
'I was sick of going sideways': Cole Palmer on inspiring Chelsea fightback
Chelsea beat Real Betis 4-1 in Wroclaw on Wednesday night to win the Conference League, having found themselves 1-0 down after a poor first-half performance. Cole Palmer provided assists for Enzo Fernández and Nicolas Jackson in five second-half minutes to turn the game around, before Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo sealed the victory.
'I was sick of getting the ball and going backwards or sideways,' Palmer said afterwards. 'I thought when I next get the ball, I'm just going to go [forward] and it worked.' The win makes Chelsea the first club in history to win all of Uefa's European club competitions. Chelsea head coach, Enzo Maresca said: 'Hopefully, it can be a starting point to build a winner mentality.'
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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy accuses Moscow of doing ‘everything it can' to sabotage peace talks
Ukraine has said it does not expect any results from talks with Russia in Turkey, unless Moscow provides its peace terms in advance, accusing the Kremlin of doing 'everything' it can to sabotage the potential meeting. Moscow said it was sending a team of negotiators to Istanbul for a second round of talks on Monday but Kyiv has yet to confirm if it will attend. 'For over a week now, the Russians have been unable to present the so-called memorandum,' Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X on Friday, referring to a document Russia says it has prepared outlining its conditions for peace. 'For a meeting to be meaningful, its agenda must be clear, and the negotiations must be properly prepared,' the Ukrainian president added. 'Unfortunately, Russia is doing everything it can to ensure that the next potential meeting brings no results.' Russia says it will provide the memorandum at the talks in person on Monday. But Ukraine suspects it will contain its maximalist demands that Kyiv has already rejected. Zelenskyy said he and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, discussed on Friday the conditions under which Ukraine would participate in the Istanbul meeting proposed by Russia. 'There must be a ceasefire to move further toward peace. The killing of people must stop,' Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. While he didn't commit to Ukraine's attendance, he said that in their call he and Erdogan discussed the possibility of organising a four-way meeting with the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the US. Erdogan said it was important that Russia and Ukraine sent strong delegations to Istanbul, adding that a leaders' meeting could contribute to the peace process, the Turkish presidency said. A leading US senator warned Moscow it would be 'hit hard' by new US sanctions. Republican Lindsey Graham said on a visit to Kyiv that the US Senate was expected to move ahead with a bill on sanctions against Russia next week. Graham, who met Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital, told a news briefing he had talked with Trump before his trip and the US president expected concrete actions now from Moscow. Graham accused the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of trying to drag out the peace process and said he doubted the Istanbul meeting would amount to more than a 'Russian charade'. Trump, meanwhile, said on Friday that both Putin and Zelenskyy were stubborn and that he had been surprised and disappointed by Russian bombing in Ukraine while he was trying to arrange a ceasefire. Pro-Kremlin websites are ramping up a disinformation campaign targeting Ukrainian refugees in Poland, using AI-generated content to stoke resentment ahead of Sunday's presidential election, experts warned. Russia-aligned accounts have 'inflamed negative sentiment towards Ukrainians', calling them 'pigs' and accusing them of planning armed attacks, the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue said in a report on Friday. Ukraine ally Poland hosts about a million Ukrainian refugees – mostly women and children – and immigration has been a key issue for voters. Ukraine has jailed a 21-year-old man for 15 years on allegations he guided missile attacks for Russia. The SBU security service said on Friday that on the orders of a Russian special services officer, the man travelled around the Ukrainian capital and its outskirts secretly photographing the locations of Ukrainian troops. It said the Kyiv resident, who was not identified by name, was also preparing attacks in the city on behalf of Russia and was caught red-handed while 'spying' near a military facility.


North Wales Chronicle
4 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Beever-Jones hails ‘incredible' first Wembley start following England hat-trick
The 21-year-old became just the third woman – and second Lioness after Beth Mead – to score three times at Wembley, where she fired England out to a third-minute lead and Lucy Bronze headed home less than two minutes later. Beever-Jones struck twice more either side of Beth Mead's 29th-minute goal to hand England a 5-0 lead in the 33rd minute, while substitute Chloe Kelly added a sixth after the break. Aggie Beever-Jones! 🎩 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) May 30, 2025 'I'm delighted,' said Beever-Jones. 'I don't even know any of the records and whatever, but I think someone just said it was Beth. 'To be alongside her is something really, really incredible. It's my first time playing at Wembley for England and I don't think it could actually get much better than that. 'It was incredible. I think Wembley's always been a special place. Obviously, we won the FA Cup here, not so long ago with Chelsea. 'I saw the girls win the Euros here. For me it's such an historic place. I was just focusing on getting into the game and trying to do the basics well – I can't quite believe that. 'As a team, the first half was incredible. We executed the game plan really well. The girls took the goals really well. I'm just so happy.' England's triumph ensures they are still in contention to advance to the autumn Nations League finals, but will need to beat group leaders Spain on Tuesday night. Build-up to the penultimate group-stage contest was dominated by the shock international retirement of goalkeeper Mary Earps, who was instrumental in England securing their first major silverware with a 2-1 extra-time win over Germany at Wembley, three summers ago. Head coach Sarina Wiegman is expected to name her squad for that title defence – kicking off in Switzerland in just over a month – on June 5th, with next week's Spain meeting the last chance for players to make their case for selection. News of Earps' retirement on Tuesday had dominated the Lionesses' discourse leading up to the encounter, in which Chelsea's Hannah Hampton was England's number one. Beever-Jones added: 'As cliche as it sounds, Sarina said, 'It's a new kit, new England today. Go out there and put a graft in'. I think her words were 'destroy them' in her Dutch accent.' On a PLATE! 🍽️@bmeado9 🤝 @chloekelly — Lionesses (@Lionesses) May 30, 2025 Asked about her hat-trick hero, Wiegman said: 'I think she is a goalscorer. She scores goals very easily and very well. She has such quick feet and is keeping them on their weight all the time in good positions. 'She is really tight on the ball. The team did well coming into positions so the connections were really good. I think she played really relaxed.' But the England boss would not say whether or not Beever-Jones had cemented her place on the Euros squad, only conceding with a smile: 'You are putting some words into my mouth. I think she did really well today.'


North Wales Chronicle
4 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Aggie Beever-Jones hopes hat-trick earns spot in England's Euro 2025 squad
The Chelsea striker scored three times inside 30 first-half minutes in a 6-0 Nations League rout of Portugal at Wembley on Friday evening to set up a Group A3 showdown with leaders Spain next Tuesday. In the longer term, Beever-Jones is eager to make Wiegman's squad – which will head for Switzerland in July – and her efforts beneath the famous arch did her no harm. It's a hat-trick at @wembleystadium for @AggieBjones! 🤩 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) May 30, 2025 Asked about her ambitions of making the final party, Beever-Jones told ITV4: 'Someone asked me a similar question this week and I just said 'for me, I'm just focusing on the current and the now and I believe everything else will fall into place'. 'But as long as I'm giving the right people headaches and making Sarina happy, then so be it. 'But I think it was a good team performance today as well. We were really clinical in the first half. 'If I'm honest, the standard dropped a little bit in the second and we're looking to improve that so we're ready for the Euros.' Beever-Jones' treble came either side of goals from Lucy Bronze and Beth Mead as the Lionesses raced into a 5-0 half-time lead, with substitute Chloe Kelly adding a sixth, just after the hour. She said: 'I'm absolutely shattered first. Honestly, coming into this today after a busy season, I got told I was starting and I just wanted to help the team as much as I could. 'But I'm absolutely delighted right now. I can't quite believe it, if I'm honest.' Wiegman was delighted with the performance a night when her players stepped up in timely fashion. The head coach said: 'Of course, that's what we wanted. You go back to business and you want to show it on the pitch. It's an important game, we want to do well in the Nations League, we want to keep in the running to win it. 'We needed a win and it's really good to see the team showing up like this.' However when it was suggested things could not have gone much better, she added with a smile: 'There's always things to improve, of course, but it's a good score.' On a PLATE! 🍽️@bmeado9 🤝 @chloekelly — Lionesses (@Lionesses) May 30, 2025 For Kelly, a first England goal since the 2023 World Cup finals capped a week in which she also became a Champions League winner, but one which also saw her Euro 2022-winning team-mate Mary Earps retire from international football. She said: 'What she did in an England shirt is absolutely incredible. 'She paved the way for so many goalkeepers and the future generations goalkeepers, so I'm gutted that she's retiring. But I wish her all the best for the future and hopefully we see her a lot as well.'