Leicester slipped further into relegation trouble as they endured a woeful 5-3 defeat away to Fulham to end their three-game unbeaten run and inflict damage on their survival hopes.

Starting the game outside of the bottom three on goal difference, Dean Smith’s side were ripped apart in the first half at Craven Cottage as Willian, Carlos Vinicius and Tom Cairney all took advantage of shambolic defending to bury Leicester before the break.

Cairney got his second and his team’s fourth early in the second half before Willian completed a brace of his own, rifling in a fine solo effort.

Harvey Barnes scored two and James Maddison tapped in a penalty to give visiting supporters momentary cheer, but the result was never in doubt. The prospects of their team remaining a Premier League club look slim on the evidence of a defensive display every bit as bad as the scoreline suggested.

Fulham scored with their first chance of the game, though it was more by luck than design. Dennis Praet fouled Antonee Robinson out near the left touchline, and from the resulting free-kick Willian’s cross evaded everybody inside the box before bouncing up into the top corner past Daniel Iversen.

Leicester, sensing the severity of their predicament, rallied. Maddison crossed low for Barnes arriving inside the box but he failed to make sufficient contact to turn it home under pressure. At the other end, Cairney released Harrison Reed who went toe-to-toe with Caglar Soyuncu before the Leicester defender deflected his effort narrowly wide.

Fulham’s second arrived before the 20-minute mark and started with a Leicester mistake. Boubakary Soumare lost his footing and gave away possession in his own half, allowing Harry Wilson to race away upfield. From his pass nobody in blue went with Vinicius, who had the simple task of striding into the box and rolling it low past the exposed goalkeeper.

Bernd Leno saved well from Jamie Vardy as Leicester threatened immediately to half the arrears, but it was Fulham who were well in control, going close to a third after half an hour when Reed fired straight at Iversen from Willian’s cut-back.

Leicester were hanging on and Fulham came again when Robinson fizzed a cross straight across goal that failed to find a touch, before Vinicius headed inches wide as the ball came back in.

It was a momentary reprieve and by half-time Fulham had three and Leicester looked buried. Reed showed good footwork to control the ball and feed Vinicius, who turned well and found Cairney. The Fulham captain took a touch to come inside Soyuncu before bending his shot smoothly into the bottom corner.

Leicester came out for the second half with some attacking urgency, going close when Barnes struck low towards Leno’s bottom corner which drew a fine fingertip save from the Fulham goalkeeper.

Defensively, they remained as disorganised as before the break. Cairney scored his second and Fulham’s fourth after a powerful run by Kenny Tete down the right. It was a cool finish from a deft first touch after he had been picked out by the full-back.

Barnes thumped in a consolation off the underside of the crossbar just before the hour, and the visitors were offered further encouragement when Leno brought down Vardy inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty. The Leicester striker took the kick himself but the goalkeeper redeemed himself with a two-handed save low to his left.

It extinguished whatever faint hope might briefly had been rekindled for the visitors, and minutes later their woeful defensive organisation was exposed yet again. Willian was barely challenged as he picked up the ball, drifted inside a blasted in Fulham’s fifth.

There was time still for Maddison to succeed where Vardy had failed, knocking his penalty past Leno but drawing barely a cheer from the visiting fans. The same was true when Barnes tapped home from Patson Daka’s pass.

It was a brave stab at recovery but Leicester had lacked courage when it mattered. A two-goal margin did not reflect the extent of Fulham’s dominance.

Newcastle defender Dan Burn had no complaints over Arsenal’s streetwise tactics after a tooth-and-nail Premier League battle at St James’ Park.

The Gunners emerged from Sunday’s fiercely-contested encounter on Tyneside with a 2-0 victory on an afternoon when anything less would have all but handed the title to leaders Manchester City.

In doing so, they dealt a blow to the Magpies’ Champions League qualification hopes in a game punctuated by frequent delays in play and ill-tempered confrontations which prevented the home side from establishing a rhythm, something they themselves had been accused of doing in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium in January.

But, asked about Arsenal’s approach, Burn said: “Of course it’s frustrating, but that’s what they said we did at their place. We get a lot of stick for slowing the game down, which I don’t know if we intentionally do all the time.

“They did that, but it’s part and parcel of football. We can’t do it and then complain when it happens to us.

“A lot of teams tend to do that now when they feel the energy of the crowd, they try and stifle it a little bit.

“When a team like Arsenal is coming here and doing that, it’s a compliment.”

Newcastle set off with high hopes of repeating their 2-0 home win over the Gunners last season and might have been on their way in front of an expectant home crowd had Jacob Murphy’s early shot not come back off a post or had referee Chris Kavanagh not been advised to review his decision to award a penalty for handball against Jakub Kiwior.

In the event, they were undone by Martin Odegaard’s first-half strike and Fabian Schar’s unfortunate own goal.

Burn said: “We knew it wasn’t going to be the same as last season, where we played them off the park. They’re a lot better this year and they’ve shown that all season.

“They’ve been unlucky that City have overtaken them, but they’re a very good team who caused us problems, especially at home. We’re just unfortunate we couldn’t get the win.”

Manchester United’s defeat at West Ham means Newcastle remain two points clear in third place with four games remaining, although with Liverpool and Brighton making concerted bids to reel them in.

Burn said: “We’re disappointed, but we’ve got four games to go and it’s still in our hands.”

Hearts interim manager Steven Naismith will take positives from defeat against Celtic ahead of their “two biggest games of the season”.

Hearts were the better side until Alex Cochrane was sent off near the end of a goalless first half and Celtic went on to win 2-0.

Naismith disagreed with the red card and felt his team deserved more from the game, which leaves them in fourth place in the cinch Premiership, five points behind Aberdeen and one ahead of Hibernian.

Hearts now travel to Paisley to face sixth-placed St Mirren on Saturday before hosting the Dons the following weekend.

Naismith said: “When we look back, there will probably be a lot of positives for us.

“The next two games are the biggest games of the season and they will define where we finish.

“This game was always going to be our most difficult challenge. We acquitted ourselves well.

“Before the game I said we would be aggressive, we would have our moments in attack. We did that.

“We were brave defensively against the best forwards in the league and they never created too many chances until the red card.

“They made their moments count in the second half but there’s lots we can take positives from.

“We have said consistently there’s a good group of players here who want to do better, who want to improve and who want to be successful. The last two performances, you can see that’s definitely the case.”

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou hinted his team could play with more freedom now they have wrapped up the title.

The Hoops retained their cinch Premiership crown with four games remaining thanks to a 2-0 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday.

There is no room for dropping off given Celtic face Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday and have a treble to play for with a Scottish Cup final against Inverness to come on June 3.

They also have the chance to set a new Scottish top-flight points record of 107 – beating Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles team of 2017 by a point – if they win their final four matches.

Postecoglou said: “We have got an opportunity to (have a special season). We are champions, which is fantastic. There are still four games in the league and we have a cup final to look forward to.

“Why let this opportunity slip to continue to maintain standards?

“I think the last three or four weeks we have been playing pretty tight in terms of emotionally.

“The boys knew they were close to achieving something special and the closer you get to something like that, it’s human nature that you tighten up a bit. I think that’s been reflected in our football the last three or four weeks.

“But through that time they still work so hard for each other, they are still disciplined, they never lose focus. They just have this real determination.

“They are winners, mate. They are winners.”

Captain Callum McGregor believes the competition within the squad will help ensure they retain their edge for the cup final.

McGregor, who is going for his fifth treble, said: “It’s a cup final, we have to prepare well and that includes the last four games. We have to be bang at it, we can’t come off it.

“Listen, the manager won’t let us anyway but we just continue to play the way we are playing, stay hungry, and once we get to the cup final we will try to deal with that as best we can, and that will be a consequence of that happening.

“Everybody wants to play, that’s why it’s highly competitive to get in the team and stay in the team.

“If you look at the subs who came on on Sunday, Aaron (Mooy) has a huge impact on the game and he is somebody who has been really strong for us this season.

“There’s strength in depth there and I think the guys, when they are in the team, they are desperate to stay in the team. To have that competitive environment for the next four weeks will hopefully stand us in good stead.”

Celtic have the chance to go a full season unbeaten against Rangers, who they have beaten in both cup competitions.

“You don’t need any extra motivation for these games,” McGregor said. “They are always big games, there’s always something to play for. and I’m sure it will be a highly competitive game again.

“We want to go there and be aggressive in the game and get maximum points.”

Lionel Messi has returned to training with Paris St Germain following his suspension over an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia.

The Ligue 1 club confirmed on their official Twitter account on Monday morning that the 35-year-old Argentina international was back among the fold after he was fined and suspended for undertaking a promotional visit to the Middle East country without permission.

The post, which was accompanied by a photograph of the World Cup winner in training kit, said simply: “Leo Messi back in training this Monday morning.”

Messi, who is an ambassador for the Saudi Tourism Authority, was pictured in Riyadh the day after his side had suffered a surprise defeat to Lorient.

He later revealed in a video posted on his official Instagram account that he had to make the trip for contractual reasons, having previously cancelled it, and had assumed he had a day off.

Messi said: “I wanted to make this video due to everything that is happening.

“First of all, I want to say sorry to my team-mates and to the club. I honestly thought that we were going to be free after the game, as had been the case in previous weeks.

“I had organised this trip to Saudi Arabia, which had been cancelled previously and this time I couldn’t. I apologise again and I’m here for whatever the club decide. All the best.”

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner joined PSG from Barcelona in August 2021 after the Catalan club ran into severe financial difficulties and, although a return has been mooted, those difficulties make that unlikely.

In recent days, he has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia’s Pro League amid reports he could earn up to £320million a year.

Erik Ten Hag shrugged off the threat of Liverpool and insisted Manchester United’s top-four bid is still in their own hands.

Fourth-placed United have slipped to back-to-back 1-0 defeats against Brighton and West Ham to allow Liverpool, who have won six straight matches, to close to within a point of the final Champions League spot.

Ten Hag’s side do have a game in hand, however, and three wins from their remaining games at home to Wolves, Chelsea and Fulham and a trip to Bournemouth will guarantee finishing above Jurgen Klopp’s team.

“It’s not about Liverpool, it’s about us and because of the table we have everything in our hands,” said Ten Hag.

“If we bring our performance and our standards we’ll win games. We don’t have to look to others, we have to look at ourselves and find a way to win and get back to our levels.”

Said Benrahma’s first-half goal, aided by an awful gaffe from United goalkeeper David De Gea, lifted West Ham seven points above the relegation zone.

The Hammers spent £160million on eight new signings last summer, and another £12million on Danny Ings in January, but have endured a tough season in the Premier League.

However, full-back Aaron Cresswell believes the new faces are finally beginning to click.

“It’s always a tough transition when you bring in eight or nine players and, certainly for the boys who have come from abroad, it takes time for them to settle in,” Cresswell told West Ham TV.

“It’s a new language, a new team, a new everything.

“We knew it would be tough but I think in this game, some of the performances from the new lads – Thilo Kehrer was excellent, as were Lucas Paqueta and Nayef Aguerd. All the new boys who have come in were excellent.

“Everyone played their part. That atmosphere was special too, especially in the last 10 minutes when you’re digging deep and everyone is cramping up.

“But what a night, and it’s a massive three points. We’re not completely safe but we’re getting close to being mathematically safe.”

Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has praised his team-mates for mixing it with Newcastle to keep their Premier League title hopes alive.

The Gunners blended a streetwise tenacity with moments of quality to secure a 2-0 victory which avenged a damaging defeat by the same score at St James’ Park last season.

In the process they dragged themselves back to within a point of leaders Manchester City and while Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand, the Gunners came through unscathed from what appeared to be their toughest remaining fixture.

Jorginho told the club’s official website: “It’s a massive win. We knew it was a tough game, to come here and win the way we did.

“There are some times you know you have to fight a lot to get the three points, and I’m just so proud of the team the way we did, the way we fought until the end, the way we pushed. It’s just so nice.

“We knew it was going to be tough and it was just realising that sometimes you can’t play just beautiful football.

“Sometimes you need to adapt and that’s why I am saying that I’m really proud of the team, because when you realise that and you adapt and you do what maybe everyone doesn’t expect you to do, it’s just really, really good for our team.”

Having been frustrated by Newcastle’s game-management in the reverse fixture, a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium in January, Arsenal arrived in the north-east determined to serve up a dose of their own medicine to Eddie Howe’s men.

They were fortunate to emerge unscathed from a testing start during which Jacob Murphy hit a post and the Magpies saw a penalty for handball awarded and then rescinded by referee Chris Kavanagh after Bruno Guimaraes’ goal-bound shot had been blocked by Jakub Kiwior.

However, the Gunners took a 14th-minute lead through the excellent Martin Odegaard before they withstood an onslaught during which goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and the woodwork kept the home side at bay.

And they cemented the win 19 minutes from time when Gabriel Martinelli’s driven cross flew off Fabian Schar into his own net.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said: “When you have question marks, you have to resolve those question marks, it’s the only way.

“And when you had the emotions that we had last year in that dressing room, you have to make sure you feel them again to realise how difficult, how nasty and how unpleasant they are.

“Then you have to find a way to approach the game in a different way because demands were going to be different from last year. The boys did that extremely well so I’m really proud of them.”

For Newcastle boss Howe, who had seen his Champions League-chasing side win eight of their previous nine games to sit third in the table, the task is to re-group for a testing trip to struggling Leeds on Saturday with Liverpool closing fast.

Howe said: “It can be a really memorable season for us. It’s in our hands. If anyone had said at the start of the season we could be in this position, you would definitely have wanted to be in our position.

“But getting over the line will probably be the hardest thing we have to do. That’s the challenge in front of us.”

Max Verstappen said he is targeted by Formula One’s boo brigade because they are jealous of him winning.

Verstappen landed a third victory of the season with a fine drive from ninth at Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix to extend his championship lead to 14 points over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

The double world champion was heckled as he was introduced on the grid in the moments before the race, and then also on the podium as he was presented with his winner’s trophy.

But a typically bullish Verstappen said: “If I am driving at the back nobody will be doing anything in terms of a reaction.

“It is normal when you are winning and they don’t like who is winning. This is something which is absolutely fine for me as long as I stand on the top step of the podium.

“That is the most important thing. I take the trophy home and they can go back to their houses and have a nice evening.”

Verstappen was jeered during the pre-race razzmatazz which involved American rapper LL Cool J acting as Master of Ceremonies and will.i.am conducting an orchestra.

It is understood the pre-race show seen in Miami will only take place at certain events, possibly eight in all, this season.

George Russell called the spectacle “distracting” and Verstappen was also not a fan.

“Some people like to be more in the spotlight, and some people don’t,” said Verstappen. “Personally I don’t. So for me, what they did was not necessary.

“I prefer just to talk to my engineers, walk to my car, put the helmet on and drive. I understand the entertainment value, but I hope we don’t have this at every single race, because we have a very long season ahead of us, and we don’t need to enter like that every time.”

Fernando Alonso, who finished third behind Verstappen and Perez to claim his fourth podium this season, disagreed that the pre-race introductions should only be reserved for certain races.

The 41-year-old Spaniard said: “If we do it here, we have to do it everywhere because I don’t think the Miami fans are better than the Italian fans in Imola or in Spain or in Mexico or in Japan.”

However, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, whose arrival on the grid was greeted with huge cheers, said: “Formula One is trying new things and trying to improve the show and I am in full support of that.

“I grew up listening to LL Cool J, and LL Cool J was there. You look over and will.i.am is there, too, and he is an incredible artist. I thought it was cool.”

Erling Haaland can be the "cutting edge" that helps Manchester City finally win the Champions League, so says Les Ferdinand.

Haaland has enjoyed a record-breaking first season at City, smashing past the Premier League single-season goals mark of 34, which had been shared by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer since the mid-1990s.

But it is in UEFA's flagship club competition where the striker has further underlined his superb form, with 12 goals so far en route to City's semi-final tie with Real Madrid.

Pep Guardiola's side have still not won the biggest prize in club football under his watch, but Ferdinand believes with Haaland spearheading their attack, now might finally be the time to end their wait.

"He comes alive in the Champions League," Ferdinand told Stats Perform. "I'm not saying he doesn't play well in the other games, but it's almost like he's desperate to win the Champions League.

"Manchester City are desperate to win that Champions League [title], and he looks like he could be the cutting edge they've needed for the last few years in that competition.

"All the best players in the world come calling when it's needed. They're able to produce. You talk about [Cristiano] Ronaldo or [Lionel] Messi, in the big games, they came to the fore.

"I think you've seen [that] with Haaland. There are a lot of centre-forwards out there who will score goals, [especially] when the team's up.

"But he scores that first, all-important goal as well. That's what is always majorly important for a team."

Despite his free-scoring form, Haaland faced accusations earlier in the season of weakening City, though Ferdinand scoffed at the suggestion.

"I know part of the reason for signing Haaland was to try and have a really good assault on the Champions League," he added.

"I think that's where they fell short in terms of a centre-forward.

"But for someone that is going to score over 50-odd goals or 60-odd goals in all competitions, it's hard to say that he's weakened Manchester City."

City face Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday, before welcoming Los Blancos to the Etihad Stadium for the second leg on May 17.

It is a repeat of last season's semi-final, in which City missed multiple chances to put the tie to bed before paying the price in a thrilling second leg.

Manchester City will target Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch if they miss out on the signing of Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund, according to the Daily Mirror. The 20-year-old Dutch international has been linked with a move to Liverpool.

Brentford are looking to Liverpool as they look to strengthen next season, reports The Sun. The London club are keen on taking Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, 24, from Anfield with Manchester United reportedly targeting Bees keeper David Raya.

Victor Osimhen will not be leaving Napoli this summer according to the Daily Mail. The Nigerian striker, 24, has been linked to several leading European clubs but president Aurelio de Laurentiis says the newly crowned Italian champions are not selling.

Another Napoli star could be heading to the Premier League with Manchester United eyeing a move for defender Kim Min-jae. The Daily Mirror, via Corriere dello Sport, says United are winning to meet the £53million release cause for the South Korean, 26, to replace captain Harry Maguire.

James McAtee: Manchester City are keen to open contract talks with the midfielder, 20, who played a key role on loan in Sheffield United’s promotion to the Championship.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: The Gabon striker, 33, is keen on a return to Barcelona as he prepares to part company with Chelsea.