Category: Football (Soccer)

The attacking midfielder sparkled against United, giving City a boost for the season and England hope for the 2026 World Cup

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One of the many mysteries of last season for Manchester City was Phil Foden. When he was a teenager, everybody knew how good he was. He had been probably the key player shortly after turning 17 as England won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, and there had been a clamour for him to play for Manchester City long before Pep Guardiola began to start him regularly in 2020-21. For four seasons he was one of the best players in the league and then, suddenly, there was nothing – at least by the exceptionally high standards he had set.

Foden had not had a good Euros in 2024. He has never really produced his best for England, a function perhaps of him playing for a club with such a specific style of play. Take him out of that regimented environment where he knew exactly what runs to make, exactly where his teammates would be moving, and he found it hard to adapt. And England generally did not play well at that Euros, despite reaching the final; the front end of the team was a mess, lacking the balance of previous Gareth Southgate sides.

See which hot shots are leading the way in the English top flight’s goalscoring charts this season

Ruben Amorim has insisted that he will not change his system after Manchester United’s 3-0 derby defeat at Manchester City, saying 'you have to change the man' if his 3-4-3 formation is to be discarded. The head coach also suggested recent events behind closed doors have hampered the team

Newcastle’s new striker makes his mark, Emiliano Martínez is in Villa’s good books again and Noni Madueke’s dream week

Is Gianluigi Donnarumma a Pep Guardiola goalkeeper? He may or may not be, but he is an exceptional goalkeeper. Manchester United didn’t offer enough of a test even to begin to assess whether Donnarumma is good enough with the ball at his feet to allow City to play as Guardiola would like them to. Nor did they test whether his starting position is advanced enough to sweep up behind a high defensive line and prevent the sort of chances City yielded up to Tottenham and Brighton. But his save to keep out a Bryan Mbeumo volley, hurling himself to his right to push the ball wide, was spectacular, and drew congratulations from pretty much all his teammates. Even if he is not the perfect stylistic fit, Donnarumma’s presence, his commanding stature, the aura he projects, makes him the right goalkeeper for now as City begin the process of rebuilding with a notably young squad. Jonathan Wilson

Match report: Manchester City 3-0 Manchester United

Match report: Burnley 0-1 Liverpool

Match report: West Ham 0-3 Tottenham

Erling Haaland urged Manchester City to “get our asses going”, then showed how with the second and third goals that sealed the 197th Manchester derby for Pep Guardiola’s side, and ended a run of two defeats.

This is no vintage City iteration – currently, at least – but witnessing how the prolific Norwegian took his opportunities, and performed throughout, suggests their main man is up for leading the revival.

A rampant Erling Haaland scored twice to give City a thumping win over their woebegone local rivals

Match report: Burnley 0-1 Liverpool

Premier League result: Burnley 0-1 Liverpool

After Hannibal’s injury-time handball, Mohamed Salah denied battling Burnley with his penalty

Many football fans – and those in the wider sporting world – are reeling from the sad death of Ricky Hatton, a fan like they are of Manchester City. He was a true local hero.

Arne Slot on Isak’s absence. “We’ve decided it is the best for him to have a proper week of training instead of every time going for five or ten minutes of playing. I can assure the fans that he will be involved on Wednesday - but this game came a bit too early.”

First the positive news for Crystal Palace. Oliver Glasner’s side are now 15 matches unbeaten in a run that stretches back to their 5-0 thrashing by Newcastle in mid-April. But having endured a dramatic end to the transfer window that saw chair Steve Parish pull the plug on captain Marc Guéhi’s move to Liverpool, Glasner was hoping for more from this meeting with promoted Sunderland.

While Guéhi was barely troubled as he eased back into his role on the left side of Palace’s three-man defence with the minimum of fuss, they deservedly left with a point after thriving in the role of spoilers.

Anonymity and Nick Woltemade were already well on the way to becoming strangers but, after this, there seems zero chance of the Germany striker ever being able to blend seamlessly into the background on Tyneside.

Given that Woltemade’s awkwardly angular 6ft 6in frame is topped by a curly mop of bright blond hair and his distinctive moustache screams 1970s rock star – or perhaps a shambolic yet brilliant television detective of the sort ideally suited to Death in Paradise – he was already hard to miss.

Antoine Semenyo scored one goal and set up the other as Bournemouth beat Brighton 2-1. Alex Scott netted his first league goal since December 2023, with Kaoru Mitoma equalising for the visitors.

The Cherries handed a surprise top-flight debut to Veljko Milosavljevic, their 18-year-old transfer deadline day signing, with the centre-back Bafodé Diakité injured. At the other end of the age spectrum, the 39-year-old James Milner replaced Carlos Baleba in Brighton’s starting lineup.