Player ratings

  1. Haaland no-show exposes toothless City in Villa defeat

    Manchester City remain level on points with arch-rivals Manchester United and six adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday. Pep Guardiola’s side headed to the West Midlands unbeaten across their last nine fixtures in all competitions, but a solitary strike from Matty Cash proved to be the difference in a match that saw Erling Haaland draw a blank for just the second time this season.

  2. Cunha & Mbeumo were worth it! Big-money signings come good

    Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha paid off sizeable chunks of their big transfer fees with spectacular displays as Manchester United beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 to record three consecutive Premier League wins for the first time in 20 months. Cunha netted his first for the club to open the scoring while Mbeumo struck twice, his last goal seeing off the growing threat of a Brighton comeback.

  3. Kelly can't find magic touch as Lionesses' homecoming spoiled

    Saturday evening was meant to be all about England. In action for the first time since their second successive European Championship triumph back in July, and with the silverware brought out ahead of kick-off, to much applause and cheer, the 'homecoming series' was underway, to celebrate another huge achievement for the Lionesses. However, Brazil clearly hadn't read the script and they assumed the role of party poopers, beating Sarina Wiegman's side 2-1 after an electric, and dramatic, start.

  4. Garnacho scores but Chelsea lose to Sunderland in last min

    Chelsea were beaten 2-1 by Sunderland thanks to a stoppage-time strike from Chemsdine Talbi, with the Blues throwing away the chance to move into the Premier League's top four on Saturday. Alejandro Garnacho scored his first goal for the club since joining from Manchester United, but it mattered very little as the spirited Black Cats fought tooth and nail to claim a precious three points.

  5. Messi brilliance lifts Miami to Game 1 win over Nashville

    Lionel Messi scored two goals, and Inter Miami took advantage of an admittedly sloppy Nashville SC to earn a 3-1 win and take a 1-0 lead in the first round of their MLS playoff series. The Argentine was short of his best, but opportunistic at the right moments, and the Herons' only real gripe can be that they didn't keep a clean sheet in their pursuit of an evasive MLS Cup.

  6. Vicario silences his critics in Spurs stalemate

    Guglielmo Vicario was the Tottenham hero as the Italian goalkeeper produced a heroic individual display to earn his side a 0-0 draw in Monaco on Wednesday. Spurs remain unbeaten in the Champions League and that is largely down to Vicario, who saved four times from Folarin Balogun and produced his best stop of the night to keep out a close-range Jordan Teze header.

  7. Chelsea's kids are alright! Teens tear abject Ajax apart

    Chelsea’s kids ran riot against a woeful Ajax side on Wednesday, running out 5-1 winners at Stamford Bridge. There were three penalties, a red card and untold drama on a sodden night in west London as the Blues continued their excellent form and became the first team to have three teenagers score in the same match in Champions League history.

  8. Crisis over? Szoboszlai shines as Liverpool bounce back in style

    Liverpool bounced back from their four successive defeats in style as they came from behind to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday. Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai all got on the scoresheet for the Reds in Germany while Florian Wirtz finally registered his first assists since his big-money arrival from Bayer Leverkusen.

  9. Gordon loves the UCL! Newcastle make Mourinho miserable

    Newcastle made it successive Champions League wins on Tuesday with what was ultimately a routine 3-0 win over Jose Mourinho's Benfica at St James' Park. Anthony Gordon scored in Europe for the fourth time this season, before Harvey Barnes came off the bench to wrap up maximum points with a brace for Eddie Howe's side. There was even a remarkable assist for Toon goalkeeper Nick Pope.

  10. Red hot Haaland scores once more on easy night for City

    Erling Haaland scored for the 12th game running for club and country as Manchester City cruised to a 2-0 victory over Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday. Bernardo Silva also netted to rubber-stamp City's first away win in Europe's top competition for more than a year, taking Pep Guardiola's side on to seven points from their three games in the league phase.

  11. Can anyone stop Gabriel? Arsenal set-piece king strikes again

    Arsenal thumped Atletico Madrid 4-0 in a hugely impressive Champions League outing on Tuesday, as Gabriel Magalhaes scored and assisted while Viktor Gyokeres netted a confidence-boosting brace. Three of the Gunners' four goals came directly from set-pieces, as Mikel Arteta's side became the second English side to beat Atletico in Europe this season, after Liverpool.

  12. Fermin & Rashford on fire in ideal Clasico warm-up

    Marcus Rashford scored twice and Fermin Lopez netted a brilliant hat-trick as Barcelona thumped Olympiacos 6-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday. Hansi Flick's side blitzed their opposition with four goals in 11 second-half minutes, as they took advantage of a remarkably harsh sending off that reduced the visitors to 10 men.

  13. What's happened to Salah & Isak?! Forwards flop for Reds

    Manchester United secured a stunning victory an Anfield to condemn Liverpool to an unbelievable fourth consecutive defeat as the visitors won a pulsating derby 2-1. There was controversy just seconds into the match after Bryan Mbeumo fired the visitors in front, despite a head injury to Alexis Mac Allister in the build-up. Cody Gakpo equalised for Arne Slot’s side, but Harry Maguire’s header in the 84th minute sealed a memorable win for United.

  14. Set-piece again, ole ole! Saka torments as Arsenal march on

    Arsenal kept up the pressure on their Premier League title rivals with a hard fought 1-0 win at Fulham courtesy of Leandro Trossard's second-half goal. The Gunners never looked like dropping points and relied on their prowess from set-pieces to get the job done, with Bukayo Saka, who caused the hosts all sorts of problems during the 90 minutes, creating the winning goal with a delicious corner.

  15. Barca vs Girona ratings

    Araujo to the rescue as Rashford gets away with one

    Lamine Yamal marked his return with an assist as substitute Ronald Araujo rescued a late winner for Barcelona against Girona, sparing a wasteful Marcus Rashford's blushes in the process. In a frantic end to the game, that Barca won at the death 2-1, head coach Hansi Flick was sent off - a costly red card that means he'll be forced to watch next week's Clasico from the stands.

  16. Mead & Russo seal vital Champions League win for struggling Arsenal

    Arsenal will be relieved to have hit the international break after their sluggish form continued on Thursday, albeit in a 2-0 victory at Benfica that got their Champions League title defence up and running. The Gunners have found things tough as of late, winning just one of their last five games coming into this fixture, and those struggles continued in a rather toothless performance in Portugal despite goals from Beth Mead and Alessia Russo.

  17. Le Tissier stars as Man Utd win again despite controversial red card

    It's unlikely that Maya Le Tissier didn't see the discourse around her going into Manchester United's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid. After Sarina Wiegman said she saw the Red Devils' captain as more of a right-back, rather than a centre-back, the conversation was unavoidable, with everyone from Ian Wright to the Man Utd social media admin getting involved to wonder just why the England boss doesn't see Le Tissier as a serious contender for a starting role in the heart of the Lionesses defence. Perhaps it even served as fuel for the player herself, because she was outstanding in the 1-0 win in Spain that maintained United's perfect start to their first ever UWCL campaign.

  18. Thompson has lift off as first goal fires Chelsea to UWCL rout

    With two open-play goals in their last three games, a lot of the talk coming into Chelsea's Women's Champions League clash with Paris FC on Wednesday night was about the dominant force in English football, and one of the front-runners for this trophy, not being quite themselves in front of goal. But Sonia Bompastor's Blues were able to quieten those doubters in their final game before the international break, with a 4-0 victory over the Parisians at Stamford Bridge.

  19. Record-breaker CR7 & Portugal denied by late Szoboszlai show

    Portugal failed to wrap up 2026 World Cup qualification after conceding a late Hungary equaliser to draw 2-2 in Lisbon. Roberto Martinez's side had initially come from behind to get in front, courtesy of two Cristiano Ronaldo goals that set a new all-time World Cup qualifying record, and were on the brink of booking their ticket to North America thanks to Armenia's defeat to Ireland providing the extra nudge required. But Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai intervened at the death and it means Ronaldo and co. must now wait until November for their next chance instead.

  20. Kane can't be contained! Skipper seals England's World Cup spot

    A typically insatiable Harry Kane fired England to the 2026 World Cup as the captain scored twice in the 5-0 hammering of Latvia which extended the Three Lions' 100 percent record in qualifying. Kane, who had missed Thursday's friendly win over Wales with an ankle injury, returned to set a new England record by scoring more than once for the 13th time in international football to move on to 76 goals for his country.

  21. Martinelli's good work ruined as Brazil capitulate in Japan

    Brazil surrendered a two-goal lead as a complete second-half collapse resulted in a humiliating 3-2 friendly defeat to Japan in Tokyo on Tuesday. Carlo Ancelotti's side had looked supremely comfortable at the break courtesy of fine strikes from Paulo Henrique and Gabriel Martinelli, but they conspired to throw away their advantage - crumbling under pressure from their spirited hosts. The second defeat of his tenure already, Ancelotti has his work cut out as preparations for the 2026 World Cup ramp up.