Leeds maintained their unbeaten home Championship record this season with a pulsating 3-2 win over 10-man Middlesbrough which saw all of the goals scored in the first half.
Middlesbrough took the lead through an early strike by Emmanuel Latte Lath but Leeds responded to go ahead.
Dan James and Crysencio Summerville, two of the smallest players on the pitch, put Leeds in front with headers inside the first seven minutes.
The home fans had to wait until the 38th minute for a third which came via Joel Piroe’s penalty.
Boro had time to score a second before the break, with Latte Lath heading in from a corner, but the visitors had Anfernee Dijksteel sent off for a second yellow card just after the hour.
In a rapid start, the visitors took the lead as Alex Bangura sent Latte Lath down the left channel and he cut inside before firing in.
Leeds responded as James saw his chipped effort cleared off the line and Georginio Rutter had a shot blocked before Sam Byram’s deep cross from the left saw James rise above two defenders to nod home from close range.
Leeds were soon in front when a cross from the right by Archie Gray was headed in by Summerville with seven minutes on the clock.
Middlesbrough worked a neat move down the right but when Morgan Rogers laid the ball back, Latte Lath shot over.
Illan Meslier kept out Latte Lath’s shot with his legs after Dan Barlaser had opened up the Leeds defence with a pinpoint pass.
Boro suffered a blow after half an hour as experienced defender Paddy McNair had to be replaced by Matt Clarke and his first involvement was to give away a penalty.
A poor clearance by goalkeeper Seny Dieng was played to Rutter and as he tried to go around Clarke they both fell, with Clarke sticking out an arm to bring down the striker as he tried to regain his feet.
Piroe stepped up to score the penalty and give Leeds a two-goal cushion.
Boro grabbed their second with the last effort of the first half as Latte Lath rose above Byram to head in a Barlaser corner.
Ethan Ampadu’s pass sprung the offside trap and Rutter should have done better with a low shot which curled off target as Leeds started the second period well.
Middlesbrough were reduced to 10 men just after the hour as referee Darren England showed Dijksteel a second yellow card for a poor challenge on James.
Rutter’s low cross with 20 minutes left was cleared by Bangura as Leeds were kept out once more.
But Boro were denied an equaliser by a post as substitute Sammy Silvera’s shot came back off the woodwork with 15 minutes remaining.
Dieng’s double save kept out Patrick Bamford’s header and Piroe’s follow-up late on.
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Darmstadt: Reus stars in farewell game
Marco Reus scored and assisted in his final Bundesliga game for Borussia Dortmund as they thrashed already-relegated Darmstadt 4-0.
The German teed up Ian Maatsen for the opener on the half-hour mark before scoring a stunning free-kick eight minutes later to put Dortmund in control.
Donyell Malen scored his 13th goal of the season to round things off after substitute Julian Brandt had latched onto Jadon Sancho's ball for a third.
Dortmund could have had more as Reus, Malen and Marcel Sabitzer struck the woodwork in either half, but it did not matter as Darmstadt struggled to show a threat.
Edin Terzic's side finished fifth in the final Champions League spot, while Darmstadt are relegated as the bottom club.
Data Debrief:
Reus has been directly involved in 251 goals in the Bundesliga (156G 95A in 391 games), making him just the third player to reach 250 goals and assists since his Bundesliga debut in August 2009, behind Thomas Müller 318 and Robert Lewandowski 367.
The German bids farewell to Signal Iduna Park having scored nine goals and assisting seven in all competitions this season, though he will be hoping to add to that tally in his final match for Dortmund - the Champions League final against Real Madrid on June 1.
Chelsea edge out Man City to claim fifth straight WSL title with thumping win at Old Trafford
Mayra Ramirez turned in a stellar performance to propel Chelsea to the WSL title in Emma Hayes' final match in charge as the Blues thrashed Manchester United 6-0.
Earlier in May, Hayes – who is ending a 12-year stint in charge of the Blues to become the United States coach – had all but given up on claiming a fifth straight WSL crown.
Yet Chelsea's 8-0 victory over Bristol City two weeks ago, combined with Manchester City's defeat to Arsenal, opened the door, and after beating Tottenham in midweek, the Blues knew a win, while maintaining their positive goal difference, would be enough.
And they made sure there was no room for error with an incredible first-half display inspired by Ramirez, who scored twice and set up goals for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nusken at Old Trafford.
Melanie Leupolz got in on the act early in the second half as Chelsea's celebrations began in earnest, with Fran Kirby netting late on to complete the rout on her farewell appearance.
Ultimately, City – likely deflated by the news coming from Old Trafford – held up their end of the bargain, but shorn of top goalscorer Khadija Shaw, Gareth Taylor's team could only beat Aston Villa 2-1.
City were constantly chasing their title rivals, with Ramirez and Rytting Kaneryd putting Chelsea 2-0 up at United inside eight minutes.
Mary Fowler nudged City ahead at Villa Park, though when Taylor's team went in at the interval, they will have seen additional goals from record signing Ramirez and Nusken had all but sewn up the title for Chelsea already.
Leupolz has scored her first WSL goal in over two years to add further gloss for Chelsea when they came back out from the restart in Manchester, and City were then hit by a further blow when Rachel Daly equalised for Villa.
Lauren Hemp, who had assisted Fowler's opener, restored City's lead, though it was never going to be enough, with Kirby's farewell goal ensuring Chelsea finished with a goal difference of 53 compared to their rivals' 46.
Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last nine WSL games that have come on the final day of the season, while the Blues are now nine WSL matches without loss against United, having won eight of those fixtures.
Hoffenheim 4-2 Bayern Munich: Tuchel bows out on defeat thanks to Kramaric hat-trick
Bayern Munich squandered a two-goal lead to slump to a 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim courtesy of a second-half Andrej Kramaric hat-trick in Thomas Tuchel's final game.
Early goals from Mathys Tel and Alphonso Davies saw the injury-depleted Bavarians go 2-0 up by the sixth minute.
Hoffenheim, however, pulled a goal back through Germany international Maximilian Beier just two minutes later, with the hosts gradually taking some of the early pace out of the game.
Bayern's injury troubles were further compounded when they lost Aleksandar Pavlovic to injury in the 35th minute, and struggled to cope with Hoffenheim's threat in the second half.
Kramaric then delivered a stunning 19-minute hat-trick with the Bayern defence in ruins, ending a disappointing season in third place with 72 points.
Bayer Leverkusen finished in top spot on 90 points. VfB Stuttgart finished runners-up on 73 with a 4-0 demolition of Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hoffenheim finished seventh, in the Europa Conference League place.
Data Debrief:
Thomas Muller made his 473rd Bundesliga appearance for Bayern on Saturday, drawing level with Sepp Maier as the club's record appearance maker in the competition.
Bayern failed to have a single shot on target in the second half, while Kramaric ran riot to subject Bayern to their worst league finish since 2011.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
