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Callum Wilson is in the form of his life as his goals edge Newcastle ever closer to Champions League qualification. That is the view of Magpies head coach Eddie Howe, who worked with the England striker during the pair’s time together at Bournemouth before they were reunited at St James’ Park. Wilson is enjoying the Premier League goals return of his career with 18 to date, the last 11 coming since the beginning of April and eight of them in his six most recent appearances, the perfect response to record signing Alexander Isak’s presence on Tyneside. Asked if the 31-year-old’s rich vein of form was his best yet, Howe said with a smile: “He’ll probably tell me there’s been a better spell somewhere down the line, I imagine. “The season he was in the Championship with us, my first season with him at Bournemouth, I thought he was electric. “But this is at the very highest level, this is against the best defenders in the world, the best teams in the world and he’s performing at probably, I’d say, the best level I’ve ever seen him at.” Wilson’s latest telling contribution came in Thursday night’s crucial 4-1 home victory over Brighton, which sends the Magpies into Monday’s clash with Leicester knowing Champions League qualification is firmly within their grasp. With the score at 2-1 and barely a minute of normal time remaining, he broke and fired past keeper Jason Steele before racing clear once again to set up Bruno Guimaraes to score, although it was his all-round contribution which pleased Howe most. The 45-year-old said: “I complimented him, not in terms of the goal he scored, but just his intelligence on the press for us because he is the one that has to set the chain off and he has to get it right. This is at the very highest level, this is against the best defenders in the world, the best teams in the world and he's performing at probably, I'd say, the best level I've ever seen him at Eddie Howe on Callum Wilson “If he gets it wrong, the whole team suffers, so I thought his tactical understanding was as good as I’ve seen.” The intensity Newcastle mustered against the Seagulls has become their trademark under Howe, and it is one of which he is justifiably proud. He said: “You can’t promise the winning. In my first press conference here, I said I can’t promise that, but I can try to give a team that empties on the pitch, that gives everything every time we step on to it. “That’s what I ask of the team, that’s what I ask of the players consistently. It’s easier said than done because in a long season, cup runs, naturally people will have off days, bad days, that’s just natural. “But you can have a bad day and still give your all, and I’ve got to compliment the players on what they’ve done this year. The mindset and mentality of the group have been second to none.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bryan Mbeumo delighted to come to the fore in absence of Ivan Toney US PGA leader Brooks Koepka vows to avoid a repeat of Masters collapse Katie Taylor eager for rematch after decision loss to Chantelle Cameron

Bryan Mbeumo was happy to step up for Brentford in the absence of Ivan Toney in their 3-1 win at Tottenham. The Bees were without 20-goal striker Toney, who has also been nursing a hamstring injury, after he was handed an eight-month ban by the Football Association on Thursday for repeated betting breaches. When Harry Kane fired Spurs into an early lead, it looked like Brentford’s faint hopes of European football were about to end but Mbeumo struck twice in a 12-minute period at the start of the second half before setting up Yoane Wissa for the visitors’ third late on. “Yeah, sensational. I can’t say more than this,” Mbeumo told BT Sport. “The first half was a bit sloppy from us, in the duels we were not maybe there but in the second half everybody raised the level and it is a fantastic win. “Of course it is hard because we lose a big personality on the pitch (in Toney) and yeah we have to do it as a team but I am happy to score. “I always push myself as hard as I can and yeah, I want to push the level. I am very hard on myself but I am happy. “We want to aim high, be high on the table and we still have one chance so we will do everything we can.” Mbeumo received praise from manager Thomas Frank after he scored his eighth and ninth goals of the campaign. Frank added: “He works so hard, is a fantastic pressing player and can score goals, assist and link up, but maybe he lacked goals (last season). “Probably a little bit unlucky in some situations because he hit the post seven times last year so we’re talking about margins there. “He does work very, very hard at his finishing and especially with Justin Cochrane but also Kevin O’Connor on those two finishes he made. So, I was very pleased to see his hard work pay off.” Brentford’s win means they are guaranteed a ninth-place finish but victory on the final day at home to champions Manchester City could secure Europa Conference League football. Frank knows revenge will be on the mind of Pep Guardiola’s side after they stunned them at the Etihad in November. Of course it is hard because we lose a big personality on the pitch (in Toney) and yeah we have to do it as a team but I am happy to score Bryan Mbeumo “We know we need Tottenham and (Aston) Villa to drop points on the last day when we are facing the best team in the world,” Frank smiled. “So, it is a little bit of a challenge but we will do everything we can to make an absolutely outstanding season even better.” Spurs’ acting head coach Ryan Mason was left bitterly disappointed by their latest defeat with their goals against tally now standing at 62, their worst in a Premier League campaign since 2003. He admitted: “Obviously we’re conceding a lot of goals for different reasons. “I thought we showed a lot of courage in the first half. We were brave, played a good match with the ball but in the second half the intensity dropped.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live US PGA leader Brooks Koepka vows to avoid a repeat of Masters collapse Katie Taylor eager for rematch after decision loss to Chantelle Cameron Brooks Koepka hopes to emulate Tiger Woods and win third PGA Championship title

Joey Gallo homered for the fourth time in seven games, Trevor Larnach hit an RBI triple that turned into a Little League home run and the Minnesota Twins defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-2

Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney retained his titles by winning a controversial unanimous decision over former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden

Emmanuel Valdez hit a three-run homer and Chris Sale allowed just three hits including two homers in seven innings for the Boston Red Sox who beat San Diego 4-2 to send the Padres plummeting to their fourth straight loss and 11th in 13 games

Devin Haney remained unbeaten and undisputed with a narrow points win over Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday. The American, 24, entered Las Vegas with an undefeated record of 29-0, and he improved that tally by edging out Lomachenko 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards, retaining his lightweight titles in the process. For Lomachenko, who was the smaller, older fighter at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the only adjective that mattered was ‘undisputed’ – a status that has eluded the Ukrainian throughout a storied career. Lomachenko, 35, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and has held world titles at featherweight, super-featherweight, and unified gold at lightweight. Yet he has never been undisputed, and Haney denied the veteran that accolade on Saturday (20 May), narrowly outpointing “Loma”. A highly-competitive fight featured numerous rounds that were almost too close to call, though Haney was favouring an effective right hook to the body in the first half of the bout. Meanwhile, Lomachenko could not muster the same power but was intermittently stinging the “Dream” with flurries of short, straight punches, with his jab also piercing Haney’s defence. Lomachenko seemed to secure the clearest rounds – the 10th and 11th – but could not quite take the final frame, which all three judges scored in favour of Haney, preventing a majority draw. For Haney, it was a second straight successful defence of the undisputed gold. The American outpointed George Kambosos Jr in the Australian’s home country in June to unify all the belts, before repeating the result in October – in Melbourne once again. Meanwhile, Saturday’s main event marked a third professional defeat for Lomachenko, who last suffered a loss in 2020 when he was surprisingly outpointed by Teofimo Lopez. Lomachenko responded to that result with three straight wins, the third coming in December after the 35-year-old spent much of 2022 in Ukraine, aiding his country’s defence against the Russian invasion. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Katie Taylor beaten by Chantelle Cameron on Irish homecoming Joe Rogan is right: Tyson Fury has ‘no chance in hell’ against Jon Jones McGregor Forever: The problem with the new Conor McGregor documentary

Real Salt Lake scored three times in the first half and held on for a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids

Matthew Tkachuk finished a feed from Sam Reinhart at the 1:51 mark of overtime to help the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference final

Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24 points and eight assists, and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers

Right-hander Logan Gilbert recovered from a rocky first inning to retire 15 consecutive hitters, Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run homer, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Atlanta Braves 7-3

Ercan Kara and Martín Ojeda both had a goal and an assist to power Orlando City to a 3-1 victory over Inter Miami

Andrés Reyes and Cory Burke scored first-half goals to lead the New York Red Bulls to a 2-1 victory over CF Montreal