Kylian Mbappe was joined on the scoresheet by Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz as Paris Saint-Germain put a tumultuous week behind them with a 3-1 win at Troyes, restoring their six-point lead at the Ligue 1 summit. 

After a chaotic few days in which PSG suspended Lionel Messi over an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia and admonished fans for protesting outside Neymar's home, the champions were in full control at Stade de l'Aube.

Mbappe headed an early opener from almost directly underneath the crossbar, before Vitinha bundled home a second after the break.

Xavier Chavalerin's late header halved the arrears, but Fabian fired off the post and in to seal PSG's victory, re-establishing their six-point cushion to closest challengers Lens.

Hugo Ekitike prodded into the side netting as PSG sought a fast start and the Ligue 1 leaders went ahead after just eight minutes, Mbappe nodding in from close range after Vitinha's cross deflected against the crossbar.

A brief stoppage followed as supporters threw flares onto the pitch, with Fabian drawing two smart saves from Gauthier Gallon when play resumed.

Danilo Pereira headed narrowly over as PSG dominated possession, while Gianluigi Donnarumma tipped Mama Balde's diving header wide when Troyes finally threatened on the stroke of half-time. 

Gallon had to remain alert to keep Troyes in the contest after the restart, pushing Ekitike's low drive away before making himself big to deny Marco Verratti from a tight angle.

PSG had the two-goal lead they deserved after 59 minutes, though there was a hint of fortune about Vitinha's strike as the ball ricocheted in off his shin after Gallon saved his header.

Chavalerin appeared to have set up a grandstand finish when he nodded home with seven minutes left, but Fabian went up the other end and curled home from the edge of the area, sealing the points.

David De Gea’s slip loosened Manchester United’s grip on the final Champions League place as they were beaten 1-0 at West Ham.

De Gea let Said Benrahma’s hopeful shot from 20 yards slip over his glove to condemn Erik Ten Hag’s side to back-to-back defeats.

They now lie just one point ahead of a rapidly advancing Liverpool, albeit with a game in hand.

But an eighth defeat on the road this season could prove as costly for the visitors as it was priceless for West Ham, who climbed seven points above the relegation zone and are surely now safe.

De Gea’s evening began inauspiciously when his poor clearance flew to the feet of Declan Rice, whose run into the area was only curtailed by a last-ditch tackle from Wout Weghorst.

Marcus Rashford curled over for the visitors while Bruno Fernandes and Antony fizzed low shots narrowly wide.

Christian Eriksen’s effort also floated too high before Rashford cut inside Thilo Kehrer and crashed his shot against the outside of the near post.

The goal arrived in the 29th minute and it is not one De Gea will want to see again.

Benrahma had few options as he drove forward with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw for company.

The Algerian tried his luck from 20 yards but his shot lacked any real menace and De Gea should have made a routine save.

But the ball seemed to spin away from the Spaniard as he attempted to push it away, and instead it rolled almost apologetically into the net.

Ten Hag’s men tried to hit straight back and Antony’s shot flicked the heel of Nayef Aguerd before clipping the far post.

But the visitors had a lucky escape in first-half stoppage time when Benrahma broke through again.

De Gea saved the winger’s initial shot and his attempt to turn the rebound back into the box clearly hit the hand of Lindelof.

If anything the Swedish defender got a better hand to it than his goalkeeper did for the goal, but the penalty appeals were waved away with the VAR apparently seeing nothing untoward.

United got away with another after the break when De Gea went down as he was challenged by Michail Antonio, the West Ham striker hooking the ball in only to be pulled up for a foul.

Weghorst had United’s first shot on target as the hour mark approached, a tame effort from the edge of the box which was straight at Lukasz Fabianski.

But West Ham, eager to put their relegation worries to bed with a Europa League Conference semi-final to look forward to, sensed something special and Tomas Soucek’s volley hit a post before the Czech midfielder’s header was ruled out for offside.

Fabianski made late saves from Rashford and Anthony Martial but Ten Hag’s side offered little in their 57th match of a gruelling season which, along with Liverpool, might just be catching up with them.

Carlos Alcaraz is primed to become world number one once again after defending his Madrid Open title.

The Spaniard, who turned 20 on Saturday, beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 3-6 6-3 to complete the Spanish double for the second successive year following his victory in Barcelona a fortnight ago.

Success in the capital means he will return to the summit of the rankings, displacing Novak Djokovic, if he plays the next ATP Tour event in Rome.

Alcaraz’s latest win came amid the news Rafael Nadal will miss the Italian Open as he continues to recover from a hip injury, and with Djokovic also nursing an elbow problem he is rapidly establishing himself as the French Open favourite.

German Struff became the first lucky loser to reach the final at a Masters 1000 event and gave Alcaraz a tough match, having taken the second set to force a decider.

But Alcaraz was too good and came through to defend his title on home clay.

“For me it is so, so special,” Alcaraz said on the ATP Tour website. “To lift the trophy here in Madrid. In my country. It is always special to play and to be able to do a good result here and (being) a champion is so special.

“In front of my home crowd, my family, my friends. Everyone close to me. For me it is a special feeling that I will never forget.

“It was a really tough match. Jan was playing great, really aggressive. In the second set I had a lot of chances to break his serve and I didn’t take it and it was tough for me to lose it.

“I told myself that I had to be positive all the time and that I would have my chances and I think I did it in the third set.”

Warwickshire bowler Chris Rushworth took seven wickets for 38 runs to help his side to an impressive LV= Insurance County Championship victory over Hampshire by an innings and 84 runs at the Ageas Bowl.

The fast bowler helped skittle Hampshire out for just 97 in their second innings and finished with match figures of 10 for 76.

Hampshire totalled 229 in their first innings and Sam Hain (85), Ed Barnard (95) and Michael Burgess (88) all came close to centuries to help them clock up 410, but Rushworth’s high-quality movement helped Warwickshire to a first victory at the venue since 2010.

Azhar Ali hit an unbeaten century to guide Worcestershire to a draw with Sussex at New Road despite another stunning performance from England pace bowler Ollie Robinson which saw him pick up career-best match figures.

Robinson’s first-innings seven for 59 was matched with another incredible effort of seven for 58 in the second as he took 14 for 117.

Azhar batted throughout the day to finish on 103 not out and earned Worcestershire a draw, despite them being 109 behind after the first innings.

Sam Whiteman hit his first century for Northamptonshire to earn a draw with Somerset at Taunton.

Visitors Northamptonshire extended their overnight score from 66 for one to 311 for eight, with Whiteman leading from the front with an unbeaten 130 off 269 balls – including 14 fours and a six.

The Yorkshire-born Aussie left-hander batted throughout the day, anchored excellently by Tom Taylor, who contributed 53 to their eighth-wicket partnership of 79 that tamed a Somerset attack in the end, as both sides shook hands on a draw.

Nottinghamshire’s lower order stood strong to deny Lancashire victory on a dramatic final day at Trent Bridge.

The hosts lost their first six wickets for 55 in pursuit of 295 for victory, but a stubborn rearguard action meant they finished nine down for 136, with Lancashire falling just short of the finish line.

Lancashire declared on 329 for eight at lunch, giving the hosts 67 overs to defend for a draw.

Nottinghamshire looked to be heading for a third defeat in four when George Balderson took three wickets in 11 balls to have them six down but Joe Clarke (42) and seam bowler Brett Hutton blocked for 34 overs to offer a glimmer of a result, and they only lost two more wickets in the remaining 13 overs – the ninth with just four balls remaining – Stuart Broad also seeing out 50 balls.

Jamie Smith stood at the crease for around two-and-a-half hours to help Surrey rescue an unlikely draw at Chelmsford.

After Surrey were reduced to 103 for six with 25 overs still to hold out, Smith turned into defensive mode and helped to retain their unbeaten start to the season.

Surrey had been set a target of 273 to chase down in 54 overs. But, Surrey’s hopes of victory went up in smoke when Ollie Pope departed on 47, and they played to the close on 153 for seven, Smith finishing the day unbeaten on 39 from 126 balls.

Adam Lyth’s mammoth 174 made sure Yorkshire held on for a draw with Glamorgan after Jonny Bairstow’s promotion up the order backfired with a nine-ball duck.

Bairstow was making his senior return this week after eight months out injured when Lyth and Finlay Bean’s 99-run opening stand was broken on the stroke of lunch.

Yorkshire’s 492-run target was soon dismissed when the England batter edged to second slip off Timm van der Gugten.

Lyth was twice dropped on 48 and 69 and showed intent with his 138-run partnership with George Hill and in the end, Yorkshire were left reeling when they lost seven wickets in the final session.

Jordan Thompson (55 not out) blocked out Michael Neser’s final over to salvage a draw.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has challenged his players to “keep digging” for the Premier League title after a statement victory at Newcastle.

Arteta, who showed his squad video clips of their 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park last season from the Amazon documentary All or Nothing on the morning of the game, is convinced the prize is still there for the taking with leaders Manchester City a point better off with a game in hand.

Speaking after Sunday’s 2-0 win on Tyneside, he said: “We are there, now we want to keep digging. The prize is there, not too far.

“The only thing we can do is keep insisting and don’t turn our backs and lose the focus on something else, be determined every single day. Let’s keep going and see what happens.”

The Gunners secured the points courtesy of Martin Odegaard’s first-half strike and Fabian Schar’s own goal after the break in a performance of real character as they helped keep the Champions League-chasing Magpies at bay with a combination of excellence and game-management which infuriated the locals.

Asked if their display had proved they will fight until the end, Arteta said: “It proves that we’ve done it today. Now we have to prove that we are able to do it against Brighton.

“We’ve done it for eight and a half months and we have to keep doing it. We are there and now it feels very different to 10 days ago and we have to now make sure that the momentum is there.”

Arsenal rather turned the tables on Newcastle, who had annoyed Arteta and his players in January’s 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium with their game-management, and the Spaniard was unapologetic.

He said: “We have done what we had to to win the game and I’m very happy with that.”

A hugely entertaining contest might have panned out differently had Jacob Murphy not been denied by the post, or had referee Chris Kavanagh not been asked to review his decision to award a penalty against Jakub Kiwior after ruling he had blocked Bruno Guimaraes’ goal-bound shot with his hand.

The Gunners took full advantage of their reprieve when Odegaard, who along with Jorginho turned in an accomplished performance in the middle of the field, blasted them into a 14th-miute lead and the points were secure when Schar unwittingly deflected Gabriel Martinelli’s cross into his own net.

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe, whose side are now just three points clear of Liverpool in the race for a top-four finish, although with a game in hand, was in philosophical in defeat.

Howe said: “At this stage of the season with four games to go for us, absolutely I have to be measured, I have to be, I think, very positive.

“I don’t think there’s any time for negativity to creep into my psychology or the players’ psychology.

“I’m proud of the players today. I know the result went against us, but you could see the effort and commitment of what we tried to deliver. It was a high-quality game, it was end-to-end, it was open, but we were just missing that X-factor today, that missing part of our game.

“We hope against Leeds in our next game that we deliver that together because we have a tough run of fixtures to come and we need to get some results to get over the line.”

It was a defining weekend at the top of the cinch Premiership but also a significant one throughout the table.

The first fixture list after the split produced drama in abundance.

Here, the PA news agency picks out five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

Celtic are champions again

It was a matter of when and not if Celtic clinched the title after beating Rangers again at Parkhead and they wrapped it up with a 2-0 success against Hearts at Tynecastle. They came through a tough 45 minutes and were helped by a contentious red card for Alex Cochrane but the opening goal was a fitting piece of play from three key contributors throughout the campaign. Callum McGregor’s lofted pass found the run of Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi was on hand to net his 30th goal of the season.

Out with the old, in with the new for Rangers

Allan McGregor, Alfredo Morelos and the injured Ryan Kent were notable absentees from the Gers starting line-up after Scottish Cup defeat by Celtic effectively ended their season. Michael Beale had promised Gers fans they would see goalkeeper Robby McCrorie before the end of the season and he replaced veteran keeper McGregor for the 1-0 win over Aberdeen. It was a first Gers outing for the 25-year-old since playing in a 1-0 win over Celtic in August, 2021. McCrorie put in a solid performance against the Pittodrie side, making good saves from  Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes and Shayden Morris in particular. Morelos’ chances of playing against Celtic next week look slim after Beale’s analysis of his performance: “I think you saw a difference when Alfredo came on in terms of energy but not a positive difference as well.”

A good week for Hibernian in the race for Europe

There have been times this season when Lee Johnson has been under immense pressure amid fears his Hibs side might fail to make the top six, but the Edinburgh side appear be coming good at just the right time to qualify for Europe. Their 2-1 victory over St Mirren on Saturday made it seven points from three games and moved them three points clear of the Buddies with a superior goal difference. Fifth place will be enough to earn a European spot if Celtic win the Scottish Cup, but defeats for Aberdeen and Hearts were further boosts for Hibs as they chase a guaranteed spot.

Relegation battle tightens

Dundee United and Kilmarnock both failed to drag the teams above them into the basement battle as they lost to St Johnstone and Motherwell respectively. The Steelmen are all but safe while Saints know one more win would likely be all they need. To make matters worse for United and Killie, bottom club Ross County cut the gap with a 2-0 win over Livingston to leave just one point between the bottom three.

Kevin van Veen cements his awards credentials

The Motherwell striker again showed he should be a serious contender for Scotland’s player of the year crown by boosting his season tally to 25 – 21 in the league – after taking a magnificent couple of touches following Liam Kelly’s kick-out before finishing with aplomb to wrap up a 2-0 win over Killie. The Dutchman became the first Motherwell striker since Ian St John to score in seven consecutive top-flight games. It was one of several moments of class; a back-heel set up Blair Spittal for what should have been a goal; and another first touch and turn from a long ball was reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane at his best and left Killie defender Joe Wright to resort to a rugby tackle.

England international Jude Bellingham scored twice as Borussia Dortmund hammered Wolfsburg 6-0 to stay firmly in the Bundesliga title race.

Bellingham bagged both of his goals in the second half as Dortmund moved to within a point of Bayern Munich at the top of the table.

Karim Adeyemi also scored a brace, with Sebastian Haller and Donyell Malen getting on the scoresheet in the first half.

Napoli showed no after-effects of their wild Serie A title celebrations as they beat Fiorentina 1-0.

Luciano Spalletti’s side sealed their first title success in 33 years in midweek and the celebrations were long, but Victor Osimhen’s 74th-minute penalty ensured there was no hangover.

They remain 17 points clear of Juventus, who strengthened their second-place hopes with a 2-0 win over Atalanta.

Second-half goals from Samuel Iling-Junior and Dusan Vlahovic moved them two points ahead of third-placed Lazio with four games of the season to go.

Ashes hopeful Olly Stone is set to undergo a scan to determine the severity of a hamstring problem.

Stone, who has had a luckless run with injuries, pulled up late on Saturday during an over and shuffled off the field in Nottinghamshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship clash against Lancashire.

Despite being in obvious discomfort, Stone hobbled to the crease at Trent Bridge on Sunday as last man and kept out the last four legal deliveries of the Division One match to help his side salvage a draw.

Attention will now turn to his aggravation and it is understood he will be examined more thoroughly once any inflammation in the area has subsided, most likely within the next couple of days.

Stone’s ability to generate speeds upwards of 90mph make him an attractive option for England’s six Tests between the start of June and mid-July – one against Ireland and five versus Australia.

England captain Ben Stokes has indicated he wants eight fit seamers to call upon, all of whom can be rotated to share the burden, with Stone, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood providing the express pace options.

Stone made his England comeback last winter after recovering from a fourth stress fracture in his back – he had an operation to reinforce his lower spine with two metal screws – and a broken finger.

He played in four ODIs and a T20, was an unused squad member during England’s Test tour of New Zealand in February and, on the eve of the county season, spoke of his determination to put his injury woes behind him.

“It’s been encouraging with how much cricket I’ve had under my belt this winter and come through it,” said Stone, who played the last of his three Tests in June 2021.

“I’m feeling fit and strong and just raring to get stuck in now. I’ve looked at things in the past, injuries got in the way and I’ve been quite disappointed so I try not to look too far ahead.

“But everyone knows how big a summer it is and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on the radar.”

Michael Beale described Rangers as the “most wasteful team” he has ever seen after Sunday’s 1-0 home win over Aberdeen.

On the day that Celtic retained the cinch Premiership title with a 2-0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle, midfielder Todd Cantwell gave the Ibrox fans something to cheer about in the 65th minute with his fine volley from a James Tavernier corner.

Rangers had an experimental look to their side, partly due to injuries, but the Gers boss returned to a familiar theme as he bemoaned missed chances throughout the game.

“We had some good moments with the ball all day,” said the former QPR boss, who revealed defender Ben Davies came off with a hamstring problem which could make him a doubt for next week’s game against Celtic.

“Sometimes I feel that we are the most wasteful team in the final third that I have ever seen. We created unbelievable chances and didn’t take them.

“We suddenly face two 80-yard dashes to our own goal. On another day we could find ourselves behind.

“In the first 15 minutes of the second half we missed more unbelievable chances, and when the balls hit the bar I thought it wasn’t going to be our day.

“I know it was their player who got the last touch (when Aberdeen captain Jonny Hayes inadvertently smashed a Rabbi Matondo cut-back against his own crossbar) but we have two or three players there.

“It is not unlucky when we are missing these chances. After a while it has to be poor play or poor final pass, movement, decision-making.

“It has happened in every single day since I came back to the club – we have missed incredible chances.”

Asked if the current squad could provide answers or if new attackers were required, Beale appeared unhappy with the contribution of substitute Alfredo Morelos, who is leaving at the end of the season.

The Colombia striker came off the bench with Scott Arfield, Glen Kamara and Scott Wright just after Cantwell’s goal.

Beale said: “I think you saw a difference when Alfredo came on in terms of energy but not a positive difference as well.

“I think we will need a focal point for the team, for sure.

“Antonio Colak is not fit at the moment and Alfredo is obviously going to be moving on.

“Fashion (Sakala) and Rabbi (Matondo) gave us a different type of front line and it was also nice to see Ianis Hagi get some minutes.

“Throughout the game we had some passages of really good play but we have to be more decisive if we want to feel at ease at the end of the game.”

It was a first defeat in eight for Aberdeen, who remain in third place, five points ahead of Hearts.

Manager Barry Robson revealed that Ross McCrorie, twin brother of Rangers goalkeeper Robby, missed the game with a hernia injury, saying: “He had surgery, we hope to have him back pretty quick.”

Robson was also unhappy with his side’s finishing, especially the two chances Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes  missed in the first half – a shot saved by McCrorie before he chipped the ball over the bar when again he only had the Gers keeper to beat.

He said: “First half we should have scored a couple of goals. We had two brilliant chances to get a couple of goals up on Rangers.

“You need to take them wherever you are, not just coming here. But it’s probably more important to take them here.

“You have those two unbelievable chances in the first half – they don’t come much better than one-on-one chances.”

Robson also complained about a first-half incident when Gers defender Connor Goldson tangled with Duk at the edge of the box, with referee John Beaton awarding only a corner.

He said: “And then obviously the first half, is it a penalty or a free-kick outside as well? I don’t know.

“It was one or the other. Where was VAR? Anyone see it? Where was it? I don’t know. Was it in the building today? I am being serious.”