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Four-Star Palmer Propels Chelsea To Victory Against Brighton

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Cole Palmer scored four times in 20 first-half minutes to make Premier League history as Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 to move up to third on Saturday.

The Blues had trailed early on as Georginio Rutter took advantage of a calamity of errors in the Chelsea defence to head in his first goal for the Seagulls.

However, Palmer soon took over to become the first Premier League player to score four times in the first half.

The England international swept home Nicolas Jackson’s pass to level before he coolly slotted in from the penalty spot.

Palmer completed his third Chelsea hat-trick in style with a free-kick that curled into the top corner.

Carlos Baleba pounced on another mistake from Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to reduce Brighton’s arrears.

But Palmer rounded off his history-making first 45 minutes when he blasted past Bart Verbruggen at his near post.

Palmer could have had even more before the break as he hit the post and saw another effort ruled out.

After an enthralling first half, the second was scoreless.

But the damage to the visitors had been done as Brighton succumbed to their first defeat under Fabian Hurzeler.

Since losing to Manchester City on the opening weekend of the season, Chelsea have taken 13 points from a possible 15 to make a fine start under Enzo Maresca.

AFP

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It’s PSG, Inter Milan Final as Arsenal Suffer Another Paris Heartbreak

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Arsenal’s bid to win the Champions League for the first time is over after they suffered a 2-1 second-leg defeat to Paris St Germain at the Parc des Princes.

Mikel Arteta’s players were already one goal down in the semi-final first leg, and, despite a strong start, they were two behind in the tie when Fabian Ruiz struck for PSG after 27 minutes.

Vitinha missed a penalty – after Myles Lewis-Skelly was adjudged to have handled the ball following a contentious VAR review – before Achraf Hakimi put the match out of sight in the 72nd minute.

But it is PSG, who have now beaten three Premier League sides in a row, with Arsenal following Liverpool and Aston Villa in succumbing to the French champions, that will play Inter Milan in the final on May 31 after a 3-1 aggregate success.

Arsenal’s sole appearance in a Champions League final came here in Paris in 2006 where they suffered a late defeat to Barcelona, and the French capital was the scene of yet more heartbreak for the north Londoners.

RESULTS

UCL

PSG 2-1 Arsenal

(PSG 3-1 agg.)

U20 AFCON

Nigeria 2-2 Kenya

(F’Eagles for Q’finals)

Tunisia 1-3 Morocco

(Morocco for Q’finals)

Europa League

Man Utd v Bilbao

Bodo/Glimt v Tottenham

Europa Conference

Chelsea v Djurgarden

Fiorentina v Betis

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Nothing can stop us from getting into Champions League final – Arsenal

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Arsenal’s Declan Rice insisted Tuesday the Gunners are confident they can “deliver something special” by overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital in the return match of their Champions League semi-final tie.

“We’re here to win the game. We’re here to make a statement. We want to get to the final. So we need to be ready to go and do that,” Rice told reporters at the Parc des Princes on the eve of Wednesday’s showdown.

“We need to have big balls and we need to go out there on the biggest stage and show that we’re ready to play at this level.

“It’s going to be the biggest night in this club’s history if we can get to the final. So we’re fully ready to go.”

PSG hold the advantage coming into Wednesday’s match after Ousmane Dembele’s early goal gave them a narrow victory at the Emirates Stadium a week ago.

However, both Rice and Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said they believed they could get the better of a side who have eliminated Premier League opposition in each of the last two rounds, knocking out Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals.

“I think you need to have full belief,” Rice said.

“We certainly have that as a group. I think if we are the best versions of ourselves tomorrow night -– and we know we can be that –- there is no stopping us getting into that final.”

The England star said Arsenal could lean on the experience of facing reigning European champions Real Madrid in Spain in the last round, when Arteta’s team won 2-1 to progress 5-1 on aggregate.

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“When we went to the Bernabeu the other week there were a lot of questions about whether we could rise to that occasion,” said Rice, who scored two wonderful free-kicks in the first leg of that tie.

“We obviously had a 3-0 lead but there was still so much talk about them coming back and playing at the Bernabeu and we had not experienced that before.

“But I think as a group we handled that amazingly well. We have proved that we can handle big situations and tomorrow night is another massive step for this team.”

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U-20 AFCON: Nigeria battle Morocco to goalless draw

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The Flying Eagles of Nigeria were held to a goalless draw by Morocco in their second Group B match in the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tightly contested clash took place on Sunday at the June 30 Air Defence Stadium in Cairo.

Clear-cut chances were few in the cagey affair.

The Flying Eagles controlled proceedings in the first half but managed only one shot on target.

Morocco dominated possession in the second half but failed to pose any serious threat to Nigeria’s goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt.

With the result, Morocco remain at the top of the group on goal difference, having accrued the same number of points as Nigeria (four).

Tunisia, who earlier defeated Kenya 3-1 in the group’s other fixture, are in third place with three points.

The Flying Eagles will face Kenya in their final Group B match on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

NAN reports that the top four teams from the tournament will qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile, scheduled to take place from Sept. 27 to Oct. 19. (NAN)

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