Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of one count of rape on the direction of the judge in his ongoing trial at Chester Crown Court.
Mendy, 28, was cleared of the rape of a 19-year-old woman at his home in Cheshire on July 24 last year.
Mendy's co-accused Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was cleared of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault against the same woman.
Judge Stephen Everett ordered the jury to clear the two defendants of those counts after the prosecution offered no further evidence.
Mendy and Matturie remain on trial for a number of other alleged sexual offences, which they both deny.
Mendy was suspended by City on August 26, 2021 and has not played for them since.
Maresca will not let Chelsea 'slow down' after reaffirming title credentials
Enzo Maresca will not let his Chelsea players get complacent after a chaotic 4-3 victory over Tottenham moved them within touching distance of the Premier League summit.
Cole Palmer's second-half penalty double, scored either side of Enzo Fernandez's lashing finish, sealed a remarkable turnaround at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
Chelsea trailed 2-0 after just 11 minutes as Marc Cucurella's pair of errors allowed Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski to score, before Jadon Sancho reduced the arrears with a fine finish.
A battling comeback victory saw Chelsea move within four points of Liverpool, whose game with Everton was postponed due to inclement weather, and Maresca insists his side will not relent.
"The plan or the idea is to not let the players slow down. They can not drop because they know another player is waiting to come in," the Chelsea boss told Sky Sports.
"Arsenal, City and Liverpool probably don't slide - like Cucurella did! To be serious, we are not ready, we are far from these teams but we focus on day-by-day and trying to improve the team."
Maresca continued to reiterate Chelsea are not yet in the title race, despite leapfrogging Arsenal and increasing the pressure on Arne Slot's Reds.
However, the Blues are firmly in contention heading into a decisive festive period, thanks to the brilliance of Palmer and Maresca's selection of young talent.
Palmer now has 50 goal involvements (33 goals, 17 assists) in 48 Premier League games for Chelsea, a tally bettered by only three players in the competition's history.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland (39), Andy Cole for Newcastle United (43), and Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah (46) have ever reached 50 in fewer league games for a club.
Maresca acknowledged the special talent he has in Palmer, who has converted all 12 penalties taken in the Premier League, the most in the competition's history without ever missing (Yaya Toure is next on 11).
"I know Cole from a long time ago and I always trust him in every aspect," Maresca said of his star talisman. "He is a fantastic guy.
"He is learning how to play games when he is marked man-to-man, [Yves] Bissouma was with him all the game. He is learning, improving and scoring goals. That makes him happy and makes us happy."
Bissouma was at fault for the first penalty, hauling down the onrushing Moises Caicedo, who was earlier fortunate to avoid a red card after a VAR review for a high lunge on Pape Sarr in the first half.
Sarr then felled Palmer for the second spot-kick, which he coolly dinked down the middle, and created breathing room for Chelsea that was needed thanks to Son Heung-min's late consolation goal.
It would have been more straightforward for the visitors if not for the slips from Cucurella, though Maresca saw the humorous of those errors after another impressive comeback.
"He said to me after the game that he was trying to bring emotion to the game," Maresca joked. "It's more a question for Marc [on his boots].
"They are mature enough to decide what boots they need for the game."
Alonso lauds Leverkusen's 'fight' in St. Pauli triumph
Xabi Alonso lauded Bayer Leverkusen's fight in their 2-1 win over St. Pauli on Saturday, earning the champions a third-straight Bundesliga triumph.
Alonso's side struck twice in the first half through Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah, with Morgan Guilavogui reducing the deficit in the 84th minute for St. Pauli.
Leverkusen improved their record against newly-promoted sides in the Bundesliga, having lost just one of their last 21 games against them (W16 D4).
But the reigning champions were made to work for their win, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 0.88 from their six shots compared to St. Pauli's 1.82 from their 12 efforts.
"Yes, we didn't discuss for today, but after Kiel, for example, what we can do better," Alonso told reporters following Saturday's victory.
"How to play with more intelligence in those minutes. Today wasn't spectacular, but we were more efficient and playing with more intelligence from minute one.
"When you play every three days, it's not easy to defend everything all the time. I have to praise my team for finishing today's game with a win.
"But that is what we need to realise about the situation that we are in. To fight for results and to fight for points. Yes, the first half was good, and the second half was okay."
The victory moved Leverkusen up to third in the Bundesliga, seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who beat Heidenheim 4-2 on Saturday.
But their attention will turn swiftly to the Champions League, with Inter the visitors to the BayArena on Tuesday.
Alonso's side find themselves sixth in the new 36-team standings in the competition after five games, taking 10 points from those games and scoring 11 times.
Super-sub Musiala thrilled to end Bundesliga drought on home soil
Jamal Musiala felt "good to celebrate with the Bayern Munich fans" after netting his first Bundesliga home goals of the season in the 4-2 win over Heidenheim.
The Germany international climbed off the bench to score twice at the Allianz Arena, where he had not found the net in the German top flight since an 8-1 rout of Mainz in March.
Musiala's 11th Bundesliga appearance of the season was his first as a non-starter.
However, he said the breather was welcome and made him feel rejuvenated upon entering the contest, before taking his goal tally for the campaign to 12 in all competitions.
"Recently, I've played a lot of games in a row," he said. "That's why it was good that I got a break and came back energised.
"I've finally scored here in the [Allianz] Arena again. It feels good to celebrate with the fans."
Good morning #FCBayern Fans!
of the log and unbeaten in the #Bundesliga. pic.twitter.com/Ah7XbvVMFV
Vincent Kompany's side got back to winning ways following their 1-0 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal on Tuesday, in which Manuel Neuer was sent off early on.
And the Bayern boss was pleased by the response of his players.
"We started this week with a tough schedule, played 70 minutes with 10 players against Leverkusen, so it was always a dangerous game for many reasons," he told reporters during his post-match press conference.
"The first half was very good, possession was fluid. The second half - although we stayed calm when we conceded - the last 15 to 20 minutes, the feeling for Heidenheim is totally justified that they are still in the game.
"Still, we created a lot of chances. It was a tough week. We scored four goals. It was still a very, very good day."
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