Thursday Morning: Katie Taylor Will Have Her First Professional Fight On Irish Soil In May

Manchester United have booked a place in this month's Carabao Cup final

SOCCER

Second half goals from Anthony Martial and Fred secured Manchester United's place in this month's Carabao Cup final.

They beat Nottingham Forest by 2-goals to nil in the second leg of their semi-final last night at Old Trafford.

United won the tie 5-0 on aggregate, and will play Newcastle at Wembley on the 26th of this month.

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Celtic maintained their nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 3-nil win against Livingston.

Rangers ensured the gap didn't get any bigger following a 3-0 victory of their own over third placed Hearts.

Aberdeen's struggles continued as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to St. Mirren.


BOXING

Katie Taylor will have her first professional fight on Irish soil in May.

Her promoter Eddie Hearn says Taylor's homecoming is likely to happen at Dublin's 3 Arena instead of Croke Park.

Hearn claims the cost of staging a card at GAA H-Q is three times more expensive than Wembley Stadium.

Taylor's likely opponent on May 20th will be Amanda Serrano, but that depends on the Puerto Rican beating Erika Cruz on Saturday.


RUGBY

Stuart McCloskey looks set to continue at inside centre for Ireland's Six Nations opener away to Wales on Saturday.

The Ulster centre appears to have beaten off competition from Bundee Aki and Naas' Jamie Osborne for the right to partner Garry Ringrose in Cardiff.

McCloskey started all three of Ireland's wins during the autumn.

Coach Andy Farrell confirms his matchday squad later today.


GOLF

There's plenty of Irish involvement in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the UAE.

Tom McKibbin is 2 under par after 17 holes, three shots behind leader Eduardo Molinari.

John Murphy is 1 over par through 11 holes.

Seamus Power plays alongside Thomas Detry on the opening day of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour in California today.