Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will be missing from the dug-out for their home match against Everton after being banned for one game by England’s Football Association for receiving three yellow cards, the BBC reported Monday.
The 45-year-old Italian was booked for his celebrations following Pedro Neto’s sublime goal in added time which gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over Fulham on Sunday.
Victory propelled Chelsea into the fifth and final Champions League spot, above Nottingham Forest on goal difference.
READ ALSO: Leeds, Burnley Promoted To Premier League
Forest can go back above them if they avoid defeat against Tottenham later on Monday.
Maresca, whose two previous bookings this season were against Newcastle and Bournemouth, can return for the following game, also at home, against leaders Liverpool on May 4.
Assistant manager and former goalkeeper Willy Caballero could replace him on the touchline for the Everton match at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Leeds United and Burnley won promotion to the Premier League on Monday as faltering Sheffield United were forced to settle for a place in the Championship play-offs.
Leeds, who last played in the top division in the 2022/23 season, humbled Stoke 6-0 at Elland Road, with Joel Piroe scoring four goals.
Daniel Farke’s men knew that if Sheffield United failed to beat Burnley in the later kick-off, they would be back in the Premier League.
Captain Josh Brownhill scored twice for Scott Parker’s Burnley, who have made an immediate return to the top flight.
Leeds and Burnley both have 94 points and neither can now be caught by Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United (86), who have won just one of their past five games.
Leeds, who suffered the agony of defeat to Southampton in last season’s Championship play-off final at Wembley, made short work of Stoke.
Dutch forward Piroe, who had not scored since late February, returned to form with a vengeance, celebrating a hat-trick in the 20th minute.
Junior Firpo made it four and Piroe, the club’s leading scorer this season, netted his fourth goal shortly before half-time.
The game was already long over as a contest but Wilfried Gnonto nodded a sixth goal in the 59th minute.
Farke and his players celebrated in front of their passionate fans at the final whistle but the champagne is still on ice.
The German, who has previously managed in the Premier League with Norwich, praised the way his team had coped with the pressure.
“To deliver such an emphatic performance is really amazing and all the credit goes to the boys for the way they have handled the situation and the spirit they have shown in recent weeks,” he told the BBC.
“It’s the fate of a striker that sometimes you have a dry period or a dip in form. Joel had this but he has worked so hard and got himself out of it.
“In the last few weeks his performances were better but the ball didn’t want to go in the net. It’s a bit like shaking a bottle of ketchup — all of a sudden everything comes out and that was a bit the case today. ”
Leeds wobbled from the start of March, winning just one in six games, raising fears that they would again have to settle for a place in the play-offs.
But the league’s top-scorers, with 89 goals, have now won their past four league games.
READ ALSO: Chelsea Manager Maresca Gets Touchline Ban
Solid Burnley
Burnley are nowhere near as prolific as their closest rivals, whom they will battle for the Championship title, but their superpower is their defence — they have conceded just 15 goals all season.
Brownhill broke the deadlock at Turf Moor in the 28th minute when he pounced from close range but the visitors were level just nine minutes later through Tom Cannon.
But Brownhill put Burnley back in front from the penalty spot before half-time and they held on to extend their unbeaten run to a club-record 31 games.
Burnley’s players celebrated on the pitch at the final whistle — matched by the watching Leeds team at Elland Road.
“I’m speechless. All that hard work this season,” Brownhill told Sky Sports.
“We’ve been written off so many times, people calling us boring. We’ve bored our way to the Premier League.
“It takes a whole team — it’s not just a back four, a goalkeeper, it takes everybody. ”
Sheffield United are guaranteed to finish third but face a battle to secure a spot in the Premier League through the play-offs.
The four Serie A matches scheduled to take place on Monday have been postponed to a later date following the death of Pope Francis, the Italian top flight said in a statement.
Udinese’s game at Torino, Fiorentina’s visit to Cagliari, Genoa’s match against Lazio and Juventus’ trip to Parma will be rescheduled to an unspecified date.
The games will have to fit into a congested finish to the season, potentially clashing with the Champions League semi-finals.
READ ALSO: Eiffel Tower To Mourn Pope Francis With Lights Out On Monday Night
Serie A also postponed matches in its youth league.
The Italian football federation (FIGC) announced that all games across professional and amateur football on Monday would be rescheduled to a later date.
The FIGC hailed the Pope as “an example of Christian charity and dignity in suffering, always close to the world of football”.
The Vatican said Pope Francis, a keen football fan, died aged 88 on Monday.
Real Madrid players observed a minute’s silence before training on Monday as tributes poured in from across La Liga after the death of football-mad Pope Francis at 88.
“Real Madrid wishes to express its condolences to the whole Catholic community in the face of the loss of a historic and universal figure,” the club said in a statement.
“During his papacy, marked by the scale of his great legacy, Pope Francis represented an enormous spirit of solidarity and support for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people. ”
READ ALSO: World Leaders Mourn Pope Francis
The reigning Spanish and European champions posted a picture of the squad and coaching staff standing in a circle at the club training ground to hold a minute’s silence.
Minute’s silence at Real Madrid City.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were also among a slew of top-flight clubs joining La Liga in expressing their condolences for Francis.
The Argentine pope was a passionate follower of Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo and viewed football as a vehicle to educate and spread peace, receiving legends including Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 1-1 draw at St Pauli on Sunday, leaving Bayern Munich needing just five points from their remaining four games to win the Bundesliga title.
Leverkusen took the lead when Alex Grimaldo floated in a free kick, and Patrik Schick did the rest, jumping high to score after 32 minutes.
The visitors, however, shut up shop in the second half, allowing Pauli to grab hold of the match, laying siege to Leverkusen’s goal.
Morgan Guilavogui’s 74th-minute strike looked to have levelled things up, but it was chalked off for handball. The hosts kept pushing and scored just three minutes later, Carlo Boukhalfa tapping in after Lukas Hradecky spilt a corner.
The result leaves Bayern eight clear of Leverkusen, with four games remaining. Bayern need just five points and can wrap things up as early as next week, if they win and Leverkusen lose.
Leverkusen also have other concerns, with reports that manager Xabi Alonso, who took the club to their first-ever German title last season, could be on his way to Real Madrid in the summer.
Despite their lowly league position, St Pauli’s success this season has been built on a sturdy defence, with only Bayern and Leverkusen conceding fewer goals.
– Guirassy fires Dortmund –
St Pauli players celebrate after the German first division Bundesliga football match between FC St Pauli and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Hamburg, northern Germany on April 20, 2025. (Photo by FRANK MOLTER / AFP) / DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO
Borussia Dortmund came from a goal down to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2, keeping alive their slim hopes of reaching the top four.
Serhou Guirassy, who scored a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Barcelona, was again key, scoring one and setting up another for Dortmund.
“We’re much more secure and much more stable — that’s extremely important,” Pascal Gross told DAZN. “We’ve got four ‘finals’ to go”.
After a testy opening, Ko Itakura put Gladbach ahead after 24 minutes, playing a simple one-two with Kevin Stoeger to unlock the Dortmund defence.
Dortmund hit back with three goals in nine minutes before half-time.
Chelsea loanee Carney Chukwuemeka threaded the ball to Pascal Gross whose lateral pass found Guirassy, who swept home.
Chukwuemeka again started the move down the right flank, his pass reaching Yan Couto who, in turn, found Felix Nmecha who scored a carbon copy of the opener.
Dortmund turned the screw with Daniel Svensson heading in a rebound from a Guirassy shot just before half-time.
The visitors hit back when Germany striker Tim Kleindienst was felled in the box by Nmecha, with Stoeger making no mistake from the spot.
Dortmund snuffed out the comeback, however and now sit in seventh, four points off fourth place, having been as low as 11th.
Earlier on Sunday, an exhausted Eintracht Frankfurt fought to a scoreless draw at Augsburg, days after their Europa League quarter-final loss to Tottenham.
Nigerian chess champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya, has set a 64-Hour chess marathon world record.
The new record set by Onakoya and his chess partner, Shawn Martinez, at Times Square, New York, broke the 61-hour record achieved by the chess marathon record of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds, set by two Norwegian players, Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, in June 2024.
The four-day non-stop gameplay, which originally targeted 70 hours, started on April 17.
READ ALSO: 70-Hour Chess marathon: Tunde Onakoya Breaks Record Set by Norwegians
In a post on his X handle, where he shared photos of his new feat, he said, “It is possible to do great things from a small place”.
The official certificate from Guinness World Records shared by Onakoya and confirming the new record read, “The longest chess marathon was achieved by Tunde Onakoya (Nigeria) and Shawn Martinez (Puerto Rico) in Times Square, New York, New York, USA from 17 to 20 April 2025. ”
Onakoya with his GWR certificate confirming his new record of 64 hours Credit: X/Tunde_OD
More Than Personal Feat
Onakoya, 30, who gained global recognition in April 2024 for completing a 60-hour chess marathon with Martinez, a US chess master, had earlier revealed that his upcoming attempt was not just about records.
“We’re not just doing this for ourselves—we’re doing it for a million dreams. We want to build the biggest preschool in Africa for homeless children.
“The hardest part isn’t staying awake for three days—because a million dreams will do that. But now, more than ever, we need everyone’s support. If you’re in New York, show up at Times Square. Come support us. Help us inspire the world and show the world that it is indeed possible to do great things from a small place.
“My dream is to inspire the world and raise support to build the biggest free school for homeless children in Nigeria,” he added.
Music star, Davido, watches on during Onakoya’s 60-hour chess marathon in 2024
During his record-setting performance in 2024, the Nigerian community in New York turned out in a show of support, offering traditional meals like jollof rice and music. Nigerian superstar, Davido, also publicly supported him and presented him with a 30BG chain.
Back in Nigeria, Vice President Kashim Shettima commended him, stating that his feat was a symbol of “excellence and resilience that distinguishes Nigerians both locally and internationally. ”
Similarly, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, highlighted that the attempt was “a strong testimony to how greatness can come from anywhere. ”
That initial effort, which doubled as a $1 million fundraising campaign, helped elevate Onakoya’s Chess in Slums Africa initiative — a movement he says has provided education and lifelong scholarships to over 200 children across Nigeria. The funds raised were also used to distribute one million chess sets to impoverished communities, in partnership with The Gift of Chess.
In a January 2024 interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Onakoya said growing up in poverty taught him empathy because the real pain wasn’t just lacking money, but being cut off from things like education and justice. He said this experience drives his passion to help others, adding that he wants to be the kind of person he needed when he was younger.
A self-taught chess master, Onakoya learnt the game in a barber’s shop. Raised in modest circumstances by a mother who worked as a cleaner to support his education, he went on to study computer science at Yaba College of Technology.
Throughout his journey, the Lagos-born chess champion has received national and international acclaim. Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, appointed him in April 2024 as the state’s sports ambassador and likened his cause to that of millions of youths in Nigeria who are struggling to make something out of their lives.
