Sport: Five things we learned from the weekend

We’ve just about caught our breath from another pulsating weekend of sport. There were thrills and spills from the Premier League, FA Cup, Formula 1 and more!

Here is a round-up of five things we learned from the weekend…

Arsenal and Chelsea reach FA Cup Final

Who said the romance of the FA Cup was dead? We all love a cup upset and we had two this weekend as both Manchester City and Manchester United lost their FA Cup semi-final ties at Wembley.

On Saturday, Mikel Arteta produced a tactical masterclass against his former colleague, Pep Guardiola as Arsenal sealed a return trip to Wembley with a 2-0 victory. A brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was enough to cap a memorable week for Arsenal as they kept their chances of silverware alive.

David De Gea had an evening to forget on Sunday with an error-strewn display contributing to Manchester United’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea.

Olivier Giroud put the Blues ahead in first-half stoppage time before Mason Mount’s long-range effort slipped under the hands of De Gea to double Chelsea’s advantage. A Harry Maguire own goal rubbed salt into the wounds with Bruno Fernandes adding a late consolation for United.

Arsenal will bid to lift the FA Cup for a record fourteenth time in a repeat of the 2017 FA Cup Final.

Kane double downs Leicester

A man of the match performance by Harry Kane kept Tottenham’s top six hopes alive with a 3-0 victory over a lacklustre Leicester.

Spurs raced into an early first-half lead with a James Justin own goal after six minutes. Kane then scored twice in three minutes before the break with two well-taken efforts.

Meanwhile, the Foxes’ Champions League hopes hang in the balance having been 14 points clear of fifth position at the turn of the year. They face Manchester United in their final game to secure a top four spot and are now 9/4 to dine at Europe’s top table next season.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, nine-man Norwich lost 2-0 to Burnley on Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday, Danny Ings and Che Adams strikes gave Southampton a 2-0 win at Bournemouth.

Pearson sacked by Watford

There was a shock managerial sacking on Sunday as Watford decided to part company with Nigel Pearson with one week of the season remaining.

Pearson leaves the Hornets with the club sitting in seventeenth place, three points clear of Aston Villa in the relegation zone with two games to go.

The former Leicester boss is the third manager sacked by the club this season following the tenures of Javi Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores.

Watford had the chance to guarantee survival on Friday night but lost 3-1 to West Ham United to remain embroiled in a relegation battle.

Hayden Mullins will take charge for the remainder of the season with Graham Stack as his assistant for their final games against Manchester City and Arsenal.

Hamilton wins in Hungary

It was another dominant display from Lewis Hamilton who has secured back-to-back victories to lead the F1 World Championship for the first time this season.

Hamilton started in pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix and that’s where he remained with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finishing in second, despite crashing en route to the starting grid, with Valtteri Bottas in third.

Hamilton even had time to stop for fresh tyres with three laps to go to grab the extra point for fastest lap to secure the maximum 26 points available.

It was another race to forget for Ferrari as both Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc were lapped by Hamilton in what has been an underwhelming campaign so far.

Mercedes continued their early season dominance and will bid to extend their lead at the top of the standings at the British Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.

Leeds United promoted to Premier League

Finally, a special mention to Leeds United who sealed their long-awaited return to the Premier League after a sixteen-year absence.

Their promotion was confirmed on Friday night with second-placed West Brom losing at Huddersfield to spark celebrations with Premier League football confirmed for next season at Elland Road.

Leeds returned to action on Sunday and produced a second-half comeback to beat Derby 3-1 at Pride Park with goals from Pablo Hernandez, Tyler Roberts and Jamie Shackleton.

Three points meant United were promoted as champions after Brentford failed to beat Stoke on Saturday.

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.