WEMBLEY: Manchester United chose the best moment to save their bad season when they shocked Manchester City 2-1 to lift the FA Cup for the first time since 2016 at Wembley Stadium, just a moment ago.

Victory over the English Premier League champions allowed the Red Devils to also book a ticket to next season’s Europa League after just finishing the league campaign in eighth place – their worst position since 1990.

Even sweeter, Erik Ten Hag’s men also managed to prevent the neighboring enemy from making history by becoming the first team to win the league and the FA Cup two seasons in a row.

When Ten Hag’s position was in shambles and the player was bombarded with criticism following his poor performance this season, the Red Devils line clearly did not pay attention to the issue, instead appearing with good defensive action to make up for the disappointment of losing in the same final action last season.

In fact, they surprised City when they took the lead in the 30th minute through Alejandro Garnacho who capitalized on a defensive error by Josko Gvardiol and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

Nine minutes later, City’s goal was conceded again when young player Kobbie Mainoo scored the second goal with an exciting move to strengthen United’s position.

Although substitute Jeremy Doku narrowed the gap for City in the 87th minute with a shot from outside the penalty box, the goal was too late for Pep Guardiola’s men to drag the action into extra time thus allowing United not to end the season empty-handed.

LIVERPOOL: Mohamed Salah paid tribute to Jurgen Klopp on social media after the manager’s last game with Liverpool this season.

The German manager ended his career at Anfield with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the last Premier League game, and gave an emotional speech.

Egyptian forward Salah, who worked with Klopp for several years at Liverpool, hopes they can clash again in the future.

The 31-year-old uploaded a photo of himself with Klopp in training and wrote: “It’s been great to share all the trophies and experiences with you over the last seven years.

“I wish you the best of luck and hope we meet again.”

Salah joined Liverpool in June 2017, two years after Klopp took over the club – and became one of the Premier League’s top scorers.

Together, they won the European Champions League in 2019, the Premier League title the following year, as well as five domestic and international championships.

Salah scored 32 goals in his first season, breaking the record for most goals in a campaign that featured 38 games, and a total of 211 goals during his time on Merseyside.

Liverpool confirmed that Feyenoord boss Arne Slot will replace Klopp from June 1, reportedly on a three-year contract.

Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are among the Liverpool stars who still have a year left on their contracts, and it is not yet clear whether they will be part of Slott’s long-term plans at Anfield.

MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United face the risk of failing to qualify for European competition for the second time since the 1989-90 season.

Erik ten Hag’s men are eighth in the Premier League, 32 points behind Arsenal, after a 1-0 defeat to the Gunners at Old Trafford earlier this morning saw their 19th defeat in all competitions this season.

United have at least improved slightly compared to when they were beaten 4-0 at Crystal Palace earlier last week.

Ten Hag once again blamed a long list of injuries for his team’s struggles this season.

Captain Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire are among those not in action for the United squad.

“It’s like trying to swim with your hands tied behind your back,” Ten Hag said.

“If you want to improve as a team, you need agile players. You saw that in the team we played against today.”

United, who have never finished seventh and below in the EPL era, are three points behind Newcastle and Chelsea with two games remaining.

Failure to finish in the top seven or win the FA Cup final against Manchester City will see United miss out on European action.

“It would be terrible (if we didn’t qualify for Europe) but that’s the situation we’re in now,” said Ten Hag.

“If you analyze the performance you can see we are very competitive.

“It’s not the way we want it to be, United have to win, always! But right now as a club and this team, with the injury list we have, we’re not in that position.”

LONDON: Brazilian defender Thiago Silva has announced he will leave Chelsea at the end of the season after four years at the English Premier League (EPL) club, but hopes to return in a different role.

The 39-year-old joined Chelsea from Paris St Germain on a free transfer in August 2020 and made 151 appearances as he won the Champions League, Club World Cup and Super Cup.

“Chelsea means a lot to me. I came here with the intention of just one year and it ended up being four years,” said Silva.

“I think, everything I did here for four years, I always gave my best.

“Unfortunately, everything has a beginning, middle and end. It doesn’t mean this is the end. I hope to leave with an open door so that in the future I can return, even in a different role.

“Goodbye is for those who leave and never return. I intend to return one day.”

LONDON: Liverpool got back on track after a miserable week as a 3-1 win at Fulham revived their Premier League title challenge while Nottingham Forest hit out at the officials during a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Everton earlier this morning.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were knocked out in the Europa League quarter-finals by Atalanta early Friday morning after suffering a league defeat at home to Crystal Palace last weekend.

The Reds’ desire to give Klopp a wonderful parting gift was somewhat subtle but they roared back into the championship race with a much-needed first win in three league games.

Liverpool are now second, behind leaders Arsenal on goal difference and one point ahead of third-placed Manchester City, who have played one game less than their two rivals.

Next up for Liverpool is a clash of local rivals at Everton early this Thursday morning, while Arsenal host Chelsea the day before and City travel to Brighton early Friday morning.

“Fulham usually cause us problems so it was a good performance at the right time,” said Klopp.

“We want to stay in contention, that’s clear. Arsenal won yesterday, Manchester City will win the remaining one game, so we have to win games and that’s what we’ll try to do.”

Klopp’s side have struggled in recent weeks and he dropped Mohamed Salah to the bench in one of five changes he made.

Trent Alexander-Arnold put Liverpool ahead in the 32nd minute with a stunning free-kick that curled into the corner of the net.

Fulham defender Timothy Castagne equalized from close range after Liverpool failed to clear the ball from the penalty area in first-half stoppage time.

Ryan Gravenberch restored Liverpool’s lead in the 53rd minute with a powerful shot from the corner of the penalty area for his first league goal.

Diogo Jota completed the win in the 72nd minute, curling a clinical finish into the top corner.

Everton took a big step towards continuing their 70-year run in the English top flight with a controversial win over Forest.

Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil scored to keep The Toffees five points above the relegation zone.

Forest remain just one point above the relegation zone and were disappointed to be denied three powerful penalty appeals.

The club’s official account on media site X questioned the integrity of the Premier League by claiming the VAR official was a fan of the club struggling with relegation Luton.

“We warned PGMOL (the governing body of referees) VAR was a Luton fan before the game but they ignored it,” Forest said in a statement.

“Our patience has been tested several times. The NFFC will consider all available options.”

Aston Villa strengthened their chances of playing in next season’s Champions League after a 3-1 win over Bournemouth.

Unai Emery’s men bounced back through goals from Morgan Rogers, Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey after Dominic Solanke had put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot.