MALLORCA: Vedat Muriqi snatched Mallorca a surprise 2-1 La Liga win over Real Madrid on Saturday to deal Los Blancos a significant blow in the Spanish title race.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s side thought they had rescued a point after Eder Militao nodded home with two minutes remaining before Muriqi pounced in stoppage time to help the hosts climb to 17th.

With the defeat second-placed Real failed to maintain pressure on leaders Barcelona, who next visit Atletico Madrid.

“For me it is easy to see but the hard thing is for the players to know that without giving 200 per cent today, we were not going to win,” Arbeloa told reporters. “We were on top in the first half but because of one mistake, they scored. Here if you slip up for a moment… you end up paying the price.

“This is the elite, the top flight… not having a better second half than we did is what hurts me the most.”

Arbeloa started the game with Vinicius Jr on the bench, with Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in mind.

Real lacked spark in the first half, creating few openings of note. The best was for top scorer Kylian Mbappe, fit after a knee sprain that has troubled him for months.

Arda Guler rolled a ball in behind Mallorca’s defence for the French superstar to dart on to but Leo Roman saved with his leg.

The goalkeeper denied Mbappe again after Eduardo Camavinga fed him and Antonio Rudiger also nodded over from a corner.

Manu Morlanes threatened for Mallorca, heading just over, but Real did not heed the warning.

The midfielder opened the scoring a few minutes later, losing Camavinga and arriving into the box to fire Pablo Maffeo’s cross into the bottom corner past Andriy Lunin.

Leo Roman saved from Mbappe early in the second half as Real searched for an equaliser.

Arbeloa sent on Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and Militao for his first appearance since December after injury.

Real huffed and puffed but to little avail as Martin Demichelis’s Mallorca stayed solid at the back until the final stages.

They were eventually undone by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner, whipped towards Militao, who powered a header into the top corner.

However there was a sting in the tail for Real.

Muriqi, second top scorer in the division behind Mbappe with 19 goals, lashed past Lunin in the 91st minute to claim three points for his side.

The striker was visibly emotional after scoring, having missed a penalty in the team’s previous game, a defeat by relegation-battling rivals Elche.

“It’s been two difficult weeks… emotions and nerves get the better of me, I’m human,” said Muriqi, who also missed out on World Cup qualification with Kosovo in a play-off against Turkey.

“Many thanks to the fans for the enormous support and everything you’ve given me. I hope we can stay in the top flight.”

Mallorca climbed two points clear of the drop zone after recording a famous victory, which the players celebrated gleefully with the fans at the end.

“I’ve really wanted the boys to feel joy like this,” said Demichelis. “It doesn’t mean we are safe, but they needed it, we kept taking blows. The boys were beaten down but training very well.”

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2026

LAHORE: Pakistan women’s national team will make history this month when they compete in the FIFA Series in Ivory Coast, marking the country’s first appearance by a senior women’s side in an event held by the game’s world governing body.

The team departs for the West African nation on Monday ahead of their opening match against the Turks and Caicos Islands on April 9. Pakistan will then face Mauritania on April 12 before concluding the group stage against hosts Ivory Coast on April 16.

Head coach Adeel Rizki will lead the side throughout the campaign.

Forward Nadia Khan was full of gratitude for Pakistan Football Feder­ation (PFF) president Mohsen Gilani for securing the team’s place in the tournament, saying the opportunity to compete at such a level would provide invaluable exposure.

“I want to say a big thank you from our team to PFF president Mohsen Gilani for organising the team’s participation at the FIFA Series,” Nadia said in a statement issued by PFF on Saturday.

“It is one thing just saying different things but actually executing it and following through is something different and it’s truly amazing that we can play at this level and get exposure like this.”

Zeeyana Jivraj said FIFA’s decision to select Pakistan for the series represented a major milestone, particularly given the squad’s limited time together in previous campaigns.

“FIFA specifically picking us to compete in the FIFA series I think is really really big for us,” the goalkeeper said.

“With us it’s always really difficult because we don’t really get much time together as a team and so this time it’s been really nice to be able to get a few weeks of training before we go and play in the Ivory Coast and hopefully that can allow us as a team to gel to be able to perform.”

The team’s training camp concludes in Lahore on Sunday. Midfielder Sanah Mehdi urged supporters to follow the team’s progress during the tournament.

Squad:

“We’re all really looking forward to the support and please get behind us and watch our games,” Sanah requested.

“It means a lot to us and it’s what drives us forward.”

Goalkeepers: Zeeyana Jivraj, Nisha Ashraf, Arzoo Hazara; Defenders: Isra Khan, Anaya Ahmad, Anmol Hira, Kayla Siddiqui, Karissa Jivraj, Alia Sadiq, Maria Khan, Nizalia Siddiqi; Midfielders: Suha Hirani, Rameen Fareed, Layla Banaras, Sanah Mehdi, Zehmena Malik; For­wards: Mariam Mah­mood, Aqsa Mushtaq, Aiman Altaf, Nadia Khan, Maryam Zehri, Azwa Chaudhry.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2026

LAHORE: In an all-round performance that prominently featured Sameer Minhas’ blistering half-century, Islamabad United cruised to a resounding seven-wicket victory against Rawalpindiz in their HBL Pakistan Super League match here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.

The win, which is United’s second of the ongoing season, lifted them to the second spot with five points in four games. Unbeaten Karachi Kings (six points) lead the eight-team table with three victories in as many matches. Rawalpindiz, who lost their third consecutive match in PSL 11, remain winless and are currently seventh.

Chasing a pretty modest 157, United completed the task off just 14.2 overs after taking a flying start in powerplay.

Man-of-the-match Sameer remained a standout batter in the whole match as the right-hander clobbered a decisive 70 off just 36 balls with the help of seven fours and four sixes.

United raced to 62 in powerplay while losing opener Devon Conway (six) who was caught by Kamran Ghulam at deep midwicket off fast bowler Mohammad Amir in the sixth over.

The 19-year-old Sameer cruised to his half-century off just 25 balls and continued to threaten Rawalpindiz bowlers.

They finally took a sigh of relief in the 10th over when left-arm pacer Jalat Khan sent Sameer back to the dugout to leave United at 92-2.

United, who touched the 100 mark in 9.5 overs, lost Mohammad Faiq (19 off 16) in the 12th over as the batter was caught by Daryl Mitchell off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain as the score read 112-3.

However, there was no more respite for Rawalpindiz as Haider Ali (26 not out off 16) and Mark Chapman (24 not out off seven) built a rapid 44-run stand off just 16 balls to comfortably steer United to a well-deserved victory.

Haider smashed three fours and a six while southpaw Chapman struck four fours and a maximum.

Only Amir (1-18 off three overs) managed to restrict United whereas Jalat (1-38 off three overs) and Rishad (1-36 off three overs) and the rest could hardly challenge the roaring United batters.

Earlier after being sent in to bat first, Rawalpindiz managed a modest total after getting off to a poor start.

Paceman Richard Gleeson’s double strike to dismiss openers Yasir Khan (two) and Mohammad Rizwan (two) in the second and fourth overs respectively, restricted Rawalpindiz to 15-2. Rizwan was cleaned up with a beautiful yorker while Yasir was brilliantly caught by Faiq at the backward point.

Number three Kamran and Mitchell (19 off 15, two fours) tried to rescue and in the process managed to steer their team 35-2 in powerplay.

The duo during their 51-run stand helped Rawalpindiz reach 50 off 7.2 overs before Mitchell was caught by a rushing Chapman at deep square leg while negotiating a slower bouncer from pacer Salman Irshad as the scoreline read 66-3 at halfway stage.

Right-handed Kamran in the meantime kept the scoreboard moving as he completed his half-century off 37 balls.

United dented Rawalpindiz badly in the 12th over when Kamran trying to play a big stroke off a sluggish off-cutter by fast bowler Faheem Ashraf edged it to wicket-keeper Conway at the total of 78. Kamran during his attacking knock cracked six fours and a couple of sixes.

After the departure of Kamran, Rawalpindiz lost Sam Billings (seven) who was trapped in front by Imad Wasim in the 15th over — which made it 96-5 — as the batter failed to play a reverse sweep and was given out by the third umpire on his review call.

After reaching 100 in 15.1 overs, Rawalpindiz got a late flourish through Dian Forrester (44 not out off 19) and Abdullah Fazal (23 off 16, two sixes) as their cameos helped the team race to 150 in the next 4.3 overs.

Abdullah was caught at deep cover by Sameer off Salman in the 17th over with the total at 117 while Rishad (three) was caught by Chris Green off Faheem in the penultimate over with 135 on the board.

Forrester’s belligerent knock contained four sixes and a couple of fours as the left-handed batter steered Rawalpindiz past 150 plundering 20 runs off the final over bowled by Salman.

For United, Gleeson (2-21) and Faheem (2-22) and Imad (1-15) impressed with the leather while Salman conceded 52 runs off four overs while claiming a brace.

SCOREBOARD

RAWALPINDIZ:

Mohammad Rizwan b Gleeson2

Yasir Khan c Faiq b Gleeson2

Kamran Ghulam c Conway b Faheem50

Daryl Mitchell c Chapman b Salman19

Sam Billings lbw b Imad7

Abdullah Fazal c Sameer b Salman23

Dian Forrester not out44

Rishad Hossain c Green b Faheem3

Mohammad Amir Khan not out0

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-3)6

TOTAL (for seven wickets, 20 overs)156

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Amir, Jalat Khan

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Yasir), 2-15 (Rizwan), 3-66 (Mitchell), 4-78 (Kamran), 5-96 (Billings), 6-117 (Abdullah), 7-135 (Rishad)

BOWLING: Imad 4-0-15-1, Gleeson 4-0-21-2, Faheem 4-0-22-2 (1w), Salman 4-0-52-2 (1w), Shadab 2-0-20-0 (1w), Green 2-0-23-0

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

Devon Conway c Kamran b Amir6

Sameer Minhas c Mitchell b Jalat70

Mohammad Faiq c Mitchell b Rishad19

Haider Ali not out26

Mark Chapman not out24

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-8)12

TOTAL (for three wickets, 14.2 overs)157

DID NOT BAT: Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Richard Gleeson, Salman Irshad, Chris Green

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-58 (Conway), 2-92 (Sameer), 3-112 (Faiq)

BOWLING: Amir 3-0-18-1 (1w), Amir Khan 2-0-24-0, Jalat 3-0-38-1, Rishad 3-0-36-1 (4w), Forrester 1.2-0-18-0 (2w), Kamran 1-0-7-0, Mitchell 1-0-12-0 (1w)

RESULT: Islamabad United won by seven wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Sameer Minhas

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2026