have been a belgians presence might have been a distraction, because it was a spaniard who was the most dangerous man. pedro opening the scoring in just the fifth minute. then unwittingly forcing a second off the face of simon deli just four minutes later. the checks still seem dazed when pedro turned providerfor olivia jerusha. chelsea's success bred complacency though. tourney five units on the car, and sloppy hits back. that shook the home site awakened, into 63 seconds later, pedro had his second. that wasn't the end of the drama. the visitors we re the end of the drama. the visitors were dreaming of an upset of totte n ha m were dreaming of an upset of tottenham proportions when he struck two almost identical goals early in the second half. unlike manchester city, chelsea held on to reach the semi finals. nick parrott, bbc news. arsenal made it back to back clean sheets against napoli in their quarterfinal, a 1—0 win in italy meaning they go through 3—0 on aggregate. a fantastic free kick from alexandre lacazette

was the difference in naples, as arsenal make it to the europa semis for the second season in a row. with two sides in the last four of the champions league — it means four english sides will play in european semi finals this season. arsenal will host valencia in the semi final first leg after they beat local rivals villareal 5—1 on aggregate. chelsea are away for their first leg against eintracht frankfurt after they came past befica on the away goals rule. that tie ended 4—4. the first legs are on thursday 2nd of may with the reverse fixtures a week later. alex mcleish's second spell as scotland head coach has lasted just 1a months. his contract was terminated by mutual consent after a poor start to the euro 2020 qualifiers. our sports news correspondent chris mclaughlin was outside hampden park earlier today. meeting here at the scottish airfield board meeting after that statement came out,

we are expecting the statement, but we are sad to see them go. it was a tough decision, but they highlighted performances, they highlighted performances, they highlighted results, and in particular that game against because eckstein, what they said was given what happened in kazakhstan, they couldn't quite see the progress that they wanted to see, given scotland and glasgow will be hosting games for the 20 20s scottish absolutely desperate for qualification, we know we haven't been to a major final since 1998 anyway, but there is extra significance on the euro 2020, so extra significance on the euro 2020, so the search for his successor sta rts so the search for his successor starts now. footballers across england and wales will go on a 24—hour social media strike from nine o'clock tomorrow morning, in protest at how recent incidents of racism have been dealt with by football authorities and social media companies.

the professional footballers‘ association is using the boycott to launch its anti—racism campaign. entitled hashtag—enough. among those taking part is tottenham defender danny rose, who was subject to abuse during england's euro 2020 qualifier in montenegro in march. he said "football has a problem with racism. collectively, we are simply not willing to stand by while too little is done to protect players." castleford were given a bit of a shock, before holding on to win their super league game against wakefield. they led by 28 points to eight with just 17 minutes to play — helped by five tries, including this from debutant corey aston, but they let wakefield fight back to within two points and gave themselves a nail—biting final ten minutes or so. the tigers edged it 28—26. in the night's other match, london broncos were thrashed 39—6 by catalan dragons. jarrell miller says he has "done nothing wrong" and will appeal the decision to deny him a licence to face anthonyjoshua

at madison square garden on the first ofjune. the new york state athletic commission refused him a licence to box after he returned an "adverse finding" in a drug test. he said "my team and i stand for integrity, decency and honesty and we will fight this with everything we have." they've asked for his sample to be tested but as things stand, joshua has no opponent for what would've been his first fight in the united states. let's have a quick look at some of the other stories making the sports news today. the ireland captain, rory best, has confirmed that he will retire from rugby after this year's world cup in japan. the 36—year—old is also ulster skipper. and has won 117 caps so far after making his debut in 2005. the fleetwood managerjoey barton says he ‘emphatically‘ denies allegations that he assaulted the barnsley boss daniel stendel. police are investigating an alleged altercation which took place at oakwell when the two sides

met last weekend. seattle sea hawks quarterback russell wilson is a lot richer today after signing the most lucrative deal in nfl history. his new four—year contract extension is worth 107 million pounds and comes with a 50 million signing bonus on top. the women's world cup is just 50 days away. but it's not the only significant event in the sport today. because the bbc have revealed the nominees for the women's footballer of the year award. won last year by england's lucy bronze. the winner is voted for by you, the public, so here's your chance to decide which of these five players should take the title this year. hey, i'm... i play for germany, and i'm a forward. i think i always

dreamed about it, i wrote an essay when i was like ten years old, that i wanted to be the best player in the world, i've always been working ha rd the world, i've always been working hard for it, but i never thought it would really happen. my name is... i'm a playerfor france. i grew up in a family with people, i had my mum, who gave me a voice, my dad as well, i've never looked at myself as different, any different than a man's footballer. i'm lindsay, i play midfield. i play for the portland thorns, and the us women's national team. sinclair seeing if she can find a little make foot ball seeing if she can find a little make football is everything to me. sometimes i would miss class so i

could go watch champions league, it shows a passionate young girl that, you know, wanted to watch games, wanted to go train extra, and do all of these things. sam kei, stryker, chicago red stars, australia. i think my best year was i play off a lot of instinct, and with a lot of people, i don't think maybe it's a skill, but it's just something that i'm gifted with, having click instincts. i guess maybe... translation: itake... translation: i take... from football, its life, and it's my passion. if football doesn't exist, i can't express myself. without football, life is less interesting, and too serious.

it's time to get serious. some great names and great goals there — and earlier i asked our reporter sarah mulkerrins what such a global list says about the state of the women's game. it hints at the growing popularity of women's football, and the growing awareness of the talents all over the world, in the women's game, this year, we have the first japanese player who makes the short list in sake. we also have players representing, orfrom sake. we also have players representing, or from five different countries, and playing across five different leagues. i think when you look at five years ago, when we first started out, i think definitely the strength and depth is growing in the women's game, the focus and attention is on the women's game, and that's why we have heard from denmark, norway, japan to japan, usa, and also australia, it's a fantastically global short list this year. the vote is now open. go to bbc.co.uk/womensfootball

and make your choice for who you think should win the bbc women's footballer of the year award. you can find full details and our privacy notice on the bbc sport website. and more than 720,0000 tickets have been sold for the women's world cup in france, according to fifa. the opening match between the hosts and south korea in paris on the 7th ofjune is sold out, along with the semi—finals and final, and some group matches. the sales are about 60,000 higher than at this stage four years ago, for the women's world cup in canada. finally, rob gronkowski is a unique figure in american sports — a rather eccentric character. he's just retired after one of the nfl's greatest careers with the new england patriots, and he's left his mark on the competition — literally. the super bowl champions took the lombardi trophy. the sixth they've won. to show it off at fenway park. home of the neighbouring boston red sox. incredibly, gronk took a swing

with it — spot the odd one out. i think it's pretty hazy to pick which one he was using. that's all from sports day. coming up in a moment, the papers. here on bbc news. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are charlie wells from the economist and martin bentham, the evening standard's home affairs editor. welcome to you both.