Ajax set to clinch Dutch league title

AMSTERDAM: Dusan Tadic scored twice as Ajax Amsterdam all but claimed the Dutch league title with a 4-1 victory over Utrecht on Sunday as championship rivals PSV Eindhoven slipped to a surprise 1-0 loss at AZ Alkmaar.

Ajax will go into the final round of fixtures on Wednesday with a three-point lead over PSV and 14 goals to the good on goal-difference as they travel to second-bottom De Graafschap. PSV are home to seventh-placed club Heracles.

Klaas-jan Huntelaar and Donny van de Beek also netted for Ajax as they put behind them the disappointment of their stoppage-time exit from the Champions League at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur this week.

Ajax will extend their record of Dutch title wins to 34 in a season in which they have scored 115 goals in their 33 league games and also claimed the Dutch Cup under manager Erik ten Hag. Defending champions PSV paid a heavy price for some sloppy finishing as they lost 1-0 in Alkmaar to a Guus Til goal.

REAL SOCIEDAD WOMEN END ATLETICO DREAMS

MADRID: Real Sociedad lifted the Copa de la Reina for the first time by coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Saturday’s women’s cup final, denying Atletico the double.

Esther Gonzalez opened the scoring for Atletico in the 15th minute in front of 17,000 supporters at a crammed and lively Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium in Granada, having scored a hattrick in a 3-1 win at Sociedad last week to clinch the league title.

The strike was quickly cancelled out, though, by Mexico striker Kiana Palacios, and Spain international Nahikari Garcia put the Basque side in front on the hour mark.