Rodrygo's double steered Real Madrid to Copa del Rey glory as they defeated a valiant Osasuna 2-1 in Saturday's final.

The Brazil forward netted twice to guide Los Blancos to their second piece of silverware this season in front of a packed Estadio de La Cartuja.

For Carlo Ancelotti's side, victory ends a nine-year drought in Spain's most prestigious cup competition, with Madrid having last won in 2014 during the Italian's previous spell in charge.

But it is a tough result for Jagoba Arrasate's Osasuna to take, after Lucas Torro's strike had given them hope of an upset in their first appearance in a Copa del Rey final in 18 years.

Madrid lived up to the favourites tag inside two minutes as Rodrygo swept Vinicius Junior's dynamite cutback past Sergio Herrera.

That early concession spurred Osasuna promptly onto the offensive, with Ante Budimir forcing Thibaut Courtois into a string of saves, while Dani Carvajal had to hook Abde Ezzalzouli's effort off the line.

David Alaba struck the bar as Madrid aimed to double their lead, with Vinicius' hopeful appeals for a penalty falling on deaf ears on the stroke of half-time.

Madrid paid the price for those misses just before the hour mark, when Torro struck a superb low strike beyond Courtois from outside the box.

Yet Madrid recovered and, after Toni Kroos saw his shot deflected, Rodrygo was on hand to pick up the pieces and prod another finish home.

Karim Benzema was unable to add gloss to the scoreline and Los Blancos were almost punished again in stoppage time, but Carvajal made a last-ditch intervention to deny Kike Barja and ensure Madrid ended their long wait for a 20th Copa crown.

Bayern Munich stretched their lead at the Bundesliga summit to four points as goals from Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane clinched a 2-1 win over a stubborn Werder Bremen.

Having taken advantage of Borussia Dortmund's slip-up at Bochum to go top last week, Bayern knew an 11th consecutive league title is now in their hands as they travelled to the Weserstadion on Saturday.

Thomas Tuchel's stuttering start at Bayern looked set to continue as Werder held firm for over an hour, but Gnabry's close-range finish broke the hosts' resistance before Sane capped a flowing move to make it 2-0.

Though Niklas Schmidt's stunning strike ensured a nervous finish, Bayern clung on to pile the pressure on Dortmund ahead of their meeting with Wolfsburg on Sunday.

Jiri Pavlenka smothered Gnabry's shot from a tight angle early on before making an even better save 20 minutes in, blocking Benjamin Pavard's powerful close-range header.

Werder threatened on the break as Mitchell Weiser went close to converting Romano Schmid's cross, while Christian Gross fired over at the end of a mazy run.

Gnabry misjudged an overhead kick as Bayern's pressure mounted after the restart, and then teed up Sadio Mane to side-foot narrowly wide.

It was Gnabry who made the breakthrough just as Bayern seemed to be running out of ideas. The Germany international lost his marker to sweep home from close range after Jamal Musiala's shot deflected into his path.

Bayern extended their lead 10 minutes later as substitute Sane slotted into the bottom-left corner.

There was a tense finish to come as Schmidt found the top-right corner from long range, but Bayern stood firm to take a huge step towards retaining their title.

Inter kept themselves on course for a top-four finish in Serie A after they defeated Roma 2-0 in an ill-tempered clash on Saturday.

The Nerazzurri seized a first-half lead through Federico Dimarco's close-range finish before Romelu Lukaku's breakaway strike 16 minutes from time sealed the three points at Stadio Olimpico.

Ahead of a Champions League semi-final with arch-rivals Milan on Wednesday, Simone Inzaghi's team returned to the top four and boosted their hopes of qualifying for next season's competition.

For Jose Mourinho's Giallorossi however, defeat leaves them five points off the top four with just four games left to play, leaving them with an uphill battle in hand.

Several stoppages due to injuries meant chances were at a relative premium during a closely fought opening quarter.

Lukaku required treatment in the six-yard area shortly after Lorenzo Pellegrini went close, while Nicola Zalewski came off worse after taking a fast ball to the face.

But Inter took the lead just after the half-hour mark when Dimarco flicked a Denzel Dumfries ball into the net, via a handy deflection off Bryan Cristante.

Roma fought back and were incensed when Matteo Darmian escaped punishment for a handball in the box shortly before the hour mark, with tempers continuing to boil over.

Even so, the hosts still looked in the game, until a defensive misread from Roger Ibanez allowed their opponents to make the most of a long ball downfield.

Lautaro Martinez pounced on the loose ball, and played in Lukaku for a composed finish, ultimately sealing victory for Inter with just over a quarter of an hour to go.

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) released a statement on Friday congratulating newly crowned Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw.

Shaw was announced as the winner of the award on Friday and is the first Caribbean woman to claim the prize.

She had a stellar 2022 season for the Reggae Girls as well as her club, Manchester City.

The 26-year-old was instrumental in leading Jamaica to their second consecutive World Cup berth and helped Manchester City claim silverware in the 2021-22 FA Women’s League Cup, scoring three goals in the knockout stage.

The statement read as follows: “Khadija Bunny Shaw's winning the 2022 Concacaf Women's Player of the Year testifies that to dream, focus, work extraordinarily hard, and strive to overcome adversities, is a viable path to success.

The country has watched with pride and absolute amazement the rapid growth of the captain of the Jamaica's National Senior Women's team, especially since going professional in 2019. To top this prestigious awards list that included accomplished players from the USA and Canada, among others, is an historic achievement for Jamaica. She becomes the first ever awardee from outside of the United States.

The Jamaica Football Federation wholeheartedly congratulates Khadija, Jamaica's leading goal scorer across genders and currently the leading goal scorer in the 2023 Women's Super League. She now ascends to an ambassador for Jamaica's women's football on the international football stage.

We pray for her continued good health and strength as she prepares to lead our national team at the Women's World Cup.”

"In winning this award, Khadija has enhanced brand Jamaica, but even more so, has offered immense hope to countless young Jamaican female footballers. From playing in the streets of Spanish Town, to St Jago High School, to club, to the national team, to college and the professional ranks, she has not only paved the football pathway, but has shown the qualities that breed success," said Michael Ricketts, President of the JFF.

 

Milan pushed on in the battle for a top-four Serie A finish as Ismael Bennacer and Theo Hernandez scored in a 2-0 win over Lazio at San Siro.

Stefano Pioli's side were in full control from the off, though Lazio were masters of their own downfall for the opening goal as Marcos Antonio's error allowed Bennacer to bundle home. 

Hernandez doubled Milan's advantage before the break with a terrific solo effort, helping the Rossoneri to fourth in Serie A ahead of Inter's crucial clash with Roma later on Saturday. 

However, Milan's victory was marred by the sight of star forward Rafael Leao limping from the field early on, with the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against Inter just four days away.

Having rested several players for Wednesday's draw with Cremonese, Pioli may have regretted naming a more familiar lineup when Leao was withdrawn just 11 minutes in – the forward appearing to suffer a groin injury.

Yet Milan made light of his absence as Bennacer pounced on a Lazio mix-up, combining with Olivier Giroud before volleying into the ground and over Ivan Provedel.

Milan doubled their lead from a lightning break 12 minutes later. Hernandez received the ball from Mike Maignan near his own penalty area before driving forward and lashing home from 20 yards via a slight deflection.

Lazio failed to record a single shot on target before the break, and Milan continued to dominate after the interval as substitute Malick Thiaw powered a header over from Sandro Tonali's corner. 

Milan were denied a late third when Ante Rebic slotted home from an offside position, but it was of little consequence as they warmed up for Wednesday's Champions League derby in style.

Jamaica and Manchester City Forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw has been named the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year.

Shaw, the first Caribbean player to win Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year honors, reacted to the news on her Instagram page.

“Happy and grateful to be awarded Concacaf Women’s Player of the Year,” she wrote.

“Thanks to everyone associated with Concacaf as well as my teammates and staff,” she added.

The 26-year-old enjoyed another outstanding year in 2022.

Four years after helping Jamaica become the first ever Caribbean nation to qualify for a FIFA Women’s World Cup, Shaw played a huge role in helping Jamaica qualify for their second straight Women’s World Cup.

Shaw led the Reggae Girlz to a Third-Place finish at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship in Monterrey, Mexico, which punched their ticket to Australia/New Zealand 2023.

In the 2022 CWC, Shaw scored three goals, including the game-winner in Jamaica’s opening 1-0 win versus Mexico and a brace in their 4-0 victory against Haiti, which sealed Jamaica’s Women’s World Cup qualification. For her efforts, Shaw was named to the 2022 CWC Best XI.

Shaw was just as lethal in CWC Qualifying, amassing nine goals to help Jamaica top their group to then qualify for the CWC. Shaw had braces versus Bermuda (4-0), Grenada (6-1) and the Dominican Republic (5-1), plus a hat trick versus Cayman Islands (9-0).

At club level with Manchester City in England, Shaw was equally prolific.

During the calendar year 2022, she scored 15 goals in 19 Women’s Super League games, seven goals in eight domestic cup games (Women’s FA Cup and FA Women’s League Cup) and two goals in two UEFA Women’s Champions League games.

Shaw’s three goals in the knockout stage helped Manchester City claim the 2021-22 FA Women’s League Cup.

EFL clubs have unanimously voted to accept a record £935million deal with Sky Sports that will see more than 1,000 matches broadcast a season, but which keeps the Saturday blackout in place.

The five-year domestic deal, made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing rights, will begin in 2024-25 and run to the end of the 2028-29 season.

It represents a 50 per cent increase on the league’s current deal with Sky which expires at the end of next season.

Altogether 1,059 league, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy matches will be shown live either on a Sky main channel or via a Sky streaming platform, replacing the iFollow service for domestic viewers.

Streaming platform DAZN had been keen to acquire the rights to screen all EFL matches and bring an end to the Saturday blackout period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.

The blackout stays in place in the Sky deal, but more matches are available to stream, with six games across the Championship, League One and League Two now set to kick off at 12.30pm each Saturday.

The deal means 26 out of 36 matches will still kick off at Saturday 3pm – seven Championship matches plus 19 across Leagues One and Two.

The EFL acknowledges the changes in kick-off times can make planning difficult for matchday fans, and has committed to placing all live matches up to the FA Cup third round before the start of each season.

It is understood that based on the EFL’s distribution formula, Championship clubs will earn 46 per cent more in guaranteed broadcast income and clubs in Leagues One and Two will be 25 per cent better off.

EFL had announced Sky as its preferred bidder in early April, following the issue of invitations to tender earlier in the year.

The deal means 10 league matches will be shown live each weekend, including six in the 12.30pm Saturday slot.

Every match in the EFL Cup will be shown live, plus every game in the EFL Trophy.

The PA news agency understands Sky has bought the EFL Cup rights ‘as is’ , despite the possibility of the competition having a significantly different look from 2024-25, with domestic calendar issues under discussion as part of the ‘New Deal For Football’ talks.

The EFL declined to comment on whether the deal included a rebate clause to Sky in the event that the format of the competition did substantially change.

All opening round and final day matches will be shown live, as will all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day alongside the matches played in Sky Bet League One and Two during international breaks.

The deal also promises greater parity in the number of times clubs are selected for TV coverage is also guaranteed.

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “This is a landmark broadcast deal for EFL clubs, establishing the league as a premium partner with a world-renowned broadcaster in Sky Sports.

“The EFL is an iconic sports property and one of the biggest and best attended leagues in European football.

“This increased investment and coverage from Sky Sports will showcase much more of our compelling match action to fans, while delivering record rights values as we seek to make our clubs sustainable at all levels.”

Clubs will gain an additional fee when selected for broadcast, but a debate on how these will be allocated will take place among the clubs later in the year.

No bid convinced the EFL to remove the blackout. The EFL estimated that removing it would cost £37m in matchday attendance revenue, and that had to be factored into any offer which sought to remove it.

Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle will have to unearth future superstars before they hit the headlines after playing down links with Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.

The high-flying Magpies have found themselves at the centre of speculation over big-money moves ever since Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium completed its takeover at St James’ Park in October 2021.

Newcastle, in which Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund holds an 80 per cent stake, have invested in excess of £250million in new players in the last three transfer windows, but have been touted as contenders to land both Portuguese giant Ronaldo and Brazilian counterpart Neymar in recent days.

Asked about the prospect of some of the best players in the world one day plying their trade on Tyneside, head coach Howe – who has persistently cited financial fair play as a limiting factor on the club’s recruitment plans – said: “It is best to discover them before they explode onto the world scene.

“We could not be able to come close to affording those players as they are the best players in the world.

“We are never going to be in a position currently to afford those transfer fees and wages, so we need to go underneath and find them young and develop them into the players they can be.”

The Magpies’ business to date has been shrewd with the likes of Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier having arrived for relatively modes fees before more sizeable investment in Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.

But, having guided the club into third place in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s showdown with title-chasing Arsenal, Howe knows it is inevitable they will be linked with bigger names.

Asked about Ronaldo and Neymar, he said: “That kind of speculation has been there from day one since the takeover, really. Naturally everyone has then assumed the biggest names in world football will be going to Newcastle.

“Now we’ve not recruited that way. Financially, we can’t recruit that way at the moment, but also we have to bring the right people and the right players into the group.

“I will say the transfer market is such a complex decision, you can’t just pick a name and bring them in. There’s got to be a lot of thought going into what we’re doing both financially and looking at the players.”

“Those two players are unbelievable players. We are linked with different names.

“I know what direction I want to take the team in and what we can and can’t do in the transfer market.”

Howe’s comments came amid reports that Lionel Messi could command a £320million a year package – £15million more than Staveley and her partners paid for Newcastle – if he opts to move to Saudi Arabia’s Pro League this summer.

Tottenham will host a double-header featuring their men’s and women’s teams later this month.

Spurs announced on Friday morning that their Women’s Super League clash at home to Reading had been moved forward a day and would now take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 20.

The WSL fixture will kick off at 4.15pm and be part of a first-ever double-header for the club, with the men’s team in Premier League action against Brentford in a 12.30pm kick-off earlier in the day.

All supporters with tickets for Tottenham versus Brentford will be able to stay in the stadium to watch the women’s team later on the Saturday.

It will be a pivotal fixture in the bid to beat the drop for Vicky Jepson’s side with bottom-of-the-table Reading only three points off ninth-placed Spurs.

Napoli supporters partied long into the night as they took over the city to celebrate the club’s first Serie A title in 33 years.

After the disappointment of the celebrations being put on hold by Sunday’s draw at home to Salernitana, Luciano Spalletti’s side got the job done with a 1-1 draw at Udinese to spark incredible scenes in Naples.

The city’s piazza’s were crammed with jubilant fans, who lit flares and fireworks as they chanted into the early hours.

“Seeing the Partenopei smiling and joyful is the greatest emotion for me. They are the ones who pass on their happiness. The problem was reaching this point, as when you have the feelings of an entire city weighing on your back,” Spalletti told DAZN.

“There are people here who will be able to get through difficult moments in their lives because they remember this moment. These people deserve all the joy.

“It perhaps makes me feel more relaxed now, we’ve been able to give them that joy. These fans have seen huge coaches come and go. They saw Diego Armando Maradona play and perhaps his protection is also felt in this success.”

Argentina great Diego Maradona fired Napoli to their first title in 1987 and cemented his hero status with the club by winning a second in 1990.

Napoli also won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia during Maradona’s spell in the city, but in the 89 years of their history without him the club have only previously won five Italian Cups.

Maradona died in 2020, with the club naming their stadium in his honour.

Now, in the ground that bears his name, Spalletti’s swashbuckling side have stormed to the Scudetto with five games to spare.

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen grabbed the second-half equaliser at Udinese to clinch the title – his 22nd league goal of the season.

Osimhen has been the star man for Napoli this season, with talented Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 22, also establishing himself as one of Europe’s most exciting talents.

What the papers say

Liverpool have stepped up their bid for Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, 24, according to The Guardian. James Milner, 37, could be heading in the other direction with Brighton confident of a deal with the former England midfielder out of contract at Anfield this summer.

Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, 23, is being eyed by Aston Villa, according to The Daily Telegraph. Villa are also keen on Barcelona winger Ferran Torres, 23.

Winger Harvey Barnes is attracting interest from clubs keen to lure him away from Leicester. The Mail reports Newcastle, Tottenham and Aston Villa are keen on the 25-year-old.

Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca has emerged as a candidate to replace David Moyes in charge at West Ham, according to The Sun. The former Tottenham target is in charge of French side Lille.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Joao Palhinha: Fulham are expected to ask more than £50 million for the midfielder, 27, who is linked with Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Andrew Omobanidele: AC Milan and Nice are among the clubs linked with Norwich’s 20-year-old Republic of Ireland centre-half.

Tony Smith hailed his Hull FC players for retaining their belief through the bad times after they withstood fierce second-half pressure to beat Wigan and claim a second straight Super League win.

Smith’s men reeled through seven straight defeats earlier this season including a 40-0 derby humbling by neighbours Hull KR, but looked unrecognisable as they surged out to sink the leaders.

Early tries from Darnell McIntosh and Jake Clifford – who would score 10 of his side’s points in their eventual 14-10 win – set the tone before a thrilling rearguard action saw Smith’s side over the line.

Smith said: “I am so happy for the players. We lost seven straight and you could get down and disgruntled and get a defeatist attitude, and they haven’t.

“They’ve been really positive and we kept saying during that time that we wouldn’t be moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves. We just needed to graft through it and get more determined.”

The table now makes distinctly brighter reading for Smith’s men, who had stopped the rot with a win over Huddersfield prior to the international break, but they head to rock-bottom Wakefield next week knowing there is much more to do.

“We’ve got a lot of improvements still to make in order to get more results,” Smith added. “We were average in the second half, we still made errors but they did not hurt us much as they have in other games.

“We’ve got some big matches ahead of us and it’s important that we are in the right frame of mind.”

Wigan head coach Matt Peet admitted his side were second best for long periods of the first half, and were punished by Hull’s energy and determination.

“Some of our defence wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half and on the whole we amended that in the second half, but execution is what prevented us getting the win,” said Peet.

Wigan looked limp for much of the opening period but Iain Thornley’s try on the stroke of half-time gave them hope, and his second straight after the interval set up a grandstand finish.

“Hull were full of energy and they were motivated. They were flying off the line, they were covering each other and they were diving on loose balls,” added Peet.

“For us there’ll be a lot of what-ifs and if-onlys. It’s about handling the pressure in those big moments. We’ve got to learn and improve and develop, but I won’t be stressing too much.”

Peet reserved particular praise for Thornley, whose double marked his first appearance of the season after a long battle to shake off a knee injury.

“I thought he was excellent,” added Peet. “His desire was evident, I loved the way he carried the ball. He worked so hard and I’m so pleased to see him get a performance like that under his belt.”

Ten points from Jake Clifford helped give Hull FC’s testing Super League season a belated lift-off as they clung on to sink leaders Wigan 14-10 in a thrilling clash at the MKM Stadium.

Tony Smith’s men made a storming start then withstood serious late pressure to seal their second win on the bounce with a performance unrecognisable from their April travails that included a 40-0 derby thumping by Hull KR.

In contrast to the hosts’ gutsy spirit, embodied by two stellar shifts from Brad Fash in the front row, Wigan were flat-footed and error-strewn, and only a comeback double by Iain Thornley either side of the interval kept them in contention.

It was a surprising reaction from Matty Peet’s side who had oozed into Yorkshire on the back of six straight wins.

Hull were on the front foot from the start and struck after just six minutes when Darnell McIntosh chased down Clifford’s kick to the corner, with the Australian adding the first of his two conversions.

Liam Farrell set the alarm bells ringing as he cut through the defence with ease but Wigan could not convert and Hull extended their lead on the quarter-hour, Clifford stretching over after electing to run the last tackle.

The visitors, for whom five players featured in England’s thumping win over France at the weekend, looked flat-footed, coughed up errors and spurned their best chance so far when Thornley failed to grasp a high pass to the wing.

Clifford opted to stretch Hull’s lead to 14 by kicking the two after Chris Satae was penalised for a high tackle, before Thornley was sent spurting down the left by Bevan French but Hull held firm.

Thornley, making his first appearance of the season, looked most likely to break Wigan’s duck and after another jinking run, the 31-year-old finally got his reward five minutes from the break when he speared over from another French set-up.

Harry Smith’s cool conversion from the touchline reduced the deficit to 14-6 at the interval, and the shift in momentum continued within four minutes of the restart when Thornley darted over for his second.

As the rain poured down Wigan’s pressure was relentless, and Hull’s cause was not helped when Cam Scott and McIntosh both dropped kicks deep in their own territory.

But Peet’s men failed to capitalise on their territorial dominance and Hull, shored up by the reintroduction of Fash, scented another change in the game’s direction.

A mistake by Thornley deep in his own territory piled pressure on the visitors but Danny Houghton’s grubber bobbled free and was pounced upon by French, who burst half the length of the field before the danger was snuffed out.

In a dramatic final few minutes, Junior Nsemba knocked on from a set restart on the 10-metre line, Hull debutant Jake Trueman was sin-binned for holding down Joe Shorrocks, then Jez Litten’s error went unpunished as Wigan knocked on under the posts as the seconds ticked down.

Napoli sealed their first Serie A title in 33 years as Victor Osimhen's strike earned a 1-1 draw against Udinese.

Having missed the chance to win the title in front of their own fans on Sunday, Napoli went into Thursday's clash at Dacia Arena knowing a point would be enough to claim their first Scudetto since the Diego Maradona era.

Fittingly, it was talisman Osimhen – with his 22nd league strike of the season – who scored the goal to claim Napoli's third Serie A crown, cancelling out Sandi Lovric's opener.

Unlike Napoli's local rivals Salernitana, Udinese did not quite have the same commitment to postponing Napoli's party, which is sure to be one for the ages.

Napoli's contingent of travelling fans were making all the noise in the opening stages, though their enthusiasm was dampened when Lovric planted a brilliant finish into the top-right corner in the 13th minute.

Aiming to snap a three-game scoreless streak in Serie A, Osimhen forced a save from Marco Silvestri soon after, while partner in crime Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a penalty appeal dismissed following a VAR review.

Osimhen went close with a header just after the half-hour, though Napoli were fortunate that Lovric had been unable to beat Alex Meret for a second time at the other end a moment earlier.

Napoli's number nine would not be denied again, though, and after Silvestri palmed out Kvaratskhelia's low effort, Osimhen slammed home an equaliser seven minutes into the second half.

Osimhen thought he had made it 2-1 with 23 minutes remaining, only for the goal to be disallowed due to a foul in the build-up.

Luciano Spalletti's tension on the touchline was clear, but his team stayed calm on the pitch as they saw out a draw that will go down in their history.

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from May 4.

Football

Erling Haaland celebrated his Premier League goals record.

Rio Ferdinand was enjoying his cake.

Aston Villa turned the clock back.

Formula One

Lewis Hamilton played some basketball as the F1 drivers took in different sports in Miami.

Lando Norris settled on a beachball helmet for this year.

Valtteri Bottas watched some baseball.

A golf helmet for Alex Albon.

Strike a pose!

Nico Hulkenberg was loving the palm trees.

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