FRANK LAMPARD

It could be just the wake up call Manchester City and Erling Haaland needed before the Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid.

Rodrygo scored twice as Real Madrid advanced to the Champions League semifinals for the 11th time in 13 seasons.

The records keep coming for Erling Haaland at Manchester City.

Karim Benzema has scored again against Chelsea to lead Real Madrid to a 2-0 win in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Erling Haaland's flying scissor-kick was the highlight of Manchester City's 4-1 win at Southampton that kept the pressure on Arsenal in the English Premier League title race.

Frank Lampard is returning to Chelsea as interim manager until the end of the season while the club searches for a fulltime replacement for Graham Potter.

The Premier League is getting ready to pause for the World Cup and some unlikely storylines are in place for the second half of the season.

Liverpool’s mini-revival came to halt with a shock 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

Walking off the field at Brentford’s small stadium in west London had a very different feel for Arsenal this time around.

Temperatures soared in England and no one was feeling the heat more than Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

Raheem Sterling's two goals started and ended Manchester City's 5-0 rout of Newcastle that regained top spot in the Premier League for Pep Guardiola's team.

North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal are neck and neck in the fight for Champions League qualification in the English Premier League.

Chelsea and West Ham had to come from behind to oust lower-league opposition in the FA Cup to reach the fifth round.

Chelsea and Manchester City will contest an all-English Champions League final in Porto.

Chelsea ensured a turbulent season will end in a Champions League final by making the competition’s most successful team look ordinary.

Manchester City's quadruple dream has been extinguished by Chelsea after losing 1-0 in the semifinals of the FA Cup.

(Adam Davy/Pool via AP)LONDON – Manchester City only needs to win five of its remaining eight games to secure the Premier League trophy. Sergio Aguero then fired the ball into the corner of the goal for his first Premier League goal in 14 months. "We want to still fight for the position in Europe.”TUCHEL UNBEATENChelsea extended its unbeaten start under Thomas Tuchel to 10 Premier League games with the draw at Leeds. ZAHA STANCEWilfried Zaha became the first Premier League player not to take a knee before his Crystal Palace team beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0. Zaha had already indicated that he thought taking a knee has lost meaning after being brought in by the Premier League in June as an anti-racism message when football resumed.

Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, right, is challenged by Everton's Allan during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Everton at the Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Monday, March 8, 2021. Yes, so this is my job, and his job is to be ready — to be ready like everybody else. Pulisic’s lone Premier League goal this season came on Dec. 5 against Leeds in a 3-1 victory. Pulisic has missed one game to injury and another for family reasons under Tuchel and his only recent start came on Feb. 11 in an FA Cup match against Barnsley. “When you sign and play for Chelsea, it is part of the job description as a player to be impatient and patient at the same time,” Tuchel said.

(Matthew Childs/Pool via AP)LONDON – Gareth Bale turned back time for Tottenham, while Chelsea and Manchester United seemed happy just to play out time. Chelsea kept its unbeaten record under manager Thomas Tuchel in a 0-0 draw with Man United as both teams appeared reluctant to risk losing one point in the hope of getting three. However, Mourinho warned that Bale would still have to rest for some upcoming games to manage his form and fitness. He had scored six goals and assisted three more in his team's previous 10 league games. The draw left Scott Parker's team unbeaten in five league games, with only one goal conceded during that time, but still 18th and three points adrift of safety.

Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson stands on the pitch during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. Leicester moved three points ahead of Liverpool in third after drawing 0-0 with Wolverhampton. AdOn a freezing day across England, Klopp could only figure that the icy conditions were to blame for a blundering performance by goalkeeper Alisson Becker that proved so costly. It was only 35 days earlier that a 3-1 win at Chelsea took City to fifth, four points behind then-leader Liverpool with a game in hand. Jorginho’s 58th-minute penalty clinched the win over the last-place team after Timo Werner was brought down by goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Thomas Tuchel is confirmed as the new Chelsea soccer team manager, Tuesday Jan. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, FILE)LONDON – Chelsea hired Thomas Tuchel as manager on Tuesday on an 18-month contract to replace the fired Frank Lampard. Tuchel, a 47-year-old German, is back in work a month after losing his job at Paris Saint-Germain following a power struggle with the club. “It is never easy to change head coach in the middle of the season but we are very happy to secure one of Europe’s best coaches in Thomas Tuchel,” Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said. “We all have the greatest respect for Frank Lampard’s work and the legacy he created at Chelsea,” Tuchel said.

Leicester's Wilfred Ndidi, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Chelsea at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Michael Regan/Pool via AP)Five years after achieving the unthinkable, Leicester is back atop the Premier League and making another improbable run at the title. For big-spending Chelsea and its under-pressure manager, Frank Lampard, any ambitions of winning the league already appear to be dashed. Leicester beat Chelsea 2-0 on Tuesday to jump above the two Manchester clubs, United and City, and reach the midway stage of its league campaign in first place. IN-FORM ANTONIOAs it stands, West Ham is heading into the second half of its Premier League campaign with just one senior striker.

Arteta had billed the coming week, starting with the visit of Chelsea, as a “crucial” period that would determine which direction Arsenal was heading this season. A first league victory in nearly two months was vital, therefore, to boost Arsenal players' fragile confidence — even if it only lifted them into 14th place. “It's something to build on.”It took 90 minutes for the scrutiny that was hovering over Arteta to drift toward his Chelsea counterpart, Frank Lampard. That's three losses in the last four league games for Chelsea, which has dropped to seventh place and whose identity — and best lineup — is increasingly hard to decipher. The result kept Leicester above United in the standings after they started the day in second and third place.

(Tim Keeton/Pool via AP)MANCHESTER – The People's Club welcomed back its fans and Chelsea felt the full force. It means third-place Chelsea can be overtaken — if Leicester beats Brighton on Sunday — and front-runners Tottenham and Liverpool can pull further away at the top of the Premier League. “The impact was really strong — we were really pleased," Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti said. There was no atmosphere, no intensity and no goals as Manchester United and Manchester City drew 0-0 in the 183rd derby. The rivals are both unusually low in the Premier League, too.

The fans — 2,000 from West Ham, 2,000 from Chelsea — had contrasting experiences on opposite sides of London. Chelsea’s players treated their select group of attending fans to a comeback of their own at Stamford Bridge. The match saw respective managers Frank Lampard, of Chelsea, and Marcelo Bielsa, of Leeds, meet for the first time in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Guardiola didn’t make a single substitution, at a time when he is pushing the Premier League to increase the number of replacements from three to five for player-welfare reasons. It’s now 11 goals in 11 games for the Everton striker after scoring the equalizer in a 1-1 draw at Burnley.

After his team’s stirring comeback in a 3-1 win at Everton in the Premier League, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn’t hold back, either. Edinson Cavani capped the fightback with his first goal for United deep in stoppage time. ZIYECH STARSLike United, Chelsea also fought back from conceding an early goal and ultimately swept aside Sheffield United in a 4-1 win. And like United, Chelsea had a creative playmaker pulling the strings as the catalyst for the recovery. “We played against him in the Champions League last year,” Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said of Ziyech.

BURNLEY – Christian Pulisic's participation in the United States' first match in more than nine months could be in jeopardy after the Chelsea winger was injured in the warmup ahead of the Premier League game against Burnley on Saturday. Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said Pulisic “felt something on his hamstring” and was replaced in the starting lineup by Timo Werner. "We’re talking minor, nothing serious,” Lampard said after Chelsea's 3-0 win at Turf Moor, where Pulisic scored a hat trick in a league game last season. The team's last match was a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in a February friendly, using mostly Major League Soccer players. Pulisic hasn't played for the Americans since a 2-0 defeat at Canada on Oct. 15 last year.

Some talking points ahead of the second round of games in the Champions League:NO RONALDO VS. MESSI? The highly anticipated matchup of Cristiano Ronaldo against Lionel Messi likely won’t happen because Ronaldo has the coronavirus. Alvaro Morata replaced Ronaldo against Dynamo Kyiv last week and scored twice in a 2-0 win. Eden Hazard was added to the Madrid squad and could make his season debut after nursing a muscle injury. Diego Simeone's side was thrashed 4-0 by defending champion Bayern Munich and next hosts Salzburg in Group A on Tuesday.

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola, left, talks with Leeds United's head coach Marcelo Bielsa at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Manchester City at Elland Road in Leeds, England, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. What to make of seeing his Manchester City side held 1-1 by Bielsa's Leeds on Saturday? While Leeds had seven shots on target, Raheem Sterling's 16th-minute strike low shot inside the far post was one of only two for City. We must do more and better.”Especially with City already eight points behind Everton, which is the early leader after beating Brighton 4-2 to make it four wins out of four. Fifth-place Leeds, which like Everton has played a game more than City, is still three points ahead of Guardiola's side.

Chelsea's Christian Pulisic is assisted from the field after getting injured during the FA Cup final soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley stadium in London, England, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (Adam Davy/Pool via AP)

Chelsea's Christian Pulisic is assisted from the field after getting injured during the FA Cup final soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley stadium in London, England, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (Adam Davy/Pool via AP)LONDON A dream scoring start to his first FA Cup final ended in agony for Christian Pulisic. The 21-year-old winger had to be helped off the field in Saturday's final against Arsenal after pulling up with a hamstring injury. Pulisic netted in the fifth minute against Arsenal to become the first American man to score in an FA Cup final. But Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted twice to clinch a 2-1 win that denied Chelsea the cup.

It was a test of resolve for new Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, but Project Restart was accomplished. No team suffered more after the restart in June than the 2016 champion, blowing an eight-point cushion in the Champions League places. The capitulation was completed by Sundays 2-0 loss to Manchester United, which took the last Champions League place off Brendan Rodgers' lineup. Like Chelsea, Arsenal turned to a former midfielder this season to take charge. But there wont be a fifth consecutive season in the Champions League for the 2019 beaten finalist.

Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum, right turns and celebrates after scoring his sides 3rd goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, July 22, 2020. As the fans shut out of the stadium lit the sky with pyrotechnics, Liverpool and Chelsea provided their own explosive moments in an eight-goal thriller. A 5-3 victory before receiving the Premier League trophy was an entertaining way for Liverpool to sign off from Anfield for the season on Wednesday with eight different scorers. Just like four weeks ago, when Chelsea's victory over Manchester City clinched the trophy for Liverpool, fans couldn't resist gathering outside Anfield. With cordite filling the air from the pyrotechnics set off by Liverpool fans, it was Chelsea celebrating again.

(Andy Rain, Pool via AP)LONDON At least David De Gea was spared having a crowd inside Wembley to witness his latest mistakes in the Manchester United goal. Gifted goals to beat United 3-1 on Sunday, Chelsea will be returning to the national stadium on Aug. 1 to face Arsenal in an all-London FA Cup final. Olivier Giroud's close-range deft touch from Cesar Azpilicueta's cross was pushed into his own goal by De Gea. De Gea hadnt played in the competition since the 2018 final when Chelsea beat United. It means Frank Lampard's first season as Chelsea manager will end with a cup final.

Everton's Seamus Coleman, left, challenges Liverpool's Sadio Mane during the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Liverpool can become champions with a win if Burnley does not lose at second-place defending champion Manchester City on Monday. Liverpool lost to Watford in the penultimate Premier League match before the unexpected break in the league. Well try to improve every time.That has been the message since the week before the football shutdown in March when Liverpool was also knocked out of the Champions League and FA Cup. A 3-0 win over 10-man Sheffield United lifted Newcastle 11 points clear of the relegation zone with eight games remaining.

Chelsea's Christian Pulisic celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Chelsea at the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, England, Sunday, June 21, 2020. (Molly Darlington/Pool via AP)BIRMINGHAM Healthy enough to make his first appearance in nearly six months, Christian Pulisic sparked Chelsea to a comeback victory. Olivier Giroud put Chelsea ahead two minutes later in a 2-1 win over Aston Villa 2-1 on Sunday that strengthened the Blues' hold on fourth place in the Premier League. Giroud scored for the sixth straight league game against Villa. Unfortunately a little bit of quality and fortune favored them," Villa manager Dean Smith said of Chelsea.

LONDON Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were among the clubs who stepped up their preparations for the Premier Leagues return by holding practice matches on Saturday. The league also announced Saturday that the sixth round of COVID-19 testing of 1,195 players and staff across the 20 clubs on Thursday and Friday produced no positives. Arsenal, which will be in action on the first night back away to Manchester City, hosted second-tier side Charlton at the Emirates Stadium. Eddie Nketiah scored a hat trick in a 6-0 win for the Gunners, with forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette also netting. Players drove to the stadium in their match kit and the match was refereed by fitness coach Charlie Owen.