Leeds United thumped Norwich City 4-0 in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final to seal their place at Wembley.

After a goalless draw in the first leg left it all to play for at Elland Road on Thursday, Leeds turned on the style in front of a raucous home crowd to cruise into the final on May 26.

Ilia Gruev settled the majority of Elland Road's nerves with just seven minutes played as he caught out Angus Gunn with a long-range free-kick, curling into the space vacated by the Norwich goalkeeper's expectation of a cross.

Joel Piroe then doubled the hosts' advantage 13 minutes later, again capitalising on poor goalkeeping to beat Gunn to Wilfried Gnonto's cross and nod home.

The tie was effectively over five minutes from half-time, Georginio Rutter getting on the end of Crysencio Summerville's squared pass to rifle off the underside of the crossbar and in.

And after Gunn spilled Gnonto's low shot in the second half, Rutter cut the ball back for Summerville to poke home and secure Leeds' place in next Sunday's final, where they will meet either Southampton or West Brom.

Data debrief

Leeds may have looked pretty blunt in attack at Carrow Road, but that was far from the case on home soil as they put the Canaries to the sword in brutal fashion while keeping a 21st Championship clean sheet this season, more than any other side.

Daniel Farke's men produced 2.45 xG (expected goals) to Norwich's 0.51, while Summerville made it 20 league goals for the season, more than any other Leeds player.

Scottie Scheffler admits he does not allow himself to look too far ahead as he prepares to launch his bid for a first PGA Championship title.

The world number one, who finished tied-second behind champion Brooks Koepka at Oak Hill last year, is the player in form and favourite to go one better 12 months on and claim his third major.

The reigning Masters champion is aiming to become only the third golfer since the turn of the century to win the opening two majors in a calendar year, after Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015).

Scheffler arrives at Valhalla having won four of his last five tournaments, and is 161 under par across his 10 PGA Tour events in 2024 - shooting 60s in 30 of the 39 rounds he has played.

One of only two players to finish inside the top 10 in each of the last three majors - along with Cameron Smith - big things are expected of the 28-year-old, but he highlighted the importance of staying grounded.

"I don't really try to look that far ahead," he said. "If I listen to the narratives around myself, if it was two months ago, it would probably look significantly different than it does now.

"I'm sure that wasn't a conversation you were all having two months ago and, all of a sudden, now it's like: 'Oh, he's going to win this many tournaments, or do that and do this'.

"I don't really pay attention to it, I don't really care about it. I'm trying to do the best I can out there each and every week, and as far as anything else, I'm not really too concerned with it.

"I may win a lot of major championships, I may be stuck at two the rest of my career. It doesn't really concern me at the moment. I'm just trying to prepare as best as possible for this week."

D.C. United coach Troy Lesesne feels fortunate to work with Christian Benteke, who is battling the likes of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi for the MLS Golden Boot after a flying start to 2024.

Benteke has been in incredible form this year, scoring 11 goals in 10 MLS appearances to join Suarez and Cristian Arango at the top of the scoring charts, with Messi one behind that trio.

The former Liverpool and Aston Villa man scored a hat-trick of headers last time out, helping D.C. recover from behind for a 3-2 win over Atlanta United. 

With Lesesne's former employers the New York Red Bulls visiting Audi Field on Wednesday, the D.C. boss will be hoping for more of the same.   

"He's incredible," Lesesne said of Benteke. "He's got two hat-tricks this year, he's on 11 goals now and he's just such an incredible presence in our team, even beyond scoring.

"He deserves to be talked about first. He is a handful, and he allows other players to come into the match and have dangerous opportunities themselves. I'm very lucky to work with him."

Benteke's form has helped put D.C. in the playoff picture early on this campaign, but the Red Bulls are three points clear of them, sitting third in the Eastern Conference.

They also came out on top in a thriller last week, with two late goals helping them overcome the New England Revolution 4-2.

One of their goalscorers, Elias Manoel, says the Red Bulls' ability to pick up results when not at their best will take them far this term.

"It was really important to keep the consistency because even though we had some unfavourable results, in some games we didn't lose as well," Manoel said.

"This consistency is going to be really good at the end of the competition."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D.C. United – Christian Benteke

Against Atlanta last week, Benteke became just the second player since 2010 to score three headed goals in a single MLS game, alongside the Five Stripes' Juan Purata in 2022 (versus Toronto FC).

New York Red Bulls – Elias Manoel 

Manoel recorded both a goal and an assist as a substitute in New York's win over the Revolution last week. 

He joined Cameron Harper and Bradley Wright-Phillips as the only Red Bulls players over the last 10 seasons to come off the bench and record both a goal and assist. Will he be rewarded with a start?

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

This will be the 107th meeting between D.C. and the Red Bulls in all competitions – it is the most-played match between two MLS teams. The Red Bulls, winners of the last three meetings, have never won four straight against D.C.

D.C. have gone unbeaten through their last three games, winning two and drawing one, while scoring multiple goals in each match. An entertaining draw could be on the cards here… 

The Red Bulls are coming off a 4-2 win over New England in which they only had 33.1 per cent of possession. They have had four games with less than a third of possession and four or more goals in the last three seasons, more than every other MLS team combined.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

D.C. United – 39.1%
New York Red Bulls – 32%
Draw – 28.9% 

Ben Olsen had to hold a few "tough conversations" to get the Houston Dynamo out of their slump, with Saturday's Texas derby at Austin FC offering them the chance for back-to-back wins.

The Dynamo approached Saturday's trip to Sporting Kansas City both winless and goalless in three MLS matches (one draw, two defeats), while they were also dumped out of the U.S. Open Cup by Detroit City FC.

However, goals from Hector Herrera and Ibrahim Aliyu handed them a 2-1 road win and lifted them into the top seven of the Western Conference – above Austin by a single point. 

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's grudge match against a team that won the reverse fixture less than a month ago, Olsen credited his players for coming through a tough patch. 

"I think some people were questioning us, and we've had a few tough conversations, particularly with the U.S. Open cup knockout. This was just a really good response," he said.

"We have to figure out when we are at our best, to think, 'who are we, at our best?'

"It was our defensive effort that we hung our hat on last year, so it's a bit of a renewed feeling of that being there."

Austin, by contrast, were on a run of four wins in six games before they were beaten 2-1 by another Texas rival in FC Dallas on Saturday.

Despite that reverse, centre-back Julio Cascante has praised the defensive work done by coach Josh Wolff, with Austin looking far more competitive than was the case in their dismal 2023 season.

"Despite everything, we've worked very hard on the defensive side," Cascante said.

"Emphasis has been placed on the defensive side, but defending is done as an entire team. It starts with the number nine. I think that makes the difference."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Austin FC – Sebastian Driussi

Driussi scored a consolation from the penalty spot at Dallas on Saturday, his third goal of the season in eight MLS starts. 

Only Diego Rubio, who has started three additional games, has matched that tally for Austin this year. The Argentine will be looking to carry his team's attacking hopes again here.

Houston Dynamo – Amine Bassi 

Bassi recorded his third assist of the season by teeing up Hector Herrera's 31st-minute strike against Sporting on Saturday. 

All three of Bassi's assists have come on goals from outside the box this season – Houston's only three strikes from outside the penalty area.

MATCH PREDICTION – AUSTIN FC WIN

Houston have won three of their first five road matches this year, having only recorded more than three regular-season away wins in one of the last 10 campaigns, winning four times on their travels in 2022.

However, Austin have won all four of their previous home matches against Houston, netting multiple goals in each contest. The Dynamo are one of two teams – alongside Kansas City – that Austin have hosted more than once while posting a 100 per cent record.

Austin have also won three straight at home after only winning once in their previous 10 outings at Q2 Stadium. Back on home soil after Saturday's derby loss, they will expect a different result. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Austin FC – 44.9%
Houston Dynamo – 26.9%
Draw – 28.2%

Pat Noonan will not let his FC Cincinnati team get too high following Saturday's memorable win over their rivals Columbus Crew, warning Atlanta United will offer them a stern test on Wednesday.

Cincinnati recorded a huge 2-1 road win over the MLS Cup holders last time out, with Kevin Kelsy and Luciano Acosta on target.

That victory – their fourth in a row – kept them three points behind Inter Miami at the Eastern Conference summit, but Noonan says any drop-off in midweek will be punished.

"The sign of a good team is when you have a poor performance or result, how do you respond to it and come back and have a better performance, or have a better result?" Noonan said.

"On the other side, when you have a good performance, how do you respond to that? Obviously, we have a short turnaround against a difficult opponent who we've just seen.

"If we don't turn it around the right way and if we're not prepared for Atlanta, we'll get humbled very quickly. Just like we can't get too low with bad performances, we can't get too high."

Atlanta, meanwhile, are 12 points behind Cincinnati in 10 th place, having been beaten 3-2 by D.C. United on Saturday.

They also lost 2-1 to Cincinnati when the sides last met in April, with two goals in two second-half minutes handing the Orange and Blue a comeback victory.

Asked what he would look to change ahead of Wednesday's rematch, boss Gonzalo Pineda said: "Simplify the message. It's about putting the players in a position to succeed, giving them tools, and the message that sometimes less is more."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta

Acosta has scored in four consecutive games, tied for the longest goalscoring streak in MLS play in Cincinnati's history.

He also had a four-game streak last June while Brandon Vazquez did so between July and August in 2022. Will he break new ground on Wednesday?

Atlanta United – Thiago Almada

Almada scored from the penalty spot against D.C. last time out, with one of his five shots in the game.

He has recorded five MLS games this year with at least five attempts at goal, with only Denis Bouanga (eight) and Lionel Messi (six) having more. He also netted his team's only goal when they last faced Cincinnati on April 20.

MATCH PREDICTION – FC CINCINNATI WIN

Atlanta are unbeaten in five all-time trips to Cincinnati in MLS, recording two wins and three draws there. Cincinnati are the only team the Five Stripes have visited more than twice without ever losing in MLS play.

However, Atlanta have only won two of their last 23 away games in all competitions (10 draws, 11 defeats) in a run dating back to late March 2023. No MLS team has fewer away wins in all competitions in that time.

Cincinnati have won their last four games and could set a new team record for successive victories here. With home advantage on their side, they are favourites to do so.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Cincinnati: 45.4%
Atlanta United: 26.9%
Draw: 27.7%

Nashville SC are ignoring any suggestions that an MLS playoff position is out of their reach ahead of the midweek clash with Toronto at GEODIS Park.

That was the message from the Boys in Gold head coach Gary Smith, whose side sit 13th in the Eastern Conference after their 1-0 defeat to Charlotte FC last time out.

Nashville are still only three points adrift of ninth-placed Philadelphia Union and a place in the postseason, with Smith refusing to give up hope.

"I don't believe, and nor do any of the guys in the group, that we are by any way, shape or form, out of the hunt for a playoffs position," he said. 

"A couple of results get you right back in to the mix again, and that's, of course, our challenge over the next two games."

Toronto are fourth in the East standings after their 3-2 defeat against New York City FC in their last outing.

Visiting head coach John Herdman is looking forward to facing a familiar face in Jacob Shaffelburg when his side visit, however.

"He's flying at Nashville," Herdman remarked on Monday. "I've seen some stats at the weekend about his impact on their team and how many touches he has in that opposition half and how many crosses are leading to goals. 

"I remember having him in that Gold Cup recently. He came off the bench and scored against the US. It shows where he's at now as a player."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nashville SC – Sam Surridge

Former Nottingham Forest striker Sam Surridge continues to provide the goals for Nashville this term, scoring a club-leading five in MLS this campaign.

The Englishman failed to find the target against Charlotte, but managed a hat-trick against CF Montreal in his previous outing before that.

Toronto – Prince Osei Owusu

In the absence of the in-form Federico Bernardeschi, Prince Osei Owusu will be expected to step up against Nashville.

The Toronto forward leads the club scoring charts with five goals in 12 MLS appearances this year, two ahead of any teammate in the league.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

Opta's win probability has Nashville as the overwhelming favourites for this one, yet a draw may be more likely considering each team's recent form and head-to-head records.

Toronto are unbeaten in five straight meetings with Nashville (W2 D3), with the Boys in Gold the only side the Canadians have played three or more times since the start of the 2022 season and not lost against.

Nashville have also won only two of their last 16 matches against MLS opponents in all competitions (D6 L8), though 11 of the 12 points they have collected over that time have come at home (W2 D5 L3).

Smith's hosts have conceded at least once in 12 consecutive matches in all competitions, too, their longest streak in club history after opening the season with three straight clean sheets.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nashville SC win: 55.4%

Toronto win:18.6%

Draw: 26%

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City will feel pressure similar to "the serve to win Wimbledon" when they look to secure the Premier League title on the final day of the season.

The Citizens took a giant stride towards clinching a record-breaking fourth successive top-flight crown with a 2-0 win over Tottenham on Tuesday.

Erling Haaland struck twice in the second half as City leapfrogged Arsenal to top spot, while moving two points clear of the Gunners with one match remaining.

Guardiola's side, who welcome West Ham to the Etihad Stadium on the final day, are red-hot favourites to seal the deal with a victory, with Opta predicting they have an 84.3 per cent chance of winning the league now.

But the Spaniard admits it is not a foregone conclusion and will not be plain sailing, and highlighted similar memorable examples of where City have had to really dig deep to get over the line.

"The tennis players say 'the serve to win Wimbledon', the last game is the most difficult one," he told BBC Sport. "We know what we're playing for. The tension is there."

"[The players] were playing for the consequences of the result [in the first half against Tottenham]," he told reporters in his news conference. "When you do that, you are going to lose the Premier League. You cannot perform to your level. They are human beings, I understand the pressure.

"Not even Arsenal played well against Manchester United [the Gunners' 1-0 win at Old Trafford]. They knew if they did not win there, they would not win the Premier League. It will be the same on Sunday for us against West Ham.

"We will feel the pressure. Look at Aston Villa a few seasons ago, 2-0 down with 15 minutes to go. Sergio Aguero against QPR, went to 93 minutes. It is normal. That is why we talk and say everyone has to relax, and do what they have to do. That is all."

Seattle Sounders visit Western Conference leaders Real Salt Lake in midweek and Brian Schmetzer is enjoying the challenges of chasing an MLS playoff spot.

The visiting Sounders have two wins and a draw in their last three outings after defeating Portland Timbers 2-1 on the road.

Seattle sit 10th in the West, just three points shy of St. Louis City above them, and Schmetzer knows the pressure is there to chase a postseason position.

"We're three points from the playoff line, that pressure is still there," said Schmetzer.

"We're still too far down the standings for our liking. But you go to Philly and get points, you come here [to Portland] and get points.

"You have 120 minutes of kids gritting it out [in the U.S. Open Cup]. I can sense that the group is finding its form."

Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan added: "We feel we definitely have a good enough team to compete for trophies this year."

The hosts are unbeaten in their last eight league matches, sitting top of the West standings by two points heading into this midweek clash.

Pablo Mastroeni's side were held to a 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy in their last outing, with this now the chance to respond on home turf.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango

Cristian Arango scored both of Real Salt Lake’s goals on Saturday to take his total to 11 for the season.

Only five players have scored more than 11 goals in a season for RSL, including just one, Damir Kreilach (twice), since 2015.

Seattle Sounders – Raul Ruidiaz

Raul Ruidiaz scored the winning goal for Seattle against Portland on Sunday, his seventh goal of the season, and the fifth different game he's scored in.

The Sounders have collected 10 points (W3 D1 L1) in the five games in which Ruidiaz has scored compared to three points (W0 D3 L4) in the seven he hasn't.

MATCH PREDICTION – REAL SALT LAKE WIN

Salt Lake are unbeaten in 13 straight regular-season home matches against Seattle (W10 D3) with the Sounders' only ever league win at RSL coming in 2011.

RSL has had just one longer home unbeaten run against a single opponent, going 18 in a row at home against the Colorado Rapids without losing from 2007—19, making them the favourites for this clash.

Yet Seattle have won consecutive away matches for the first time since March-April last season.

The Sounders scored five times in those matches after scoring just four in their first five on the road this season, suggesting goals are on the cards here.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake win – 40.3%

Seattle Sounders win – 30.1%

Draw – 29.6%

Bertrand Traore's goal gave Villarreal a 1-0 win at Girona on Tuesday that prevented the hosts from reclaiming second spot in LaLiga.

Girona, who have enjoyed a superb campaign, are third with 75 points, trailing Barcelona, who moved a point clear with a 2-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Monday.

Alexander Sorloth and Goncalo Guedes went close for Villarreal in the first half, but Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga was in fine form.

Traore broke the deadlock in the 59th minute after latching on to a superb pass from Guedes, however.

Viktor Tsyhankov, Savio and Artem Dovbyk all went close for Girona, but could not find the back of Filip Jorgensen's net.

Villarreal were reduced to 10 men in the 95th minute after Kiko Femenia was sent off for a second yellow card after a push on Aleix Garcia.

Data Debrief: Rare home loss for Girona

Girona have suffered only their second defeat at Montilivi in LaLiga this season, following a 0-3 loss to Real Madrid in September.

The home side attempted 749 passes in this game, their highest total in a single match in LaLiga this season.

Vinicius Junior scored twice as newly-crowned LaLiga champions Real Madrid thrashed visitors Alaves 5-0 on Tuesday, after the hosts had paraded the trophy in front of the home fans before the game.

Jude Bellingham and Vinicius scored a goal each inside 30 minutes before Federico Valverde put Los Blancos 3-0 up at the break, unleashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net in first-half stoppage time.

Vinicius added one more in the 70th minute from a precise cross by Bellingham that the Brazilian fired into the top corner, and substitute Arda Guler completed the scoring with a low finish.

Carlo Ancelotti's side travel to Villarreal on Sunday before hosting Real Betis on May 25 ahead of their Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on June 1.

Having thrashed Granada 4-0 on Saturday and Cadiz 3-0, either side of their Champions League semi-final victory over Bayern, Real are firing on all fronts heading into the Wembley Stadium showpiece.

Meanwhile, Alavez remain 11th in the table heading into their next game against Getafe at home on Saturday.

Data Debrief: Madrid capitalise on opportunities

Madrid found the back of the net five times from just 2.47 expected goals (xG), suggesting Los Blancos' finishing quality was far greater than Alaves' 1.28 xG.

Ancelotti's side have now kept 20 clean sheets in 36 LaLiga games this campaign, their most in a single season in the competition's history (19 in the 1986-87, 1987-88 and 2019-20 seasons).

Coco Gauff will have the chance to down world number one Iga Swiatek after progressing to the Italian Open semi-finals with Tuesday's victory over Qinwen Zheng.

The 20-year-old breezed into the last-four draw in Rome after her straight-sets victory over Zheng, winning 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.

Gauff faced just one break point throughout the match, failing to hold her serve at 5-3 up as seven-seed Zhen battled back in the first set.

Yet Gauff eased through the tie-break and never looked back from there on, teeing up a meeting with Swiatek, who overcame Madison Keys in straight sets in her quarter-final clash.

Data Debrief: Young Gauff powers on

No player has won more matches than Gauff (61) in WTA-1000 events before turning 21, since the introduction of the format in 2009, as the American moved past Caroline Wozniacki (60) with victory here.

Wozniacki (eight) is also the only player to manage more WTA-1000 semi-final appearances before her 21th birthday, with Gauff's last-four qualification here taking her onto six – one ahead of Swiatek.

Rangers kept Celtic's Scottish Premiership celebrations on ice after Todd Cantwell and Scott Wright inspired a remarkable turnaround to hammer Dundee 5-2 at Ibrox Stadium on Tuesday.

Philippe Clement's side could not afford to drop points in this clash and seemed set to do so after Jordan McGhee bundled home before Antonio Portales headed past Jack Butland in the first half.

Ross McCausland managed to slice the deficit on the stroke of half-time for the hosts, sliding in to convert from Leon King's cross and teeing up a monumental comeback.

The Ibrox crowd were offered further inspiration to keep the title race alive when Cyriel Dessers glanced in from Cantwell's delivery after 52 minutes.

Former Norwich City midfielder Cantwell's fortuitous cross then dipped over Jon McCracken as Rangers hit the front for the first time, before Wright's pair of late finishes sealed the much-needed three points.

Yet this Rangers salvaging act could still matter for little, with Celtic requiring just a point away to Kilmarnock on Wednesday to seal a third successive top-flight trophy.

Data Debrief: Attacking barrage pays dividends

Clement may apportion this victory to Rangers' unrelenting desire to keep the title race ongoing, blasting 31 shots – and 13 of those on target – at the Dundee target for their 3.34 expected goals (xG) tally.

A plethora of attacking opportunities must be credited to star man Cantwell, who created a game-leading six chances – four more than any other Rangers team-mate.

Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem will have to fight for his place at the French Open after missing out on Tuesday's wild-card invitations.

Thiem will retire later this year due to a persistent wrist injury that has derailed his career but will likely need to battle through the qualifying rounds to appear at Roland Garros for a final time.

The two-time French Open semi-finalist is currently six places away from a main-draw spot for the upcoming major, with Richard Gasquet among the eight male players to secure a wild-card invitation.

Frenchman Gasquet will equal Feliciano Lopez's 21 tournaments at Roland Garros, the joint-most appearances of any player in the Open Era.

In the women's tournament, world number 99 Alize Cornet was also invited on a wild-card pick and will appear in a women's singles grand slam main draw for the 72nd time in her career.

That is the third most in the Open Era for major appearances, behind only Venus Williams (93) and Serena Williams (81).

Bruno Fernandes is reportedly drawing interest from Bayern Munich and Saudi Arabian clubs but Erik ten Hag remains confident the midfielder will stay at Manchester United.

The Portugal international, who joined the Red Devils from Sporting in January 2020, is said to be attracting attention from numerous clubs in the Saudi Pro League.

Bundesliga giants Bayern are also reportedly weighing up their options in attempting to sign Fernandes, though under-fire Ten Hag expects him to remain at Old Trafford.

When pressed at Tuesday's press conference on Fernandes' future, Ten Hag responded: "It is the same question as last week. So I answered.

"The same answer. Now in all the years he was, he was a tremendously important player for Manchester United and creating the most chances across the Premier League.

"So many assists, so many goals. It's clear he's a very important player for us."

Indeed, since his debut against Wolves on February 1, 2020, Fernandes leads United for chances created (644), goals (79) and assists (63) across all competitions.

In the same period, the 29-year-old also leads the way among Premier League players overall in chances created, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne (519), Trent Alexander-Arnold (424) and Pascal Gross (388).

Though Ten Hag is keen to keep Fernandes in Manchester, Raphael Varane has announced his intentions to leave the Red Devils at the end of the current season.

Casemiro is also said to be of interest in Saudi Arabia, where clubs are reportedly targeting moves for the likes of Mohamed Salah, De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

Iga Swiatek soared through to the Italian Open semi-finals following a dominant straight-sets victory over Madison Keys.

The world number one took just 76 minutes to wrap up a commanding 6-1 6-3 win - matching the scoreline which saw her overcome the American in the Madrid Open last four a fortnight ago.

Swiatek broke her opponent four times and saved all 10 break points she faced on the way to setting up a semi-final showdown with either Coco Gauff or Qinwen Zheng.

Yet to drop a set this week, the Pole remains on course to complete a hat-trick of titles in Rome and land her fourth silverware of 2024, in which she now boasts a 36-4 record.

Data debrief

Reaching her 16th WTA 1000 semi-final from 30 main draws entered, Swiatek (53.3 per cent) surpasses Serena Williams (53.1 per cent, 26 from 49) for the highest rate of last-four appearances in such tournaments since the format's introduction in 2009.

The Pole also took her tally of WTA match wins on clay to 75 from 85, with only Monica Seles, Nancy Richey (both 80), Chris Evert (81) and Margaret Court (82) reaching that figure on surface in fewer matches during the Open Era.