FEATURES

Vinicius Jr scored twice and Kylian Mbappe was on target yet again as Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid saw off Villarreal to avoid consecutive league defeats and secure a convincing 3-1 win over the 10 men at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening. The visitors were reduced 10 men in the second half when Santiago Mourino was sent off, while Mbappe was forced off late on through injury.

Liverpool fell to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that means Arne Slot is now on his worst run as Liverpool manager. The result ensures Arsenal will head into the international break leading the way in the Premier League table, a point clear of the Reds, with Mohamed Salah's wayward shooting proving a decisive factor in the dismal loss in the capital.

Chelsea struck deep into stoppage time at the end of the second half to beat Liverpool 2-1 and continue the Premier League champions' miserable run. Goals at either end of the match proved decisive for Enzo Maresca's men, who have put the pity and woe of an injury crisis behind them to come away with three massive points at the very last.

Ruben Amorim can put his feet up and enjoy the international break knowing his job is safe for now after Manchester United enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 win over Sunderland. Mason Mount struck early to get the Red Devils off on the right foot before Benjamin Sesko pounced after waves of pressure from the hosts, who deservedly won a third home game in a row.

Declan Rice came back to haunt West Ham once again as the former Hammer opened the scoring against his old club to help Arsenal to a 2-0 victory which sent them to the top of the Premier League table. Bukayo Saka was also on target but there was to be more injury agony for Martin Odegaard, as he once again had to leave the pitch prematurely in what's proving to be a bit of a nightmare start to the season on a personal level.

Iman Beney's first goal for Manchester City secured a dramatic late victory for Andree Jeglertz's side, moments after it had appeared they'd thrown away all three points. Arsenal had twice pegged the hosts back in a lively second-half but as the clock ticked towards the 90-minute mark, up stepped the summer signing from BSC YB Frauen to smash home and make it 3-2, keeping the pressure up on Chelsea at the top of the WSL table.

It looked like the script was written. With seven minutes remaining, Chloe Kelly had come back to haunt her former side, levelling things up for Arsenal at Manchester City with a superb strike that seemed to swing the momentum in the Gunners' favour. But the player who has so often been the hero in 2025, for club and country, would see her efforts reduced to a footnote as Iman Beney's even later effort condemned the north London side to a 3-2 defeat, one which ended their unbeaten start to the new Women's Super League season and leaves their title charge in a precarious position already.

"He has great potential. He's really smart, a guy who's always thinking," Ruben Amorim said after Benjamin Sesko's £74 million ($101m) switch to Manchester United from RB Leipzig at the start of August. "He can play a different type of football. He is going to feel that the Premier League is aggressive. He is going to learn. But Ben can be a striker for United for a lot of years; that's why we paid so much money to have a striker who will have his history in our club."

Manchester United and Chelsea both continued their unbeaten starts to the Women's Super League season as a stunning Anna Sandberg strike earned the Red Devils a well-deserved 1-1 draw against the champions, who dropped points for the first time this season. Wieke Kaptein scored an early opener for the Blues and both sides could have gone on to clinch victory in an entertaining encounter between the two early pace-setters.

Chelsea's perfect start to the new Women's Super League season came to an end on Friday night, as the Blues were held to a stalemate by Manchester United in a 1-1 draw. Sonia Bompastor's side began their title defence in winning fashion through each of the first four weeks of the season but that run was stopped by the Red Devils, who avoided defeat for just the second time in 12 meetings with the London club.

Attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailovic departed the club late in the season, but the front office has restructured on the fly

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Welcome to Wrexham showed the pain and glory of British lower league football to the world but it would never have existed without Sunderland Till I Die. Rob McElhenney watched the documentary on the recommendation of his actor friend Humphrey Ker and was immediately hooked. After finishing the series he instantly decided he wanted to invest in a lower league club and soon his ambitious project with Ryan Reynolds was born.

Jamie Carragher immediately expressed his concerns over Arne Slot's tactics after Liverpool had won their opening game of the new season against Bournemouth. So he was never going to hold back after watching the disturbingly ragged Reds slump to a second consecutive defeat in Tuesday's Champions League clash with Galatasaray.

Arsenal are only four games into their Women's Super League season and yet, their chances of seriously competing for the title are already under the microscope. That's because the Gunners, who won the Champions League back in May, have now dropped points in back-to-back weekends, with Saturday's disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa ringing alarm bells.

Pochettino's message to this squad was clear - every player must look in the mirror and ask 'What is expected of me?'

Pochettino promised this roster would offer a clearer vision into his World Cup thoughts, with a 60-man roster winnowed to 26

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Since reforming its women's team seven years ago, Manchester United have been working towards having weeks like this. On Friday night, they face champions Chelsea in a huge clash at the top of the Women's Super League. Then, five days later, they host Valerenga in their first-ever game in the Women's Champions League proper. So much work has been done to get the Red Devils to this point, where they are in Europe's premier competition and battling for the top domestic honours, and yet, it just doesn't feel like they are ready for the challenge ahead.

“Written in the stars, wasn’t it?” Mary Earps is referring to this season’s Champions League draw, which has pitted her Paris Saint-Germain side against former club Manchester United. Unsurprisingly, Earps’ phone pinged “straight away”, with Ella Toone the predictable name to pop up. “There’s a lot of familiar faces that I’m looking forward to seeing,” she says, with the two to meet at Old Trafford next month.

European champions Paris Saint-Germain defied the odds as they came from behind to beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, with substitute Goncalo Ramos deciding the game in the visitors' favour after Senny Mayulu had cancelled out Ferran Torres' opener.

Marcus Rashford may have enjoyed another encouraging evening but Barcelona were put firmly in their place by Paris Saint-Germain in their eagerly-awaited Champions League clash on Tuesday evening, with the titleholders coming from behind to claim a deserved 2-1 win at Montjuic.

Erling Haaland was on the prowl and at his most dangerous but he was left disappointed as Manchester City were denied victory in the Champions League at Monaco by a late penalty given away by Nico Gonzalez. Haaland scored his 51st and 52nd goals in Europe's top competitions to tie Mohamed Salah as the 10th highest scorer. But City were pegged back, first by a scorching strike from Jordan Teze and then by Eric Dier's penalty in the 90th minute.

The Gunners had to endure some nervy moments as they beat Olympiacos and made it two wins from two to start their Champions League campaign

Newcastle put forward a dominant display in their 4-0 win away win over Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise. Eddie Howe's side were ruthless in attack, with Anthony Elanga, Nick Woltemade and Anthony Gordon linking well in their first start together as a trio. Woltemade opened the scoring with a clever flick, before Gordon twice bagged from the spot with substitute Harvey Barnes adding the fourth.

After Pulisic's standout showing against Napoli, GOAL looks at the USMNT star's top performances for club and country

Both U.S. Open Cup finalists are relatively recent MLS additions, and both have a chance to claim their first trophy