Football/Soccer 24-Hour Briefing
×Premier League Title Race
Manchester City piled pressure espn.com on Arsenal with a crucial 2-1 victory over Newcastle. Pep Guardiola described the win as "massive" and acknowledged his team need to play "at this level" for the rest of the season bbc.com. The victory moved City within two points of leaders Arsenal, who are facing criticism for their inability to handle the "noise" of the title race skysports.com. Guardiola also told his players to "enjoy life" with "caipirinhas and daiquiris" during a three-day break bbc.com.
Chelsea's Troubles
Chelsea continued their disappointing season with another dropped points, this time in a 1-1 draw against Burnley. The Blues had Wesley Fofana sent off before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer bbc.com. Manager Liam Rosenior expressed frustration, saying they have "set fire to four points in two home games" espn.com. The club's poor defending from set-pieces was criticized by pundit Micah Richards, who highlighted their lack of "leadership and organisation" bbc.com. Fofana and Burnley's Hannibal Mejbri were also subjected to racist abuse following the match skysports.com.
Aston Villa's Form
Aston Villa's season received a boost with Tammy Abraham scoring a late equalizer to deny Leeds victory skysports.com. The former Chelsea striker has enjoyed a return to his boyhood club, describing it as "like a dream" bbc.com. Villa manager Unai Emery remains upbeat despite the draw, seeing it as "a point gained rather than two points lost" bbc.com. Abraham believes his side are "so close" to challenging for the title and "have to keep pushing" bbc.com.
Brighton End Winless Run
Brighton finally ended their six-game winless run with a 2-0 victory over Brentford . Goals from Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck helped ease the pressure on boss Fabian Hurzeler bbc.com. The victory also saw James Milner make history as he became the Premier League's all-time appearance holder skysports.com. Milner's achievement was described as "like landing on the moon" by ESPN espn.com.
European Football
Bayern Munich's Harry Kane continued his incredible goalscoring form, taking his season tally to 45 with another double in a 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt espn.com. In Saudi Arabia, Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Al Nassr beat Al Hazem 4-0 to move top of the Saudi Pro League espn.com. Barcelona admitted they "can play much better" after a 2-1 defeat at Osasuna espn.com.
International Football
Scotland left it late to deny Wales a first Six Nations victory in three years, edging them 26-23 in Cardiff skysports.com. Meanwhile, Ireland recorded a record 42-21 victory over England at Twickenham, with Steve Borthwick's side described as "floundering" skysports.com. Canada denied Team GB curling gold after a tense final at the Winter Olympics skysports.com.
Transfer News
Tottenham and Newcastle are reportedly interested in bringing Darwin Nunez back to the Premier League bbc.com. Tottenham's sporting director Johan Lange has indicated interim boss Igor Tudor could get the job permanently espn.com. Manchester United midfielder Casemiro is drawing interest from both Lionel Messi's Inter Miami and Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr espn.com.
Wrexham's Charge
Wrexham continued their promotion charge with a dramatic 5-3 victory over Ipswich in an eight-goal thriller espn.com. Phil Parkinson praised the character of his team despite being furious they weren't awarded a penalty espn.com. The victory boosted their hopes in what BBC Sport described as a "chaotic 8-goal thriller" espn.com.