Yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though unsellable) Magpies' season continued to resemble all of the consistency of a wobbly jelly. Substitute Joselu scored within four minutes of coming on to earn Newcastle a draw against bottom side Swansea City. The visitors, who were denied a first-half penalty when Mo Diame appeared to handle in the area, nevertheless, took the lead through Jordan Ayew's header after Karl Darlow had parried his first effort. Newcastle equalised eight minutes later when Ayoze Perez's deflected shot fell for Joselu and he shot through the legs of Alfie Mawson. Swansea are now four points behind seventeenth-placed Bournemouth, while Newcastle are three points above the relegation zone in fourteenth. The Swans nearly grabbed a dramatic winner in injury time but Wilfried Bony's shot was cleared off the line by Newcastle's DeAndre Yedlin.
Elsewhere, ten-man Leicester produced an outstanding display to earn a point at third-placed Moscow Chelsea FC although they should probably have come away from Torpedo Stamford Bridge with all three. The Foxes dominated possession for large periods and created the better chances but had the sting taken out of their display when defender Ben Chilwell received two yellow cards in the space of five second-half minutes. He was shown no mercy by referee Mike Jones when he brought down Victor Moses, shortly after fouling Willian. Bakary Sako scored the only goal as Crystal Palace continued their revival under Roy Hodgson with victory over Burnley at Selhurst Park. The Mali international cut in powerfully from the left after good work by Christian Benteke and then drilled a left-footed shot that went straight through Clarets goalkeeper Nick Pope. West Hamsters United manager David Moyes became only the fourth manager to win two hundred Premier League matches as his side thrashed out of form Huddersfield four-one. Victory means The Hamsters, who have gone five games unbeaten in all competitions, move five points away from the drop zone and overtake Huddersfield in the process. West Bromwich Albions ended a twenty-match winless streak in the Premier League with victory over Brighton & Hove Albinos, thanks to goals from defenders Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson. The victory was Alan Pardew's first in the league since he replaced Tony Pulis in charge at The Hawthorns at the end of November. The only negative for The Baggies was a bizarre gesture from Jay Rodriguez which may land him in big trouble. After an argument with Gaeten Bong, Rodriguez appeared to pinch his own nose, prompting an angry reaction from the Brighton defender. Referee Martin Atkinson did not take any action on the pitch but made a note of the incident. The Seagulls slip from twelfth to eighteenth spot while West Brom remain in the relegation zone, a place below them in nineteenth, but are only two points behind seventeenth-placed Bournemouth. Abdoulaye Doucoure bundled home a controversial last-minute equaliser as Watford fought back from two goals down to draw with Southampton. Doucoure seemed to use his right hand to divert Troy Deeney's header past Alex McCarthy from close range to snatch a point for The Hornets. Two goals from James Ward-Prowse had given the Saints a two-nil lead at half-time as they looked to be on course to end a run of nine Premier League games without a win. But Watford came out stronger in the second half, thanks largely to the introduction of Deeney.
Wolverhampton Wanderings lead at the top of The Championship was cut to ten points as they were held to a goalless draw at Barnsley while Derby won three-nil at Birmingham. Nuno Espirito Santo's table-toppers are now unbeaten in thirteen league matches but were reined in by The Rams, who moved back up to second place with their victory over the second-bottom Blues. Johnny Russell put Derby ahead against Rams boss Gary Rowett's former club, Matej Vydra added a second and Andreas Weimann rounded off the scoring in the eighty ninth minute. Rowett's side had been pushed into third by Cardiff City, whose four-match losing streak in the league came to an end as they thrashed basement boys Blunderland four-nil at home in the lunchtime kick-off. Callum Paterson opened the scoring in the first minute of the second half, Black Cats midfielder Didier Ndong was sent off three minutes later for a nasty challenge on Junior Hoilett and Joe Ralls then extended the hosts' lead soon afterwards. Paterson later added his second goal and substitute Anthony Pilkington's stoppage-time effort completed the rout as The Mackem Filth's ex-Wales boss Chris Coleman endured a thoroughly miserable return to the Cardiff City Stadium. Although the forty seven-year-old had overseen some of Welsh football's finest moments in recent memory at this ground - such as their 2015 win against Belgium and the celebration of qualifying for Euro 2016 - his Swansea roots meant that the Cardiff fans greeted him with mockery rather than reverence. Bristol City's promotion push suffered another setback as they were beaten at home by Norwich, their third league defeat in a row, James Maddison netting for the away side in the seventy ninth minute. Seventh-placed Dirty Leeds had Eunan O'Kane sent off in the first half at Ipswich and succumbed to a Bersant Celina goal at Portman Road. Poor Bloody Fulham moved above The Middlesbrough Smog Monsters into eighth place following their victory over The Smoggies at the Riverside Stadium, where Oliver Norwood converted a late penalty. Burton Albinos remain twenty second following their three-one home defeat to Queens Park Strangers, who are now nine points clear of the relegation zone. Notlob, a point better off than Burton, dropped to twenty first as they lost two-nil at Brentford. Hull are just outside the relegation zone, level on points with Notlob, having drawn nil-nil with Reading at The KCOM Stadium. Millwall and Preston drew one-one at The Den, Aiden O'Brien putting the hosts in front before Callum Robinson equalised.
Vitaly Mutko has stepped down from his role as chief organiser for next summer's World Cup in Russia, two days after he temporarily left his post as Russian Football Union President. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister was extremely banned from the Olympics for life having been accused of running a huge 'state-directed' doping programme. Mutko stood down from his RFU position on Monday while he contests the ban. He has now also left his World Cup role to 'concentrate on government work.' Allegedly. Mutko said that Alexei Sorokin will instead chair the World Cup 2018 organising committee. 'There is still a lot of work, but I am absolutely sure that everything will be ready on time,' he told R Sports. The organising committee spoke of its 'great regret' at Mutko's decision, but added it would not affect its plans for the tournament, which starts on 14 June. Football's world governing body, those well known appeasers of corruption FIFA said it had 'taken note of the decision' and thanked Mutko for his work so far. Whistleblower Vitaly Stepanov, a former Russian anti-doping agency worker, told the International Olympic Committee that Mutko, a former Sports Minister, 'created and ran' the country's 'state-directed' doping programme. He has always denied being part of a doping programme - to paraphrase Mandy Rice Rice Davies, 'well, he would, wouldn't he?' - but Russia was, nevertheless, very banned from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
England's opening two World Cup group matches against Tunisia and Panama will be broadcast live across BBC television, radio and online. Gareth Southgate's side face Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday 18 June at 7pm UK time before playing Panama in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday 24 June at 1pm. Both Group G games will be broadcast on BBC1, Radio 5Live and online. Euro 2016 champions Portugal's Group B game with Spain is also on the BBC at 7pm on Friday 15 June. England's final group match, against group favourites Belgium on Thursday 28 June at 7pm, will be shown live on ITV, who will have first pick in the last sixteen if England make it that far (which, give their performance at the last couple of tournaments, is doubtful). The BBC will then have the first two choices of quarter-final games, including England's if they progress that far. Both BBC and ITV will broadcast the final live from Moscow on Sunday 15 July at 4pm. Reigning world champions Germany open against Mexico on Sunday 17 June and viewers will be able to watch that game live on the BBC. Philip Bernie, BBC head of TV Sport, said: 'We're delighted with our selection of matches, which sees the BBC bring England's first two games of the competition live to our audiences - as well as their potential quarter final. We are also very pleased to be showcasing the skills of the world's best players, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, in five of their group matches. The BBC is proud to be offering such an enticing array of games on football's biggest stage, as we look to deliver to audiences unprecedented, extensive access to World Cup content across TV, radio, online and social media.'
The referee who awarded a controversial penalty against Northern Ireland during their World Cup play-off defeat by Switzerland says that he made a mistake. As pretty much everyone who saw the incident, including all the players, already knew. Romanian Ovidiu Hategan ruled that Corry Evans had blocked a shot with his arm during the first leg, despite TV replays showing the ball struck the player's shoulder. 'It was a sad and unpleasant moment for me, sad because I made that mistake,' Hategan told Romanian media. Hategan will not be used as a referee at the World Cup in Russia. World governing body FIFA has released the list of thirty six match referees who will take charge of matches at this year's tournament and Hategan has accepted that his decision during the first leg at Windsor Park 'may have played a factor' in his omission. 'Unfortunately I'm not among the thirty six, but I'll see if I'm going to be a video referee,' he added, hopefully. 'Surely it has had a big influence and what happened in the play-off game. It's not a secret and I'm not hiding behind words. In our world, the referees are the same as the goalkeepers - everyone sees the mistake. I've got over that moment, I'm a strong man. My family were there for me.' Swiss defender Ricardo RodrÃguez scored the subsequent spot-kick to secure the only goal of the play-off, which ended Northern Ireland's hopes of qualifying for Russia.
