Newcastle stun Liverpool, end 70 years of hurt; Arsenal win; Draper Indian Wells champion

Hands up who genuinely believed this time Newcastle would do it. After several false dawns, the side from the North East of England have finally won a domestic trophy – 70 years on from the last. It was Sunday night, so there was plenty of sporting action to look back on, but we’ll start at Wembley. Up for the Cup Eddie Howe’s side stunned English Premier League champions-elect Liverpool with a 2-1 victory in the Carabao Cup final. It was their second appearance at this stage in the past three years – though some would argue they didn’t turn up at all in their 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in 2023 – but this was their time. Dan Burn headed in Kieran Trippier’s corner in the first half before Alexander Isak added a second after the break to put the “visitors” in control. Federico Chiesa pulled a consolation goal back for Liverpool in stoppage time. But this was celebration time for Howe, who became the first English manager since Harry Redknapp in 2008 to win a major trophy in England. For the Newcastle fans, it was their first major domestic silverware since they won the FA Cup in 1955. In that time, they had been runners-up in the English domestic finals on four occasions. For Liverpool, it caps a disappointing week after elimination from the Uefa Champions League and has echoes of 2019-20. Their fight to that elusive title, effectively confirmed at the midway point of the campaign, turns into a procession and failure in other competitions sting a little more. Prem action Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea the stand-out fixture of the Premier League weekend. Mike Merino scored the game’s only goal to give the hosts the victory and strengthen their grip on second place. Chelsea, meanwhile, stay fourth and their “mini-revival” ended at back-to-back wins at home to the two bottom sides. Elsewhere, Rasmus Hojlund ended his 21-game goal drought and Alejandro Garnacho scored for the first time in 24 matches as Manchester United won 3-0 at Leicester City. Bruno Fernandes, who scored a hat-trick in midweek, added the third and was asked post-match about recent criticism from ex-United skipper Roy Keane. “You have to take it in a positive understanding that whatever people are saying, if it’s a margin to improve or not,” he said. “I have a huge respect for Roy Keane. “Obviously not everything I do everyone will like or think in the same way and I respect everyone’s opinion and I have huge respect for Roy Keane and I accept there’s a lot of margin for improvement in my game, in my leadership and everything I do in my life.” Elsewhere in the Premier League, Ryan Sessegnon scored against his former club as Fulham beat Tottenham 2-0 to leave Ange Postecoglou’s side in 14th place. Euro round-up The big match in La Liga certainly produced drama as Atletico Madrid’s difficult week went from bad to worse with a 4-2 home defeat to Barcelona, having been leading 2-0 with 18 minutes remaining. Robert Lewandowski, two from Ferran Torres and the third from Lamine Yamal completed the turnaround as Barca leapfrogged Real Madrid into first place with a game in hand. In midweek, Diego Simeone’s side were dumped out of the Champions League against their bitter rivals in heartbreaking fashion. In Italy, Inter took a big step towards retaining their title as they beat challengers Atalanta 2-0 away from home. Meanwhile, second-place Napoli’s fight continued to falter as they drew 0-0 away at struggling Venezia. Juventus boss Thiago Motta’s position is looking even more vulnerable as his side followed their 4-0 home defeat to Atalanta with a 3-0 loss at rivals Fiorentina. There was also a thriller in Germany as Bayer Leverkusen scored twice in the final two minutes to turn around a 3-2 defeat into a 4-3 victory at Stuttgart. In Scotland, meanwhile, Rangers beat Celtic 3-2 at Celtic Park. Having led 2-0, the hosts pulled themselves level before Barry Ferguson’s side won it in the 88th minute through Hamza Igamane. Jack into top 10 Britain’s Jack Draper thrashed Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-2 6-2 to collect the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells with a place in the top 10 assured for the first time. Draper fired 21 winners to cap a superb week in the California desert. Playing in his fourth Masters 1000 final, Rune had the benefit of experience but could never find his rhythm as he made seven winners against 18 unforced errors. “I lost first round here last year so I didn’t get to experience the tournament too much,” Draper said. “I would say this is one of my favourite tournaments now.” Meanwhile, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva came back to beat No 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open to make the 17-year-old the tournament’s youngest champion since Serena Williams in 1999. The 11th-ranked Andreeva improved to 19-3 this season – the most wins by a woman on tour – and collected her second Masters 1000 title of 2025. “I tried to run like a rabbit today,” Andreeva said. “It was really hard to just keep up, so I just tried my best.”

Newcastle stun Liverpool, end 70 years of hurt; Arsenal win; Draper Indian Wells champion

Eddie Howe delivered the Magpies fans their first trophy since the 1955 FA Cup in their surprise triumph at Wembley

Up for the Cup