Bruno Fernandes scored his first Premier League goal in nearly three months as Manchester United beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday to take another big step towards securing a top-four finish.
United threw away a two-goal lead in the midweek draw with Spurs that upset their momentum a little, but returned to winning ways against a Villa side who were threatening to enter top-four contention.
One of the Premier League's form teams since Unai Emery's October appointment, Villa went close to an opener first, though United were good value for the lead when Fernandes punished questionable goalkeeping from Emiliano Martinez.
Despite putting Villa under intense pressure for much of the second half, additional goals were not forthcoming for United, who were ultimately indebted to Victor Lindelof's late goal-line clearance as they held on.
United were also fortunate not to concede in the 19th minute when Diogo Dalot nudged Emiliano Buendia's pass into Alex Moreno's path, the Spaniard's powerful drive crucially blocked by David de Gea.
They nearly capitalised on the let-off nine minutes later, Jadon Sancho teeing up Casemiro to hit the crossbar from 16 yards.
But the breakthrough did arrive just before half-time, Fernandes squeezing in from a tight angle when Martinez could only parry Marcus Rashford's initial effort.
While United continued to dominate after half-time, their final pass was generally dreadful, with Sancho and Christian Eriksen making particularly poor decisions at crucial moments in the attacking third.
Villa almost took full advantage, but Lindelof managed to head Douglas Luiz's shot clear from under the bar, with United surviving late pressure.
Sessegnon and Tanganga join Dier and Perisic in leaving Tottenham
Tottenham have confirmed Ryan Sessegnon and Japhet Tanganga are following Eric Dier and Ivan Perisic through the exit door as free agents.
Dier and Perisic had already agreed moves ahead of 2024-25, with Dier making his loan stay at Bayern Munich permanent and Perisic returning to boyhood club Hajduk Split.
Both players have now left the club following the expiration of their contracts, as have Sessegnon and Tanganga.
Sessegnon was considered one of the hottest properties in the English game when he joined from Fulham in a £25million deal in 2019, but he made just 57 appearances in five injury-affected years in north London, scoring three goals.
Sessegnon has been linked with several Premier League clubs, having seen his 2023-24 campaign ended by hamstring surgery in February.
Academy graduate Tanganga made 50 appearances for Spurs after breaking through under Jose Mourinho in 2019-20, and he spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Millwall.
Alcaraz sets up Sinner showdown in French Open semi-finals after dismantling Tsitsipas
Carlos Alcaraz continued his perfect start to the French Open, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.
It is the second year running that Alcaraz has brushed aside Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, this time with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory in just two hours and 15 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The Spaniard set the tone early on with a break in the opening game as he comfortably cruised through the first set and was 3-0 up in the second before Tsitsipas started to mount a comeback.
The momentum stayed with Alcaraz as he stretched his lead following the tie-break though, and held his nerve to see out the third set.
The world number three has reached the semi-finals for the second consecutive year, and has booked a meeting with the new world number one, Jannik Sinner.
Data Debrief: Alcaraz keeps chasing records
Alcaraz has become the youngest player since Andy Roddick in 2003 (v Xavier Malisse) to defeat a player in all his first six meetings in ATP events.
Not only that, but among players who started their career in the Open Era, only Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe (59 each) have registered 50 Men's Singles Grand Slam wins in fewer matches than Alcaraz (60).
Parrott downs Hungary with last-gasp winner for Ireland as Euro 2024 preparations ramp up
Troy Parrott proved the last-gasp hero as Ireland stole a 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary, who suffered a blow less than two weeks before their Euro 2024 campaign starts.
Adam Idah opened the scoring in the first half at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, only for Adam Lang to level for the visitors four minutes later.
Yet Marco Rossi's team, who face Switzerland in their Euros opener on June 15, fell to late defeat as Parrott delivered a 92nd-minute winner for the home side.
That late strike ended Hungary’s 14-match unbeaten run (W9 D5) since losing 2-0 to Italy in a Nations League match back in September 2022.
Rossi may not be too concerned as that run was their longest undefeated streak since an 18-match streak between September 1954 and November 1955.
Hungary will also take comfort from the dominance of Dominik Szoboszlai, who created six chances in this match, the most of any player on the pitch and the same amount as all of his team-mates combined.
Switzerland, who join Hungary, Scotland and hosts Germany at the upcoming European Championship, were victorious on Tuesday after a 4-0 success against lowly Estonia.
Steven Zuber, Xherdan Shaqiri, Zeki Amdouni and Nico Elvedi were all on target at Swissporarena in Lucerne as Murat Yakin's men eased to a convincing warm-up win.
Switzerland continue their preparations for the Euros with their next friendly against Austria, who battled to a 2-1 victory over Serbia in Vienna.
Christoph Baumgartner scored one and assisted another for Patrick Wimmer before Strahinja Pavlovic pulled one back for Dragan Stojkovic's side.
Serbia open their Euro 2024 campaign against England on June 16 before meeting Slovenia, who were triumphant earlier in a day littered by international action.
Armenia's Varazdat Haroyan levelled after Jan Mlakar's early opener for Slovenia before veteran Josip Ilicic snatched a 2-1 victory for England's group opponents.
In the least entertaining game of the midweek action, Romania and Bulgaria shared a goalless draw in Bucharest.
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