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This is The Score with Daniel Storey, a subscriber-only newsletter from The i Paper. If you’d like to get this direct to your inbox, every single week, you can sign up here.

Set pieces, VAR drama and everybody arguing about rights and wrongs until we all fall out. The final minutes of West Ham vs Arsenal probably determined the destination of the Premier League title and fitted the narrative of this season perfectly.

That result also gave Tottenham Hotspur a huge advantage for avoiding relegation and it’s perfectly possible that everything is sorted out before the final weekend there.

Still, we will always have the Champions League race. There may be five teams or six. It may be any one of the “B” teams or none of them. Aston Villa may qualify via two routes or none at all. What great fun.

Here is one piece of analysis on each of the top flight clubs who played this weekend (in reverse table order)…

This weekend’s results

  • Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
  • Brighton 3-0 Wolves
  • Fulham 0-1 Bournemouth
  • Sunderland 0-0 Man Utd
  • Man City 3-0 Brentford
  • Burnley 2-2 Aston Villa
  • Crystal Palace 2-2 Everton
  • Nott’m Forest 1-1 Newcastle
  • West Ham 0-1 Arsenal

Edwards is feeling the strain at Wolves

Rob Edwards has had a funny old week. It started with him being called a “w–ker” by large swathes of Molineux, continued with a pre-match press conference in which he stressed that the current situation is not his fault and ended it with him telling a number of players that they had to leave the club because they were “embarrassing” and didn’t value their jobs.

Edwards is broadly right about the attitude and aptitude of certain players, but this is swallowing him whole too.

I’m not sure whether you get to call out everybody else with your 12 per cent win ratio and hope to still be the guy everybody trusts over the summer. Which makes the decision to leave Middlesbrough as foolish as we always feared it might.

Burnley’s rare gem

Liam Delap scored 12 goals for a relegated club last season and got a £30m move to Chelsea. Zian Flemming has scored 10 goals in a dreadful Burnley team that has spent too much of this season failing to attack with purpose.

These are different things, obviously: age, nationality, physical prowess. But it’s worth pointing out that Flemming is a rare case at Burnley, an individual who deserves to have no shade thrown at him for his performances this season.

It would be a smart piece of business for one of the promoted clubs to make Burnley an offer this summer.

West Ham’s perfect denouement

The sheer controversy and messiness of the whole thing was perfection. What better way to mark the likely defining moment in both the title race and relegation battle than a six-minute examination of slow-motion replays to determine the legitimacy of a goal from a set piece while everybody in the stadium waits and is further indoctrinated not to celebrate goals.

I think the decision was right – plenty will disagree and that’s fine. I agree that there was a lot else going on and probably other offences by both teams, but the foul on the goalkeeper went above and beyond them.

But that’s not the point. This season has been a slog because of the set-piece aesthetics and the long VAR delays and we’re in serious danger of ruining the entertainment of the product. Sunday was the perfect denouement.

Tottenham

Play Leeds United on Monday night.

Leeds

Play Tottenham on Monday night.

Now the fun begins for Nottingham Forest

Two months ago, it seemed vaguely unthinkable to Forest supporters that they would avoid final-day drama. They had escaped that fate in 2022-23 and 2023-24; they have done so again.

That is the only certainty here. Forest need a new recruitment structure led by a new sporting director. They will need a host of new players with high-profile names linked elsewhere, starting with Elliot Anderson. I’m still not convinced that Vitor Pereira will stay, if he is not Evangelos Marinakis’s long-term option.

Supporters must take a leap of faith that Forest get this summer right having made so many mistakes in 2025. Right now, I don’t think there is a Premier League club whose league position next season is harder to predict.

Crystal Palace’s January recruitment raises questions

Towards the end of August, Matt Hobbs was appointed by Crystal Palace as their sporting director. To say that Hobbs’ previous work at Wolves was questioned by supporters would be understating it. Hobbs was replacing Dougie Freedman, who did a brilliant job in finding bargains from abroad and in the EFL.

In January, Hobbs’ first window, Palace signed two forward players for approximately £75m. Those players have since provided three league goals and an assist.

On Sunday they looked unfit for purpose and desperately short of confidence. Hobbs will get this summer to prove himself, but it’s a terrible start.

Newcastle’s big regret

When Newcastle United sold Elliot Anderson to Forest in July 2024, paying £20m for a third-choice goalkeeper who has never made a league appearance for them, it was widely regarded as necessary to avoid a points deduction for breaching PSR rules.

As they watched Anderson score an equaliser against them at the City Ground, ahead of summer during which he may well move for more than £90m, you wonder whether Newcastle’s decision makers rue that call. Would a deduction of several points have been worth it to keep a local lad around whom they could have built an entire team?

Also, Newcastle effectively sold their stadium to themselves to record a profit in their most recent annual accounts. Rather than sell Anderson for Odysseas Vlachodimos, why was that not their strategy before?

Sunderland’s season of goalless draws

This clearly isn’t all on Sunderland, who were the better team against Manchester United for almost all of the match, but this was their fourth 0-0 of the season. Again, that’s fine; Sunderland grinding out draws demonstrates competence.

But this particular goalless draw was statistically significant because it was the 27th of this Premier League season. Which is as many 0-0s as there were in the last two seasons combined.

The good news: we’re a long way from 1998-99, when goalless draws (49 in total) made up 13 per cent of all Premier League matches. Which is absolute filth.

Andersen costs Fulham a shot at Europe

Fulham are not entirely out of the European equation, given they face Wolves away and Newcastle at home in their final two fixtures. But they missed a glorious chance to jump into the top half and it’s mainly Joachim Andersen’s fault.

All Fulham had to do was to keep their heads, pull Bournemouth around the pitch and bank on them tiring. Instead, Andersen jumped two-footed into a wild challenge before half-time. He had the temerity to complain about the yellow card he received on the field but looked a little more sheepish after the upgraded red.

It was thick, it was nonsensical and it potentially cost Fulham three points. Andersen’s £30m move from Crystal Palace was already fairly unpopular amongst supporters. Not sure this will help.

Everton have thrown away Europe

David Moyes had a chance to take Everton into Europe and it is being frittered away. Everton have gone five games with a league win at the worst possible time. They have hit the worst form of their season in the home straight.

The weirdest aspect of this run is how loose Everton have become defensively. We would ordinarily expect his teams to tighten up when the pressure increased, shutting down matches and perhaps playing low-margin football.

Instead, the opposite. Everton have conceded two or more goals in each of their last five league games having done so four times in 15 league games immediately prior. After the Manchester City draw, Moyes described Everton’s defending as “shit”. More of the same this weekend.

Early goals kill Chelsea’s spirit

A true surprise: Chelsea were forced to claw their way back into a Premier League match after conceding an early goal. It has been the pattern of their entire season.

The top four clubs in the Premier League, Chelsea’s intended peers before the start of the season, have conceded nine goals in the first 10 minutes of their league matches this season combined – that’s nine goals in 143 matches. Chelsea have conceded nine goals in the first 10 minutes on their own (36 matches).

It gets worse. Chelsea’s goal difference in the first 10 minutes of their games this season (-7) is better only than Burnley in the Premier League. That should be a cause of deep embarrassment.

Brentford’s summer homework

Simply beaten by a more expensive, better team on Saturday evening, and no shame in that. But there is one interesting aspect of Brentford’s season that we can take the chance to point out: they need a dominant creator.

Igor Thiago has scored 22 league goals because a wide variety of teammates have created chances for him. No Brentford player has more than four league assists and no Brentford player ranks in the top 30 for chances created. Five players have created between 25 and 40 chances: Damsgaard, Kayode, Jensen, Schade and Ouattara.

If Brentford can improve the consistency of chance creation from one or both of their wingers, and keep Thiago, there is no reason to think that they can’t maintain a top-half position next season under Andrews.

Hurzeler contract marks Brighton’s shift in mood

When Brighton lost 1-0 at Villa Park on 11 February, they were 14th in the Premier League, seven points off the bottom three, hadn’t won in six games and had scored four goals in the process.

Fabian Hurzeler had been booed by home fans after a defeat against Palace and booed by away fans at Villa. Such was the disconnect, players picked out of position and Hurzeler looking a little scared to take risks in search of victory, many – me included – wondered whether this might be his last season.

Hurzeler signed a new three-year contract last week, Brighton have lost twice since Villa Park and are a decent shot to finish in the Premier League’s top six. Silly game, silly to try to predict it.

Rayan and Kroupi lead the way for Bournemouth

It’s a slightly tenuous statistic, granted, but fascinating anyway. According to Opta, Rayan’s goal against Fulham meant that two different teenagers had scored in three consecutive Premier League matches for Bournemouth this season. It’s the first time in Premier League history that’s happened.

Isn’t that just the perfect embodiment of Bournemouth’s recruitment work?

They are heading for European football, have their new manager appointed and ready to start as soon as the season ends and have elite clubs sniffing around players who are yet to reach the age of 20 because they’re Premier League regulars. It is deeply annoying for everyone else.

All or nothing remains a possibility for Aston Villa

No Aston Villa fan would argue that Unai Emery did the wrong thing against Tottenham now, given their dominant victory over Forest on Thursday night. But taking only one point from their previous two league matches against sides in the bottom four creates fragility around the rest of the season.

Villa play Liverpool immediately before the Europa League final – having rested against Tottenham, they surely have to do the same. They then travel to Manchester City on the final weekend, four days after the final. Taking one point from those two games is a perfectly reasonable outcome and would give Bournemouth a sniff of fifth. Lose them both and Brighton could overtake them.

Which puts a vast amount of pressure on the final: Champions League football, trophy, Emery’s legacy. How are the nerves, Villa supporters?

Liverpool fans vent their anger at Slot

If you assumed that the anger from Liverpool supporters towards Arne Slot was restricted to caterwauling on social media, Saturday proved you wrong. Such was Liverpool’s continued stumbling, sluggish performance, Slot was booed on three separate occasions: half-time, full-time and when Rio Ngumoha was substituted.

In his pre-match press conference, Slot conceded that next season may also be a year of transition. I think that’s a dangerous PR line to settle on, given the evident impatience at how this team has declined so quickly and how much the new signings have struggled for form.

There is no personality within this team. They defend poorly, they attack in piecemeal patterns and they rely upon exceptional individual moments that are usually overshadowed by the flaws within the collective. And that’s not good enough.

Man Utd’s relevant concern

There was no secret to Manchester United’s drop in quality against Sunderland, where they managed a single shot on target and it came in second-half stoppage time. Michael Carrick made five changes and none of the players who came in impressed. Manuel Ugarte, Mason Mount and Joshua Zirkzee were the biggest disappointments; what’s new there.

This is interesting because of what next season brings. Carrick has succeeded so far at United, but on a diet of a single match every week; he hasn’t had to make many changes to the first team and that will surely change next season.

In fact, Carrick has faced more than one match a week three times since taking over. The second fixture in each case: West Ham (a), Newcastle (a) and Leeds (h). United lost two of those games and drew the other. It’s a relevant concern.

Man City’s weird substitute anomaly

Omar Marmoush scoring Manchester City’s third goal against Brentford was significant, and not just because you’d basically forgotten that Marmoush existed. It was the first time that a Manchester City substitute had scored since the opening day of the league season.

Given City’s squad depth, that seems extraordinary. Guardiola’s substitutes have scored as many as Sean Dyche and Liam Rosenior’s did (in 18 and 13 games respectively) and three fewer than Michael Carrick’s in 15 matches.

Guardiola does wait a little later than most to make changes – although his 133 in total ranks midway – but it’s still interesting to see that decline in numbers. In 2021-22, City made just 79 substitutions and those subs scored 10 times, more than any other team in the division.

Arsenal’s defining player

There was a good deal of fevered reaction to Bruno Fernandes winning the Football Writers Association Player of the Year award last week, with Arsenal players overlooked. Declan Rice came second, with Erling Haaland third.

I don’t even think that Rice has been Arsenal’s most defining player this season. That honour goes to David Raya, who has won Arsenal countless points with phenomenal saves, excellent decision-making and distribution that has improved markedly since joining the club.

Goalkeepers hardly ever win awards. The campaign starts here.



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May 11, 2026
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Boreham Wood 2-2 Rochdale (Rush 22′, Abdulmalik 69′ | Smith 78′, Dieseruvwe 90’+7) – Rochdale win 3-1 on penalties

WEMBLEY — In Wembley Stadium, a young child stands holding his mum’s hand. He is wearing a blue-and-white shirt and is simply shouting the word “Please” over and over again. He can watch Rochdale play for another 80 years, if he’s lucky, and it’s all downhill from here. Rochdale are back in the Football League. At some point in his 30s, that lad will work out how. Let us know.

Thirty seconds later and the urges have worked. Ian Henderson is Rochdale’s record goalscorer, older than Wayne Rooney and ready to take a penalty. His services aren’t required. Instead he stands on the top of an advertising hoarding as half a northern town calls him their king.

Of course it was penalties – it could never be anything else. Rochdale were so intertwined with despair and glory, one naturally following the other and back on a mad loop. They could only be pulled apart when all other options had been exhausted. It had to lurch one way.

There is Greenwich Mean Time. There is British Summer Time. There are lines of longitude that run up and down this planet. And then there is Rochdale time. This football club has rewritten the rules on quite how much nonsense you can fit into the dying embers of football matches.

The basic figures, as if that does any of this justice: Rochdale have scored injury-time goals in their last five matches of the season, all three turned the promotion race on its head and one of them caused a pitch invasion and wasn’t even the final goal of the game. The “You couldn’t script it” principle is sport’s most overused cliche, but this one does feel a little too much.

Mani Dieseruvwe is the shark-jumper in chief. Ninety-six minutes were up, just like at Spotland against York City. Two headers from him, ludicrously composed given the circumstances. Two extraordinary reactions, sucking the air out of the lungs of half a stadium and provoking wild screams from the other. What power it is to conduct happiness and despair like this.

A word for Boreham Wood, inadvertent joint protagonists in this great chaos. They were the dominant team almost throughout at Wembley. Abdul Abdulmalik was the best player at Wembley by such a distance that they might as well have given him his own ball to let everyone else have a go. He will surely be in the EFL next season.

Luke Garrard has done wonders here and could barely hold back the tears as he wandered the pitch forlornly watching someone else’s party. He left because he was weary and he returned to take Boreham Wood to the very border of their promised land. You control everything and you pray that fate doesn’t kick you. Garrard will be bruised but should be proud.

But history is written by the victors and Rochdale deserve it because they made it – nothing else counts. The psychological wound of the regular season’s final day could have broken them – still they came back for more.

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Rochdale went toe-to-toe with York City until the final seconds and missed out. They stormed their own pitch to celebrate an automatic promotion that never quite came. They travelled down the country and back to Wembley and almost ended where they started, a National League club. And still they found reserves of strength when everyone else had given up on them.

Fatalism doesn’t exist. Karma is nothing in sport. But Rochdale have been to the depths and stared their own extinction in the face. They have fought when the tide should have dragged them under, on and off the pitch. They are back in the Football League.

Football’s great truth is that you risk the worst day or your year for a shot at the best. For the last fortnight, Rochdale have known that more than any other club in any land you care to pick. And still they were the last ones smiling. It may get even better than this, some other day. But it will never feel the same.



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May 10, 2026
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Man City 3-0 Brentford (Doku 60′, Haaland 75′, Marmoush 90+2)

ETIHAD — “I feel like if I have goals we are talking about a different conversation.” It is time to have that chat.

Since Jeremy Doku insisted in mid-April that once he starts scoring more, we have to consider him in the same bracket as the Vinicius Jrs of this world, the flying winger has taken his game to new heights.

Without Doku, it is not churlish to suggest this title race would be done. His stunning strike in the dying embers of a brutal clash with Everton on Monday was worthy of being the difference between title winners and nearly men.

His fourth goal in five was only one notch down on the spectacular scale, but its meaning ramped up to the maximum, inspiring Manchester City to a crucial three points over Brentford.

In a season where brutish giants have been the order of the day, it is still refreshing to know that a Jeremy Doku-type trickster can still have such potentially season-defining moments.

City needed something, anything. In a drab first half at the Etihad, where anything other than victory would have left Arsenal with the easiest of rides to a first title in 22 years, the hosts looked like nerves had got the better of them.

Erling Haaland missed a gilt-edged header and another from close range, but Brentford, chasing their European dreams themselves, had their moments – Igor Thiago remaining a threat throughout the opening period.

Nothing was coming off. Bernardo Silva almost lost his rag. Matheus Nunes was perhaps fortunate to escape further punishment for two fouls that, on another day, could have got him in big trouble.

The only player who remained a constant beacon of hope was the man with a life-affirming point to prove. Brentford created three openings all match – Doku managed six alone, becoming just the third player to record six or more chances and complete six or more dribbles in a Premier League game this season.

Like Arjen Robben made his forte down the years, you knew what Doku was going to do on the hour mark, but Brentford – like Everton before them – were powerless to stop the Belgian slipping inside before arrowing a strike into the top corner.

The strike again took an extraordinary trajectory, flying through the air like a homing missile. In games with so much riding on them, such moments of standout quality are rare. It was anything but an outlier, however. All three of Doku’s goals this week have either put City one goal in the lead or drawn them level.

Haaland’s scrappy finish and Omar Marmoush made sure of the victory, but Doku has already done the damage.

“He has always had the ability with the ball, the dribbles, but the last pass, the finish, has come this season,” Guardiola said.

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“I said if you want to become a better player, you have to win games for yourself. The big players have to have this mentality. He has to say ‘I am Jeremy Doku, I can win games on my own.”

The past few weeks Doku has taken things to a whole new level. The quality of goals is one thing, but to step up and drag a team full of faltering megastars over the line twice in a week is a greater indicator of how he can be judged in comparison to his peers.

At the moment, on these shores at least, there is nobody at his level. And what a time to get there.



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May 10, 2026
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Memo to Thomas Tuchel. Take Rio Ngumoha to the World Cup. Arne Slot might not fancy him and Tuchel is unlikely to deviate from his sense of order. Nevertheless, since Ngumoha is playing fantasy football, so shall I. 

Think about it. At 17, few opponents will know much about him. Neither does Slot, you might argue. This was only Ngumoha’s third start of the season. Even allowing for inexperience, in a season of disruption, injuries and the decline of Mo Salah, to keep a kid with his feet on the bench feels like neglect. 

And when it came to making a change with 25 minutes to go, it was Ngumoha’s number that was inexplicably raised, evincing jeers all around the ground.

Ngumoha’s pass for Ryan Gravenberch’s goal equalled the number of assists by overlapping full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, and Liverpool coughed a combined £70m for them.

Ngumoha brings trickery, pace and caprice. Lamine Yamal played 50 times for Barcelona before his 17th birthday. He made is full debut for Spain aged 16 and 50 days. As the saying goes, if you are good enough you are old enough.

This is not to equate Ngumoha with Yamal just yet. Only to make the case for investing in the preternaturally gifted. Apart from Gravenberch’s goal, a spectacular wallop inside six minutes, Ngumoha was the one source of real hope in another disjointed Liverpool display.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot with Rio Ngumoha after he is substituted on the touchline during the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool. Picture date: Saturday May 9, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
Hauling him off was a terrible waste from Slot (Photo: PA)

As well as his assist, Ngumoha lit up the left side, his appetite for running at defenders causing panic in the Chelsea rearguard. At one point Ngumoha, twisting back on himself through 360 degrees, sucked five defenders into his web and still managed to get his pass away.

Though he favours his right foot, the left serves him well enough, allowing him to throw defenders off balance and cut to the byline.The pass to Gravenberch was hit with perfect pace, facilitating the deft touch and power finish.

Ngumoha, who has represented England 35 times from U-15s to U-19s, looked at ease in this company. Of course he wouldn’t start for England, but what an option he would be to crack a game wide open against tired legs late in matches, much like Chelsea counterpart Cole Palmer in fact.

Absurdly, Palmer’s inclusion in Tuchel’s squad has attracted scrutiny during this period of unfettered Chelsea decline. He has not been at his effervescent best, yet even a half-cock Palmer is an upgrade on most.

Palmer was at the centre of Chelsea’s rehabilitation at Anfield, his movement, touch and vision gradually wresting control from the home team as the first half wore on. Were VAR recalibrated to allow fractional transgressions that do not confer any advantage, Palmer would have been on the scoresheet with his rifled effort at the start of the second half.

His ability to float ghost-like between the lines centrally as well as out wide offers Chelsea and England the option to cut teams open through the middle, a point of difference rarely utilised by the national team.

The point edged Liverpool closer to Champions League qualification and ended a run of six-consecutive defeats for Liverpool. End-to-end contests of this nature, replete in flaws and inconsistencies, are manna for the neutral and torment for the partial.

Read more

Mark Douglas: The £100m man set to turn down Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool

Kevin Garside: Arne Slot is in denial

The result offered its own judgment on two teams that have fallen below their own expectations and standards, neither good enough to put the other away.

The deployment of full-backs as wingers, Frimpong for Liverpool and Mark Cucarella for Chelsea, sacrificed creativity for industry, and made even more peculiar the choice of Slot, also booed at the end of the game, to remove Ngumoha, the most dynamic player on the pitch.

Moreover, adjudicator Ally McCoist made Cucarella the man of the match! What do I know?



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May 09, 2026
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Where do you want your statue, Oliver Glasner? For all the drama that has swirled through Crystal Palace’s season, the outgoing manager has delivered yet again.

Another final, another shot at silverware. This time, a European final in Palace’s debut continental campaign, with Glasner hoping to add the Uefa Conference League to his FA Cup and Community Shield – it would be the perfect farewell in his final game as Palace manager.

In two years at Selhurst Park, Glasner has got Palace punching well above their weight. At this point, it would not be surprising if his middle name were “final”.

However, the road to Leipzig has been arduous and defiant. In fact, the adversity began well before the start of the season when Palace were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League for breaching multi-club ownership rules, but that injustice has spurred them on and built their resilience.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 7: Oliver Glasner manager of Crystal Palace celebrates with Isma??la Sarr of Crystal Palace after their side's victory following the UEFA Europa Conference League match between Crystal Palace FC and FC Shakhtar Donetsk at Selhurst Park on May 7, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)
Oliver Glasner goes down as Crystal Palace’s greatest manager (Photo: Getty)

Glasner and his side continued to navigate choppy waters throughout the season, with some supporters calling for his dismissal midway through the campaign after a couple of public meltdowns, protests, the sales of Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi, and Jean-Philippe Mateta attempting to force a move in the winter transfer window.

Palace did have a rocky spell of results and there were allegations Glasner had checked out after announcing his departure, but that was not the case at all. It was merely the product of games stacking up with a short squad in a maiden European campaign. After all, that is taxing for a squad with very little European experience.

But, in the end, the character of the group has shone through. With all the turmoil, the squad stuck together and, most importantly, stood by their manager – even after he announced he would leave the club at the end of the season. Supporters may have wavered, but the squad never stopped believing.

Thursday’s win against Shakhtar Donetsk was their 55th game of the season. With a spot in the Conference League final booked, Palace will finish the campaign having played 60 games – the most matches the club has played in a single season. It has been a physically and emotionally draining campaign for all involved, albeit Palace are now enjoying the fruits of their labour.

It was one big party. Ismaila Sarr ensured Palace’s spot in the final in the 52nd minute, scoring his ninth goal in the competition this season. From that moment, any lingering nerves were alleviated, and the festivities began.

Palace knew they were well and truly on their way. The Palace fans chanted Glasner’s name for the first time since January, and Dean Henderson acquired the Holmesdale Fanatics’ megaphone after the final whistle to conduct the choir behind the goal.

There was a rousing rendition of “Stand up if you love Palace”, as every block in the ground got off their feet in unison. Even the Whitehorse Lane end, colloquially known as the family stand, got involved. Maxence Lacroix, of course, pulled out his signature fist-pump celebration – treating both ends of the ground to it.

Among the joyous moments was an evocative one. Nathaniel Clyne – whose first spell at the club coincided with administration in 2010 – made his 250th Palace appearance as a late substitute. From helping save the club from perishing at Hillsborough on the Championship final day in 2010 to booking a spot in a European final 16 years later, Clyne has seen it all.

Playing European football was Palace’s reward for winning the FA Cup last season, and if Palace get over the line in Germany, there will long be debate about which of the two achievements is more prestigious.

There has been a greater shine to the Conference League journey, though. Especially on Thursday night at Selhurst Park. Palace played just Stockport and Millwall at home on the way to Wembley last season, there was no peak at home until after the final. Whereas a decisive leg of a European semi-final at Selhurst Park, with every minute edging closer to Germany, enabled one of the most electric SE25 atmospheres ever.

Fans could watch the game in their normal seats, surrounded by the same old faces, and witness history unfold. Not at a neutral venue like the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa, but at home.

Soccer Football - UEFA Conference League - Semi Final - Second Leg - Crystal Palace v Shakhtar Donetsk - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - May 7, 2026 Shakhtar Donetsk fans celebrate after Eguinaldo scores their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
This was a special night for Palace fans (Photo: Reuters)

Glasner has already installed himself as the greatest manager in Palace history. For all his faults – namely, his occasional divisive comments – he has proved he is a born winner and has transformed the way Palace operate and are spoken about. He has less quality in his squad than the group that won the FA Cup last season, but he has managed to navigate them to even greater heights.

He may be a dissident, though his record speaks for itself. Being an outspoken character, there were concerns that he might struggle to nail down a top job post-Palace, with the clubs in the upper echelons wanting to avoid managers who speak out.

But Glasner has backed his rhetoric with results and has rightfully earned himself the pick of the top jobs again. Europa League winner at Frankfurt, alongside his achievements at Palace. Consider what he could accomplish with greater resources.

For now, his focus is on preparing for the Conference League final. If Palace are victorious in Leipzig, they would not have romped the competition – far from it. It would be a product of sheer graft and determination, which makes getting to the final all the sweeter.

Each season, only three teams out of the hundreds of clubs in Europe can lift a continental trophy. Palace are just 90 minutes away from becoming one of those. Surreal does not do it justice.



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May 09, 2026
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It is only a short drive back to the East Midlands, but it would have felt like an age for Nottingham Forest as they stewed on the ramifications of Thursday night’s 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

Morgan Gibbs-White was probably fed up of the thinking time already, Forest’s No 10 having cut a powerless figure on the sidelines at Villa Park.

One of the more enduring images of this Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa was the sight of a stitched-up Gibbs-White on the Forest bench, sporting a Harry Potter scar and bruises around both eyes.

He was named among the substitutes, but clearly he was not fit to play, making Monday’s clash of heads with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez as crucial as any other moment of this tie, which Villa turned around emphatically.

For those fans in red, it was a tough watch. Forest never looked like troubling Villa, recording just two shots on target, making the what-could-have-beens with Gibbs-White fit a futile but inevitable reflection.

Gibbs-White has played his way into World Cup contention of late, thriving at Forest after being convinced to stay last summer by owner Evangelos Marinakis – turning down Tottenham Hotspur’s advances and extending his contract to 2028.

It was a “statement of intent” in Forest’s own words, with Marinakis regarding a move to Tottenham a backwards’ step for the attacking midfielder.

The Greek knew what was possible with Gibbs-White in the squad, and even through this madcap season – copy and paste for Forest fans these days – featuring four permanent managers and a relegation battle, the Champions League still drew closer thanks to the Europa League’s offering.

Last week’s 1-0 win over Villa in the first leg took them within touching distance – 180 minutes away – but Thursday reverse set them back at least another year, and was a chastening reminder of where Forest truly stand against a club they would love to emulate, never mind Brentford, Bournemouth and Brentford, one of whom could yet reach the Champions League as well.

Read more

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It is worth remembering Forest were without a host of other regular starters beyond solely Gibbs-White, with Murillo, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ibrahim Sangare and Ola Aina also absent due to injury.

And the sobering reality is that this could be a mere glimpse of the times that lie ahead.

The Champions League would have given Forest a foundation to thrive, to build around Gibbs-White and ensure he is not merely the talisman but one of many.

Instead, it will now be harder to convince some players to stay. Gibbs-White may well be glad he did not leave for Tottenham after all, but with an England place uncertain, the 26-year-old could get itchy feet if he misses out on Thomas Tuchel’s squad for North America.

The widely-coveted Elliot Anderson meanwhile looks destined to leave, The i Paper reporting Manchester City are in pole position ahead of Manchester United to sign the midfielder.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - MAY 07: Elliot Anderson of Nottingham Forest looks dejected after the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Semi-Final Second Leg match between Aston Villa FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Villa Park on May 07, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Elliot Anderson is set to leave Nottingham Forest in the summer (Photo: Getty)

Murillo also has admirers, including United, Liverpool and Real Madrid, and the loss of those two players in Forest’s spine, even while retaining others, would have a major impact: Anderson and Murillo could fetch north of £150m combined, but their departures would set a far different tone for the summer than the one Marinakis would have wanted. There would have to be more conversations with players within the squad, and tougher talks when it comes to enticing players without the lure of the Champions League.

And who ever knows what is around the corner with Forest. Vitor Pereira has steadied the ship, a 10-game unbeaten run pulling them six points clear of the drop zone with three games to go, and taking them to a European semi-final.

However, Pereira also enjoyed a bright start at Wolverhampton Wanderers before it went south at the start of this season.

The Portuguese is not one for longevity. His previous five roles have all lasted less than a year, his stint with Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai SIPG from 2017 to 2020 the longest he has ever managed.

But then again, Marinakis is not one for managers hanging around either, an approach that very nearly paid off until it very much didn’t, meaning this season now reads as a once-in-a-generation opportunity squandered.

We will never know how this European campaign would have played had Nuno Espirito Santo remained in charge, or reigning Europa League winner Ange Postecoglou, or Sean Dyche for that matter.

What does matter is the direction in which they’ve gone, and the fear they could retreat further still once the transfer window opens.



from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/iqHfUTR
May 08, 2026
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The trend tends to go: the bigger the club, the bigger the financial loss. And in League One, they don’t get bigger than Bolton Wanderers.

Last season, the cumulative losses across all 24 teams were £154m in the third tier of English football.

Bolton contributed just under £14m. In a league awash with debt and negative numbers, that did not even move the dial. In fact, the club insisted it was a “deliberate strategy”.

Then nothing else was said. Remember: this is League One, where money has a very short shelf life.

The Toughsheet Community Stadium requires high upkeep (Photo: Getty)

Those losses can be offset if promotion is achieved – which is why the spending was planned.

Yet with a wage bill that is astonishingly 98.8 per cent of Bolton’s turnover, failure to climb the ladder could lead to the most spectacular fall.

“It costs millions just to turn the lights on at places like this,” a source close to the club told The i Paper.

“This is a Premier League stadium that costs the same as a Premier League stadium to put matches on, yet we are charging League One prices.

“You have to gamble in this division like nowhere else. I’m not sure how much longer it can go on.”

Late goals have become a regular feature for Bolton this season (Photo: Getty)

For so long a top-flight staple, Bolton have been dragged down by the financial burden of the stadium, stuck in the third tier or lower for seven years.

It is all well and good when you have owners who are willing to take on these debts.

But what happens when they get bored?

There are only a finite number of businesspeople willing to adopt a loss-leading enterprise from the outset, one with little hope of breaking even, never mind making a profit.

Carlisle United had a wage bill of £7m in a season they were relegated from the Football League.

Bolton simply must go up. Everyone is banking on it. But living on the edge is not just the modus operandi of the club’s hierarchy.

Boss Steven Schumacher was appointed head coach in 2025 (Photo: Getty)

Supporters have been given the roughest of rides this season.

A breathless 13 stoppage-time goals have earned Bolton a crucial 18 points that have been the difference between a shot at promotion and mid-table obscurity, followed by the impending financial oblivion.

The average minute of a Bolton goal this season is 58 – by far the highest in League One. And they keep getting later, and later.

Ibrahim Cissoko’s 101st-minute strike in the 3-3 draw with Huddersfield Town lays claim to being one of the latest goals ever scored by the club.

It is likely to take another of these last-gasp interventions to get the better of a Bradford City side who Wanderers drew with in their final league match of the campaign.

Read more

The alternative does not bear thinking about.

“So many clubs fly by the seat of their pants in everything they do,” a source says.

“It is just numbers to them. As long as they go up, they can write those losses off down the line.

“It isn’t clubs like ours’ fault, though. But it cannot go on like this.”



from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/RVJwtHN
May 08, 2026
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