Falkirk survived a brief scare as they continued their march to promotion with a 4-1 win at Queen of the South.
The runaway Scottish League One leaders’ unbeaten campaign was at risk when Josh Todd put the hosts ahead 10 minutes into the second half.
But two goals in the next 11 minutes from Callumn Morrison and Liam Henderson turned the game around before Morrison scored his second from the penalty spot and Aidan Nesbitt added a late fourth.
In-form Alloa boosted their play-off hopes with a come-from-behind 5-2 win over rock-bottom Edinburgh City.
Edinburgh were on course for just a third victory of the campaign at half-time after they responded to Luke Donnelly’s fifth-minute opener with goals from Malik Zaid and Frankie Deane.
But Scott Taggart’s second-half brace, a Taylor Steven strike and a late Callum Pitt own goal earned Alloa a seventh win in their last eight games that moved them up to third.
Alloa remain 11 points behind second-placed Hamilton, who eased to a 3-0 win over Stirling.
Ahkeem Rose’s 16th-minute penalty was saved by Blair Currie, but the hosts soon took the lead through Kevin O’Hara.
Rose headed in a second seven minutes into the second half and Jake Hastie wrapped up a third straight win in stoppage time.
Montrose slipped to fourth despite Ali Shrive’s late equaliser earning a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Annan, who took the lead through Lewis Hunter.
Cove Rangers moved to within three points of the play-off places as Mitch Megginson’s 52nd-minute free-kick earned a 1-0 win at Kelty Hearts.
In League Two, Stenhousemuir continued their stumble to the title with a 1-1 draw at in-form Forfar.
James Berry gave the visitors a lead, but Adam Hutchinson’s 86th-minute equaliser extended Forfar’s unbeaten run to 10 games.
Stenhousemuir have won just one of their last six matches, but they remain 15 points clear at the top after Peterhead drew 1-1 against East Fife.
Peter Pawlett put Peterhead ahead just before the half-hour mark, but Alan Trouten’s equaliser extended the Fifers’ unbeaten run to six games.
Bottom club Clyde moved to within three points of safety as Jordan Allan’s second-half brace earned them a huge 2-1 win at Bonnyrigg Rose.
Smart Osadolor had put the hosts 1-0 up inside the first minute, but they sit just three points clear of danger after their winless streak was extended to seven games.
Stranraer remain below Bonnyrigg Rose on goal difference after their 2-1 defeat to Elgin.
Dylan Forrest saw red for Stranraer after receiving a second booking and goals from Connall Ewan and Freddy Jeffreys were enough for Elgin, despite Deryn Lang’s late strike.
Dumbarton moved above Spartans into third with a 6-2 away win.
Ryan Blair’s free-kick gave Dumbarton a fifth-minute lead, but Cameron Russell levelled.
Aron Lynas restored the visitors’ advantage in the 32nd minute and Gallagher Lennon, son of former Celtic and Hibernian boss Neil, added a third.
Bradley Whyte pulled one back in the last minute of the first half, but Blair struck with another free-kick before Michael Ruth and James Graham added further goals.
Almeria 0-2 Barcelona: Fermin at the double in easy Blaugrana win
Barcelona remained on track to finish second in LaLiga after Fermin Lopez's brace sealed a 2-0 win over bottom side Almeria on Thursday.
Fermin gave Barca an early lead in the 14th minute when he headed past goalkeeper Luis Maximiano from Hector Fort's accurate cross.
Despite efforts from Cesar Montes and Lucas Robertone, Almeria were unable to find an equaliser.
Fermin netted his second from Sergi Roberto's cross to wrap up the win for Barca in the 67th minute.
Xavi's side are on 79 points, four clear of Catalan rivals Girona, whose hopes of finishing second are fading fast after Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Villarreal.
Real Madrid, who have already clinched the title, continue to pull away from Barca after a 5-0 win over Alaves on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Holding the Fort
Fort provided the assist for Barca's opener, his second assist of the campaign in LaLiga.
Three players aged under 20 have provided an assist in LaLiga for the Blaugrana this term – Lamine Yamal (four), Fort (two) and Gavi (one). That is not a statistic matched by any other team in Europe's top five leagues.
Charlotte FC v LA Galaxy: Smith looking to build on 'untidy' win over Fire
Dean Smith is looking for his Charlotte FC side to build upon their 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire when they host the LA Galaxy this weekend.
Charlotte made it three wins in a row as they narrowly beat the Fire during midweek thanks to Ashley Westwood's 60th-minute winner.
The three-match win streak has taken Charlotte all the way up to fifth in the Eastern Conference, and though Smith was not enthralled by the manner of the victory over Chicago, he appreciated his side's mindset.
"I saw the mentality, but I didn’t see a game of football that I liked. It certainly won’t make the highlight reel," Smith told reporters.
"It wasn't a thriller of any sort. It was an untidy game from both teams but we showed real good mentality to limit them to few chances, and we took the one we had from a set piece."
The Galaxy, meanwhile, drew 2-2 at Minnesota United on Wednesday, leaving them fifth in the Western Conference and four points off leaders Real Salt Lake.
Minnesota equalised with just 10 minutes to play, but Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney still thought it was a solid point for his side.
"We've got to try to take this point and start to heal and start to recover and move on to the next one," Vanney said.
"[It is a] good, hard-earned point at the end of the day even though there was a chance for us to get three there at the tail end."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Charlotte FC – Ashley Westwood
Westwood scored the lone goal in Charlotte’s win over Chicago on Wednesday at the hour mark. Nine of Charlotte's 11 goals since March 23 have been scored after half-time, and Westwood will be hoping to spur his side on once more this Saturday by finding the net again.
LA Galaxy – Riqui Puig
Puig assisted both of the Galaxy's goals against Minnesota on Wednesday after also recording assists on both Galaxy goals on Saturday against Salt Lake. Puig is the first Galaxy player to record multiple assists in consecutive matches since Romain Alessandrini in 2018, and he will hope to make it three such games in a row this weekend.
MATCH PREDICTION – CHARLOTTE WIN
Charlotte and the Galaxy have each recorded a 1-0 away win against the other. Both goals were scored after the 70th minute.
The Galaxy have drawn each of their last three matches with the last two ending 2-2. In their last 22 matches, the Galaxy have scored two or more goals 15 times and allowed two or more goals 17 times.
Charlotte have won three straight matches, keeping clean sheets in all three. This is the first time Charlotte have kept clean sheets in three straight matches in club history, and with home advantage this weekend, they look the favourites to pick up the three points on Saturday.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Charlotte: 47.3%
Galaxy: 25.8%
Draw: 26.9%
Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on
Mohamed Sherif scored late on as Al-Ittihad's winless run in the Saudi Pro League stretched to four games after a 1-1 draw with Al-Khaleej.
Al-Ittihad have endured a miserable title defence, and with just two games remaining, the highest the big-spending, PIF-backed club can finish is fourth.
Muhannad Al Shanqiti put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet despite having a further eight shots and accumulating 1.07 xG in the second half, Al-Ittihad could not add another.
Their profligacy proved costly in the 81st minute, with Egypt international Sherif snatching an equaliser for 11th-placed Al-Khaleej.
Al-Tai moved out of the relegation zone with a surprise 3-1 win over seventh-placed Al-Fateh, with Bernard Mensah scoring twice.
Al-Raed, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 win at Al-Wehda.
Data Debrief: Kante the creator?
On the day he received a surprising France recall, N'Golo Kante created three chances for Al-Ittihad, leading the team.
On the flip side, Kante only attempted one tackle, with the midfielder showing a different side to his game, not that it proved fruitful for his team.
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