THOMPSON, Conn. – Reigning PASS North super late model champion D.J. Shaw out-dueled fellow Granite State racer Derek Griffith to win Sunday’s 75-lap feature at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.

Shaw, seeking a third series title this year in the Precision JLM/Dale Shaw Race Cars No. 60, used the outside groove to reclaim the lead from Griffith, the defending PASS National Championship Series kingpin.  It was a reversal of fortunes for the top two finishers, as Griffith bested Shaw in last year’s opener at Thompson.

Shaw started ninth on the starting grid while third-starting Griffith quickly moved into contention, chasing early race leader Gabe Brown. Multi-time PASS North and National champion Ben Rowe was an early factor up front, as was six-time PASS North champ Johnny Clark.

Griffith and Shaw looked like they were going to settle the race amongst themselves, but 11th starter Ray Christian III had other ideas, and drove into contention while making good use of restarts to move as high as second in the running order late in the event.

Shaw beat Griffith to the checkered flag by just more than half a second after racing several laps side-by-side. Christian claimed the final podium finishing position ahead of Clark. Jake Johnson finished fifth.

The finish:

D.J. Shaw, Derek Griffith, Ray Christian III, Johnny Clark, Jake Johnson, Garrett Hall, Gabe Brown, Travis Benjamin, Nick Sweet, Devin O’Connell, Mike Hopkins, Cory Casagrande, Angelo Belsito, Ben Rowe, Reid Lanpher, Nick Johnson, Greg Nanigian, Kyle Casagrande, Jimmy Renfrew Jr., Dan Winter, Derek Ramstrom.

The post Shaw Bests Griffith In PASS North Lidlifter appeared first on SPEED SPORT.

ROUGEMONT, N.C. – Lee Pulliam earned the biggest payday in late model stock racing history Sunday afternoon with his victory in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour Old North State Nationals at Orange County Speedway.

Pulliam, who earned $30,000 for his triumph in the 200-lap event, spent most of the race pursing polesitter Taylor Gray and veteran Josh Berry. A caution with 49 laps left allowed Pulliam to close the gap at the front.

Trevor Ward ended up with the lead after the caution period after choosing not to pit. Berry, Timothy Peters and Pulliam all quickly dispatched Ward and began a battle for the race lead.

Another restart allowed Pulliam to dispatch both Berry and Peters, but a flat tire for Peters with 13 laps left created one more opportunity for those chasing Pulliam to track him down.

When the race resumed Pulliam and Berry began an intense battle that lasted for five laps, but it was Pulliam who emerged with the race lead. He proceeded to pull away to the $30,000 payday.

Gray, who won his first CARS Tour race recently at Hickory Motor Speedway, ended up second after leading many laps early in the race. Adam Lemke was third in a JR Motorsports entry, followed by Berry and Brandon Pierce.

The finish:

Lee Pulliam, Taylor Gray, Adam Lemke, Josh Berry, Brandon Pierce, Zack St. Onge, Trevor Ward, Mini Tyrrell, Bradley McCaskill, Tyler Matthews, Stacy Puryear, Camden Gullie, Bobby McCarty, Terry Dease, Myatt Snider, Timothy Peters, Corey Heim, Justin Carroll, Tommy Lemons Jr., Jacob Heafner, Craig Moore, Carson Kvapil, Deac McCaskill, Joshua Yeoman, Layne Riggs, Ty Gibbs, Mike Chambers, Terry Brooks Jr., Ronald Hill.

The post Pulliam Banks $30,000 CARS Tour Payday appeared first on SPEED SPORT.

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Though they combined to lead 344 of 500 laps on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Team Penske’s three drivers all missed out on being able to celebrate in victory lane in the end.

The Food City 500 was shaping up to be a Penske-perfect party, with all three cars running inside the top four for much of the day, but a late caution and subsequent strategy call became the trio’s undoing.

Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski all pitted for fresh tires after Kyle Larson smacked the wall to bring out the final caution with 22 laps left. In fact, Logano and Keselowski were first and second at the time.

After they left pit road, confusion with the restart order left Keselowski hung in the middle of a three-wide mess coming to the green flag with 14 to go, leading to a black flag penalty for Keselowski for “failing to obey NASCAR directives from the control tower.”

Not only did Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford jumble up the running order when the race resumed, it allowed eventual winner Kyle Busch and eventual runner-up Kurt Busch to escape, while Blaney and Logano tried to get out of the hornet’s nest of cars they were stuck in and give chase.

Their efforts were all for naught, however, and none of the Roger Penske-owned Ford Mustangs ended up as the winner when the checkered flag waved.

Logano ended up third, robbed of victory in a race where he led prior to the final caution flag and left wondering what might have been afterward.

“Right at the end there I thought when we got by the (No.) 2 (of Keselowski) that it was the pass for the win,” said Logano, who took the lead with 31 to go. “I was pretty confident we were gonna be able to do that for 15 laps or so … and then the caution came out. What do you do? … You know a few of them are gonna stay out. By the time I got to third, those top two were so far ahead of me that I was stuck and was not going to get to them.

“It stinks when you have the fastest car and don’t win, but it’s a team sport and it takes every piece to make it work,” Logano added. “We had the car part figured out today; we just missed it on some other ends and just have to keep fighting hard. We got a stage win and led a lot of laps, but you want to win at Bristol so bad because it’s the coolest track.”

Blaney, who finished fourth, was hoping to put the sour taste of last spring’s Bristol race behind him. He led a race-high 158 laps and appeared to be one of the favorites before getting mired in traffic late.

“I need to get better as the track kind of rubbers out,” noted Blaney. “Joey is really good at it. I thought he had the best car, probably. The track rubbers in … and I just need to do something different there, but overall, this was not a bad day. We were up there all race and tried to keep up with the track.

“The track was really racy today from bottom to top,” he added. “I thought it put on a really good show, but man, you want to win these things when you get close like that.”

Then there was Keselowski, who ended up a lap down in 18th after having to make a pass down pit road during the final green-flag sprint to the finish.

Keselowski had little good to say after climbing from his car, both about the restart and the penalty.

“Nobody could figure out the lineup,” he explained. “There wasn’t enough communication. It was just a tough deal.”

That last sentence was an apt description to describe Team Penske’s entire end result at Bristol.

It was a tough deal, indeed.

The post Bristol Dominance Comes Up Empty For Penske Trio appeared first on SPEED SPORT.

LEEDS, Ala. – Takuma Sato’s victory in Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama proved the old guard of the NTT IndyCar Series is still fast.

Just one race after Colton Herta became the youngest winner in Indy car history when he was six days shy of his 19th birthday, 42-year-old Sato started on the pole and drove a fantastic race to score the fourth win of his NTT IndyCar Series career.

Sato started on the pole and led 74 laps in the 90-lap contest. Although Sato was in front for most of the race, the intriguing strategy of a three-stop or two-stop race as well as when to use the primary and alternate tires created a great race.

There were a race record 11 lead changes, breaking the previous record of 10 set in 2015.

There were also many frantic, side-by-side battles throughout the field on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park.

Despite the physical racing, there was just one caution period for seven laps. That came when Graham Rahal’s car came to stop on the race course on lap 58. IndyCar officials allowed all the cars to pit under green before throwing the yellow flag, to keep from splitting the field as happens so often in past races with the closed pits rule.

Max Chilton was attempting to drive into pit lane but was blocked by Tony Kanaan’s car and got punted into the tire barrier.

Racing resumed on lap 65 with Sato in the lead. He was challenged by 38-year-old Scott Dixon, but went on to win by 2.3874 seconds. Forty-year-old Sebastien Bourdais finished third as Honda swept the top three positions.

With three of the four oldest drivers in the series on the podium, Dixon called it the “All Geriatric Podium.”

Sato isn’t letting age slow him down. Three of his four career IndyCar wins have come since 2017. He has now won one race in each of the last three seasons.

Mario Andretti was 53 years old when he won at Phoenix in 1993 and the Unsers were winners in their late 40s. Sato could be a bit of a throwback in that regard.

“It’s obviously nice to hear and encouraging me that it looks like I have 10 years left to race,” Sato said. “But in current formula, I don’t know.

“Obviously, it’s a very physical sport nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, even Mario, of course, it is. But the cars are very fast and putting 3.5 to the 4G’s and have to have an extensive program for the training. See how I go, see how I survive with age, and mentally I’m still a happy guy to race with, and if it — is it possible? I think that Bobby Rahal (team owner) will give me an opportunity. Let’s see how far we can go.”

Dixon finished second for the sixth time in his career. He has finished third or better in eight of the 10 Honda Indy Grands Prix of Alabama but has never won.

It was Dixon’s 42nd second-place finish of his 19-year career, moving him ahead of Helio Castroneves and alone behind only Mario Andretti’s 56 career runner-up finishes.

“We’ve got to be happy with that,” Dixon said. “It’s always tough competition. We come here to win, but second place (was) great for points. … Hopefully, we can try and get a win here one day.”

The win was the 27th for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in its 27th year as an Indy car team. Co-owners Bobby Rahal, the three-time Indy car champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, and David Letterman, the iconic late-night talk-show host, were on hand.

“I’m really pleased for Takuma, he drove beautifully,” Rahal said. “The team did a fabulous job, pit stops were great, strategy was great. But I honestly think Takuma was in a league of his own.”

Track officials announced a healthy three-day weekend attendance of 82,889.

About the only time Sato turned a wheel wrong came with five laps to go, when his No. 30 Mi-Jack/Panasonic Honda went wide in turn eight, going airborne briefly as it rattled through the grass. His car undamaged from the off-track excursion, Sato gathered himself and kept Dixon at bay to the checkered flag.

“Outside, (it) probably looked easy winning from the cruising and the pole position, but it wasn’t really cruising,” said Sato, the 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner. “So, I was really pushing hard using push-to-pass on everything the last 10 laps. So, it was tough, and I had a little moment into turn eight.

“Anyway, it was not necessary to give the little bit sort of heart attack to the body.

“It’s probably the cleanest race I ever won. … I think we come here with the hopes, always do, but honestly never really, really expected to be this much of a domination.”

For complete results, advance to the next page.

The post Sato Is Flawless In Grand Prix Of Alabama appeared first on SPEED SPORT.

LAS VEGAS – Mike Salinas picked up his first NHRA Top Fuel win Sunday at the 20th annual DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Salinas is the 107th different winner in Top Fuel history.

J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also victors in their respective professional Mello Yello Drag Racing Series categories.

Salinas started the race day from the No. 1 qualifying position. He powered his Scrappers Racing dragster to a victorious 3.801-second, 330.39 mph pass when he outran Brittany Force, Clay Millican and Doug Kalitta in the final round. Force finished as the Top Fuel runner-up.

“It means a lot,” Salinas said. “I have this program that I put in my head and I believed it would work. Alan Johnson (tuner) has been five years in the making. Didn’t say much, just let everything fall where it’s going to fall. We build something and now we can go racing.

“The important thing, for me, is that I have four daughters coming into the sport. I set the bar for my family all the time and now we have a good bar for them to reach and meet from the (Pro Stock) motorcycle, to the A-Fuel, to our Pro Mod coming, to everything we’re going to do. It’s going to be a great thing.”

The reigning Funny Car world champion Todd drove his DHL Toyota Camry to pick up the Funny Car title on Sunday with his 3.970-second pass at 319.07 mph. He has won three consecutive events at the Las Vegas track.

Todd faced a final four of Tommy Johnson Jr., Jack Beckman and No. 1 qualifier Tim Wilkerson, with Johnson coming in second.

“It’s all Kalitta Motorsports,” Todd said. “It seems like ever since I’ve come on board with this team, we’ve always run well here. This whole team, all four cars, have a really good handle on this place, especially Todd Smith and Jon (Oberhofer, crew chiefs). It seems like the more we come here the better grip they get ahold of this place.”

In Pro Stock, Butner picked up his third win of the season with his Jim Butner’s Auto Chevy Camaro team with his 6.677-second pass at 206.67 mph. The 2017 world champ got the final win light of the day with his triple holeshot victory over the quad of Matt Hartford, Jason Line and Greg Anderson. Hartford was second to the stripe and finished as the runner-up.

Butner’s Sunday win is his first four-wide win and his second win at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I learned that you can’t be a lazy winner,” Butner stated. “The win light is off now and it’s time for the next race. We’ve got to work hard but I’m with the best team. I’m in the final with Greg and Jason, we’re like three brothers. It’s just great to get that with Ken (Black, team owner). It worked out to be a good day and just very blessed and can’t complain.”

Arana picked up the win on his Lucas Oil EBR amongst a quadrant of champions consisting of reigning champ Matt Smith, five-time champion Andrew Hines and four-time champion Eddie Krawiec. Smith came in second as Hines broke on the starting line and Krawiec fouled out with his red light start.

Arana cruised to a 6.907-second run at 195.97 mph to pick up his second win at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“That Lucas Oil motorcycle, she’s bad to the bone,” Arana said. “That’s just a testament to my team and the consistency. We weren’t the fastest but we were consistent all weekend. I worked on my lights and they got better and better and I stepped it up when I needed to step it up in the final because the final was stacked. I love going up against those guys. It makes me put out my best. It’s just something about racing those guys that you just dig deep and really go for it.”

The post Salinas Collects Vegas Four-Wide Jackpot appeared first on SPEED SPORT.

Paris Saint-Germain will have to wait for at least one more week to seal their eighth Ligue 1 title after a 2-2 draw at home to Strasbourg on Sunday.

Lille's 1-1 draw away at Reims earlier in the day had meant that a victory would confirm PSG as French champions for a second consecutive season, but striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had other ideas.

Having put the hosts in front, the Cameroon international incredibly contrived to stop Christopher Nkunku's goal-bound effort at 1-1, and was unable to even turn to the ball into the net.

Strasbourg quickly went 2-1 up and Thomas Tuchel's men required a late headed equaliser from Thilo Kehrer to save a point - after the German coach had been dismissed for arguing with referee Thomas Leonard.

Choupo-Moting recognised his error post-match and explained his disappointment at failing to secure the title at the first attempt -- as well as his incredible miss.

"At first, I thought that Christopher might pass to me," he said. "He shot, though, and then I thought that the defender might get it.

"I hesitated to get the ball and asked if I was offside -- it all happened really fast. I touched the ball, it hit the post and it is a shame as I think that Christopher's was going in anyway. I am sorry for that, but we have to keep our heads up and keep going.

"It is a shame [to not be crowned champions at home] as we had enough chances. We want to win every game and the fans stuck behind us. It hurts, but we keep going -- football is like that."

Tuchel was at a loss to explain Choupo-Moting's latest howler after another away at Toulouse last week and simply chalked it up to "Murphy's law."

PSG now have the chance to seal the Ligue 1 title away at rivals Lille next weekend where they will clinch by avoiding defeat.

LONDON -- Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has said he does not want to sign a midfield alternative to Jorginho but would like to make Mateo Kovacic's loan from Real Madrid permanent.

Since the January sale of Cesc Fabregas, the coach said Kovacic is the only other player in his squad capable of filling in at the base of midfield.

"You know very well that, in that position, we have some problems because we have only Jorginho," Sarri, whose side face West Ham at home on Monday, told a news conference.

"In my opinion, Kovacic could become a very good central midfielder.

"Of course he is not a defensive midfielder but, as you know, in that position I prefer a very technical player. For us it's very important for us to have big quality in that position. Big quality not for the last pass, but big quality in terms of moving the ball."

Asked whether he would like to see Chelsea sign someone else to play the role, Sarri said: "No, I want to try with Kovacic. He is only on loan, of course. I'd like very much that Kovacic will stay with us."

Sarri praised former Chelsea academy player Declan Rice, who has starred at the base of West Ham's midfield and made his first England appearance last month.

"I think he's a very good player, very good in the defensive phase because he's very able to recover the ball," Sarri said.

"He usually plays very close to the defensive line and, in the first match against West Ham, he was really a very big problem for us."

Chelsea face three matches in six days, with games against West Ham and Liverpool either side of a trip to Slavia Prague in the Europa League quarterfinals, and Sarri said he felt the Premier League could have been more flexible with their scheduling of fixtures.

"I am not able to understand the decision of the Premier League because we have to go to Prague as an English team," he said. "So I'm not able to understand why we have to play on Monday. It's very strange.

"I think they could have done more for the English teams in Europe. In Serie A, teams play on Friday. Teams involved in the Europa League away from home, they can ask to play their next Serie A match on Monday.

"So we need to have very strong players. But the Premier League was able to sell in the best way possible the Premier League [TV rights], so in England we are lucky.

"We can buy the best players in the world, and so we have to accept we have to play every three days."

LONDON -- Kevin De Bruyne has rubbished any suggestions that Tottenham's new stadium gives them a better chance against Manchester City when they meet in the Champions League.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino claimed his side "can achieve more" in their new 62,000-seat home but De Bruyne said they would still be the same dangerous opponent, even if they were playing at Wembley.

"I don't care about the stadium, I care about the team we play," the Belgium midfielder told reporters.

"Everybody talks about the stadium like it's something special -- everybody has a stadium, everybody has supporters. They'll be up for it.

"I don't think there will be any difference. They'll probably be a little bit more excited but in the end it's a stadium with supporters. If they go to Wembley with 80,000 or there with 62,000, it's going to be the same. It'll be a tough game but I think we'll be all right."

City have the chance to reach the Champions League semifinals for just the second time in their history after going out at this stage last season, also to an English opponent in Liverpool.

Last year, Liverpool won the first leg 3-0 in front of a fervent home crowd but De Bruyne doesn't believe there will be any comparisons to Tuesday night's game.

"It's a different team, different year, different players," he added. "Last year we had a great season, We didn't make it beyond the quarterfinals and that's it.

"Cup games are different. If you're not at your best then it doesn't really matter, just try and see the game out. You can't play 70 games at your top level. I think we did really well."

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola believes Spurs have a small advantage as his side have played twice since their opponents' last game, as City chase an unprecedented Quadruple.

"Of course," he said when asked if Tottenham have an advantage because of their extra time off. "But to fight for everything you have to have calmness.

"If they have six days, congratulations. Maybe one day we will have six days and our opponent will have two or three. It's the fixtures.

"If we will be out of that competition, we will have maybe more days. It's what it is, so that is the challenge."

LONDON, England -- Pep Guardiola insists that winning the Quadruple will be "almost impossible" after he suffered another injury setback as Manchester City reached the FA Cup final.

Kyle Walker was taken off at half-time in the 1-0 victory over Brighton while the City boss revealed that Sergio Aguero, who missed the game through injury, has not trained since last Sunday.

"I will announce something to you, it is almost impossible to win the Quadruple, almost," Guardiola told a news conference.

"Put it in the headlines, guys. It is almost impossible to win the Quadruple. Surviving in that stage of the competitions is already a miracle. [No club has gone to April 17 still in contention] that is why it is incredible what these players have done last season when you achieve 100 points. Neither Liverpool nor Manchester City can repeat that. The year after, when you have the tendency to be arrogant or a little more presumptuous or think you are something that really you are not. And still, we are there. That's why it's incredible what these players have done before.

"Every game we lose players but that is normal when you play a lot of games. We are going to try until the end, every game."

City struggled to a 1-0 win with Gabriel Jesus's fourth-minute header from Kevin De Bruyne's dangerous cross the defining moment.

But while it wasn't as impressive of a victory as recent performances, Guardiola insisted it is ridiculous to expect his side to play well in every match.

"Do you believe we can play 60 games in a season and win 5-0 and have a good performance in every game?" he added. "Which team can do that? Even the teams for Trebles in other countries.

"I don't remember, I didn't see, but I think when Sir Alex Ferguson won the Treble, in that case not all the games were fantastic and winning 4-0 or 5-0.

"Normally semifinals and finals are games like this. You can analyse how many chances we create, but people expect from how good we are that we have to score I don't know how many goals. In this game, in this job, it doesn't work in that way."

Brighton boss Chris Hughton praised his players for running City close and said defender Walker should have been sent off for a red card.

The England international was shown a yellow card for brushing his head against Brighton winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh and the decision was backed by the Video Assistant Referee.

"In my opinion, it was a red card," Hughton said. "We ask players to be honest and Ali doesn't make a big meal of it. We certainly would have seen in the past players going down clutching their head and rolling on the floor.

"There will have been numerous circumstances where that action would get somebody a red card and the action was sufficient to warrant it.

"Everyone is pushing for [VAR]. I am one that has been converted a little bit, although I am not sure how far it is going to take things. It's even more disappointing that it was a VAR.

"Ali did the correct thing. We can't want the game to be a better game and take simulation out of the game and expect your players to be any different.

"It's not Ali's responsibility to make the right decision. That is down to the officials."

Nick Miller recaps a topsy-turvy weekend, with Premier League and FA Cup semifinal action serving up another football feast.

Jump to: Klopp's Hendo love | Arsenal's travelling woes | Subbed to the Wolves | Team of the Week | Deulo delight | Deeney's Jimenez smackdown | Brighton back to business | How disappointing are Burnley?

Expectation-quasher of the weekend

How seriously should we take Pep Guardiola's assertion that it's "almost impossible" to win the Quadruple?

Naturally, Guardiola's proclamation after Manchester City reached the FA Cup final by beating Brighton 1-0 was an attempt to temper expectations: Only a fool would stride out into a press conference and say this unprecedented clean sweep was theirs for the taking.

"Surviving in that stage of the competitions is already a miracle," he said. But of course it is entirely possible.

The natural inclination is to say City will lose at least one of the three remaining tournaments, but which one? They have a game in hand on Liverpool in the league, are clear favourites to beat Watford in the FA Cup final, and have to face an ailing Tottenham in the Champions League, followed by either Juventus or Ajax.

Some of those tasks will be harder than others, but if you consider each individually, you'd back City to win them all.

Manchester United fans: It's probably best to mentally prepare yourself for the very strong possibility that City would do it.

Under appreciated player of the weekend

You don't always see what Jordan Henderson does when he is on the pitch. But at the same time, you certainly notice when he's not. For long spells of Liverpool's late 3-1 win over Southampton on Friday night, they looked like a side without direction, neutrons nervously bouncing all over the place without a nucleus to form around.

Then he came off the bench, and almost straight away things looked better. Lots of people still don't think much of Henderson, but one pretty important person does.

"If I had to write a book about Hendo, it would be 500 pages," said Jurgen Klopp after the game. "The most difficult job in the last 500 years of football was to replace Steven Gerrard ... [he] has dealt with that outstandingly well.

"He deserves all the praise but he doesn't get too much."

There will probably be more important players than him in Liverpool's title run-in, but don't underestimate the contribution of the player under-appreciated by many, but not the man who matters.

Growing problem of the day

Arsenal were so extraordinarily bad in their 1-0 defeat to Everton it was difficult to peg them as the same team that has shown such positive signs in recent weeks. This was yet another terrible performance away from home, their run on the road stretching to just one win in nine, and that was against Huddersfield.

This is a problem that has followed Unai Emery around in the last few years. It was Paris Saint-Germain's away form that cost them the Ligue 1 title in 2016-17. They won all 17 of their games at the Parc des Princes, but lost five away which gave Monaco the chance to swoop.

Furthermore, in his final season at Sevilla, his side's away record read: played 19, won 0, drew 9, lost 10. They only scored 13 goals on the road and were second-bottom of the away league table.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why this is happening, but Emery must figure it out very soon and fix it, if he wants this Arsenal team to progress further.

Bad substitution of the day

It's always a little dangerous to apply post-hoc logic to games, to judge only the result rather than the process. But did Nuno Espirito Santo's substitutions cost Wolves in their 3-2 FA Cup semifinal loss to Watford?

In an understandable attempt to hold on in the closing stages, Nuno removed Diogo Jota and Joao Moutinho, bringing on another central defender and making his side more defensive. But the problem with a side's shape becoming defensive is the mentality also becomes negative, which invites the opposition to attack when they really needed no encouragement to do so.

Shoring up a backline isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's also handy if you have a forward outlet, and for most of the game Jota was that outlet, his directness and tenacity terrifying the Watford backline all day. Without him, extra-time was always going to be a slog.

Sure, we wouldn't be talking about any of this had Leander Dendoncker not clumsily lunged into Troy Deeney in the 94th minute. But even if Nuno's changes didn't significantly hinder Wolves, they certainly didn't help them.

Team of the Week

Goal of the weekend

Gerard Deulofeu must be an exceedingly frustrating player to support, if only because he tries absolutely implausible things far too often.

But then, one of them comes off, like his absurd flick/lob/curler/chip to spark Watford's revival against Wolves, and you forget all the times he shanks those efforts into the stands.

Slap down of the weekend

"I'm glad he put that mask on -- he could wear it out now as well, now he's a loser. So, enjoy the mask -- we got the victory."

Troy Deeney's "proper football man" schtick can get a little tiresome, and you get the sense that every interview is a potential audition for a post-career life as a "tell-it-like-it-is" pundit.

But after learning that Raul Jimenez had donned a Mexican wrestling mask to celebrate a goal only to see his Wolves side lose, we'll probably allow him this moment of satisfaction.

Platform of the weekend

Brighton are not yet safe from relegation, but perhaps their performance in the FA Cup semifinal defeat to Manchester City will provide some encouragement for the remaining Premier League campaign.

When Gabriel Jesus put Manchester City ahead after just four minutes, you feared the worst for the Seagulls, but they performed well after that and could have forced extra-time.

"On Monday morning, we have to get our Premier League heads on," said Chris Hughton, the implication being that their FA Cup run has been a distraction.

Now the league is all they have to concentrate on, so hopefully for them they can use this to get the points they need for survival.

Papered cracks of the weekend

With their 3-1 win over Bournemouth, Burnley should now be safe from relegation, barring an absolute catastrophe in the closing weeks of the season. But that shouldn't distract from the fact this has been a poor season for Sean Dyche's side.

They can blame the Europa League campaign if they like, and it's undoubtedly not ideal to be playing competitive football in July, but they were out of Europe by August.

They have undoubtedly improved a lot since Christmas, but this season has been a terrible disappointment after they finished seventh last term.