John Kennedy feels cool-headed Celtic are getting back to their attacking best in time for next weekend's title showdown with Rangers after they returned to the top of the cinch Premiership with a 3-0 away win over Livingston.
The Hoops were frustrated in a goalless first half, but an own goal from Livi's Jamie Brandon early in the second broke the hosts' resistance before further goals from Paulo Bernardo and Matt O'Riley helped Brendan Rodgers' side climb a point above Gers, who have a game in hand.
“It was very good,” said assistant boss Kennedy, carrying out media duties as manager Brendan Rodgers served a one-match touchline ban.
“As everyone knows, coming here, especially on a day like today when the sun is out and drying the pitch up, it can be difficult.
“But the boys were very good, very professional. We didn't give Livingston very much at all in terms of territory or getting into our box, which is always important here.
“And in our attacking play, we stuck at it. In the first half we could have scored. We got into some great areas and maybe the final ball wasn't there or things got blocked.
“But we showed that calmness, which is important at this time of year. It's easy to get dragged into panic mode and think that you need to go chasing a win, but we stayed with our performance, stayed with doing the same things.
“We were relentless and eventually it breaks for you. That's what happened and we came out convincing winners.”
Celtic have now scored 20 goals in their last six matches.
With key players like Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate all now back in the mix after injury lay-offs, as well as the possibility of captain Callum McGregor returning at Ibrox on Sunday, Kennedy says the Hoops will be heading across Glasgow in confident mood.
“The injuries have hampered us, but the squad are looking good. You see it in training, you sense it in training, the numbers are starting to come back up, the quality's starting to come back in and the standard starts to raise,” said Kennedy.
“Outwith the Hearts game, when we went down to 10 men very early, we'd scored 17 goals in four games and we've scored another three today, so in that respect it's very pleasing.
“Obviously we want to stay on top of our defensive game and not slacken off and, if we do that, we get performances like that where we dominate games and give nothing away. That's always the objective, to have that level of performance.''
Livingston remain 10 points adrift at the foot of the table and boss David Martindale was frustrated at the way his team let things slip away after the break.
“Probably a game of two halves,” he said. “First half, I thought our discipline, our structure, our application was very good and we limited them to very little.
“That was the game plan obviously, albeit I would've liked to have carried a bit more of a threat than we did.
“Then you go out second half and to lose the goal we lost was probably the story of the season, if I'm being honest. Some bad decision-making.”
Jannik Sinner won his third title of the season as he finally became the Miami Open champion.
The Italian, who claimed the Australian Open in January and followed it up with victory in Rotterdam, put in a scintillating display to beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-1 in Florida.
His success sees the 22-year-old become the new world number two and avenges defeats in the final here in 2021 and 2023.
It also means his semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells a fortnight ago remains the only time he has been beaten so far this year.
"It has been a very special week for me, I have faced different kinds of situations on the court and different opponents," he told Sky Sports.
"But I guess I managed the situation well.
"I am very happy to be number two in the world, it is just a number, for me most important is trying to execute my gameplan and I managed to do this."
Dimitrov, who is enjoying a resurgence and ousted Alcaraz in the semi-final here, had the first opportunity to gain the upper hand against Sinner and things might have been different had the Bulgarian not gone wide on an early break point.
That allowed Sinner to take control and he broke in the next game to open up a lead before missing more break points to go 5-2 up.
His domination continued, though, as he only let Dimitrov win one more game in the match.
The Italian took the first set with a stunning backhand down the line and then was in total control of the second set as his opponent barely got on the board.
Sinner closed it out to claim a second Masters 1000 title.
Paris Saint-Germain equalled the Ligue 1 record for the most consecutive away games without defeat as they beat Marseille 2-0.
They equalled Lyon's record of 21 set between March 2005 and April 2006 thanks to second-half goals from Vitinha and Goncalo Ramos in a sodden Provence.
It was an impressive way to join Lyon in the record books as they had to play almost an hour of Le Classique with 10 men following Lucas Beraldo's first-half dismissal.
Victory sees their lead at the top of the table restored to 12 points as another title is just a matter of weeks away.
Defeat for Marseille does little to help their European qualification ambitions and a route into next year's Champions League looks like hanging on them winning the Europa League.
The tone for an action-packed match was set in just the fourth minute when Fabian Ruiz missed a golden chance to open the scoring as he blazed over from close range after Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez palmed a cross out into his path.
The hosts then had a dominant spell as PSG defender Danilo was inches away from scoring an own goal as he got a clearance from a cross all wrong and then Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shot straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Italy goalkeeper was a spectator soon after as Marseille came even closer when Jordan Veretout kissed the post with a fierce drive from distance.
But the visitors regained the upper hand and Ousmane Dembele almost scored a contender for goal of the season on the half-hour.
He picked the ball up near the halfway line then embarked on a mazy run that beat three defenders to advance into the area, but got his finish all wrong and dragged his shot wide.
The game swung in the 37th minute as PSG were reduced to 10 men, though it was a controversial decision.
Beraldo, who had already been booked, fouled Aubameyang on the near touchline on the halfway line.
The former Arsenal striker would have been clear and after intervention from VAR, it was ruled that he had been denied a goalscoring opportunity and Beraldo was shown a straight red card.
But PSG made light of their numerical disadvantage after the break and went ahead in the 53rd minute with a fine counter-attacking goal.
Vitinha burst forward and fed Dembele, who returned the ball for the Portuguese to control and sweep home.
Marseille thought they levelled five minutes later when Veretout slammed home, but Luis Henrique was stood in an offside position and obscuring Donnarumma's view.
Aubameyang had a couple of chances to earn a point before Ramos killed the game in the final 10 minutes.
The Portuguese forward, a second-half substitute for Kylian Mbappe, converted another stunning breakaway after good work from Marco Asensio.
Rodrygo's double helped Real Madrid strengthen their position at the top of the table in LaLiga as Athletic Bilbao were beaten 2-0 at the Bernabeu.
The hosts went ahead just eight minutes into the game through Rodrygo's excellent top corner finish and an energetic start to the second half saw Brahim Diaz go close twice either side of Inaki Williams' strike, but Jude Bellingham's neat pass set the Brazilian up for his second in the 73rd minute to seal the three points.
Real remain at the summit, eight points clear of second-placed Barcelona, while Athletic remain fourth.
Although Athletic started the brighter of the two teams, Real struck with their first attack of the game when Brahim broke forward and dispatched a fantastic cross-field ball into Rodrygo, who cut in from the left to curl the ball sweetly from the outside of the box into the top corner.
The hosts settled into the game after their early goal, with Brahim having plenty of involvement on the right flank, but Athletic were handed an early blow when Yeray Alvarez Lopez was taken off with injury in the 24th minute and Daniel Vivian came on to replace him.
Toni Kroos' deflected 34th minute strike was comfortably claimed by Julen Agirrezabala and moments later the German international's corner was cleared as far as Federico Valverde, who chipped the ball from long-distance towards the bottom left corner but Agirrezabala made a quick low save.
The hosts pushed for a second in the closing stages of the first half when Brahim pounced on a loose ball and his cross was poked just wide of goal by Vivian and Real threatened again from the resulting corner when Aurelien Tchouameni headed just wide.
Real were straight out of the blocks after the break and nearly doubled their lead following a mazy run from Rodrygo, who cut in from the left and played the ball through to Brahim on the right, but his low shot rattled off the far post.
Athletic had a brilliant chance seven minutes into the half when Berenguer's corner picked out an unmarked Williams at the far post, but Andriy Lunin palmed away before Brahim threatened again at the other end, firing over the crossbar.
Real extended their lead in the 73rd minute when a quick ball from Bellingham picked Rodrygo out in plenty of space on the left and the Brazilian cut into the centre to coolly slot home into bottom corner.
Athletic had two great chances when Iker Muniain's flicked effort was collected by Agirrezabala and after finding some space Williams dragged a shot wide.
Eder Militao made his first appearance in seven months since picking up a cruciate ligament injury after coming off the bench in stoppage-time as Real comfortably saw out the win.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola called Liverpool the favourites to win the Premier League after his side were held to a goalless home draw by title rivals Arsenal.
After Liverpool came from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 earlier in the day, Jurgen Klopp’s side top the table by two points from the Gunners with City in third, three points from the summit.
Guardiola’s three-time reigning champions have made a habit of putting together long winning runs late in the season to overhaul rivals in the race to finish top, but the Catalan conceded this year’s title race was not in their hands.
“Always who is first is favourite,” Guardiola said when asked if Liverpool were “clear favourites” to win the league.
“The second favourite is Arsenal and we are third…It’s not in our hands. All we can do is think of Aston Villa (at home on Wednesday). Always when we were top of the league, we were favourites. It was in our hands. Now it’s not. It’s simple.”
City and Arsenal both fought hard at the Etihad but produced a match of few chances that will not live long in the memory, with Guardiola’s men failing to score at home for the first time in 58 matches across all competitions.
Last April Arsenal lost 4-1 at the Etihad in the midst of a run which proved pivotal as City overhauled Mikel Arteta’s side on their way to the treble.
There was no repeat as Arsenal’s eight-game losing streak at the Etihad came to an end, and this felt like a more important result for the Gunners.
“I think the context and the way we arrived here 11 months ago was different, but the difficulty remains the same,” Arsenal boss Arteta said.
“They are the best team in the world, in my opinion, by far. They have the best manager in the world by far. To catch up and try to better than them is the challenge ahead of us…
“I don’t know (if the draw is good for the title race). You want to win the game. You prepare to win it. If you cannot win it, make sure you draw it. We did that.
“Eleven months ago we were here and the story was very different. You have to make steps as a team and today we’ve done that. We still have many more to come…
“(It says) that we are improving and competing better and understand how you have to play these games but there is another step to make to win the championship. You have to come here and win.”
Arsenal kept their structure, defending deep and denying City players any space in and around the box.
Asked how to break down such a low block, Guardiola joked: “Kill someone”.
“I recognise my team, the proposals and how we pressed high,” he said. “We’ve played against a low block sometimes and Arsenal are exceptional. Well managed and the players are really good.
“You have to knock on the door of another manager and see if he can do it. As a team we’re still there. We could have more in some aspects but I’m satisfied. I told the team don’t be sad. You give credit to Arsenal for the things they do.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has no worries about Mohamed Salah’s misfires in front of goal because he keeps coming up with important moments when they need them most after his second-half winner against Brighton returned the Reds to the top of the Premier League.
Luis Diaz’s volley just before the half-hour allowed the hosts to recover from Brighton striker Danny Welbeck’s opener inside 90 seconds, but the Reds needed a clear head and a clinical touch from their Egypt international to secure a 2-1 victory.
Salah had 12 attempts on goal, his most in a Premier League match and the most on record by a Liverpool player in the competition.
It was also the most by any player in the top flight since Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Burnley more than seven years ago.
Despite the failures, when the excellent Alexis Mac Allister picked him out in the penalty area in the 65th minute, the Egyptian remained composed to deliver what could be an important goal in the title race.
“Imagine Mo would have finished off all the situations in his career? That would be crazy, so it is absolutely fine,” said Klopp.
“We need him to try. Mo, like the others, was a bit in a rush to finish off situations and didn’t do like they can do it.
“But then being that calm in the decisive moment with the biggest chance we had from the best football we played, then that makes a real goalscorer so we are happy with everything.
“Darwin (Nunez) opened up so many spaces, Lucho (Diaz) was incredible, they were all really good today.
“Their centre-halves were outstanding and it was just a really good game today, against an opponent you know it will be the hardest work.
“To defend them needs the highest intensity in English football and we did well.
“It was, from my point of view, the best performance against Roberto’s Brighton. More possession, better possession, a really good rhythm in the game.”
Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi is second favourite with the bookmakers to succeed the departing Klopp at the end of the season and, as far as auditions go, this was a decent effort.
Speculation about the Italian intensified after he revealed in the build-up that contract negotiations were currently on hold, but he insists that does not affect his future.
“I have another two years of contract. To work next season at Brighton I don’t need to extend another year or two years,” he said.
“I can stay and work in Brighton with or without the extension. Nothing has changed.
“At the moment we finished the discussion about the contract, but not because I have decided yet to leave. No, no. My focus is on Brighton this season, the next season.
“But before starting next season I would like to listen to the plan of the team. I think it is a serious thing.”
Despite the defeat, De Zerbi felt his side did as much as they could at Anfield.
“We played against a great team. I think we played well. We played a good game, we conceded too many shots,” he added.
“I think we had the chance to score in the second half, especially in the last 15 minutes, but by then we have to be proud of the performance because playing without seven injured, very important players and competing how we did was great.
“We are sorry for the result, but we showed our best today and we couldn’t do any more.”
Title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal played out a hard-fought but largely forgettable goalless draw as Liverpool ended the weekend top of the Premier League.
After Jurgen Klopp’s men came back to beat Brighton earlier on Sunday, attention turned to the Etihad Stadium for the final league meeting between any of the three teams vying for glory.
But the high-profile clash fell well short of the pre-match hype as Pep Guardiola’s men were held by former City coach Mikel Arteta and his well-drilled Arsenal side in a cagey 0-0 draw – the first time in 76 Premier League games that last season’s treble winners have been involved in a goalless stalemate.
Whether this proves an important point for either side or a missed opportunity remains to be seen, with Liverpool now at the summit on 67 points ahead of Arsenal on 65 and City on 64.
There is sure to be plenty of twists and turns over final nine matches, but Sunday’s Etihad Stadium encounter was devoid of any such excitement.
Gabriel Jesus had Arsenal’s best opportunities in a drab first half dominated by the home side for most part without creating opportunities.
Referee Anthony Taylor gave little in terms of cards during a game that limped towards a draw, ending the Gunners’ eight-game losing streak in all competitions at the Etihad.
Guardiola made two changes to his starting line-up as Kevin De Bruyne and Nathan Ake came in for Jeremy Doku and the injured Kyle Walker, with Arsenal’s only alteration seeing Jesus replace Leandro Trossard.
The former City forward had the first meaningful chance of a tense afternoon, meeting Ben White’s cross from the right with a touch and strike narrowly wide. Arteta slapped his thighs in frustration.
But City were camped in the visitors’ half before and after that seventh-minute warning shot, albeit their patient probing and possession failed to translate into clear-cut chances.
Ake had the hosts’ only first-half attempt on target – a close-range shouldered effort straight at David Raya from a corner – and was forced off with an apparent calf injury in the 26th minute.
Rico Lewis replaced him shortly after Kai Havertz stretched to meet the ball in a challenge with Stefan Ortega and City’s subsequent defensive rejig was nearly punished by the Gunners five minutes later.
Good play down the right ended with a deep cross to Jakub Kiwior, who dropped the ball back for Jesus to jink into space and hit a low shot across the face of Ortega’s goal.
City responded with a few half-chances but were unable to seriously test an Arsenal side fortunate to go into half-time without a single booking to their name.
Mateo Kovacic bent a 20-yard effort wide within two minutes of the restart as Arsenal began to become as incensed with the lack of yellow cards and fouls as the hosts.
Arteta’s gesticulations in the technical area were mocked by City fans, who held their breath when Bukayo Saka got behind to slide a low ball across the face of goal that just evaded Jesus at the far post.
Manuel Akanji had smartly disrupted the forward’s move otherwise it could have been the opener.
Tempers were rising around the ground and there were ironic cheers in the 67th minute when Jesus received the first booking of the day after throwing the ball away.
But the former City man received applause from some of the home support when he was taken off among a swathe of changes made by both managers.
Arsenal star Saka was another replaced, walking off gingerly shortly after being caught out, but not punished, by De Bruyne.
Raya was booked for time-wasting as Taylor went to his pocket for just the second time, before both sides wasted chances to win it.
First Erling Haaland just failed to get his toe on a ball in the box, then substitute Trossard got behind to test Ortega when he needed a cleaner shot or a pass to Gabriel Martinelli.
Haaland received treatment late on and saw penalty hopes ignored, with the five minutes of stoppage time coming to nothing.
Prior to the match, Liverpool had come from behind to defeat Brighton 2-1 at Anfield. Danny Welbeck gave the visitors a shock lead after two minutes, but Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah both scored to ensure the Reds emerged triumphant.
Title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal played out a hard-fought but largely forgettable goalless draw as Liverpool ended the weekend top of the Premier League.
After Jurgen Klopp’s men came back to beat Brighton earlier on Sunday, attention turned to the Etihad Stadium for the final league meeting between any of the three teams vying for glory.
But the high-profile clash fell well short of the pre-match hype as Pep Guardiola’s men were held by former City coach Mikel Arteta and his well-drilled Arsenal side in a cagey 0-0 draw – the first time in 76 Premier League games that last season’s treble winners have been involved in a goalless stalemate.
Whether this proves an important point for either side or a missed opportunity remains to be seen, with Liverpool now at the summit on 67 points ahead of Arsenal on 65 and City on 64.
There is sure to be plenty of twists and turns over final nine matches, but Sunday’s Etihad Stadium encounter was devoid of any such excitement.
Gabriel Jesus had Arsenal’s best opportunities in a drab first half dominated by the home side for most part without creating opportunities.
Referee Anthony Taylor gave little in terms of cards during a game that limped towards a draw, ending the Gunners’ eight-game losing streak in all competitions at the Etihad.
Guardiola made two changes to his starting line-up as Kevin De Bruyne and Nathan Ake came in for Jeremy Doku and the injured Kyle Walker, with Arsenal’s only alteration seeing Jesus replace Leandro Trossard.
The former City forward had the first meaningful chance of a tense afternoon, meeting Ben White’s cross from the right with a touch and strike narrowly wide. Arteta slapped his thighs in frustration.
But City were camped in the visitors’ half before and after that seventh-minute warning shot, albeit their patient probing and possession failed to translate into clear-cut chances.
Ake had the hosts’ only first-half attempt on target – a close-range shouldered effort straight at David Raya from a corner – and was forced off with an apparent calf injury in the 26th minute.
Rico Lewis replaced him shortly after Kai Havertz stretched to meet the ball in a challenge with Stefan Ortega and City’s subsequent defensive rejig was nearly punished by the Gunners five minutes later.
Good play down the right ended with a deep cross to Jakub Kiwior, who dropped the ball back for Jesus to jink into space and hit a low shot across the face of Ortega’s goal.
City responded with a few half-chances but were unable to seriously test an Arsenal side fortunate to go into half-time without a single booking to their name.
Mateo Kovacic bent a 20-yard effort wide within two minutes of the restart as Arsenal began to become as incensed with the lack of yellow cards and fouls as the hosts.
Arteta’s gesticulations in the technical area were mocked by City fans, who held their breath when Bukayo Saka got behind to slide a low ball across the face of goal that just evaded Jesus at the far post.
Manuel Akanji had smartly disrupted the forward’s move otherwise it could have been the opener.
Tempers were rising around the ground and there were ironic cheers in the 67th minute when Jesus received the first booking of the day after throwing the ball away.
But the former City man received applause from some of the home support when he was taken off among a swathe of changes made by both managers.
Arsenal star Saka was another replaced, walking off gingerly shortly after being caught out, but not punished, by De Bruyne.
Raya was booked for time-wasting as Taylor went to his pocket for just the second time, before both sides wasted chances to win it.
First Erling Haaland just failed to get his toe on a ball in the box, then substitute Trossard got behind to test Ortega when he needed a cleaner shot or a pass to Gabriel Martinelli.
Haaland received treatment late on and saw penalty hopes ignored, with the five minutes of stoppage time coming to nothing.
Prior to the match, Liverpool had come from behind to defeat Brighton 2-1 at Anfield. Danny Welbeck gave the visitors a shock lead after two minutes, but Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah both scored to ensure the Reds emerged triumphant.
Denis Undav's last-gasp Bundesliga leveller salvaged a 3-3 draw for Stuttgart against Heidenheim, who thought they had completed a remarkable turnaround moments earlier on Sunday.
Undav's 98th-minute equaliser kept Stuttgart four points clear of fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund as Sebastian Hoeness' side continue to chase Champions League qualification.
Hoeness’ side appeared to be cruising after Serhou Guirassy and Angelo Stiller were both on target at MHPArena, though Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nubel's own goal laid the foundations for late drama.
Tim Kleindienst capitalised with two quick fire goals to snatch an unlikely Heidenheim lead with five minutes remaining, yet Undav provided the last twist to snatch a share of the spoils.
Stuttgart thought they had managed an eighth-minute opener when Guirassy powered home from the edge of the penalty area after Undaz’s offload, though a VAR check ruled the strike out for offside.
Undav's threaded pass then found Chris Fuhrich but his driven effort was saved well by Kevin Muller, though Hoeness' side eventually found the breakthrough just before the interval.
Guirassy arrived in the perfect position to convert a delivery from Stiller, who placed the ball on a plate for the 41st-minute opener.
Stuttgart doubled their lead after the break as a sensational move ended with Stiller playing a smart one-two with Undav, before the German midfielder slotted the ball under Muller.
Heidenheim were gifted a glimmer of hope as Nubel made an inexplicable mistake when failing to hold Kleindienst’s header – and the visiting striker would further punish the hosts.
Kleindienst fired home a volley from a Jan-Niklas Beste cross in the 84th minute, before powering a header into the back of the net from Eren Dinkci's centre just moments later.
Yet with just seconds remaining, Undav pounced inside the box to unleash a thunderous shot into the bottom corner, salvaging a late point for the hosts.
Giannis Antetokounmpo's greatness may be taken for granted by the Milwaukee Bucks, according to coach Doc Rivers, whose side overcame the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
The Bucks snapped Atlanta's four-game winning streak with a 122-113 triumph as Antetokounmpo managed 36 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.
Antetokounmpo also made 12 of 16 free throws, with Rivers suggesting Milwaukee may overlook how much they rely on their star man.
"As I said, we take him for granted," Rivers said. "I thought he played as clean a game as he can play."
"I was really happy with the way we played overall because they did what they do, come out and make 3s."
Patrick Beverley scored 18 points as the fill-in starting point guard, despite concerns over his availability due to a wrist injury.
"He wanted to protect me, as a coach should," Beverley said of Rivers after playing 36 minutes and having five assists with no turnovers.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder acknowledged his team struggled to stop Antetokounmpo.
That plight was not aided by the fact Atlanta were missing Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson.
"It really does require multiple players to limit his ability to get to the rim," Snyder said.
Jonathan Quick set the wins record for U.S.-born goalies and Alexis Lafreniere had three goals and two assists to lead the surging Rangers to an 8-5 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
Quick stopped 27 shots for his 392nd victory to move past Ryan Miller for the record.
Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists and Ryan Lindgren added a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who won their fifth straight and increased the NHL’s best point total to 104.
New York finished March 10-3-1 and is 20-4-1 since February.
Nick Bjugstad and Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who have lost six straight to the Rangers since a 3-2 win on Oct. 22, 2019.
Matthews scores 60th as Maple Leafs win
Auston Matthews reached the 60-goal mark for the second time and Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Matthews became the league’s first two-time 60-goal scorer in 30 years. He matched the franchise record he set when he led the NHL two seasons ago.
He is the first player with multiple 60-goal seasons since Pavel Bure had back-to-back 60-goal campaigns with Vancouver in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
John Tavares and Nicholas Robertson also scored for Toronto, which remained four points ahead of Florida in the race for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Oettinger powers streaking Stars
Jake Oettinger notched his second shutout of the season and the Dallas Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken, 3-0, for their seventh straight win.
Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston each had a goal and an assist and Joe Pavelski also scored as the Stars maintained a three-point lead over Colorado in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference and stayed one point behind the Rangers for the league’s best record.
Seattle failed to win a third straight after two wins over Anaheim and dropped to 2-7-2 in its last 11 games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo dunked six times on his way to 36 points and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame Bogdan Bogdanović’s 38 points in a 122-113 victory to end the Atlanta Hawks’ four-game winning streak on Saturday.
Antetokounmpo had 16 rebounds and eight assists, while Khris Middleton scored 21 points as Milwaukee avoided a third straight loss.
Dejounte Murray had 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who beat league-leading Boston twice during its longest win streak of the season.
De’Andre Hunter and Bogdanovic hit consecutive 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter to get Atlanta within 94-89, but Middleton and Brook Lopez answered with 3s for Milwaukee to get the lead to 100-89.
Celtics get back on track
Jayson Tatum scored 23 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 19 with 10 rebounds to help the Boston Celtics bounce back from consecutive losses with a 104-92 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jaylen Brown had 17 points and Derrick White contributed 15 for the league-leading Celtics, who averted their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Boston took control in the third quarter, limiting the Pelicans to 11 points and entered the fourth with an 83-68 lead.
Zion Williamson scored 25 points and CJ McCollum had 24 for New Orleans, which failed in a bid to move 18 games over .500 for the first time since April 12, 2009, when it was 49-32.
Magic roll to end skid
Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points and 13 rebounds and the Orlando Magic cruised to a 118-88 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies to snap a three-game losing streak.
Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony each added 15 points and Paolo Banchero had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Magic, who moved a game and a half behind New York in the race for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando’s 43 wins are the most for the franchise since it was 52-30 in 2010-11.
Thomas Tuchel admitted Bayern Munich are out of Bundesliga title contention after a 2-0 defeat in Der Klassiker left them 13 points adrift of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Karim Adeyemi struck early on before Julian Ryerson sealed a 2-0 win for Borussia Dortmund, their first at the Allianz Arena since 2014, as Bayern’s bid for a 12th league title in a row was left hanging by the thinnest of threads.
For Tuchel, who will leave the Bavarian giants at the end of the season, the matter has already been settled. When asked if they were out of the running for the league crown, he told Sky: “Obviously, yes.
“After this game there is no more need to count points. How many is it now? Congratulations to Leverkusen.”
Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen’s head coach, this week rebuffed speculation linking him with former clubs Bayern or Liverpool as the Spaniard publicly committed his future to his current employers.
They looked set for a first defeat in 39 matches in all competitions after going behind at home to Hoffenheim as Maximilian Beier gave the visitors a 33rd-minute lead they held until the closing stages.
Robert Andrich equalised with two minutes left, lashing home a bobbling effort, and Leverkusen sealed a 2-1 win in added-on time, as Patrik Schick reacted fastest to volley home Nathan Tella’s cross before their hopes of a maiden league title were given a further shot in the arm by Bayern’s setback.
Raphinha’s second-half goal helped Barcelona edge out 10-man Las Palmas 1-0 to close the gap on LaLiga leaders Real Madrid to five points.
Barcelona saw two goals chalked off for offside and Robert Lewandowski hit the bar but Las Palmas had goalkeeper Alvaro Valles red carded for a crude challenge on Raphinha outside his box after 25 minutes.
Xavi’s side were unable to initially capitalise on the extra man but Joao Felix came off the bench and provided a delicately-weighted ball over the top for Raphinha to head into the net in the 59th minute.
AC Milan extended their winning run to six matches with a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in Serie A on an emotional night at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
There had been tributes before kick-off to Fiorentina general manager Joe Barone, who collapsed in the team hotel just as they were preparing to travel to the stadium for the match against Atalanta and later died in hospital.
The Rossoneri produced a clinical display with second-half goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rafael Leao either side of Alfred Duncan’s equaliser to consolidate second place in the table.
Third-placed Juventus slipped six points behind Stefano Pioli’s team after losing 1-0 to Lazio, who sealed all three points thanks to Adam Marusic’s strike three minutes into stoppage time.
Lazio claimed both the three points and also struck a psychological blow ahead of Tuesday’s Coppa Italia semi-final first leg between the two teams in Turin.
Erik Ten Hag admitted Brentford’s late equaliser is likely to prove costly in Manchester United’s already dwindling bid for a place in the Champions League.
United did little to turn down the noise surrounding manager Ten Hag’s future after an ultimately dramatic but largely uninspiring 1-1 draw in west London.
They looked to have turned a lifeless display into an unlikely three points after Mason Mount climbed off the bench to fire them ahead six minutes into stoppage time.
But Brentford equalised less than three minutes later through Kristoffer Ajer to snatch a point which was the least they deserved.
“We didn’t deserve to win but if you are winning you have to take this. Normally we are good in those circumstances,” said Ten Hag.
“In terms of aggressiveness Brentford were better but when you are winning the game you should bring it over the line.
“When you don’t play well you still have to win and we did it, almost. We didn’t play well but there was spirit and fight but not enough.
“There are still many games to go. Of course the points could be more expensive by the end. It should have been three points. By the end we will know. It could be an important point.
“Don’t lower the performance from Brentford, I’ve seen them against Man City, against Liverpool. But we should have done this better.
“I’m not happy with the performance, there is no misunderstanding. We should be consistent in the way we take a game and perform.”
Ten Hag had shrugged off speculation over his job this week before returning to the scene of his catastrophic second match in charge, when they conceded four goals in the opening 35 minutes.
On the evidence of this underwhelming performance, they have hardly made any progress since that chastening afternoon in August 2022.
In fact, Brentford had enough chances to stage a repeat performance of their 4-0 romp but for the wayward finishing which has made their season a significantly tougher one than the last.
They had 31 attempts at goal and incredibly hit the woodwork four times.
It really did not look like being their night when, deep into nine minutes of stoppage time, Casemiro set up Mount to convert at the far post.
But Brentford were not to be denied and, when Ivan Toney sent the ball across goal in the 99th minute, centre-half Ajer was on hand to secure a fully merited point.
Thomas Frank, whose side are now five points clear of the relegation zone, said: “I know we beat Man United 4-0 last year but I think we played better today.
“The way we dominated the game throughout, in terms of shots and dangerous situations, was very, very impressive.
“The way we dominated – 31 shots – how we are not winning that game I do not know.
“I almost lost faith in the football god when they scored, brutal. But the ability to come back from that is incredible.”
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