Soccer Monday: Celtic clinches title, Bayern-Dortmund still tight and Arsenal grabs vital win
All the big stories from this past weekend
Europe’s top five domestic leagues are down to their final few games. Only in Italy has a champion been crowned after Napoli clinched their first title in 33 years last Thursday.
No team has clinched the league in England, Germany, Spain or France — although these last two see Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain (currently without the suspended Lionel Messi), respectively, with considerable leads.
Here are the top three storylines from this past weekend:
3. Celtic clinches Scottish Premier League title
Celtic captured its 11th Scottish title in 12 years on Sunday following a 2-0 win against 10-man Hearts.
Just before the end of the first half, Alex Cochrane was red carded thanks to VAR review for a foul on Daizen Maeda as he ran alone towards goal. Kyogo Furuhashi’s 24th league goal gave Celtic the lead after 67 minutes at Tynecastle Park before substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu scored 10 minutes from time to put the game away.
It was Celtic’s second consecutive league title — and 53rd in club history — and are now just two behind rivals Glasgow Rangers’ record of 55 league championships.
2. Bayern-Dortmund race remains tight
Jude Bellingham, the English star who is rumored to be joining Real Madrid this summer, scored twice on Sunday as Borussia Dortmund routed Wolfsburg 6-0 at home to stay firmly in the Bundesliga title race.
Bellingham’s two goals came in the second half as Dortmund moved to within a point of Bayern Munich at the top of the table. Karim Adeyemi also scored twice, with Sebastian Haller and Donyell Malen also getting on the scoresheet in the first half.
Bayern defeated Werder Bremen 2-0 on Saturday, a road in that had forced Dortmund to get a result with three Bundesliga games left to play this season.
1. Arsenal wins and keeps title hopes alive
Over in the Premier League, Arsenal played one of their best games of the season by defeating Newcastle 2-0 on the road.
The road win means the Gunners are within a point of defending league champions Manchester City (who have a game in hand) with three rounds left on the calendar.
Man City, who face Real Madrid on Tuesday in the opening leg of the Champions League semifinals, defeated Leeds 2-1 on Saturday before a delighted crowd at the Etihad Stadium.