What a weekend. Nervy Arsenal return to their winning ways. “First again, olé, olé!” Triple-frenzied Manchester City keep on winning relentlessly and will meet Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. Chelsea’s interim manager Calum McFarlane’s 10-year contract surely incoming. Liverpool win but lose Mo Salah. Please do not let that be the last time the Egyptian King takes his Anfield throne. And for the first time in 2026… TOTTENHAM WIN! TOTTENHAM WIN! TOTTENHAM WIN! But so do West Ham. Sorry lads. We tried to help you, but Everton gonna Everton. 📊

ii. The most pulsating moment of the Premier League weekend came watching West Ham. They were 1-0 up and cruising to a four-point gap over doomship Spurs. But then João Palhinha stabbed home to give Tottenham a lead, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall slammed an 88th-minute Everton equalizer. In that moment, West Ham tumbled from security to 18th place in the blink of an eye. Fight or flight, and while some West Ham fans headed for the exit, their team conjured a tenacious 92nd-minute winner via Callum Wilson (he of nine goals in 12 games against Everton. Why Lord, why?). Cue euphoric war bubbles of glory and a relegation race for the ages. We just taped the podcast and Rory thinks Leeds and Nottingham Forest could still be sucked into it. 🫧

iii. When Everton lost in the 90th+ minute for the second week on the run, these are the texts I received from my two oldest kids:

Samson: “Dad, you are a f**king terrible dad. Two weeks in a row we lost in 90 minutes plus!” 

Ber: “The whole shtick of supporting this team is that we have been told it makes the great moments feel even greater. But Dad, when do those moments happen?” 

I felt both proud and mortified in equal measure. 💙

iv. The best moment of the weekend, however, came in the National League, which witnessed one of the greatest promotion battles we will ever see. York City faced Rochdale who needed victory to pip York to promotion to League Two. Rochdale thought they had done it when they scored in the 95th minute. Cue pitch invasion of their fans, one of whom even had the temerity to do the “L” dance in a York City player’s face. But then, cue “football, bloody football.” York City equalized in the 13th minute of stoppage time — added because of the pitch-storming — to secure the National League crown and the coveted promotion to the Football League. Incredible that it took this slimmest margin after 46 matches and 4,140 minutes of football. Utter chaos resulted. A reversal of emotions and a new truth of football: You should never storm the pitch too early..

More: Listen to the local York radio commentator and feel better about life…

Also: This might be MiB’s greatest achievement. 🤯

v. And now, a few fantastic goals from the weekend (and a disastrous one for good measure) that you might’ve missed:

🇹🇷 Goalkeepers, look away. This finish in the Turkish fourth tier is absolute nightmare fuel.

🇩🇪 Here’s your weekly reminder that Bayern’s Michael Olise has fully evolved into a cheat code. That finish is exquisite, what a player.

🇪🇸 Lastly, soak in this absolute rocket from Elche’s Pedro Bigas against Real Olivedo in La Liga. That is sensual (as is the assistant coach’s reaction).

vi. This piece about what makes men cry is perhaps the greatest testament to football. 🥲

vii. My favorite thing of the weekend: This dog just waiting to get on the couch during an NFL draft pick. 🐶

viii. I am headed to France this afternoon. We are filming with Endrick in Lyon tomorrow and Tim Weah in Marseille on Wednesday. Let us know where to eat in those special cities. We would love your suggestions at [email protected]. 🇫🇷

Courage,
ROG

P.S. Something tells me this is decidedly not how they drew it up on the training ground. 🫠

By Jacob Schneider

Manchester City 2-1 Southampton

Southampton, slayers of Mikel Arteta’s treble dreams in the quarterfinals, were absolutely brilliant on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was against a Pep Guardiola-led team in a cup semifinal. Saints broke through with 11 minutes to spare as Finn Azaz scored a worldie of a hit from the edge of the box, and the Championship side were immediately in dreamland. Three minutes later, Jeremy Doku brought them back to reality. Then, the Guardiola Cup Magic™️ commenced. Nico González, City’s current Rodri replacement, fired a rocket from distance and hit the roof of the net for just his fourth goal in two years at the club. Saints hearts were instantly shattered, but it was a strike worthy of clinching another final berth. Pep’s treble dream lives on.

Chelsea 1-0 Leeds

The Blues’ front office already had their post-match locker room anthem picked out after this one. With interim head coach Calum McFarlane (remember him?) back on the touchline to lead them to the FA Cup final–four days after the sacking of Liam Rosenior–the club leaders will certainly feel “Vindicated” for the moment. Chelsea were on a five-match losing skid with zero goals scored heading into the tie, with the club arguably at its lowest point in the BlueCo era, which is truly saying something. It wasn’t a pretty performance, but a booming header from captain Enzo Fernández lifted them to victory, despite numerous attempts from Daniel Farke’s relentless Leeds side. The Blues’ reward? Another date with City, whom they’re 0-10-3 against since their 2021 Champions League win.

More: An accurate depiction of Chelsea fans heading into the final.

Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle

Mikel Arteta’s side won their first Premier League match in six weeks on Saturday, but it came at a major cost. The Gunners took all three points against the free-falling Magpies thanks to a beautiful Eberechi Eze strike, but lost both Kai Havertz and Eze to injury in the process. Factor in this Nick Pope tackle on Viktor Gyökeres only resulting in a yellow, and it just wasn’t a day where much went to plan besides the result. Arsenal now sit atop the league standings, but City have a game in hand, and lead on goal differential still. More importantly, though, Arteta’s side could be further shorthanded in their Champions League semifinal at Atlético Madrid on Wednesday.

More: If this isn’t a sign of hope for Gunners fans, then we don’t know what is.

Wolves 0-1 Spurs

Spurs won a game. Yes, you read that right. It took them nearly five months, but they did the damn thing. Unfortunately, West Ham did as well, so they’re still in the relegation zone. On top of that, they also lost rising star Xavi Simons for the rest of the season to an ACL tear. It was a roller coaster of a weekend for Tottenham fans, to say the least. A Richarlison mishit was turned in by João Palhinha, and now, with four matches to go, Roberto De Zerbi’s boys trail the Hammers by a mere two points, as the two clubs appear to be the duo fighting for safety in the closing weeks. The Italian manager got his first W on the touchline, but with Simons done for the year, that now makes 10 first-team players injured. As Spurs fight to stay in the top flight, De Zerbi may need to work a miracle for them to survive.

More: Life as a Spurs fan distilled into one screenshot.

Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace

The Reds finally got a glimpse of the attacking prowess of their $200 million summer window last year as both Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz got on the scoresheet in what was their most confident performance in months. It was a dominant showing from Arne Slot’s men, who with the victory, maintained their fourth-placed spot in the standings, tied with Villa and United on 58 points each. As the season winds down and the minutes tick on both Mo Salah and Andy Robertson’s clocks with the club, Liverpool appears to have flipped a switch as they honor the two club legends in their final run of matches. In what may have been the Egyptian King’s final appearance at Anfield, they honored him with an attacking performance to remember. Three straight wins and four to go.

Elsewhere in the Premier League: Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa, Sunderland 0-5 Nottingham Forest, West Ham 2-1 Everton

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Premier League: Arguably this season’s must enthralling title race rambled madly on this weekend as first-placed Hearts and second-placed Celtic both won, leaving Hearts three points up with four games to go. As a reminder: Hearts haven’t won a league title since 1960 and no other club other than perennial big boys Celtic and Rangers, who are just one point further back in third, has hoisted the trophy for 41 years! Between this and the World Cup, what an incredible year for Scottish football. Read more about the weekend drama here.

🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Madrid’s late-season disappearing act is nearing train-wreck territory. Los Blancos drew yet another game, making it just one win in their last four La Liga matches. Not just that – Kylian Mbappé left the contest with what has since been revealed as a hamstring strain, and his season could be over as he prepares for the World Cup. Barcelona, meanwhile, handily defeated Getafe 2-0 on Saturday to move 11 points clear of their arch rivals. If both clubs win next weekend, the Blaugrana could settle the title race in another edition of El Clásico on May 10 at the Spotify Camp Nou. Talk about a feature.

🇮🇹 Serie A: Inter Milan can almost taste it now. The Nerazzurri drew Torino 2-2 on Sunday, meaning a win against Parma next weekend will see Cristian Chivu’s men crowned Serie A champs, and the prosecco will be popping. In the race for top four, though, the highly anticipated match between third-placed AC Milan and Juventus in fourth ended scoreless on Sunday, as the “All-American” clash between Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie left fans wanting more with the Milan forward extending his scoreless streak to a career-worst 16 matches. Both teams still occupy top-four spots, along with reigning champions Napoli, but Cesc Fàbregas’s Como is closing in on UCL qualification fast.

🇩🇪 Bundesliga: You just can’t count Bayern Munich out. The 2026 German champions were down 3-0 at halftime against Mainz on Saturday, but stormed back with four goals in the final 45 minutes, highlighted by an 84th-minute winner from none other than Harry Kane. The English talisman is up to 56 goals for the Bavarian giants across all comps this season. Elsewhere, the race for the fourth and final UCL spot in Germany is heating up as Hoffenheim, Leverkusen and Stuttgart are within two points of each other in fourth through sixth as the season nears its conclusion.

More: An American teenager makes history in his senior debut for Borussia Dortmund.

Manchester United vs. Brentford (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, USA)

European hopefuls Brentford were decimated by last summer’s transfer window, but are somehow now in a position where Champions League football could be a reality for them next season. Three points and they’re up to sixth, ahead of Chelsea, Bournemouth and Brighton. United, however, are in no position to slip. Michael Carrick’s men are coming off a narrow 1-0 victory over Chelsea and need a result - at minimum - to maintain their spot in third. Anything less could open up an eerie feeling at Old Trafford, as they head into the contest tied at 58 points with both Liverpool and Villa.

This week’s question: Only two players in Premier League history have scored a leading eight goals in the month of April. The first in 2003 and the second in 2023 – who are they and which clubs did they play for?

Email us with your answer for a chance to win a much-coveted MiB patch!

Last week’s answer & winner: Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suárez are the three players (other than Ronaldo, Messi, and Kane) that have scored over 50 goals for their club in one season.

Congratulations to Kurt Reece for being the first person to answer correctly! Kurt, send us an email and we’ll get you a patch.

👋 We’ll see you again tomorrow. In the meantime, keep sending your stories and questions to [email protected].

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