Substitute Joe Aribo struck at the death to seal stuttering Sky Bet Championship promotion hopefuls Southampton a dramatic, much-needed 4-3 victory away to 10-man Birmingham.
Russell Martin’s Saints were in desperate need of a morale-boosting win having lost four of their five games in all competitions since their club-record 25-match unbeaten run came to an end.
Birmingham threatened to further dent their fading automatic promotion bid on Saturday afternoon, but Southampton’s strong bench and unwavering spirit paid dividends as substitute Aribo struck deep in stoppage time.
It was a blockbuster end to a breathless encounter that began with Koji Miyoshi putting the Blues ahead inside two minutes, only for Adam Armstrong to deservedly level for Saints.
But Birmingham back caught the visitors out and Jay Stansfield put them back ahead against the run of play, meaning Saints had to rally after the break.
David Brooks scored a brilliant equaliser and Che Adams put Martin’s men ahead, with Blues skipper Dion Sanderson’s sending-off appearing to end this clash as a contest.
Further twists followed, though, as Birmingham – fighting for absent boss Tony Mowbray – levelled through Juninho Bacuna, before Aribo snuck Southampton a potentially huge stoppage-time winner at St Andrew’s.
This clash was a wild ride from the start, with Bacuna’s fine ball putting Miyoshi all too easily in behind to send an effort whizzing past Gavin Bazunu via a Ryan Manning deflection.
The 26-year-old appeared to handle in the build-up, but the goal stood and Birmingham nearly had a quickfire second, with Bacuna’s strike hitting a post and then going out off the back of the goalkeeper’s head.
Saints woke up after that fifth minute let-off as Brooks’ volley into the ground flew just over before Armstrong and Adams tried their luck.
Martin’s men would level in the 18th minute as Brooks slipped in Armstrong to prod through John Ruddy’s legs, with the home faithful’s appeals for offside falling on deaf ears.
The equaliser gave Southampton a pep in their step and Adams saw an audacious long-range effort take a touch off Sanderson and hit a post.
Birmingham were hanging on for dear life, only to go back ahead in the 41st minute. Jan Bednarek managed to flick on rather than clear Sanderson’s hopeful long ball, putting Stansfield behind to blast past Bazunu.
Armstrong saw a curling effort hit the bar and Will Smallbone fizzed across the face of goal as Saints pushed to reach parity before half-time.
Birmingham began the second half well as Taylor Harwood-Bellis escaped a penalty shout for handball before a Bacuna strike whistled just wide from 20 yards.
Again, Saints’ sloppiness at the start of a half sparked a vast improvement and they equalised in the 55th minute.
Brooks cut in from the right flank and was left inexplicably open to get hit stunning curling effort past Ruddy.
Southampton scented blood and took the lead four minutes later as Adams controlled a deep cross and showed patience before lasering home.
Birmingham fans’ frustration was quickly compounded by a straight card to Sanderson in the 62nd minute after leaving Smallbone in a heap.
The hosts’ complaints about the decision fell on deaf ears and Saints tried and failed to put the game to bed.
Instead, lively Stansfield saw a strike come back off a post and Bacuna reacted quickest to fire Birmingham level.
Adams hit a snapshot into the side netting as Saints pushed for a winner, which finally came during nine minutes of stoppage time.
Harwood-Bellis headed on a corner and Aribo showed strength and skill to steer home in front of the elated away end.
Leverkusen reach Europa League final and stretch unbeaten run with late show
Bayer Leverkusen reached the Europa League final and stretched their remarkable unbeaten run to 49 games on Thursday, Josip Stanisic scoring seven minutes into stoppage time in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Roma.
Having won last week's first leg 2-0 in Italy, Leverkusen were strong favourites to advance to this month's final in Dublin, though two Leandro Paredes penalties left them facing up to the prospect of extra time.
Paredes halved Leverkusen's aggregate lead on the stroke of half-time after Jonathan Tah fouled Sardar Azmoun, then repeated the trick following a bizarre handball from Adam Hlozek shortly after the hour mark.
However, Roma's hearts were broken as goalkeeper Mile Svilar – who was otherwise outstanding – failed to claim a routine corner and it bounced in off the unfortunate Gianluca Mancini with eight minutes of the 90 remaining.
Rather than sitting back at 2-1 up in the tie, Leverkusen chased a leveller in order to preserve their unbeaten record across all competitions this season.
It was yet another last-gasp effort that kept that record intact, with Stanisic firing into the bottom-left corner after being played through by Granit Xhaka.
Xabi Alonso's team are now unbeaten in 49 games in all competitions, breaking Benfica's previous European top-tier record of 48 matches, set between 1963 and 1965.
Leverkusen will face another Italian side in the showpiece game, after Atalanta crushed Marseille 3-0 in Bergamo to seal a 4-1 aggregate win in the other semi-final.
In-form striker Gianluca Scamacca had already rattled the crossbar when La Dea took the lead, with Ademola Lookman's strike deflecting in off the unfortunate Samuel Gigot.
Lookman then turned provider as Atalanta stretched their advantage seven minutes after the break, teeing up Matteo Ruggeri for a rasping finish into the top-right corner.
Gian Piero Gasperini's men were able to add some gloss to the scoreline at the death, with El Bilal Toure's pinpoint finish giving Pau Lopez no chance to round off a dominant win.
Montreal boss Courtois encouraged by progress, but still envies Messi and Miami
CF Montreal coach Laurent Courtois has been delighted by the way his players have adapted to his methods this season, though he joked he would still swap any of them for Lionel Messi ahead of Saturday's clash with Inter Miami.
Montreal sit 11th in the Eastern Conference standings with 12 points from their first 10 league games under Courtois, 12 adrift of early pacesetters Miami.
However, plenty of outside factors have impacted their start to the season, not least the fact they have played eight of their matches – including each of their first six – on the road.
Courtois is proud of the way his players have learned on the job, though he still believes there is more to come from them.
"I keep telling them that I have no in-between. I'm either going to be your biggest fan, or really tough and really demanding. Because we don't have time to play. We don't have time to lose," he said.
"At the same time, I'm such a fan of what they've been doing, accepting the stuff that I've been asking them to do, while being on the road for three months.
"I think they want to play soccer in the right way. I have a few codes that I think can be helpful.
"We need together to come up with common ground to execute in this way. They're still far from what I think they can do."
However, Courtois does see one area for improvement ahead of Saturday's clash with the Herons, quipping: "I wouldn't change any of my players for any others – except Messi."
Miami trounced the New York Red Bulls 6-2 last week, with Messi scoring once and laying on five assists in an incredible performance.
That display left coach Gerardo Martino in disbelief, as he said: "I always say this, and it's redundant at this point, but he always does something new.
"To have an involvement in all six goals of a team's goals in a 6-2 is something that will be difficult to see again."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
CF Montreal – Jonathan Sirois
Last week's 4-1 defeat at Nashville SC was the seventh time Montreal have conceded four or more goals in a regular-season MLS game since the start of 2023, more than any other team.
Only two MLS goalkeepers have faced more shots than Sirois (55) in 2024, though he has conceded 2.1 goals fewer than Opta's expected goals on target (xGoT) model suggests he should have. He will need a big performance against Messi and company.
Inter Miami – Lionel Messi
Messi has 10 goals and 12 assists in eight league matches this season. No player in MLS history had reached 10 goals and 10 assists in fewer than 16 appearances in a season before.
The Argentine has also reached 25 goal contributions in 14 MLS matches overall, seven fewer than any other player in MLS history required to bring up that figure.
MATCH PREDICTION – CF MONTREAL WIN
Montreal have won six of their nine all-time meetings with Miami (one draw, two defeats), including a 3-2 victory over the Herons on March 10.
Only New York City FC (2.22) and the Chicago Fire (2.17) average more points per match against Miami than Montreal (2.11) among teams the Herons have faced five or more times.
While Montreal are winless in their last three league games, the last two of those were played on the road.
On home soil, they are a different proposition, going unbeaten through their last six games (two wins, four draws), including a win and a draw in their first two home matches of 2024. They have only lost three of their last 17 regular-season home games dating back to last April (10 wins, four draws).
Miami, despite their star quality, have been vulnerable this campaign, trailing in nine MLS games – a joint-high alongside the San Jose Earthquakes. They cannot keep relying on rescue acts.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
CF Montreal – 47.2%
Inter Miami – 25.7%
Draw – 27.1%
Olympiacos 2-0 Aston Villa (6-2 agg): Villans fall in last four as El Kaabi strikes again
Olympiacos will face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final after an Ayoub El Kaabi double secured a 6-2 aggregate win over Aston Villa.
After a stunning 4-2 win at Villa Park last weekend to take the ascendancy in the semi-final tie, first-leg hat-trick hero El Kaabi struck early before netting again late on to stamp out any hopes of a Villa comeback.
After a strong start from the visitors, El Kaabi scored his fourth goal of the tie just 10 minutes into Thursday's second leg at Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki, getting on the end of Quini's low cross to turn home at the far post.
It looked an uphill battle for Villa, who dominated the possession throughout the contest in Greece but struggled to make a dent in the stubborn hosts.
Douglas Luiz saw a long-range effort saved by Kostas Tzolakis while the Olympiacos goalkeeper also denied Moussa Diaby. El Kaabi made sure late on, getting on the end of a long ball to fire past Martinez and secure Olympiacos' final berth.
The fairytale comeback never materialised for Villa, and it will be Olympiacos who take on Fiorentina at the Agia Sophia Stadium in the Greek capital of Athens on May 29, looking to utilise familiar surroundings to claim their first major European trophy.
Data debrief
El Kaabi was the hero again for Olympiacos as his two second-leg finishes took him to 10 Europa Conference League goals for the campaign, more than any other player, while his 13 strikes in major European competitions are also more than any other player when factoring in his three Europa League goals.
Villa had 73.9 per cent of the ball in the second leg, yet their 1.14 xG (expected goals) was still inferior to Olympiacos' 1.23 as the Greek Super League side's ruthlessness clinched their spot in the final.
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