Newcastle jeered after 3rd straight defeat as Saudi-controlled club plunges in Premier League

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Newcastle has plunged into its most challenging period since the club was bought by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

A 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth on Saturday was a third straight defeat in the Premier League for Newcastle, which is languishing in 14th place in the 20-team top flight with five games remaining of the campaign. The team received boos at full time.

It leaves Newcastle manager Eddie Howe — hired in November 2021, weeks after the takeover by Saudi's Public Investment Fund — under increasing pressure, with the club not giving any assurances he'll be in charge beyond this season.

Indeed, these are tough times for PIF, which in recent years has spent heavily investing on sporting projects such as LIV Golf and funding the biggest soccer teams in Saudi Arabia.

This week, PIF sold its majority stake in the kingdom’s most successful club, Al-Hilal, and there was also huge speculation about whether the fund was on the brink of cutting its financial backing of LIV. LIV's 2026 season is going ahead as scheduled, its chief executive said, but the situation beyond that remains cloudy.

At St. James' Park, Adrien Truffert broke a tie in the 85th minute with his first Premier League goal to win the game for eighth-place Bournemouth, which is unbeaten in 13 straight league matches — including six wins.

Marcus Tavernier turned in Rayan’s cross across the goalmouth in the 32nd minute to put the Cherries ahead. Will Osula equalized in the 68th minute after an initial offside call was overturned in a video review.

Newcastle captain Bruno Guimarães entered in the 62nd minute after recovering from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since Feb. 10.

Wolverhampton lost 3-0 at Leeds and will be relegated if third-to-last Tottenham beats Brighton later Saturday.

Wolves, who have just 17 points from 33 games, have been in the Premier League for the past eight seasons.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted a stoppage-time penalty to round off the win after early goals by James Justin — with a bicycle kick — and Noah Okafor.

Leeds moved nine points clear of the relegation zone.

Brentford failed to boost its unlikely Champions League qualification hopes by drawing a fifth straight game in the Premier League, this time 0-0 at home to Fulham.

Brentford could have climbed above Chelsea, which plays Manchester United later, and into sixth place with a win but missed a slew of chances. Top scorer Igor Thiago hit the goal frame.

Ten years after winning the Premier League, Leicester looks to be heading to the third tier of English soccer.

A 1-0 loss at Portsmouth on Saturday left Leicester in second-to-last place in the Championship.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin celebrates after scoring their third goal of the game from the penalty spot during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Saturday April 18, 2026, in Leeds, England. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Bournemouth's Adrien Truffert celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and AFC Bournemouth, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Newcastle, England. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Fulham's Calvin Bassey, left, and Brentford's Dango Ouattara battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Fulham in Brentford, England, Saturday April 18, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Former Brentford and Tottenham manger Thomas Frank in the stands during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Fulham in Brentford, England, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Fulham's Sasa Lukic, left, and Brentford's Kevin Schade battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Fulham in Brentford, England, Saturday April 18, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — Marie-Louise Eta has made history as the first female coach in the Bundesliga, but her Union Berlin team failed to live up to the occasion on Saturday with a 2-1 defeat to Wolfsburg.

She has four more games to ensure Union stays in the top division before she takes over Union’s women’s team for next season.

Patrick Wimmer and Dženan Pejčinović scored early in each half for the visitors to end their 12-game run without a win and revive their hopes of escaping relegation. Wolfsburg remains second to last but it’s just two points behind St. Pauli in the relegation playoff place with four rounds remaining.

Union ultimately paid the price for a lack of efficiency after creating the better chances and finishing strongly. Oliver Burke’s goal in the 85th minute was too late for the Köpenick-based team.

Union, which has only won two games in 2026, fired Steffan Baumgart after last weekend’s loss at Heidenheim and finds itself just six points above the relegation zone.

Eta previously made history in 2023 as the first female assistant coach in the men’s Bundesliga, also at Union, and has been coaching the under-19 men’s team at the club.

Andrej Kramarić scored two penalties for Hoffenheim in a 2-1 win over second-placed Borussia Dortmund. That opens the way for Bayern Munich to seal the title at home against Stuttgart on Sunday.

Bayern, which has five games remaining compared to Dortmund’s four, leads by 12 points and needs just one more point to be sure of finishing top.

Werder Bremen boosted its survival hopes with a 3-1 win at home against Hamburger SV in their northern derby. Bremen moved level with the visitors on 31 points, five points above St. Pauli.

Midtable Augsburg defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 away and dented the home team’s hopes of Champions League qualification.

Eintracht Frankfurt hosted Leipzig later.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramaric scores a penalty during their German Bundesliga soccer match against Borussia Dortmund in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

New head coach of German Bundesliga soccer club 1. FC Union Berlin Marie-Louise Eta looks on during the warm up prior to the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)