all-time Bundesliga record of 101 in a season.

Sports

Antonio Conte Hinting at a Napoli Exit and a Return to the Italy Job

Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte reacts during the Italian Serie A soccer match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan in Naples, Italy, 06 April 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO
Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte reacts during the Italian Serie A soccer match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan in Naples, Italy, 06 April 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO
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Antonio Conte Hinting at a Napoli Exit and a Return to the Italy Job

Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte reacts during the Italian Serie A soccer match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan in Naples, Italy, 06 April 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO
Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte reacts during the Italian Serie A soccer match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan in Naples, Italy, 06 April 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO

Win and then move on to the next challenge.

Antonio Conte never seems to stay too long in one place and now the fiery coach appears ready to leave Napoli less than a year after guiding the southern club to its fourth Serie A title.

Conte is openly campaigning for the vacant Italy job after the Azzurri failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup. Such a move would mark a return for Conte, who already coached Italy at the European Championship a decade ago, The Associated Press reported.

“If I were the federation president I would consider myself,” Conte said after Napoli’s 1-0 victory over AC Milan on Monday. “I’ve already been with the national team and I know what it’s like.”

Currently, though, the Italian soccer federation has only a lame duck president after Gabriele Gravina announced that he is resigning, with new elections called for June 22.

Gennaro Gattuso, who coached Italy in the World Cup qualifying playoff loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina, also resigned.

In the meantime, Conte can focus on Napoli’s late-season surge after leapfrogging Milan into second place with a visit to Parma coming up on Sunday.

Still, Napoli trails Italian league leader Inter Milan by seven points with seven rounds remaining and Conte is not expecting another title.

“It’s not a question of believing or not; it’s about being realistic,” Conte said. “We would have to be perfect and Inter would have to make several missteps. And from what we’ve seen, that seems unlikely because Inter is strong.”

If Conte does leave Napoli, it would follow similar exits immediately after or soon after titles at Bari (he left immediately after a Serie B title in 2009), Juventus (he left immediately after winning a third straight Serie A title in 2014), Chelsea (he left immediately after winning the FA Cup in 2018 and a year after a Premier League title) and Inter (he left immediately after a Serie A title in 2021).

Key matchups Inter visits neighboring Como on Sunday for its shortest trip of the season.

Inter’s Appiano Gentile training center north of Milan is located less than 20 kilometers (slightly more than 10 miles) from Como’s Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia. That’s about half as far as the trip from Appiano Gentile to the San Siro.

While Inter routed Como 4-0 December, Como held Inter to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals last month at the Sinigaglia. The second leg is scheduled for April 21.

Inter’s 5-2 thrashing of Roma last weekend marked its first victory since February. Meanwhile, Cesc Fabregas’ Como is unbeaten for nearly two months and is looking to hold on to fourth place and the final Champions League berth.

Players to watch Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu produced one of the goals of the season against Roma with a 30-meter (yard) blast that dipped in under the bar. It was his ninth Serie A goal of the season, to go with three assists.

He also recently helped Turkey qualify for its first World Cup since 2002.

Out of action Juventus center forward Dusan Vlahovic will miss another three weeks with an injured calf muscle after only recently recovering from another muscular injury that occurred in November.

Vlahovic’s injury issues could affect his contract negotiations with Juventus, which is offering a brief extension at a reduced salary.

Off the field Asked for solutions to the national team’s problems, Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti suggested requiring every Serie A club to use at least one Italian under-19 player in its starting lineup.

Spalletti was fired as Italy coach last year after the Azzurri lost their opening qualifier to Norway.

Sports

New Zealand Striker Wood Returns from Injury Ahead of World Cup

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qualifier - Costa Rica v New Zealand - Al Rayyan Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - June 14, 2022 New Zealand's Chris Wood scores their first goal REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qualifier - Costa Rica v New Zealand - Al Rayyan Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - June 14, 2022 New Zealand's Chris Wood scores their first goal REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous/File Photo
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New Zealand Striker Wood Returns from Injury Ahead of World Cup

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qualifier - Costa Rica v New Zealand - Al Rayyan Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - June 14, 2022 New Zealand's Chris Wood scores their first goal REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qualifier - Costa Rica v New Zealand - Al Rayyan Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - June 14, 2022 New Zealand's Chris Wood scores their first goal REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous/File Photo

Chris Wood is set to return from his lengthy injury spell in a big boost for New Zealand ahead of the World Cup, as well as for his club Nottingham Forest.

The 34-year-old has been sidelined since October due to a knee ⁠injury. He underwent ⁠surgery in December.

His return was confirmed by Forest coach Vitor Pereira in a press conference ahead of the club's Europa ⁠League quarter-final first leg match against FC Porto on Thursday, Reuters reported.

"He's started training with the team and is available for the game," Pereira said on Wednesday.

Wood, who is the All Whites' record goalscorer with 45 goals, played for ⁠New ⁠Zealand when they last qualified for the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. New Zealand are in Group G at the World Cup, where they will face off against Belgium, Egypt and Iran in June.