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• City into FA Cup semi-final after 2-1 victory
• ‘We talked a lot about the game we lost here’

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City had recovered some of their missing heart and soul as they advanced to a seventh FA Cup semi-final in a row with a 2-1 win at Bournemouth.

The City manager, whose team have been drawn to face Nottingham Forest, relied on what he called his “legendary” players – Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gündogan – in his side’s win on the south coast.

Arsenal cruised to their sixth successive league win against the relegation-battling Crystal Palace with a controlled victory in the Women’s Super League.

Beth Mead scored a superb double while a first-half finish from Alessia Russo and an own goal from Allyson Swaby completed a dominant afternoon for Renée Slegers’s side.

Championship perennials are beige down to their signature snack but their existence is still something to savour

The man behind the counter at Greggs on Fishergate has never heard of a butter pie, but try Poundbakery over the street. Poundbakery doesn’t do butter pie, but try Greenhalgh’s on the corner. Greenhalgh’s: closed on Sundays. The chip shop on Market Street does meat pie, meat and potato, steak, steak and kidney, chicken and mushroom, cheese and onion. Butter pie? A shake of the head.

You’ve got to try the butter pie. That’s what everyone says the first time you visit Preston. It was created in industrial times, for the largely Catholic working population to eat on Fridays when meat was forbidden. Often you hear it described as a “delicacy”, but even this is to overstate its intensely yeoman nature. It’s layers of potatoes, onions and butter in a pie. It’s cheap. It’s hearty. It’s unpretentious. It exists to be consumed and then immediately forgotten. It is – with deepest apologies – the very embodiment of Preston North End in comestible form.

• Milan midfielder hospitalised ahead of 2-1 loss to Napoli
• Inter edge out Udinese 2-1; Barcelona defeat Girona 4-1

The Milan midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has had successful appendectomy surgery after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis, the Serie A club said on Sunday. Local media reported that during Milan’s training camp in Napoli the England international experienced severe abdominal pain that necessitated hospitalisation for further investigation.

Tests confirmed the diagnosis, prompting the operation, which went well, the club said in a statement. Further details on Loftus-Cheek’s condition have not been provided.

• Former Atlético Madrid executive is replacement for Edu
• ‘I cannot wait to get started in my new role’

Arsenal have confirmed the appointment of Andrea Berta as their new sporting director, with the Italian expected to attend their game against Fulham on Tuesday as he begins his new role immediately.

Berta emerged as Arsenal’s leading candidate to replace Edu who resigned from the post in November to join the network of clubs spearheaded by Evangelos Marinakis, the Nottingham Forest owner. Berta left Atlético Madrid in January after 12 years in the Spanish capital and has been credited with being behind a string of successful signings including Jan Oblak (€4m from Benfica in 2014) and Rodri (€25m from Villarreal in 2018).

• ‘Additional context’ not in public sphere helps inform FA’s decision
• Striker included in training squad for South Korea friendlies

Matildas striker Sam Kerr will be free to return as national team captain once she recovers from her serious knee injury after the Football Australia board decided on no further sanctions for her drunken night during which she verbally abused a London police constable.

The 31-year-old will continue her recovery in camp with the Matildas for the April matches against South Korea, but has not been cleared for a return to competitive football.

Marcus Rashford ended a four-month goal drought to put Aston Villa one step closer to wiping out a 68-year dry spell with his double against Preston helping book a Wembley semi-final as the victors look to win their first FA Cup since 1957.

Rashford is a reigning Cup ­winner, lifting the trophy last May to help extend Erik ten Hag’s stay at ­Manchester United, but that ­success did little to reignite either’s Old ­Trafford career. The 27-year-old has improved at Aston Villa after ­leaving behind his home town malaise but everyone has been waiting until now for him to deliver goals to remind everyone of his key purpose on a pitch, these his first since 1 December.

• Evans departs with Millers 16th in League One table
• Manager feared ‘credit has run out’ after Saturday’s loss

Steve Evans has been sacked as manager of Rotherham after Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to Crawley, the League One club have announced.

“Rotherham can confirm that, following a meeting between the chairman and manager this morning, the club have parted company with first team manager Steve Evans together with Paul Raynor, Gary Mills and Ian Pledger, with immediate effect,” a club statement said.

Young substitute’s dynamic contribution turns tie around with commanding performance against Bournemouth

The moment that flipped Manchester City’s FA Cup quarter-final at Bournemouth on its head initially went largely unnoticed. As players made a beeline for the tunnel and supporters headed into the concourses loaded with orders for beers, burgers and hotdogs, Pep Guardiola had issued an instruction that would ultimately define this match and earn City passage to a seventh successive semi-final.

As everyone else headed in, his longtime fitness coach, Lorenzo Buenaventura, rushed on to the pitch with a single mission: prime Nico O’Reilly for business. The 20‑year-old from Failsworth, a few miles north of Manchester, ditched the tracksuit top and was quickly put through his paces. O’Reilly would not depart quite so quietly.

• Hammers end champions’ Kingsmeadow winning run
• Manchester United keep European hopes on course

Chelsea’s lead at the Women’s Super League summit was cut to six points after West Ham ended the Blues’ season-long winning streak at Kingsmeadow in thrilling fashion.

Sonia Bompastor’s side looked to be cruising to victory when Maika Hamano’s volley and Aggie Beever-Jones’s delicate finish put them two up after 21 minutes.

Premier League champions’ charges could be seismic but are not unprecedented after two major illegal payment sagas in English football

There is a sense that the 130‑plus Premier League charges Manchester City are facing are unprecedented, and in terms of the potential fallout that may be true. City have the wealth and, it seems, the will to pursue extraordinarily costly legal action. If they are found guilty – and it should be stressed that they deny all charges – the implications for the club and the league could be seismic. But the charges are not unprecedented. Twice before in the 150‑year history of English football, clubs have faced major investigations into illegal payments. Both had hugely significant consequences for the clubs involved.

• Protest staged at FC home game against Stockton
• Sit-in demonstration to be held at Manchester derby

FC United of Manchester and The 1958, a Manchester United fan group, held a joint action against United’s 20-year Glazer ownership, with The 1958 announcing it will stage a sit-in at next Sunday’s derby with Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Around 200 FC and United supporters gathered at Broadhurst Park before FC hosted Stockton Town in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Outside the ground, flares were let off in the red of FC and United along with green and yellow ones, the colours of Newton Heath, United’s original name. Anti-Glazer chants and songs were sung by fans, with one displaying a flag that showed an image of the former United forward, Eric Cantona, and the legend “Eric the King”.

Do you know your Moonchester from your Gunnersaurus? If so, this quiz on football’s furry friends is for you

Historic celebrations are held in the city centre and Town Moor as Ant and Dec among famous fans to join the party

An explosion of sheer joy following a lifetime’s worth of disappointment? A not so subtle expression of soft Saudi Arabian power? A wonderful example of the synergy between a city and its football club? Or a Sunderland supporter’s worst nightmare?

Saturday’s celebrations on Newcastle’s Town Moor staged to commemorate Eddie Howe’s team’s Carabao Cup triumph against Liverpool at Wembley two weeks ago was all those things and much, much, more.

Some players’ futures are in doubt but beating Bournemouth could help those they leave behind

Pep Guardiola is a basketball aficionado and has often been seen courtside in America trying to learn from one of the world’s most intense sports. The Manchester City manager holds Michael Jordan in high esteem and it feels as if the next two months may be the club’s version of the basketball legend’s Last Dance documentary for some of their senior players. The FA Cup is the NBA championship for those wondering where they may start next season.

City face a second trip of the season to Bournemouth, where their 32-match unbeaten run ended in November, hoping to reach a semi-final at Wembley for the seventh successive year. Guardiola and his side have barely recovered since losing Rodri, City’s Jordan according to his coach, and a second defeat by Andoni Iraola’s men on Sunday would remove any chance of a trophy for the Spaniard and his ageing charges this season. Jordan was asked for one great final year with the Chicago Bulls. Guardiola, who regards the Club World Cup as the start of the 2025-26 campaign, needs two months from his creaking squad.

After Exeter and Ipswich, Nuno’s team became the first to win a third consecutive penalty shootout in Cup history

Even as modern life takes over, history is everything in the FA Cup. The competition’s newfound disdain for replays allowed Nottingham Forest to become the first team to win three consecutive FA Cup penalty shootouts. History was made, novelty was witnessed, but in a setting that emphasised the traditions of the grand old Cup. After Exeter and Ipswich, fell Brighton, and so Forest matched the feat of the Moroccan army side FAR Rabat, who beat MC Oujda, Wydad Casablanca and Rachad Bernoussi on penalties in successive rounds to win the Coupe du Trone in 2007.

It was a game characterised by caution, reflecting both Forest’s habitual preference for a low block and Brighton’s wariness after losing 7-0 to Forest last month. But it also perhaps reflected how much both sides cared, a welcome, if retro, feature of the latter stages of the FA Cup this season.

• Ligue 1 leaders trounce Saint-Étienne 6-1
• Harry Kane scores as Bayern battle past St Pauli

Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique wants the club to keep their focus on domestic and European titles despite all but securing a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 crown.

PSG thrashed relegation-threatened Saint-Étienne 6-1 to virtually assure themselves of a second straight title under the Spaniard. Only Monaco have a mathematical chance to overhaul them after their 2-1 win over Nice left them 21 points behind PSG with seven games to play.

Brazil striker may be on the move this summer but after a troubled journey he has found happiness at Molineux

Matheus Cunha’s time at Wolverhampton Wanderers may be coming to an end but the Brazilian forward will never forget his time with the club. He says he was reborn and “recovered his joy” there after two difficult years and the frustration of not being selected for the 2022 World Cup.

With 13 goals this season, Cunha is three away from scoring the most by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign. The record of 15 is jointly held by Roberto Firmino (for Liverpool in 2017-18) and Gabriel Martinelli (for Arsenal in 2022-23). Clearly Cunha has left behind the sadness of his time at Atlético Madrid and the 25-year-old speaks warmly about the new life he has found in a new country and the gratitude that has comes with that.

Maverick attacker seemed utterly in control as he produced two stunning moments of skill to decide Cup quarter-final

Play at Wembley. Score at Wembley. Score again. Go back to Wembley again. Yeah. Did I mention Wembley? Eberechi Eze has had a fairly decent last five days of his footballing life, bookended here by a performance of supreme incision on a crisp, boisterous day in south-west London, when he was the very obvious point of difference between Crystal Palace and Fulham.

Not just in his numerical contribution to Crystal Palace’s 3-0 win: a jaw-dropper of an opening goal, all thrilling, controlled power; followed by a proper, actual high-skill assist. But also in terms of style and a Palace system that leans right into its own strengths when all the parts function like this.

Fifa president’s talk of the Club World Cup promoting access and equity is simply double-think to disguise another land grab

It takes a while for the voice to emerge from the background haze, a mist of generically noodling electronic music, the kind of music that comes filled with a comforting sense of death, hold music from the executive euthanasia clinic.

Finally the voice emerges, whispering through your headphones in that familiar rich, reverent Euro-tone, like being spoken to by the sun. This is a voice that says: I am here to command. But I am also just a conduit for a divinity that flows through me and into you. Although mainly, and let’s be absolutely clear, through me.

The late, great striker entered Goodison folklore with the winning goal in an Anfield Merseyside derby

I didn’t have a great time at university. Academically it was fine – got in, got a 2:1 in history and got out – but socially I struggled. There were various reasons for that, a fair few of which were definitely my fault. Like joining zero societies. Like joining the uni magazine but writing zero articles for it. And like what happened on my first night there.

It was about 6pm on Monday 27 September 1999 and I was back in my dorm after registering for my courses, checking out the library and buying my first pint of milk and loaf of bread from the campus shop. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. It was Daniel, the lad from the next room, and he was standing alongside two girls I’d never seen but who were really attractive.

Eddie Howe’s team will celebrate their Carabao Cup win on Saturday but there can be pitfalls along the way

When the celebration of Newcastle’s first trophy in decades became a point of heated civic discussion, it served as a reminder that party planning can be problematic.

“Extensive work and long-term planning behind the scenes have continued with Newcastle City council, Northumbria police, Freemen of Newcastle, the North East Combined Authority, NE1, Nexus and the emergency services,” groaned a club statement this week, ending fevered speculation that Saturday’s ticketed, controlled event on the Town Moor would be the only place to see Eddie Howe, Dan Burn et al show off the Carabao Cup and/or thank Yasir al-Rumayyan for the Saudi Arabian riches that funded success.

Chelsea and England defender on the power of football and praise for her teammate for talking about her ADHD and autism diagnosis

“When you experience the things we have in the women’s game, it does open your eyes to the struggles of others,” says Millie Bright. “It makes you more aware of all kinds of different barriers people might face. You really appreciate the struggles that people have to go through and the constant barriers and battles that have to be fought every single day just to exist. Literally just to exist. You’re not asking to be better than anyone, you’re just asking to exist and be able to do what you love doing, whatever that is, in sport or beyond sport; things that are just part of living a full life, and everyone deserves a full life.”

The Chelsea and England defender is sitting in the small stand at Cobham FC’s brilliantly named Leg O’Mutton Field talking about the power of football. Last year Bright was back in Killamarsh, the village in north-east Derbyshire where she grew up, visiting the “Millie Bright pitch” at her childhood club, Killamarsh Juniors. The club had previously benefited from Football Foundation funding. Since then, 30 3G pitches dedicated to prioritising women’s and girls’ football that have received funding via the Premier League, the Football Association and the government-backed Football Foundation’s Lionesses Futures Fund.

Against a backdrop of Taliban rule and corruption claims against FA president, Zohib Islam Amiri sees demoralisation setting in

When Zohib Islam Amiri came back to play in Afghanistan in January for the first time since 2010, he was hoping to make a difference. “I wanted to try to give some of the young Afghan kids some inspiration,” he says. “But as soon as I got there it was clear that things were even worse.”

Amiri, who made his international debut as a 15-year-old in 2005 before serving as captain for more than a decade, became the first Afghanistan player to move overseas when he joined Mumbai in 2011. The defender’s return to play for Abu Muslim in the Afghanistan Champions League – a competition set up in 2021 when the Taliban regained power – was never intended to be the end of his career. But having seen his side crowned champions after a controversial 8-0 victory amid allegations of match-fixing, Amiri decided enough was enough.

Barcelona remained on course for a third straight Women’s Champions League title after routing Wolfsburg 6-1 in the second leg of their quarter-final.

Salma Paralluelo and Clàudia Pina each scored twice as Barcelona reached the semi-finals 10-2 on aggregate. Barça have scored a total of 35 goals in eight games in the competition this season.

The Denmark striker – who played for the Chelsea, Fulham and Arsenal youth teams – is thriving at Monaco

By Get French Football News

“We understood that if we didn’t take the decision in the winter, in the summer, it would potentially be too late,” says Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro. There was a sense of “now or never” about the signing of Mika Biereth from Sturm Graz in January and, with the Danish international scoring 11 goals in his first nine Ligue 1 games, it is certainly an opportunity the club are happy they seized.

That “now or never” feeling characterises Biereth’s whole career. “He had the bravery to go to Scotland, then Austria and now France and that is what shows he wants to be the best. He has to be playing to prove that,” says his mentor, Ian Wright. Biereth has grasped every chance he has been given along a path that has led him away from Arsenal and into Monaco’s grateful arms.

• Ex-player was initially sentenced in February 2024
• Court rules unanimously that conviction was unsafe

The former Brazil international Dani Alves has had his conviction for rape overturned on appeal.

In February 2024, a court sentenced Alves to a minimum sentence of four years and six months for the rape of a 23-year-old woman in a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022. As he had already spent more than a year on remand, Alves was released under legal supervision shortly afterwards.

• Davies tore ACL during Nations League third-place game
• Club executives demand ‘full investigation into events’

Bayern Munich are considering legal action against the Canadian soccer federation after Alphonso Davies sustained a serious knee injury in the Concacaf Nations League third-place playoff on Sunday.

“We’re demanding a full investigation into the events from Canada Soccer and expressly reserve the right to take legal action,” the Bayern chief executive, Jan-Christian Dreesen, told the German newspaper Bild on Friday.

Davies tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and sustained other damage to his right knee during Canada’s 2-1 win over the United States. The full-back returned to Munich where the full extent of the injury was determined and “will be out for several months”, according to his club.

Bayern Munich are alleging that Canadian officials did not provide appropriate care for the player by starting him in “a match of no sporting significance”. Both teams had lost in the tournament semi-finals, Canada beaten by eventual winners Mexico and the US losing to Panama.

“Sending a clearly injured player with a damaged knee on a 12-hour flight without a thorough medical assessment is, in our view, grossly negligent and a clear breach of medical duty of care,” Dreesen said. “The participation of Davies, who already had muscular problems before the game, in a match of no sporting significance is incomprehensible from our point of view.”

Our cartoonist looks at the midfielder’s creative ideas and inspirations that are leading Australia closer to the 2026 World Cup

• Team closer to representing country four years after exile
• Players express frustration at Fifa’s slow progress

Fifa has cleared the way for the exiled Afghanistan women’s national team to represent the country but has been criticised for moving too slowly, four years after players fled the country when the Taliban returned to power.

Football’s global governing body said it was committed to supporting players outside Afghanistan and would organise training camps, provide staff (including qualified coaches and technical and medical staff) and coordinate friendly matches.

The striker is in the middle of his best club season since a traumatic injury, and his national team is benefitting

Watching him score dazzling free kicks, pull off handsprings and other acrobatics in his goal celebrations, and lift the trophy for best player in the Concacaf Nations League Finals, it is easy to forget Raúl Jiménez ever suffered a serious injury. Or that less than five years ago, there were questions about if he would ever play again.

Yet there Jiménez was, with two goals in Mexico’s semi-final against Canada and another two in the final against Panama, joking about enjoying a few tequilas in celebration of El Tri’s first-ever Nations League triumph. A sleek headband is the only visible reminder of his November 2020 collision with Arsenal’s David Luiz – an incident that fractured his skull and caused a brain bleed, and which could have cost him his life without the proper and timely medical interventions he received.

Striker is an outspoken talisman who will have to be at his best if national side are to get out of group stage in 2026

Mehdi Taremi was born 10 days after Son Heung-min, in July 1992, but in terms of the global reputations of these Asian attackers, the Iranian striker has consistently lagged much further behind his South Korean counterpart. The Internazionale marksman has, however, been a more effective performer for his national team.

As Son and his teammates huffed and puffed to a 1-1 draw with Jordan on Tuesday – a third successive stalemate in an easier World Cup qualifying group – Taremi scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan to secure a fourth successive World qualification for his country.

Sir Gareth Southgate has expressed his concern that 'callous, manipulative and toxic influencers' are taking the place of traditional father figures in society and contributing to mental health issues among young men. He believes the decline in communities and a lack of mentors – or 'father figures' – are causing more young men to become reluctant to talk or express their emotions. Southgate voiced concern that 'this void is filled by a new kind of role model who do not have their best interest at heart'.

• Gareth Southgate rails against ‘callous toxic influencers’ in Dimbleby Lecture

Newcastle United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley Stadium to win the Carabao Cup final. Goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak gave Newcastle a two-goal lead before Federico Chiesa scored a late consolation for Liverpool. The Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said: "With such a long wait for a trophy, this will be a day that I'm sure everyone will never forget." More than 32,000 Newcastle fans made the journey to Wembley and they celebrated the victory into the night.

• Eddie Howe ‘will never forget’ day Newcastle broke trophy drought

While Liverpool boss Arne Slot called the team's exit from the Champions League a shock, he took solace in losing to an excellent Paris Saint‑Germain team in a wildly entertaining two-legged tie that needed a penalty shootout to decide the outcome. In what Slot labelled 'the best game of football I've ever been involved in', PSG beat Liverpool 4-1 in a shootout to advance to the quarter-finals, winning Tuesday's second leg at Anfield 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembélé.

• Slot sanguine after Liverpool exit in ‘best game of football I’ve ever been involved in’

Sam Merson, son of the former footballer Paul Merson, scored an 'outrageous' goal for Hanworth Villa against Farnham Town. Merson's goal opened the scoring in the game which ultimately ended 1-1

New head coach must find a way to focus Jude Bellingham and bring Premier League style to international stage

Thomas Tuchel does not have time on his side after opting not to oversee England’s Nations League games in November. He has looked to hit the ground running, just as he did when he won the Champions League four months after joining Chelsea, but building rhythm in international football is not easy. The players are not around for long and some games drift into irrelevance. Tuchel has started with two straightforward wins but neither set the pulse racing. The awkward reality is that qualification lacks jeopardy these days.

I thought: new football boots, new me, but it didn’t work out … and then a special edition of my favourites came on the market

There is something indescribably beautiful about finding a pair of football boots that fit you perfectly. It is like Cinderella’s glass slippers – your foot just slides in, the instep and arches ensconced in the cushioning – or putting Excalibur back in the stone. Until you go out on the pitch, anything is possible.

That boot for me is the Puma King. To be clear, this isn’t an advertorial – Herr Puma hasn’t given me a brown envelope, or a free pair. They are just the boots that fit. If I had slightly narrower feet and there’s no doubt I would be in the pocket of big Copa Mundial.

Jordan Henderson is a great leader for England. But he has been encouraged and applauded for the very same acts for which minority ethnic players are castigated and stigmatised

How shall I lead thee? Let me count the ways. I lead thee by stepping up and being vocal, around the dressing room, setting standards in training. I lead thee quietly by example, you know, the not-much-of-a-shouter‑and-a-screamer-but-when-he-speaks-people-listen kind. I lead thee by having been there, done that, won everything in the game. I lead thee by never backing down from a challenge. I lead thee by sheer gravitas.

By any of these measures, Jordan Henderson is a leader. He was a leader for Liverpool, raising standards and setting the tone for 12 golden years. He was a leader for the NHS and the LGBTQ+ community off the field. He was still a leader when he left Liverpool and moved to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to create – in his words – “positive change” in the country for his beloved LGBTQ+ constituents.

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Grab your tinfoil trophy, rattle and big rosette, because the Proper FA Cup is back! We’re at the quarter-final stages, and things look very different this year with most of the usual suspects having already crashed out. Manchester City are the obvious playground bullies – although in their current state, the kind who can be seen off with a swift kick in the swingers. Still, even if we disregard the three FA Cups won in their Abu Dhabi era, City are still the most recent winners. So without further ado, let’s climb into the time machine and revisit each team’s Cup highlights ...

“I left 40 degrees in Rio to go to -5 … the first time I trained I couldn’t finish the session because I was too cold. When I finished I would put my hands in like boiling water because they were almost frozen” – Evanilson tells Ben Fisher about his journey from Brazil to Bournemouth, via Slovakia and Portugal.

Plus: managers sacked just before cup finals, and teams with goal differences higher than their league position

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Uzbekistan are playing Kyrgyzstan in a World Cup qualifier this Thursday,” notes Ben Jones. “Is this fixture the highest combined Scrabble score for a pair of Fifa nations? Bosnia and Herzegovina might have something to say, but I’m looking for a combined score from two teams who have actually played each other.”

Uzbekistan (25 Scrabble points) beat Kyrgyzstan (30) 1-0 to close in on a first-ever World Cup qualification – and Ben’s question inspired a flurry of tile-totting emails. Before we dive in, some ground rules. To try and keep things relatively simple, we’ll stick with the country names in English that are used by Fifa. So no long official names eg ‘Kingdom of …’ – and we’re using the English language Scrabble scoring system.

Iran v Laos (last played in 2004) is the lowest Scrabble score for an international fixture, notes Andrew Hastie.

Pete Tomlin suggests Venezuela v Brazil (38pts) as South America’s highest-scoring fixture, and New Zealand v Papua New Guinea (45pts) for Oceania.

Chris Roe adds that in English football, Sheffield Wednesday v Wolverhampton Wanderers is worth 75 points, opening a whole new can of worms.

Brazilian followed her heart with a move across the Atlantic to the WSL in January and has already had a big impact

Kerolin joined Manchester City from North Carolina Courage in January and last week showed everyone exactly why she made the move. On the biggest stage in European football, the Champions League, the Brazilian produced the performance of her City career so far to help set up a 2-0 quarter-final first leg win against Chelsea.

Kerolin was a constant thorn in Chelsea’s side throughout the game and provided the assist for one of Vivianne Miedema’s two goals to set up a tantalising scoreline before the return leg at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.

This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts will be published twice a week from next week.

Max Rushden is joined by Philippe Auclair, Robyn Cowen and Will Unwin to wrap up the international break

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today; Elis James reports from a hotel bed in North Macedonia as Wales get a late injury-time equaliser. The team wrap up the rest of the international break as Argentina hammer Brazil and what are the implications of countries like Iran qualifying for a tournament in Donald Trump’s America?

Our cartoonist on the German’s winning start and the scrutiny that comes with being England’s new head coach

• Buy a copy of a Squires cartoon in our Print Shop
• David’s new book, Chaos in the Box: buy it now

Chelsea’s ‘aggressivity booster’ makes mark, Manchester United close on Champions League and Arsenal hit heights

The Everton manager, Brian Sørensen, said his team would hunt down the clubs above them after a third win in five WSL matches moved them 10 points clear of the relegation zone. Everton were bottom in November and Sørensen says they will continue to look up after beating Crystal Palace 3-0. “We’ve been fighting for our lives for the last one and a half seasons, in terms of our squad and availability, and always every game was: ‘OK, which 11 players do we have?’ Whereas now, we have a squad. We can sit down and say: ‘what does the end of the season look like?’ We’re not far from the teams above us, so it’s hunting season now.” TG

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Jamie Spangher and Chris Paouros to discuss a dramatic week for in the women’s game

On this week’s Guardian Women’s Football Weekly: the panel revisit the double header between Manchester City and Chelsea as the two teams went toe-to-toe twice in four days. Vivianne Miedema starred in a Champions League win for City before Chelsea struck back in the WSL. With the two sides preparing to meet again in midweek, the panel assess the balance of power.

It was a mixed week for Arsenal after their Champions League loss to Real Madrid on a poor pitch and a dominant win over Liverpool at the Emirates. Meanwhile, the WSL relegation battle heats up with Leicester edging Brighton and Everton crusing past Palace. Plus, the panel asks Chris Paouros why Tottenham can’t score goals after Spurs faltered away at West Ham.

Name the players who initially took part in – or tried to stop – the below iconic moments. We’ve provided as much help as possible …

On 19 November 1969, the Brazil legend sparked wild celebrations with the 1,000th goal of his career – but it may have been scored five days earlier

It was 14 November 1969. For the world’s greatest player, it wasn’t the best penalty. More an untidy scuff into the bottom corner. But it was enough for Pelé and his Santos team to open the scoring in a 3-0 friendly win over lowly Botafogo da Paraiba. More importantly, it marked the great man’s 999th senior goal. Or did it?

Five days later, Santos travelled to Rio de Janeiro to face Vasco da Gama in a cup game and it seemed as if the entire nation was jammed into the cavernous Maracanã to witness a piece of football history. Despite a tropical rainstorm, every TV station, radio network and newspaper elbowed their way along the touchline waiting for the magic moment to happen.

England were misfiring in Mexico but, as Chris Evans recalls in his biography of the striker, one match can change everything for a team and its star

The browbeaten striker looked forlornly to the floor, the whistles of derision ringing in his ears. The stadium may only have been partially full of travelling England fans but the seething frustration was unmistakable as their emotion poured on to the pitch.

Lining the sparse terraces draped in union flags, the ragtag collection of supporters – many of them shirtless – got as close to the pitch as possible to spew their thoughts at their own players.

Arsenal’s Spanish forward on fighting to win support for women’s football, leaving a successful Barcelona team and the stress of winning the World Cup

When Mariona Caldentey was a student, reading sports science at university, she could see the Camp Nou scoreboard from her bedroom window on the top floor of 63 Travessera de les Corts. On the nights when she and her flatmates didn’t stroll across to the stadium, they would hear goals before they saw them on TV. They played too, becoming league champions, but never imagined themselves over there. “Our reality was Astroturf pitches with no stands,” she recalls.

Yet in April 2022, eight years on, 91,648 people came to watch them, breaking Barcelona’s own world record set a fortnight before. “It all happened so quick; one day we’ll realise what we achieved, all we did for change to come,” she says.

Defender’s expected transfer will put him alongside Owen and McManaman as Reds unable to resist the Bernabéu

That Liverpool to Real Madrid is a regular trade route will do little to douse the rage Trent Alexander-Arnold’s expected move to the Spanish capital has caused. That Madrid are Liverpool’s nemesis in terms of European Cup/Champions League wins and, in recent years, two finals of that same competition, will hardly sweeten the pill, either.

If Steven Gerrard resisted such temptations, feted forebears and contemporaries were tempted and succumbed. The aristocratic hubris of Madrid has regularly robbed Liverpool of its prime talents. Not just those loved and lost. Jude Bellingham might be two years into his Anfield career by now, such a plan mooted in Liverpool’s front office, only for him to opt for the Bernabéu.

Rodri has beaten Vinícius Júnior and Erling Haaland to top our ranking of the most talented players in the world this calendar year

• How all the judges voted | Rodri heads 2024 list | Our methodology | The top 100 female players in the world
• 2023 edition | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

The Manchester City midfielder becomes the sixth player to top our ranking of the world’s best 100 male footballers

• The 100 best male footballers in the world 2024

One of the worst things about seeing Rodri in agony on the pitch against Arsenal in September – and the subsequent news that he had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament – was that in the buildup to the injury he had criticised the workload being put on players. It was as if he knew something bad was about to happen.

In April, after an epic 3-3 draw at Real Madrid the Manchester City and Spain midfielder said: “I do need a rest.” He added: “Let’s see how we speak, how we live the situation. Sometimes it is what it is. I need to adjust. It [rest] is something we are planning, yes.”

Aitana Bonmatí finishes top of our rankings for a second consecutive year, with Caroline Graham Hansen second and Sophia Smith third

• Bonmatí on top of world again | How every judge voted | Video top ten | 2023 list | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018
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The Spanish midfielder wins for a second consecutive year on a fast-moving list that sees 15 players appearing for the first time

• The top 100: check out the full list for 2024

Aitana Bonmatí emulates her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas and takes back-to-back wins in the Guardian’s 100 best female footballers in the world list.

The double Ballon d’Or winner received votes from all 99 of this year’s judges, finishing 667 points clear of her club teammate Caroline Graham Hansen, the Norwegian climbing to her highest ranking after a superb individual year for both club and country.

From Franco Mastantuono to Estêvão, we select some of the most talented players born in 2007. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

From Warren Zaïre-Emery to Endrick, we select some of the best players born in 2006. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Next Generation 2023: 20 of the best Premier League talents