Anthony Martial marked his return from injury with a goal to seal a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest and book Manchester United s spot in the EFL Cup final at Wembley.
Holding a comfortable 3-0 aggregate lead from the first leg, United s position never looked to be in real threat but the hosts struggled to capitalise on their chances.
Wout Weghorst hit the post in the first half and United continued to be unable to convert in the early exchanges of the second half until a triple change on the hour mark.
Martial finally broke that deadlock after 73 minutes, with Fred then poking home from close range to add further gloss to the scoreline and secure a date against Newcastle United.
Bring on Wembley.
Bring on the final.
BRING ON UNITED!
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Atletico Madrid will move to the bigger capacity La Peineta stadium during the 2012-13 season under an agreement signed Friday between the club and the Spanish capital.
The stadium, a centrepiece of Madrid s bid for the 2016 Olympics, will be upgraded and expanded to a 73,000-seat venue over three years under the deal reached by Madrid mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon and Atletico president Enrique Cerezo. The construction work will begin in six months.
This is a historic day for the club, said Cerezo.
Atletico s current home, the 55,000-seat Vicente Calderon, is set to be torn down after the move to be turned into a riverside park.
The club lies in sixth place in the Spanish league with 24 points, 11 fewer than leaders Barcelona.
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Northern Ireland will play the penultimate match of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign away to Finland on Friday.
On their last visit to Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium, Northern Ireland earned a point from a 1-1 draw in October 2015 to secure top spot in their group as they qualified for Euro 2016, but the context is very different this time.
Michael O’Neill’s injury-hit side have won just two of their eight Euro 2024 qualifiers so far – both against San Marino – and will be happy to see the back of this campaign after Monday’s match at home to Denmark.
Here the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of Friday’s game.
The hits keep coming
Northern Ireland squad update
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIrela…
Liverpool can seal progression to the Champions League last 16 when they play on Wednesday, but Barcelona could see their exit confirmed from Europe s top competition.
Jurgen Klopp s Reds make the trip to face Ajax in Group A knowing they are guaranteed a spot in the Europa League at the very least – and simply avoiding defeat would guarantee their place in the Champions League knockout stages.
It is a more dicey affair for Xavi s Barca, however, as they welcome Bayern Munich to Camp Nou in Group C knowing a loss would spell the end of their journey. Even a win will not be enough if Inter defeat Viktoria Plzen.
Tottenham will hope to keep their noses in front in Group D, with Marseille and Sporting CP just a point behind, while Atletico Madrid have work to do i…
Tony Mowbray’s period of absence from Birmingham leaves interim boss Gary Rowett as Blues’ fourth manager of the season.
They are the first club since 2018 to have as many as four managers in an English Football League season and here, the PA news agency looks at their turbulent campaign and how it compares.
Tale of woe
Mowbray, 60, has been granted a leave of absence until the start of pre-season for medical reasons after undergoing surgery on an undisclosed issue last month, just eight games after taking charge.
His appointment came after Birmingham sacked Wayne Rooney, who in turn was only appointed in October in place of John Eustace.
Eustace’s sacking was controversial, having led the club to 17th place last season on 53 points – their highe…
North Macedonia qualified for Euro 2020 with an historic 1-0 victory over Georgia in Thursday s play-off match in Tbilisi.
Both sides were looking to reach the finals for the first time and join Netherlands, Ukraine and Austria in Group C.
It was visiting captain Goran Pandev whose goal settled a tense contest in the Georgian capital, in which there were just four shots on target throughout.
The Genoa forward struck after 56 minutes, prodding in from Ilija Nestorovski s pass after a fine run from Eljif Elmas.
Pandev, who will turn 38 shortly after next year s finals conclude, has scored a record 36 times in 114 games for his country.
Georgia, who had lost just once in 13 previous home games, failed to threaten Stole Dimitrievski s goal thereaf…
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In the final round of the Premier League season, Liverpool will play host to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on Sunday. With the match bearing no real competitive importance for either side, the focus will surely be on the fact that it will be the last time Jurgen Klopp takes charge of the Liverpool team, and in front of their own supporters too, on what s guaranteed to be a very emotional afternoon for the Reds.
Wolves travel to Anfield on the back of a 1-3 home loss to Crystal Palace, while Liverpool return home for the final game of the season after a 3-3 draw away to Aston Villa.
Liverpool
It s been almost nine years since Klopp arrived at Liverpool, and the change he inspired within the club is astounding. The Reds wer…
An early goal from winger Kerem Akturkoglu and a superb free-kick by his fellow Turkey international Orkun Kokcu earned Benfica a 2-1 Champions League victory at Red Star Belgrade on Thursday.
Akturkoglu opened the scoring for the Portuguese side in the ninth minute, converting a cross from close range at the back post.
His compatriot Kokcu then doubled their advantage just before the half-hour mark with a meticulously placed free-kick from 25 yards out, picking out the top-right corner.
Red Star reduced the deficit when Felicio Milson was played through and scored from close range four minutes from time, but they were unable to find an equaliser at the death.
FT: Crvena Zvezda 1-2 Benfica
Crvena Zvezda have now conceded 2+ goals in 15 of their 19…
Both the Netherlands and France made winning, if not entirely convincing, starts at Euro 2024.
On Friday, they face off in a heavyweight clash that could go some way to deciding who tops Group D.
Ronald Koeman s Oranje had Wout Weghorst to thank as they fought back to beat Poland 2-1 in their opening match, and they will hope the potential absence of Kylian Mbappe gives them the upper hand in Leipzig.
Mbappe s availability is uncertain after he suffered a broken nose during Les Bleus nervy 1-0 victory over Austria, with the forward set to be fitted with a protective mask ahead of a potential return.
How will the tournament favourites cope if Mbappe does miss out? Here, we delve into the Opta data to preview Friday s game.
Des idées de masques ?
Domenico Tedesco refused to place the blame on any individual performance as Belgium slumped to Euro 2024 defeat against Slovakia, with Romelu Lukaku missing a host of chances.
Ivan Schranz s seventh-minute finish in Frankfurt proved the difference on Monday as Slovakia stunned the world s third-best side in their tournament opener.
Belgium forward Lukaku produced a profligate showing, spurning a pair of glorious first-half chances before seeing two goals disallowed by the VAR as Tedesco s side chased a late equaliser.
Lukaku accumulated an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.82 throughout the Group E meeting, with that total far greater than the entire Slovakia team combined (0.59).
Yet Tedesco, who suffered a first defeat in 15 games since replacing Roberto …