Phil Foden should be central for City and England, neutrals should root for Brighton and Celtic seek a long-term planPhil Foden must start. Whether it is Manchester City’s most important matches, or for England at a European Championship, he must start. City’s win over Borussia Mönchengladbach was confirmation of this, and while his midfield mates Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gündogan took the headlines for their goals, Foden put in an imperious performance at the tip of City’s midfield, providing a sumptuous no-look assist to take his goal contributions this season to 20 (from 36 appearances). There are others that could play this position for both City and England, but on current form it would be a huge shame not...
Tottenham picked players who could have put Arsenal’s defence, then hunkered into a fearful deep blockThey may have finished with no points, 10 men and a familiar sense of entropy reasserted. They may have spent the opening quarter of this game in a state of neurotic all-out defence that looked at times like a brilliantly sarcastic parody of mature Mourinho‑ball. But Tottenham Hotspur did succeed in posing a fascinating conundrum during this north London derby.How is it possible to play such a deep defensive block, but still concede a penalty via a flailing challenge by the last man desperately haring back to cover a breakaway? How is it possible to face off against a team with a defence that seems...
Keira Walsh’s late goal means Manchester City keep up the pressure on Chelsea while Manchester United bounced backManchester City are on an incredible run at the moment and the 1-0 victory over Everton means they have now won nine consecutive league games. They dominated throughout the game but Everton’s execution of manager Willie Kirk’s gameplan was almost perfect. They put in an admirable performance, even without Jill Scott who was ineligible to face her parent club, and frustrated City until the only goal arrived with nine minutes remaining. @keira_walsh was the matchwinner as @ManCityWomen keep up the pace with leaders @ChelseaFCW... #BarclaysFAWSL highlights ⤵️Flip it and reverse it! This time it's @samkerr1 cross that sets up @Bethany_Eng15!#BarclaysFAWSL pic.twitter.com/3rMkNdfUOTCaptain @katiezel was...
Defensive set-up and an expectation that Carlos Vinícius could play the Harry Kane role saw an insipid display against ChelseaWith three minutes still to play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the score 1-0 to Chelsea – as it had been for what felt like at least a fortnight – something odd happened to Carlos Vinícius. He had a chance to score a goal. Serge Aurier delivered a fine cross from the right. Vinícius leapt well, wrenched his neck and made contact.Spurs had woken up late in this game. Flustered, eyes still gummed shut, this drained and listing group of players had finally made it to the table. A point would have been a sensational return, even against a Chelsea...
Watched over garden fences in the middle of a bleak winter, Spurs’ FA Cup win was a rare occasion of comfort and uplift With 19 minutes gone at Rossett Park, and the score still 0-0 between Marine AFC and Tottenham Hotspur, something almost-brilliant almost happened.Neil Kengni, Marine’s right winger, took the ball on the halfway line, galloped forward into a pocket of space, took another step, then spanked a wonderful dipping shot on to the crossbar. Related: Carlos Vinícius's hat-trick for Tottenham ends Marine's adventure Continue reading...