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Manchester United humiliated by rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford

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Liverpool inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Manchester United on Sunday, as Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 drubbing at Old Trafford, leaving Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a cliffhanger.

For the first time in Premier League history, United trailed 4-0 at half-time and failed to score in a hopelessly one-sided contest. The Red Devils have now taken a run of one point from a possible 12 in the league.

Naby Keita started the goal rain before Diogo Jota doubled Liverpool’s lead inside 15 minutes.

Salah then took centre stage to take his tally for the season to 15 goals in 12 appearances and become the top-scoring African player in Premier League history in the process.

To round off a miserable day for United, Paul Pogba lasted less than 15 minutes as a second-half substitute as he was shown a straight red card for a reckless lunge that forced Keita to leave the pitch on a stretcher.

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Liverpool’s first victory in front of a crowd at Old Trafford under Jurgen Klopp moves them back above Manchester City into second, just a point behind leaders Chelsea.

By contrast, United’s hopes of a first league title since 2013 already look over as they remain eight points off the leaders.

That gap is likely to grow in the coming weeks with Tottenham and City to come in the next fortnight before an international break.

Whether Solskjaer will still be in charge come November is now in serious doubt as he has completely failed to form a balanced team from a talented collection of star players.

The Norwegian will wonder what might have been had Bruno Fernandes not fired over a glorious chance to open the scoring on three minutes.

But soon the defensive cracks that have blighted United’s season began to appear.

Salah teed up Keita to open the floodgates after just five minutes with a composed low finish past David de Gea.

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United came from 2-0 down at the break to beat Atalanta 3-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

But former midfielder Paul Scholes’ warning after that match that Liverpool would be 4-0 up in 45 minutes if handed the same space to attack into came to fruition.

Jota justified his selection ahead of Sadio Mane as he stretched to turn in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross to double Liverpool’s advantage.

Salah has now scored in 10 consecutive games and overtook Didier Drogba with his 105th Premier League goal when the Egyptian turned home Keita’s cut-back with the United defence all at sea.

Cristiano Ronaldo was lucky to avoid a red card as United’s frustrations bubbled over in first-half stoppage time when he was booked for lashing out at Curtis Jones in a sign of what was to come as the home side lost their discipline.

Liverpool inflicted further punishment before the break when Salah smashed home his 14th goal in 12 games this season at De Gea’s near post.

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Salah then completed his hat-trick with another cool finish five minutes into the second-half after Jordan Henderson’s pass dissected the United defence once more.

Ronaldo thought he had pulled a goal back only for a VAR review to catch him in an offside position.

Another VAR check saw the end of Pogba’s brief cameo for a horrendous studs-up challenge on Keita that forced the Guinean off.

Solskjaer sacrificed Fernandes and Marcus Rashford to try and stop the bleeding as Old Trafford emptied during the final half hour.

De Gea ensured Liverpool failed to match their record margin of victory against United with an incredible save from Alexander-Arnold’s drive.

However, that did not subdue the mood among the travelling fans as they mockingly chanted for Solskjaer to remain in his job.

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Arsenal win EPL title after 22 years

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Arsenal are English Premier League (EPL) champions after Manchester City failed to win at Bournemouth.

Pep Guardiola’s Man City drew 1-1 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium to hand Arsenal an unassailable four-point lead with just one match remaining to the end of the season.

The Gunners win the EPL title for the first time in 22 years, since the legendary Invincible side won it in the 2003/04 season.

In the club’s 100th season without relegation from the EPL, the club will celebrate its centenary participation with a league title won on the back of a record 28 EPL wins that surpassed the 26 wins recorded by the Invincibles. The defence prevented opponents from registering a shot on target in six matches, equaling a 23-year league record, and also scored a record 17 goals from corner kicks.

Mikel Arteta’s tough side has led the table for most of the season before a late mini-collapse, and Man City’s late surge in form nearly threatened their title ambition for a second season in a row.

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City’s late resurgence, however, was initially stunned by Everton in early May and completely collapsed against Bournemouth.

Guardiola’s side visited the Vitality Stadium aware that any result other than a victory would seal Arsenal’s title. But they lacked the execution for the mission after falling to a wonderful strike from Junior Kroupi in the first half.

City were only kept in the game by Bournemouth’s profligacy in front of goal. When Erling Haaland’s equaliser was squeezed home in the eleventh hour of the game, even the most faithful City supporter knew it was too little, too late.

Arsenal and Arteta secured the league earlier than they would have predicted, giving City a prodigious title run-in.

The league triumph is Arteta’s second major title with the North London club since joining in December 2019, adding to the English FA Cup trophy won within six months of his tenure in May 2020.

The 44-year-old Spaniard wins his fourth title overall and can win his fifth — and third major trophy — with victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final next weekend.

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WrestleMania 42: Nigerian wrestler Oba Femi beats 10-time WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

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Nigerian professional wrestler, Isaac Odugbesan, popularly known as Oba Femi, defeated 10-time WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar, on his WrestleMania debut on Sunday.

The clash, one of the headline matches at WrestleMania 42, ended on a dramatic note as the 27-year-old Nigerian overpowered the veteran.

Lesnar left his wrestling gear in the ring after the match — a gesture widely regarded in professional wrestling as a sign of retirement.

Oba Femi, also known as “The Ruler,” is a former NXT champion and has spent just three months on WWE’s main roster.

The contest began with both wrestlers testing each other’s strength before Lesnar briefly seized control with a series of offensive moves.

However, Femi absorbed the pressure and responded with a dominant display, shifting momentum in his favour.

Lesnar delivered an F5, but Femi quickly recovered, hitting a chokeslam before finishing the contest with his “Fall From Grace” sit-out powerbomb for the pinfall victory.

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The bout quickly became a major talking point on social media, with fans reacting to the upset win.

Femi, a former shot put athlete, is a two-time NXT Champion and a one-time NXT North American Champion.

Born in Lagos, Odugbesan competed in track and field during his school years before signing with WWE in 2021 through its NIL programme.

He went on to win the 2023 NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament and the 2024 Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge.

During the WrestleMania Sunday post-show, Femi sent a message to Roman Reigns, popularly known as the “Original Tribal Chief,” drawing a loud reaction from fans as he hinted at a possible title challenge before the end of the year.

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BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

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The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and declare MOROCCO the winner of the title.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in the final on 18 January in a match which was overshadowed when the Senegalese players refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of around 17 minutes, the players did eventually return and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

However, that result has now been overturned by CAF.

A statement by the African Football’s Governing Body said that Senegal are “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.

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