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CF Montreal recorded its first win of the season in dramatic fashion Wednesday, coming from behind twice before knocking Toronto FC out of the Telus Canadian Championship via a penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois was the hero of the preliminary-round game, stopping Tyrese Spicer and Ola Brynhildsen as Montreal won the shootout 3-2.  Kobe Franklin and Alonso Coello scored for Toronto in the shootout. Theo Corbeanu ballooned his kick over the crossbar. Joel Waterman, Dante Sealy and Dominic Iankov scored for Montreal. Tom Pearce also fired high. Montreal will face either the Canadian Premier League’s Forge FC or Halifax Wanderers FC, who meet May 7, in the two-legged quarterfinals. The game went to the shootout after it finished deadlocked at 2-2 in regulation time, thanks to Montreal substitute Giacomi Vrioni’s spectacular goal in the 88th minute. The Italian-born Albanian international forward, a designated player who had seen just 22 minutes of action previously this...

Chelsea clinched its sixth straight Women’s Super League title on Wednesday to secure a second trophy of the season in its bid for another domestic treble in English soccer. After seeing second-place Arsenal lose 5-2 to Aston Villa, Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 away to move into an unassailable nine-point lead with two games remaining and stay undefeated in the league. Chelsea has already won the League Cup this season and has advanced to the FA Cup final, where the team will face United again at Wembley Stadium on May 18. The London club lost to Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League semifinals to end the quadruple hopes of Sonia Bompastor’s squad. Chelsea also completed the Premier League-FA Cup-League Cup treble in the 2020-21 season. Arsenal, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Lyon to reach the Champions League final on Sunday, was the last team other than Chelsea to win the Super League — in 2019. England right back Lucy Bronze scored Chelsea’s headed...

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona and Inter Milan delivered a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday. The game featured gorgeous goals from both sides and sets up a must-see sequel next week in Milan. Marcus Thuram was a doubt for the starting 11 after missing Inter’s previous three matches — all losses without a goal. But the striker used the back of his heel to turn in a cross by Denzel Dumfries to stun the hosts just seconds after kickoff. Dumfries scored his first of two goals with a bicycle kick to double Inter’s lead in the 21st. Lamine Yamal sparked Barcelona into action in the 24th when he dribbled past two defenders and sliced a shot in off the far post. He went close to an equalizer moments later after gliding down the endline and firing a shot with just a sliver off an angle off the crossbar. Ferran Torres rammed in a headed pass by Raphinha to equalize for Barcelona in the 38th. Inter suffered another blow when Lautaro Martínez...

Vancouver Whitecaps forward Brian White has been named Major League Soccer’s player of the month for April. White scored five goals over his three MLS appearances in April for league-leading Vancouver. His five goals were tied for the league lead with San Jose’s Josef Martínez and Nashville’s Sam Surridge despite playing only 270 minutes. The American international scored four times in Vancouver’s 5-1 win over Austin on April 12, becoming the 18th player in MLS history to score four goals in a single match and the first Whitecaps player to reach 50 regular-season goals. He also scored the winning goal in a 2-0 victory over Colorado on April 5. White also scored the game-winning goal in the Whitecaps’ 2-0 first-leg semifinal victory against Inter Miami in the CONCACAF Champions Cup last Thursday in front of a crowd of 53,837 at BC Place.  The second leg was scheduled for Wednesday night in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Whitecaps posted a 3-0-1 record in April to end the month fiv...

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona’s high-scoring attack will face Inter Milan’s stingy defence in the opening game of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday. Barcelona has the best attack in the competition with 37 goals scored, while the Italian visitors have allowed just five goals and kept a tournament-best eight clean sheets. Hansi Flick’s Barcelona is as confident as can be after beating Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday. That launched the La Liga leaders’ bid to sweep a treble of titles in its first season under the German coach. Inter, in contrast, arrives in Spain on a rare slump. Simone Inzaghi’s side has lost three straight games without scoring a single goal for the first time in 13 years, surrendering its lead of Serie A and exiting the Italian Cup. Raphinha and his 12 goals in the Champions League will lead Barcelona’s attack along with playmaker Lamine Yamal and Pedri González in midfield. Barcelona’s overall top scorer Robert Lewandowski is inj...

LONDON — Paris Saint-Germain is leaving England on a high again and within touching distance of a second Champions League final. Ousmane Dembele’s early goal gave PSG a 1-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday in the first leg of their semifinal, and only a couple of late misses prevented the advantage from growing bigger. “It was a great night,” PSG midfielder Vitinha said. “We could have scored more but we are glad for 1-0 and we will do everything in our power to go to the final.” Having already eliminated Premier League champion Liverpool and Aston Villa in the knockout stages, PSG outplayed Arsenal as well in a stadium where it lost 2-0 in the league phase in October. This youthful PSG side has come a long way since then, and once again showed that it’s a better team without superstar Kylian Mbappe — whose Real Madrid lost 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the quarterfinals. Despite that recent history, PSG showed no hesitation in taking the game to Arsenal from the start. And Dembele op...

One of the greatest managers in soccer history may have his biggest task yet ahead of him — fixing Brazil. Legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly set to part ways with La Liga’s Real Madrid after this season and take his talents to Brazil to coach the men’s national team, soccer insider Fabrizio Romano reported on Monday. According to Romano, Ancelotti and Brazil have reached an agreement in principle to become the team’s head coach for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and will take over the team in June of this year. An additional report from Mario Cortegana of The Athletic stated that Ancelotti will join Brazil on an initial one-year deal until the end of the World Cup. The 65-year-old manager remains under contract with Real Madrid until 2026, but according to Cortegana, Ancelotti has already informed the team of his intention to leave the club. Ancelotti has been with Los Blancos since 2021, winning the La Liga title in 2022 and 2024, the UEFA Champions League in ...

UDINE, Italy — Bologna held on for a scoreless draw at Udinese in Serie A on Monday and a precious point in its bid to play in European competition next season. Bologna dominated possession but goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski was made to work much harder than his counterpart. The team was one point out of the top four Champions League qualifying places. Bologna played in the Champions League this season for the first time in 60 years. Lazio could have replaced Bologna in fifth place but drew at home with Parma 2-2 from 2-0 down. Lazio’s point left it out of the top six European qualifying places on goal difference. Pedro scored twice in the last 11 minutes for Lazio after Parma forward Jacob Ondrejka scored at the start of each half. Parma ran its unbeaten streak to seven games, including six draws, to be five points from the relegation zone. Meanwhile, in the fight to avoid relegation, Cagliari won at Hellas Verona 2-0 to replace the home side in 15th place and eight points from th...

HARRISON, N.J. — Noah Eile scored his first MLS goal in the 67th minute, Carlos Miguel Coronel had five saves and the New York Red Bulls beat CF Montreal 1-0 on Saturday night. Eile, a six-foot-five 22-year-old defender, went up high for a header off a corner kick played in by Omar Valencia that slipped inside the back post to give the Red Bulls (4-3-3) a 1-0 lead. Montreal (0-7-3) has scored four goals this season, the fewest in MLS, and has been shut out seven times — including each of the last three games. The club’s minus-10 goal differential is tied for worst in the league with the only other remaining winless team, and the defending MLS Cup champions, the LA Galaxy. Owen Graham-Roache made his MLS debut when he replaced Prince Owusu to begin the second half for Montreal. The 17-year-old homegrown finished with one shot on target. The Red Bulls, who had 58.5 per cent possession but didn’t record a shot on goal in the first half, immediately applied pressure...

TORONTO — Alonso Martinez’s 64th-minute penalty gave New York City FC its first away win of the MLS season Saturday, a 1-0 decision over Toronto FC. Toronto (1-5-4), which ended a season-opening eight-game winless streak with a 1-0 decision at Real Salt Lake last Saturday, saw its four-game unbeaten run (1-0-3) snapped. And the search for a first home win continues. NYCFC (4-4-2) bounced back from a 2-0 loss at New England last time out. The New Yorkers had just one win in their previous five games (1-3-1) and were winless in their first five road games (0-3-2) of the season. The game was played in difficult conditions at BMO Field with 35 km/h winds gusting up to 46 km/h. The two teams managed just one shot on target apiece in the first 45 minutes when New York had the wind at its back. Toronto was unable to manufacture a goal, with or without the wind. At the other end, Sean Johnson made some big saves once again. Toronto defender Kosi Thompson saved a goal with a goal-line head...

LONDON — Crystal Palace is getting another shot at winning the FA Cup — and won’t have to meet Manchester United in the final this time. Palace beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday to advance to the May 17 title match back at the home of English soccer. It will be the south London club’s third appearance in the final, after 1990 and 2016. On both occasions, Palace was beaten by Man United. Eberechi Eze smashed home a shot from the edge of the area in the 31st minute for the opening goal after good work from Ismaila Sa, who finished Villa off with two second-half goals. Sa scored in the 58th and again in the fourth minute of stoppage time to seal a convincing win over an opponent that reached the Champions League quarterfinals this season. Villa — a seven-time FA Cup winner — was eliminated from Europe by Paris Saint-Germain last week and has just a top-five finish in the Premier League to play for as it looks to secure a return to the Champions League. Vi...

WREXHAM, Wales — The stage is set for Wrexham to seal promotion to the second tier of English soccer after Leyton Orient beat Wycombe 1-0 on Saturday. Wrexham needs a victory in its home game against Charlton later in the day to clinch the second promotion place in third-division League One. It would be a third straight promotion for the club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, which was a non-league team when the actors bought it in 2021. Third-placed Wycombe needed to win to take the battle for promotion to the final round of the season. But Randell Williams’ goal in the 66th minute at Brisbane Road meant Wrexham could get the job done in its final home game of the season against Charlton. Wrexham is second in League One on 86 points, and third-placed Wycombe is on 84. First-placed Birmingham has already been confirmed champion. The promoted teams will move up to the Championship, one division below the Premier League. If Wrexham is unable...

AFC Toronto forward Amanda West, on loan from the Houston Dash, has returned to her NWSL team to undergo surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament. A Toronto spokesman said the non-contact injury happened during a closed-door exhibition game during pre-season. West was a spectator for Toronto’s Northern Super League debut, a 1-0 loss to Montreal Roses FC at BMO Field last Saturday West, who was born in Sweden to Canadian parents, was on loan to Toronto through Aug. 18. Toronto plays at the Ottawa Rapid on Saturday. There was more Canadian-related injury news for Houston with defender Allysha Chapman placed on the 45-day injury list with an arm injury sustained in training earlier this month. More from Sportsnet Nice shocks PSG and ends champion’s hopes of unbeaten season Former Manchester United captain Patrice Evra signs fight deal with PFL

MANCHESTER, England — Another promotion is within touching distance for Wrexham. The Welsh soccer team has been propelled to worldwide fame by co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. It has also been propelled up the league in double-quick time, having been a down-on-its-luck minor league team when the Hollywood pair completed their unlikely buyout in 2021. At this rate, Wrexham could be playing in the Premier League next year. One step at a time, but if results go its way on Saturday, Wrexham will seal promotion to the Championship — the second tier of English soccer. There it will mix with the likes of Leicester — a Premier League champion in 2016, Champions League quarterfinalist in 2017 and FA Cup winner in 2021; the same year as Reynolds and McElhenney changed the fortunes of Wrexham forever. With two games to go this season, Wrexham is in second place in League One and will be promoted if it beats Charlton on Saturday and third-place Wycombe loses or draws against Leyton...

VANCOUVER — On a night when Lionel Messi was the headliner, it was Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter who stole the show. White scored in the 24th minute and Berhalter in the 84th to give the Vancouver Whitecaps a 2-0 victory over Messi’s Inter Miami CF Thursday night in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal. Many in the record crowd of 53,837 at BC Place Stadium came to watch Messi. They weren’t disappointed when the Argentine superstar started the game and played the entire match. Joining him in the star-studded kickoff was Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets, forward Luis Suarez of Uruguay and defender Jordi Alba from Spain. Despite Miami’s star power, it was White who produced one of the loudest roars from the crowd when he headed a pass from Pedro Vite past Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari. It was the striker’s 10th goal across all competitions this season and fourth of the tournament. Berhalter salted the game away after forward Jayden Nelson slipped a...

MADRID — Valladolid, the team owned by former Brazil striker Ronaldo, was relegated in the Spanish league after a 5-1 loss at Real Betis on Thursday. It is the third relegation in seven years for Valladolid under Ronaldo, who is reportedly negotiating the sale of the club. The Brazil great has been loudly criticized by Valladolid’s fans, who say he has been absent and doesn’t give enough attention to the club.  Last-place Valladolid has lost 13 of its last 14 matches and its goal differential is at negative 57. “We can’t make up excuses,” coach Álvaro Rubio said. “We didn’t play up to the level of the first division. We have to take responsibility and accept that we didn’t do things well. We have to try to get back up and finish the season with dignity.” Valladolid was also relegated after the 2020-21 season and after the 2022-23 season. It immediately returned to the first division both times. Isco was among the scorers for Betis, which moved to fifth place with its second st...

NBA great Jason Kidd has entered the soccer world by joining the ownership group of English Premier League club Everton. The Hall of Fame point guard and current Dallas Mavericks coach said he was “honoured” to join Roundhouse Capital Holdings, which is part of the Friedkin Group that took control of Everton last year. The group also owns Italian team Roma. In a statement released Thursday by Everton, executive chairman Marc Watts said Kidd’s “knowledge and winning mentality will be an incredible resource” for a nine-time English champion which is without a major trophy since 1995 and has been battling relegation in recent years. Kidd “is a respected leader and household name for many sports fans,” Watts said, “and will bring a deeper understanding of high performance as we collectively strive to build a brighter future for this storied club.” Kidd won an NBA title as a player with the Mavericks in 2011 and was a two-time Olympic gold medallist with the U.S. nati...

The home team might not be the main attraction for what is expected to be a capacity crowd when the Vancouver Whitecaps face Inter Miami FC Thursday night in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal. Many of the fans coming to BC Place Stadium will be excited about the prospect of seeing soccer legend Lionel Messi play in Vancouver. Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sorensen shrugged off his team taking second billing in its own building. “Lionel Messi for the past 20 years has been maybe the best player all time in this sport, and he deserves the praise he gets,” Sorensen said after training Thursday. “I also would say tomorrow it’s not going to be Vancouver Whitecaps against Lionel Messi. It’s going to be Miami against Vancouver.” Messi disappointed many fans when he didn’t travel to Vancouver last year for Miami’s regular-season Major League Soccer game against the Whitecaps. On Tuesday, Miami posted a photo on Instagram of the Argentine superstar boarding an airplane ...

Canada women’s soccer coach Casey Stoney has added Natalie Henderson, Neil Wood and Ian Willcock as full-time members of her coaching staff. The three join performance analyst Yianni Michelis on Stoney’s staff. Wood was a member of former coach Bev Priestman’s staff at the Paris Olympics Henderson, a native of Newcastle, England, most recently was head coach of England’s women’s under-17 team and a lead coach at Newcastle United’s men’s academy. In 2017, she received the Premier League’s Eamonn Dolan Award after becoming the first female coach to graduate from the Premier League’s Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Scheme (ECAS). Willcock worked with Stoney when she coached the Manchester United women. A native of Bury, England, Willcock spent six seasons with the United women, where he worked with England goalkeeper Mary Earps before she moved to Paris Saint-Germain. He is due to join Canada Soccer at the end of the 2024-25 season.  Wood, also from Bury, transitions into a full-ti...

Juventus wasted a chance to move back into the Champions League places following a 1-0 loss at Parma in a rescheduled Serie A match on Wednesday. Parma forward Mateo Pellegrino scored with a header in first-half stoppage time. Juventus remained fifth, one point behind Bologna, with five rounds remaining. Making matters worse for Juventus was that center forward Dusan Vlahovic came off at halftime with an apparent thigh issue. Juventus was also in fifth place when it fired Thiago Motta last month and hired Igor Tudor as its new coach for the remainder of the season. Cristian Chivu took over as Parma coach in February and the team is on a six-game unbeaten run that also includes a 2-2 draw with Serie A leader Inter Milan this month. Parma-Juventus was one of four matches postponed from Monday due to the death of Pope Francis. Each game was preceded by a moment of silence to mourn the pope, who died Monday at 88. Later, Inter was facing AC Milan in the second leg...

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Matheus Nunes scored in stoppage time as Manchester City took a big step toward Champions League qualification with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Tuesday. The late winner at the Etihad Stadium moved four-time defending league champion up to third in the standings, with the top five securing a place in European club soccer’s top competition next season. Nunes fired home from a tight angle in the fourth minute of added time after Jeremy Doku’s low cross. The game had looked destined to end in a draw after Bernardo Silva’s first-half goal had been canceled out by a Marcus Rashford penalty. More from Sportsnet PSG moves within four games of finishing Ligue 1 season unbeaten Canada to honour retiring veteran Desiree Scott at hometown friendly

Canada will play a pair of women’s soccer friendlies against Haiti in Winnipeg and Montreal in FIFA’s May-June international window. The May 31 game at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg has been dubbed a “special celebration match honouring the extraordinary international career” of veteran midfielder Desiree Scott, a native Winnipegger who has announced her international retirement. The Montreal game is scheduled for June 3 at Stade Saputo. The 37-year-old Scott, who came out of retirement to play for Ottawa Rapid FC in the inaugural Northern Super League season, won 187 caps from 2010 to 2024 with 144 starts. “Representing Canada has been one of my life’s greatest accomplishments,” Scott said in a Canada Soccer statement. “It has been a team that I’ve been so fortunate to call family and to make history with, and the ride has been nothing short of amazing. I have given my all to our country and just want to say thank you. I am forever grateful.” Canada, ranked seventh...

GIRONA, Spain — Real Betis scored three goals in a first-half blitz to beat Girona 3-1 in La Liga on Monday and keep alive its hopes of European football next season. The win took sixth-placed Betis to within one point of Villarreal. The top five qualify for the Champions League, while the team in sixth will play in the Europa League. “We still have our Champions League dreams,” Isco, who scored his seventh goal of the season on his 33rd birthday, told broadcaster DAZN. “We know it is difficult, it’s not in our hands, but we will fight until the end.” Betis was a constant threat in the air, with all three goals coming from aerial attacks. Johnny Cardoso headed the opener from a corner after six minutes, an unmarked Anthony side-footed home a cross with 39 minutes gone, and Isco nodded in a third just before halftime. Cristhian Stuani grabbed a consolation for the home side with five minutes remaining. Girona has gone 10 league matches without a win and was 16th, three points abov...

LONDON — Leeds United and Burnley won promotion to the Premier League on Monday. Leeds beat Stoke City 6-0 and Burnley beat Sheffield United 2-1 to open unassailable leads in the second-tier Championship with only two games remaining. The top two gain automatic promotion and the next four go into the playoffs for the last remaining spot. The victories ensure another two U.S.-owned clubs will enjoy the estimated revenue uplift of around $180 million that comes with a place in England’s top tier. Leeds is owned by the San Francisco-based 49ers Enterprises group, members of whom include American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Red Bull, the energy drink company whose other soccer interests include owning Leipzig in Germany, bought a minority stake in the club last May. Burnley, meanwhile, has been majority-owned since 2020 by the ALK Capita investment group. The New York group is fronted by U.S. businessman Alan Pace and counts former NFL star J.J. Watt as...

ROME — From meetings with Diego Maradona to the passion for his beloved Buenos Aires club, San Lorenzo, Pope Francis was an avid soccer fan. And a promoter of sports in general. Francis died Monday at 88 and the soccer and sports world immediately paid homage. All sports events scheduled for Monday in Italy were postponed to mourn Francis, including four top-flight soccer matches. A minute of silence will be observed before all sports events later in the week, the Italian Olympic Committee added. “Italian soccer joins in the mourning of millions of people following the death of Pope Francis. He was a great example of Christian caring and dignity in the face of suffering and he was always attentive to the sports world and particularly soccer, of which he was a fan,” said Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina. “He will always remain in the hearts of the faithful and lovers of soccer.” Francis’ passion for soccer became known almost immediately after ...

ROME — Inter Milan has a history of recent struggles at Bologna and Sunday proved no different. Riccardo Orsolini’s stoppage-time bicycle kick lifted Bologna to a 1-0 victory over the Serie A leader and left the Nerazzurri level with second-placed Napoli with five rounds remaining. The defeat brought back memories of a goalkeeping blunder by Ionut Radu that gifted Bologna a victory three years ago, setting up the title for rival AC Milan. Inter also lost at Bologna the next season in a rainstorm. Inter won at Bologna last season but spent so much energy it couldn’t recover in time before getting eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League four days later. This time, the match was decided when a long throw-in was flicked on by Inter defender Yann Bisseck toward Orsolini, who turned it in with an acrobatic left-footed volley to send the Renato Dall’Ara into delirium. Inter is chasing a treble this season and also faces big upcoming games in the Cham...