Analysis

After all that followed it, it may have been forgotten just how good Vinicius Jr's goal to beat Benfica was last week. The Brazil winger has a fine catalogue for Real Madrid, but this was surely among the best. Vinicius cut inside before using the outline of a defender to shape his shot into the top corner. It was a truly wonderful moment of individual expression - one that absolutely should be celebrated.

The Women's Asian Cup begins on March 1, kickstarting a month that will see two of the premier major tournaments in the women's game take place, with the Africa Cup of Nations kicking-off on March 17 after reverting back to a springtime slot following back-to-back summer editions. It means two thrilling continental championships will be decided over the course of the next few weeks, but the impact these tournaments will have on the continuing club competitions also promises to be fascinating, as teams across the women's game say goodbye to some of their best players for a few weeks.

GOAL breaks down the big move and what it means for all of those involved.

Manchester United's 1-0 win at Everton was the perfect showcase for the recruitment team. The goal was the work of the three summer signings: started by Matheus Cunha, packaged by Bryan Mbeumo and clinically dispatched by Benjamin Sesko. The lead was then protected by the man who is proving to be United's best signing of the last year and looks like their best hire for many years: Senne Lammens.

Manchester City hoped, and may even have expected that a midfielder called Nico would transform their fortunes during the second half of last season. The man that has become key to Pep Guardiola’s side’s mid-season surge and made them contenders to pull off the quadruple is not, however, the gangly Nico Gonzalez, who was recruited from Porto for £50 million last January, but rather academy graduate Nico O’Reilly, who cost nothing at all.

Anthony Gordon's 2025-26 Champions League campaign is the greatest by any English scorer for an English club in the competition's history. That's a fact. With his four-goal haul for Newcastle in last week's 6-1 hammering of Qarabag, he broke the record for most goals scored by an Englishman for a Premier League side in a single Champions League season, taking his tally to 10 from nine games. Not even Alan Shearer managed such a number in those famous black-and-white stripes.

MLS’s opening weekend delivered surprise results and standout performances - but also plenty of drama and controversy, even from its biggest star, Lionel Messi.

If they didn't know it beforehand, then Sunday's north London derby seemingly confirmed one thing for those watching on as Tottenham succumbed to Arsenal: Spurs are in a relegation battle. Igor Tudor was supposed to deliver a new-manager bounce after replacing Thomas Frank, but his side looked severely lacking in quality and, perhaps more importantly, belief as they went down 4-1 to the Gunners to leave themselves just four points above the drop zone with 11 matches to play.

GOAL runs the rule over the British players earning a living away from their homeland, with plenty more stars deciding to leave their comfort zones in search of a better footballing life elsewhere. The Premier League is still obviously one of the world's most entertaining divisions and the Championship can prove fantastic for development, but there are more options out there.

GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, as two major names returned from injury

'Bottle jobs' is a slur that has often been thrown in Arsenal's direction in recent years, after Mikel Arteta's side finished second, second and second in each of the past three Premier League seasons. While they have grounds to argue against that being the case in those instances, even the most ardent Gunners fan would admit they had 'bottled it' if they fail to claim the title this time around.

For most of their shared existence as rivals, Arsenal have had the upper hand over Tottenham. Be that from 1913 when Woolwich Arsenal moved into Spurs territory north of the River Thames, from 1919 when the Gunners beat Tottenham into being voted into the Football League or by winning the title twice at White Hart Lane, the red half of this conflict has so often been superior.

Christian Pulisic is hunting for fitness for Milan, and Folarin Balogun could deliver a big three points for his team if he continues his current form.

On the eve of his first senior head coaching match, Michael Bradley spoke with GOAL about his Red Bulls vision and modern football.

There were so many big names to watch at last year's Copa America Femenina. Marta's emergence out of international retirement was the major storyline going into the tournament, where stars such as Real Madrid's Linda Caicedo, Chelsea's Mayra Ramirez and Manchester City's Kerolin were also primed to shine. But these events also provide the platform for new names to rise to the fore, and that is exactly what happened with a 17-year-old sensation from Paraguay by the name of Claudia Martinez.

If Manchester City want to stand the very best chance of beating Newcastle on Saturday, there is a very simple step Pep Guardiola can take: Start Omar Marmoush. The Egypt forward has scored five times in his two starts against the Magpies, with his goals against Eddie Howe's side accounting for 41 percent of his total output since he arrived at the Etihad Stadium last January.

On February 8, Ousmane Dembele proudly proclaimed Paris Saint-Germain were back to their treble-winning best. Luis Enrique's men hadn't played particularly impressively during the first half of the 2025-26 campaign, so they wanted to send a warning to all of their domestic and European rivals in La Classique - and they realised that objective in emphatic fashion, inflicting a brutal 5-0 beating upon Marseille at Parc des Princes.