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Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth goal in three games salvaged a point for Manchester United in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Thursday that further damaged his team’s chances of a top-four finish in the Premier League, Associated Press reported.

Ronaldo ran onto a ball over the Chelsea defense from Nemanja Matic and delivered a clinical finish in the 62nd minute, two minutes after Marcos Alonso gave the visitors the lead.

Reece James later curled a shot against the post for Chelsea, which dominated the first half but found United goalkeeper David de Gea in fine form.

With only three games left to play in the league, United stayed in sixth place — five points behind fourth-place Arsenal and having played two matches more than its rival for Champions League qualification.

Tottenham is between the two teams, in the fifth spot, with three more points than United and two games in hand.

Chelsea consolidated third place and is six points above Arsenal.

Ronaldo came into the game having scored a hat trick against Norwich and another goal against Arsenal in his previous two games, according to the Associated Press.

On 17 goals, Ronaldo is tied with Son Heung-min in second place in the Premier League scoring chart behind Mohamed Salah.

“Not only the goal Cristiano scored but his whole performance, his attitude at age of 37, this is not normal to do that,” interim United manager Ralf Rangnick said. “If he plays like he did today he can still be a big help to this team.”

The buildup was dominated by reports that Rangnick was considering taking over as Austria’s national team coach as well as more protests against the Glazer family’s ownership.

Some protesters entered Old Trafford in the 17th minute, having missed a minute for each of the Glazers’ 17 years in charge.

“Glazers out” read a banner above the tunnel before kickoff at Old Trafford, where a mixture of De Gea’s saves and poor-decision making meant Chelsea failed to turn their 11 shots into a deserved halftime lead, Associated Press reported.

Thomas Tuchel’s team finally broke the deadlock when Alonso volleyed home following Kai Havertz’s flick-on but Chelsea was unable to build on that.

United defender Victor Lindelof saw a stoppage-time header denied and the highlight of the closing stages was the introduction of 17-year-old talent Alejandro Garnacho for his United debut.

“One team deserved to win and that was us,” Tuchel said. “We didn’t take it. It was a very, very good performance but we were not decisive enough. We lacked a bit of determination in the box to win the game, according to the Associated Press.

“It sometimes happens. It’s on us to learn from it. You need to be clinical to get the reward. We have to live with a point but it’s not a fair result.”

Gujarat Titans beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in their Indian Premier League match on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported.

The Titans chased down a stiff target of 196 in the last ball thanks to the batting heroics of Rashid Khan (31 not out) and Rahul Tewatia (40 not out).

The Titans ended at 199 for five in 20 overs. Wriddhiman Saha made 68 off 38 balls at the top of the order, according to The Indian Express.

Pace sensation Umran Malik’s stunning figures of 5/25 — his maiden five-for — went in vain.

Liverpool looks like being one European giant too many for Villarreal.

Wins in the Champions League semifinals are rarely as routine as Liverpool’s 2-0 first-leg victory on Wednesday over the Spanish underdog, which appears to have finally come unstuck on a fairytale run that has already accounted for European football royalty in Juventus and Bayern Munich, Associated Press reported.

Liverpool, still on course for an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies, proved to be a bigger test. The six-time European champions slowly dismantled the limited challenge of Villarreal on another night when they were swept along by the power of Anfield.

The goals came early in the second half — and within 133 seconds of each other — as Villarreal left back Pervis Estupinan unwittingly deflected a cross by Jordan Henderson into his own net in the 53rd minute, with goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli only managing to tip a looping ball into his own net.

One goal can quickly turn into two in these energy-charged European nights at Anfield and that’s what transpired again, with Villarreal still shaken up from conceding the opener when Sadio Mane ran onto Mohamed Salah’s through-ball and toe-poked a low finish beyond Rulli.

The second leg takes place at Estadio de la Cerámica on Tuesday and only a major surprise will prevent Villarreal — a team only in seventh place in the Spanish league and filled with players who failed to make it in England — from bowing out, just like in 2006 in its only other appearance in the semifinals, according to the Associated Press.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp struck a cautious note despite the one-sided nature of the first leg.

“Nothing has happened yet,” he said. “We’re playing a game and it’s 2-0 at halftime. You have to be completely on alert, 100% in the right mood.”

Klopp has built a formidable winning machine that looks even more complete than the team which won the Champions League in 2019, a year after also reaching the final and losing to Real Madrid under the German coach.

As his players did a lap of honor inside Anfield after the final whistle, Klopp waved to the crowd and tapped the club crest on the front of his thick coat.

Another win. Likely another Champions League final. And, amazingly, the quadruple is still on for a team that has already won the English League Cup, is into the FA Cup final and is only a point behind Manchester City in the Premier League title race.

It could yet be a Champions League final between the two northwest rivals, with City taking a 4-3 lead over Real Madrid into the second leg of their semifinal in Spain next Wednesday.

A sea of yellow-clad Villarreal fans — at around 5,000, they amounted to almost 10% of the population of the town in eastern Spain — swarmed its way from Liverpool city center to Anfield ahead of the game. A rendition of The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” which is the nickname of visitors, was well-received by the lively away contingent before kickoff, Associated Press reported.

That was as warm as the welcome got.

Liverpool snapped into tackles and pressed high from the first whistle, meaning Villarreal’s players hardly got out of their half all match.

“The reality is, they are in the best moment,” Villarreal coach Unai Emery said of Liverpool. “They are in the favorite to win this competition.” 

Yet, with Emery setting up his team with his back four screened by a deep-lying and narrow midfield four, Liverpool was initially starved of space in what quickly became tantamount to an attack vs. defense exercise.

There were plenty of half-chances — Mane headed wide off his face, Salah curled over then volleyed over, and Thiago Alcantara smashed a long-range shot off the outside of the post — but Villarreal held out until halftime.

Then it all went wrong.

The two goals came in between two disallowed efforts, by Fabinho then Andrew Robertson, and it was only Liverpool’s players taking their foot off the gas that stopped an even bigger victory.

“We had put in a perfect performance up to the first goal,” said Rulli, who called Liverpool the best team in the world. “After that, we were a bit uncertain.”

Klopp used the opportunity to take a number of key players off early, with a potentially tough Premier League game against Newcastle on Saturday sandwiched between the six-day turnaround for the Villarreal games, Associated Press reported.

Liverpool’s quadruple charge is likely to be heading deep into May.

After one of the greatest of Champions League semi-final clashes, Manchester City will take a 4-3 lead into the second leg of their tie against Real Madrid following an extraordinary encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

A breathtaking and relentlessly fast game, packed with chances, moments of individual brilliance and a smattering of defensive lapses, was a treat for the spectators but leaves City, who had the better of the game, with the slenderest of leads to defend at the Santiago Bernabeu next Wednesday.

“It was a fantastic game for both sides. We did many good things. Unfortunately we conceded goals and we could not score more. But it is two games and we have another one in one week,” said City manager Pep Guardiola.

Liverpool and Villarreal will certainly struggle to match the quality of this game when they meet in the other semi-final at Anfield on Wednesday, according to Reuters. 

City took the lead after 94 seconds, the fastest goal scored in a Champions League semi-final, with Kevin De Bruyne’s superb diving header after Riyad Mahrez made a piercing run at the Real defence, switched inside and then delivered a killer cross.

Guardiola’s side doubled their lead in the 11th minute through the in-form Gabriel Jesus, who scored four goals in the Premier League at the weekend, collecting a pass from De Bruyne and spinning away from David Alaba before drilling home.

It was the first time that 13-times European champions Real had conceded two goals so quickly in the Champions League and another looked on the cards.

Reigning Premier League champions City were on fire, running Spanish league leaders Real ragged, but Mahrez and Phil Foden were both unable to convert promising chances, Reuters reported.

It was a spell of the game that City may yet look back on as a missed opportunity and as so often Real found a way to get themselves back in a contest that risked running away from them.

The goal came via a familiar source, the Champions League’s escape artist Karim Benzema scoring a goal out of nothing as he guided a Ferland Mendy cross into the far, bottom corner with the most delicate of steers after 33 minutes.

Guardiola could be forgiven for wondering how his team’s high-energy, high-quality football had only produced a 2-1 lead at the break but there was a similar pattern in the second half.

City restored a two-goal advantage eight minutes after the restart with veteran Fernandinho, on as a substitute for the injured John Stones, picking out Foden with a perfectly weighted cross which the England international nodded home.

Two minutes later though Fernandinho was caught out as he allowed Brazilian compatriot Vinicius Jr to break away past him on the touchline, according to Reuters.

The winger sprinted from the halfway line deep into the area before poking the ball past Ederson to make it 3-2 with an outstanding individual effort.

Yet again City found a way through. Real’s defence hesitated after Oleksandr Zinchenko went down on the edge of the box but Bernardo Silva pounced and beat Thibaut Courtois with a superb drive into the top corner in the 74th minute.

There was more drama to come as City’s Aymeric Laporte was penalised when the ball struck his arm in the area, after glancing off his head, and Benzema converted the penalty with a cheeky ‘Panenka’ chip down the middle eight minutes from time.

Still City searched for more but substitute Raheem Sterling and Ruben Dias were both unable to make contact with a dangerous ball across the box and then Dias slid in again and was just inches away from a deep Mahrez cross, Reuters reported.

The score was to remain 4-3 but for those who wished this game could have just gone on and on there is another 90 minutes to look forward to next week.

City, yet to be crowned European champions, were left with the strange feeling of disappointment at ‘only’ beating Real by one goal.

Real’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti had similar mixed feelings to Guardiola after an entertaining night and left with some regrets but there was a hint of optimism in his analysis, according to Reuters.

“As a football fan, it was a fantastic game of football. As a manager of Madrid, I have to take into consideration that we … conceded two goals very early. But we take three goals to the Bernabeu. We now hope to get to the final.”