Luke Littler’s bid to win back-to-back World Series titles was dashed by Michael van Gerwen in the final of the Dutch Darts Masters in Den Bosch.

Littler was beaten 8-6 by the three-time world champion, who had fallen to the 17-year-old in the final in Bahrain last weekend.

With nothing to split the pair after the first 12 legs, Littler missed two darts at double eight to break van Gerwen’s throw and leave him one leg from another title.

Instead van Gerwen nudged one leg away, and needed a single chance to take out an 85 finish and bring Littler’s winning run to an end.

Littler had started his campaign on Saturday by gaining revenge over Luke Humphries, who denied him in the world final at Alexandra Palace last month.

Littler trailed 4-2, but hit back to claim a dramatic 6-5 victory with an 88 checkout on the bull.

The Warrington man then beat Gerwyn Price – who had missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish in his last-eight win over Kevin Doets – 7-4 to book his return to a World Masters final.

In contrast, van Gerwen had looked below-par in back-to-back victories over Raymond van Barneveld and Gian van Veen – but stepped up when it mattered.

Van Gerwen told ITVX: “This is what people like to watch – he put me under so much pressure.

“Luke Littler is going to have a bright future, we all know that, but you still have to do the right thing against him. His scoring power is immense and you have to keep fighting.”

Eddie Howe praised the resilience of his Newcastle side after their 2-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage saw them progress to the FA Cup fifth round for just the second time in 18 years.

Only once since 2006 have the Magpies reached the competition’s last-16, when the side managed by Steve Bruce fell at the quarter-final stage against Manchester City.

Howe emphasised the importance of the club’s last shot at winning a trophy this campaign after they despatched Marco Silva’s team in west London.

“It was a big result for us,” he said. “We knew we wanted to progress. It’s our last chance at silverware this season so I think the expectation from us internally was that we had to give it everything to try and get through.

“I didn’t think it was the most fluent performance we’ve ever delivered but we got the major things right which were resilience, really good character and attitude. We improved in the game, we got better in the second half.

“It’s a competition that we want to do well in. Hopefully there’s more to come.”

Newcastle took the lead six minutes before half-time and Fulham had themselves to blame.

A free-kick hoisted over from the right was dealt with indecisively by the home side’s defence, as two players got in each other’s way in a doomed attempt to clear. From there, the ball dropped to Sean Longstaff, who with a confident swing of his left foot fired Howe’s side in front.

VAR was called upon to adjudicate on a possible handball against Bruno Guimaraes as the ball pinged loosed inside the box, but the goal was deemed legitimate and Newcastle led.

Earlier, Rodrigo Muniz had had Fulham’s best chance of the half, striking low towards Martin Dubravka’s bottom corner and drawing a superb stop from the goalkeeper, who clawed it away at full stretch.

Newcastle doubled their lead on the hour mark, Sven Botman rising to thump a powerful header at goal from Kieran Trippier’s corner. Marek Rodak beat it away with two firm hands but could not get it clear of danger and Dan Burn tapped home.

The result brought welcome respite to what has been a torrid patch of away form for Newcastle, after five consecutive league defeats on the road.

“It’s strange because you look at us in the cups and we’ve been OK (away),” said Howe. “We just haven’t carried it across to the Premier League form, which has been a huge frustration. But I don’t see any reason why we can’t start winning away from home.

“We prided ourselves last year on being hard to score against. We’ve got the players to score at the other end. It’s been missing this year, but hopefully that will return quickly.”

Fulham boss Silva reflected on a a second cup exit in a week following Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final loss to Liverpool.

“That is football sometimes,” he said. “You play well but the key moments were not clear for us and that is our fault. The chances that we did create, with the amount that we created, we should have been more ruthless.

“We arrived so many times in dangerous areas that we have to better decide the last action, the pass or the finish. We have to be stronger in those situations, on the set pieces and with our finishing.”

Ademola Lookman scored twice as Nigeria beat fellow Africa Cup of Nations heavyweights Cameroon 2-0 in Abidjan to set up a quarter-final meeting with Angola.

Former Everton forward Lookman put the Super Eagles in front with a 36th-minute finish and added a second late on to seal the win over a lacklustre Cameroon, the five-time AFCON champions who finished third on home soil two years ago.

While Rigobert Song’s Indomitable Lions exit, three-time winners Nigeria, managed by Jose Peseiro, will now face Angola at the same venue on Friday for a place in the last four.

After an early looping header from Victor Osimhen was caught by Cameroon goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa, Nigeria had the ball in the net in the ninth minute via Semi Ajayi’s shot, but a VAR check led to the effort being disallowed for offside.

They did take the lead when Osimhen showed his strength as he dispossessed Oumar Gonzalez before laying the ball to Lookman, whose strike squirmed under the body of Ondoa and over the line.

Lookman subsequently curled a free-kick over the crossbar from the edge of the box 10 minutes into the second half before a rare Cameroon attack saw Nouhou Tolo blast high into the stand.

Nigeria were forced to change their goalkeeper after Stanley Nwabali was left hurt after a collision with Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and was carried off on a stretcher, being replaced by Francis Uzoho in the 80th minute.

Peseiro’s side then passed up a couple of good chances to extend their lead, with Ola Aina seeing a shot blocked by Tolo and Alex Iwobi scuffing wide, before Lookman wrapped things up by diverting Calvin Bassey’s cutback past Ondoa in the 90th minute.

AC Milan blew their chance to put pressure on the two teams above them in Serie A as Riccardo Orsolini’s late penalty snatched a 2-2 draw for Bologna in an eventful clash at the San Siro.

The hosts missed two penalties of their own but still looked set to take the three points when Ruben Loftus-Cheek headed his second goal of the game with just seven minutes left on the clock.

Loftus-Cheek had earlier cancelled out an opener from Joshua Zirkzee, but Milan’s wasteful spot-kicks cost them with both Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez failing to convert for the third-placed side.

Play at the San Siro had been stopped in the 16th minute in support of Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who suffered racial abuse in their match at Udinese last weekend.

Fans lit up the stadium with smartphone torches while a quote from Martin Luther King – “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that” – was shown on a big screen.

Milan were intent on a fifth straight win to close the gap on city rivals Inter, and Rafael Leao had the first real chance in the 19th minute when he fired straight at Bologna keeper Lukasz Skorupski.

But the lively visitors were rewarded for their early ambition in the 29th minute when Zirkzee lashed home a loose ball after Milan failed to clear around the edge of their box.

Milan responded through Simon Kjaer who fired over the bar from a dangerous Christian Pulisic cross, then Pulisic himself missed an opportunity after being played in by Loftus-Cheek.

Milan were awarded their first penalty in the 39th minute for a foul by Lewis Ferguson on Kjaer, but Giroud missed his chance with a soft spot-kick that was comfortably gathered by Skorupski.

But the hosts’ frustrations only lasted six minutes before Loftus-Cheek raced onto a cross from the left to grab his third goal in his last four games.

Zirkzee had two good chances to put the visitors back in front, while Tijjani Reijnders hit the woodwork before the hosts amazingly squandered another spot-kick.

With Giroud having been substituted, Theo Hernandez stepped up, but hit the post after Riccardo Calafiori had been penalised for his challenge on Leao.

Milan finally grabbed the lead for the first time in the 83rd minute when Loftus-Cheek rose highest to head past Skorupski and seemingly set his side on their way to another three points.

But there was to be a final twist and after Victor Kristiansen came close to levelling, Bologna were awarded a penalty of their own on the stroke of full-time, which Orsolini showed the hosts how it was done with a firm low strike.

Barcelona manager Xavi has announced he will leave the club at the end of the season.

Xavi’s position has been under the spotlight as the LaLiga champions have fallen behind Real Madrid and Girona at the top of the table.

Following Saturday’s 5-3 home defeat by Villarreal, Xavi posted a message on the club’s social media account confirming his departure.

“I want to announce that on June 30 I will no longer continue as the coach at Barca,” Xavi said.

“I think the situation needs to change course, and as a culer (Barca fan), I cannot allow the current situation.”

Newcastle showed signs of being back to their best as they knocked Fulham out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage.

Sean Longstaff scored in the first half before Dan Burn dealt the final blow to Marco Silva’s men in the fourth-round tie.

Newcastle, who last played on January 13 and are without a league win in four, looked fresh as they inflicted more cup misery on Fulham, ending their hopes of silverware following their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool earlier this week.

The west Londoners were sloppy in possession and after Marek Rodak bailed his team-mates out with a quick-thinking stop to deny Kieran Trippier’s cross-shot, Anthony Gordon’s long-range effort missed the target, whistling past the Fulham goalkeeper’s left-hand post.

Rodrigo Muniz was given a rare start and the Brazil forward was taking his opportunity, forcing a fingertip save from Martin Dubravka before his turn of pace saw Fabian Schar give away a yellow card on the break after 21 minutes.

Fulham lacked cohesion after manager Silva made seven changes from the XI that played in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup exit.

A great chance went begging for Newcastle when Alexander Isak rounded the keeper but failed to pull the trigger in time as the ball trickled out for a goal-kick.

But Newcastle breached Fulham’s defence as the hosts’ frailties continued into the 39th minute.

Trippier tested the waters with another inswinging cross which seemed routine for Fulham to deal with.

Kenny Tete and Bobby De Cordova-Reid ran into each other instead of clearing their lines before the ball fell to Longstaff, who powered home from inside the area.

Silva turned to the bench in the form of the experienced Willian and the Brazilian swung the momentum in the Cottagers’ favour.

After the winger’s long-range goal was chalked off for offside, he enjoyed neat touches and exchanges around the Newcastle area as Silva’s side searched for an equaliser.

But it was the Magpies who punished the home side after they failed to clear their lines once again in the 61st minute.

Trippier’s corner found Sven Botman, whose header had too much power for Rodak keep hold of the ball.

The Cottagers’ back-up keeper parried the ball into the path of Burn, who finished first-time from inside the six-yard area.

Real Madrid returned to the LaLiga summit as Carlo Ancelotti’s men came from behind to win 2-1 at Las Palmas.

Having fallen behind to Javier Munoz’s 53rd-minute goal, Real – without the suspended Jude Bellingham – hit back with Vinicius Junior equalising before Aurelien Tchouameni notched the winner with six minutes of normal time remaining.

A fifth successive league win for Los Blancos sees them move two points above Girona, who play at Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Third-placed Barcelona are 10 points off the top after two stoppage-time Villarreal goals saw the champions beaten 5-3 in a thrilling contest at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Trailing 2-0 via efforts either side of the break from Gerard Moreno and Ilias Akhomach, Barca suddenly turned things around with strikes from Ilkay Gundogan, Pedri and an Eric Bailly own goal in quick succession.

Villarreal then brought the score back level through Goncalo Guedes’ 84th-minute finish, before Alexander Sorloth and Jose Luis Morales added goals deep into stoppage time to complete a stunning comeback from the visitors and make it it back-to-back defeats for Xavi’s men, beaten 4-2 after extra time at Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Bayern Munich are two points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen having won 3-2 at Augsburg.

Teenager Aleksandar Pavlovic, with his first Bayern goal, and Alphonso Davies put the visitors in command at the interval.

Harry Kane’s 23rd Bundesliga goal, sandwiched between a Ermedin Demirovic double, eventually proved the difference.

Leverkusen subsequently dropped points as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Borussia Monchengladbach.

Midfielder Marwan Attia insists Egypt can cope with the “great loss” of Mohamed Salah as they gear up for their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 clash with DR Congo in San Pedro.

Salah is back at Liverpool for treatment on the hamstring injury he picked up in the second group game, with the hope he might be able to rejoin the national team should they reach the latter stages of the tournament.

Egypt squeezed into the knockout round following three successive 2-2 draws and will next face a DR Congo side who are also unbeaten but yet to record a victory.

Attia said at a press conference: “The absence of a Mohamed Salah is a great loss for the team, but it will not deter us from achieving our goal.

“No match is easy, but we are ready to rise to the challenge and beat Congo.

“Tomorrow’s match will be difficult, but we will give it our all to win and move on in the tournament.

“We are confident in ourselves and our abilities and we will fight to the end to win.”

Egypt are also without first-choice goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in their final group game against Cape Verde.

Boss Rui Vitoria feels his team are being dogged by misfortune, telling the press conference: “We have been suffering from strange injuries since the first day. Even our equipment manager was injured. We always play to win, but bad luck seems to be following us.”

The winner of the game will play either Equatorial Guinea or Guinea in the quarter-finals.

Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano has challenged his side to put their Supercoppa Italiana disappointment behind them by giving Inter Milan plenty to think about when they return to Serie A action.

I Viola were beaten 3-0 by Napoli in the semi-finals of the new four-team tournament held in Saudi Arabia last week, which Inter went on to win.

Italiano feels his squad can regroup to kick-start their domestic campaign as they look to maintain a challenge to finish in the top four.

“We won’t hide the fact that we’re disappointed by what we could have achieved, even if the team did what they had to do, apart from the unrepresentative result,” Italiano said.

“Now we have to project ourselves into the league with the desire, the anger and the determination to have an important journey, where we want to score points and do well, this is the objective.”

Italiano told Fiorentina club media: “What we did in the first half (of the campaign), no one can take that away from us – but the second half is always a different season.

“We need to continue to have fuel and push, facing the matches with determination because the objectives become decisive for everyone.

“We want to continue this important path in the second half also because we are in an important spot in the table and we want to stay there.”

Inter will be out to move back to the top of the table and capitalise on Juventus’ surprise 1-1 draw at home to struggling Empoli after seeing Arkadiusz Milik receive an early red card.

Italiano, though, feels Fiorentina can cause problems for Simone Inzaghi’s side at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

“It is an important match for us, it will be difficult because Inter are doing good from all points of view,” he said.

“But we are playing at home and we had the opportunity to work throughout the week on our playing principles and think of something useful to put Inter in difficulty.

“I hope it was useful for tomorrow and we will be be ready to do battle against one of the strongest teams.”

Inter have a doubt over Alessandro Bastoni ahead of Sunday’s return to Serie A action.

The defender was left on the bench for the Supercoppa Italiana final against Napoli because of a muscle problem.

Inter midfielders Nicolo Barella and Hakan Calhanoglu will be unavailable through suspension, so Davide Frattesi and Kristjan Asllani are expected to be involved.

Ten-man Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at home to struggling Empoli after losing Arkadiusz Milik to an early red card.

The Serie A leaders were a man down before the midway point of the first half when Milik, who had hit a hat-trick on his last start in a 4-0 Coppa Italia win over Frosinone two weeks ago, was sent off following a VAR review for a late studs-up challenge.

Dusan Vlahovic fired Juventus in front with his fifth goal in three games at the start of the second half, but Tommaso Baldanzi equalised for Empoli as the hosts’ seven-match winning run in all competitions came to an end.

Juventus went close after only six minutes as Vlahovic, who had scored a brace in each of his side’s last two games, forced Elia Caprile to tip his free-kick around a post.

But they were stunned after 18 minutes when his fellow striker Milik was sent off.

The Poland international was initially booked after appearing to catch Alberto Cerri high on the ankle with his studs when he slid in for a challenge, but the yellow was upgraded to red following a review.

Juventus were happy to sit back now they were a man down and Nicolo Cambiaghi saw a deflected effort saved by Wojciech Szczesny, who also comfortably dealt with Emmanuel Gyasi’s header.

The hosts had a golden chance to take a lead just before the break when Gyasi gifted the ball to Fabio Miretti, who burst through on goal but failed to hit the target.

However, they struck five minutes after the break.

Empoli failed to deal with a corner swung over from the right and the ball dropped for Vlahovic, who spun and slammed home a left-foot volley from close range.

The hosts threatened again when Vlahovic sent a pass into Andrea Cambiaso, who slipped when he looked set to run through on goal.

But second-bottom Empoli, the lowest scorers in the division, levelled in the 70th minute when substitute Baldanzi fired a long-range effort into the bottom corner.

The equaliser gave the visitors renewed belief and they pressed for a winner, with Szczesny forced to push away Cambiaghi’s effort.

But neither side could find one as Juventus had to settle for a two-point lead at the top of the table, although closest rivals Inter Milan have two games in hand.

Angola beat Namibia 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after both sides finished with 10 men in Bouake.

The Black Antelopes, who won Group D, looked to have made the worst possible start when goalkeeper Neblu was shown a red card for handball outside the area in the 17th minute.

Angola, though, took the lead in the 38th minute through Gelson Dala.

Namibia, through to the knockout stages for the first time after finishing among the best third-placed teams, then found themselves also down to 10 men when defender Lubeni Haukongo was sent off for a second caution five minutes before half-time.

Dala nodded in a second for Angola ahead of the break, with Al Ittihad forward Mabululu scoring a third in the 66th minute to secure a place in the last eight.

Namibia’s hopes of further progress in the tournament appeared to have been lifted earlier when Bethuel Muzeu raced clear and tried to lob the advancing goalkeeper, who palmed the ball away clearly outside his area.

Despite the setback of Neblu’s red card – Signori Antonio came on in goal, replacing midfielder Estrela – it was Angola who got themselves in front when Dala tucked home a cross from Fredy.

Namibia defender Haukongo then collected a second caution for a foul on Mabululu as he broke clear.

Angola struck again just a couple of minutes after as Dala headed in a second from Fredy’s free-kick.

Early in the second half, Brave Warriors captain Peter Shalulile fired over before Angola scored a third in the 66th minute following a swift counter-attack.

Fredy picked up a loose pass on the edge of Angola’s area and the ball eventually found its way through to Mabululu, who cut back on to his right foot and curled a shot into the far corner.

Shalulile saw a header drop just wide before Angola substitute Zito Luvumbo hit the crossbar during stoppage time as Pedro Goncalves’ side progressed to the last eight.