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For the Premier League’s biggest clubs, this competition is usually an opportunity to blood youngsters and give fringe players valuable minutes.

However, only 35-year-old Danny Welbeck, who scored twice, emerged from the starters with a compelling case for more regular involvement.

Even Valentin Barco, despite scoring Chelsea‘s fifth goal, was partly at fault for Leeds‘ second and was among several players who repeatedly surrendered possession during a difficult first half.

Young attackers Estevao Willian and Jamie Gittens suffered the disappointment of being substituted at half-time, while £40m signing Geovany Quenda, who joined from Sporting, did not add to his solitary substitute appearance for the club as he watched from the bench.

Midfielder Reggie Watson, making his debut at the age of 16, was also withdrawn at the break after being booked.

Alonso later said he would not take a “cynical” view as some on the outside might about the difference in level between his proven stars and Chelsea‘s back-up options.

He added: “I know that probably I have to take the right decisions for them to show their best level, so it’s something that I will analyse and learn from today.”

Nevertheless, reaching the fourth round is important for Chelsea.

It is not only about preserving their hopes of silverware in a season without European football, but Chelsea are also a club that need as many competitive fixtures as possible.

They have a 27-man squad, supported by a strong academy pipeline, and these matches are vital for keeping a large group of players engaged throughout the campaign.

There is an irony, then, that Palmer, Rogers and Chelsea‘s other established stars may have secured future opportunities for the very fringe players whose performances had put the club’s EFL Cup campaign at risk.

NEW YORK Drawing inspiration from Frances Tiafoe’s rally from two sets down to reach the US Open semi-finals, Coco Gauff saved two match points in her own fightback victory on Wednesday.

World number four Gauff, a 22-year-old American and two-time Grand Slam winner, was on the edge of defeat in a second-set tie-breaker before ousting reigning French Open champion Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 to reach the US Open semi-finals.

Gauff advanced to a Thursday match at Arthur Ashe Stadium against Elena Rybakina, who beat Chinese qualifier Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, to ensure the second-ranked Kazakh star will leap to world number one next week.

Gauff’s victory was much like compatriot Tiafoe’s comeback triumph Tuesday over fellow American Alex Michelsen in a dramatic five-setter.

“Sometimes you just need a little bit of inspiration, and Frances was that for me in that moment,” Gauff said.

“Frances was looking — I was watching the end of that set and it looked like he was down and out. And sometimes you just need a chance, and I think I got my chances today.”

Gauff struggled in the first set and battled through four service breaks in a row for the two until a tie-break where Russian teen Andreeva had two match points but each time fired an errant forehand. Two unforced errors on the final points gave Gauff her chance and she rolled through the final set.

“I was just really determined to not lose that second set, because I felt like I worked so hard to give myself opportunities and lost them,” Gauff said. “I didn’t know how the third set would go, but I was just really focused on trying not to lose that second set.

“One point turned into another. Once the third set started, I felt pretty confident I was going to come out with that one.”

Tiafoe, who faces American Ben Shelton in Friday’s men’s semis, has provided motivation beyond his never-say-die example at Flushing Meadows.

“Frances is such a light and such a joy to have on tour. Always been so nice and just hyping me up and my family up,” Gauff said. “He’s a special type of person and almost everybody on tour can agree that he’s one of the few players who is always lighting up the room and giving respect towards us women too.

“He’s a rare person in this world and in this sport.”

Not that Gauff is going to tell Tiafoe any of that, adding, “I don’t like to give him any credit. Hopefully he doesn’t see these (remarks).”

Gauff did not message either Tiafoe or Shelton, whose early morning upset of Carlos Alcaraz was the latest-ever US Open finish.

“I feel like it’s a bad luck or omen, so I usually don’t like to text anyone while they’re playing in a tournament,” Gauff said.

‘It’s so incredible’

Gauff, the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open winner, is excited that three black players — herself, Tiafoe and Shelton have a chance to win at Ashe, named for a legendary 1960s black tennis pioneer. Either Tiafoe or Shelton will play for the chance to be the first US men’s major winner in 23 years.

“It’s so incredible. Honestly, especially on the men’s side, I never thought I’d be able to have the chance to see like an all-Black semi-final between the guys in my lifetime,” Gauff said.

“And to have also me in the semis, I think it’s really cool.”

It helps sustain Gauff’s belief in herself and her game.

“Just believing is all I can do. I mean, the game may not always show up, but I can control the belief in myself,” she said.

“Even if it’s delusional, the more instances I keep showing up and maybe being successful in those moments, maybe that delusion will be more factual.”

Coronation Street’s Jodie Ramsey discovered that Bethany and Kit had slept together on Wednesday night’s episode and now fans are wondering what the mysterious character will do next

Coronation Street’s Jodie Ramsey discovered that Bethany and Kit had slept together on Wednesday night’s episode. The cafe waitress, played by Olivia Frances-Brown, turned up as the long-lost sister of Shona Platt during the programme’s crossover with Emmerdale.

Since then, the mysterious character has managed to get herself intertwined in just about everyone’s problems and caused trouble in one way or another but viewers are none the wiser as to what her game is.

As ever, a lot is going on in the Platt family, and with Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) in prison having been charged with murder, her daughter Bethany recently had a one-night stand with DC Kit Green.

The police officer almost became Bethany’s stepdad until Sarah broke things off with him while she was behind bars. However, Kit is still very much part of the family unit having agreed to take care of Sarah’s son Harry whilst she is imprisoned.

Bethany was trying to brush their one night stand off as a ” a moment of madness”, as Kit lamented: “It should never have happened at all! You know, of all the women I could have slept with. Leave it, eh?”

Unbeknownst to them both, Jodie, whose sister is Bethany’s aunt, was listening to their conversation and looked delighted to make such a discovery.

It wasn’t until the very end of the episode, however, that Jodie poured a glass of wine, pulled her phone from her pocket and played the conversation back on her phone, having recorded every word.

Reacting to the twist, one fan wrote on X: “Wow so Jodie recorded the convo! she’s so wicked,” and another said: “Hate and love Jodie, she makes me mad at times! just shows the actress is doing a good job when they make you mad.”

A third wrote: “Jodie is seriously twisted,” and fourth said: “So someone overhears Kit and Bethany talking about sleeping together AND OF COURSE IT’S F****** JODIE!!! OF COURSE IT IS.”

Actress Lucy Fallon, who plays Bethany Platt, recently spoke of the ramifications that will come with her decision to sleep with the man who was almost her stepdad.

She said: “I think it was definitely a major mistake and she is feeling incredibly guilty. That guilt is going to weigh on her for quite a while.

“”There has been a lot going on recently. Bethany has been holding everything together for everyone and trying to look after Harry, while Kit has his own separate issues.

“They were in the flat together and one thing led to another. It clearly causes many problems between them moving forward. For both of them, it was a massive mistake.”

Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream from 7am on ITV X.

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RIYADH: TikTok has taken down 15,519,240 videos across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Iraq, Morocco, Lebanon and Sudan during the first quarter for Community Guidelines violations.

The move reflects the scale of the platform’s enforcement efforts and its focus on maintaining safety and accountability across the Middle East and North Africa region, a statement said.

As part of its broader efforts to promote age-appropriate and “authentic experiences” on the platform, TikTok removed 86,288,705 fake accounts and 25,764,372 accounts suspected of belonging to users under the age of 13 globally during the first quarter of 2026.

“These actions reflect the scale of TikTok’s efforts to identify and remove accounts that may not meet its platform requirements, while strengthening safeguards for younger members of its community,” TikTok said.

“Through a combination of automated detection, account-level enforcement, and human review, TikTok continues to reinforce the systems designed to support a safer and more age-appropriate experience.”

Globally, the platform suspended more than 50 million LIVE sessions from January to March, an 18.6 percent increase from the previous quarter. A further 58 million sessions were subject to demonetization or warnings, while 21,966,667 LIVE creators were also demonetized or warned.

Across the eight MENA markets, TikTok said it proactively interrupted millions of livestreams and banned hundreds of thousands of LIVE hosts for violating its guidelines.

In Saudi Arabia, TikTok removed 2,811,302 videos in Q1 2026, with a proactive removal rate of 98.2 percent and 92.8 percent of violative content taken down within 24 hours of being reported. The platform restored 150,916 videos following successful appeals, and also banned 48,106 LIVE hosts while interrupting 371,758 livestreams.

Iraq recorded the highest removal volume in the region. TikTok removed 5,253,566 videos that violated its Community Guidelines during the quarter, with a proactive removal rate of 99.4 percent and 95 percent of violative videos taken down within 24 hours of being reported.

SCOTT Mills’ husband has appeared to have taken a shady swipe at the BBC as their pal Zoe Ball started her new gig.

Scott, 53, was unceremoniously axed from BBC Radio 2 back in March after details of an historic police investigation emerged.

He was dismissed after new information came to light regarding the investigation about alleged sex offences with a boy aged under 16 in 2018.

As well as losing his role on Radio 2, he was also sacked from working on the BBC’s Eurovision coverage and from a new podcast spin off from Race Across The World – which he won the celebrity series of in 2024.

Zoe, 55, famously left the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show in December 2024 and was replaced by close pal Scott.

She completely left the network a year later when she hosted her final Saturday show as Emma Willis stepped into her shoes following her departure.

cryptic comment

BBC’s Tina Daheley shares post about ‘bouncing back’ after quitting Radio 2

BEEB SHAME

Scott Mills’ pay DOUBLED despite ‘sex offence’ probe as BBC salaries revealed

The former It Takes Two host started her new show on Greatest Hits Radio on Monday this week.

A short clip of Zoe on her first show was shared on the radio’s official Instagram account as she welcomed her viewers for the first time.

Scott’s husband Sam Vaughan took to the comments section to show his support as he appeared to shade the BBC.

He penned: “Perfect afternoon soundtrack, we’ve got you on.”

This isn’t the first time Sam has appeared to have thrown some shade as he previously took a swipe at Scott’s Radio 2 replacement, Sara Cox.

She was named as his successor and took over hosting duties back in July.

Sam doesn’t often appear on social media but the timing of his post on Sara’s first day was definitely noticable.

He shared a picture of their cute dog in the lounge, standing in front of a TV screen with Heart FM breakfast playing — NOT Radio 2‘s offering.

Sara was always seen as a natural successor to Scott and we reported how execs moved quickly to secure her for the role when he was dismissed.

A source said at the time: “This is something the BBC have always had lined up for her and she could not be more excited to take on the role.”

Scott confirmed he was quizzed by Metropolitan Police officers in 2018 after an allegation of a “historic sexual offence”.

The case – said to have taken place between 1997 and 2000 – was later dropped in full due to a lack of evidence.

But bosses claimed they only became aware of the age of the alleged victim in the weeks before Mills’ sacking, according to reports.