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The US federation’s sporting director hired Mauricio Pochettino and Emma Hayes, but it’s too early to judge his larger impact Sign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletter Sporting directors live in the mid-to-long-term. While the coaches they hire and players they recruit have to deal with the highs and lows of week-to-week performance reviews, the executives watch on and make sure the project hasn’t veered off course. With a club, the rule of thumb is that it can take at least three transfer windows to start seeing tangible evidence of progress under a new sporting director. In international soccer, it often takes multiple cycles. Matt Crocker arrived at US Soccer in April 2023 pledging to guide the program into a brave new era while acknowledging that initiative would take time to actualize. As it turned out, he never game himself that time. US Soccer announced on Tuesday that Crocker was stepping down as sporting director, and he’s reportedly due to take up a similar position with Saudi Arabia.

The league’s emphasis on youth development has seen its place in the careers of US national team players shift dramatically Sign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletter When the United States men’s national team traveled to France for the 1998 World Cup, they did so with 16 Major League Soccer players on their 22-man roster. This was very much by design. MLS had kicked off in 1996 as a fulfilled promise made to Fifa by US Soccer for the right to host the 1994 World Cup. The new league then set about hoarding as many national team players as it could. In a winless and mirthless tournament in 1998, fraught by a fractious camp, the Americans started an MLS player 21 times in their three group-stage matches, for an average of seven per starting lineup. That number has trended down ever since. In the 2002 run to the World Cup quarter-finals, setting the program’s modern high-water mark, an average of 5.4 MLS players made a start in the USA’s five matches. In 2006, it was 3.33. By 2010, that number had sunk to two; and in 2022, it was only one. In Qatar, the USMNT’s final group stage match against Iran was, in fact, the first time the team had started no MLS players at all at a World Cup since the league’s founding.

Manager calls on players and fans to embrace the chance of Champions League success despite recent defeats There was a dramatic pause when Mikel Arteta was asked what he wants from the Arsenal supporters against Sporting on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. After his attempts to rouse them before the early kick-off against Bournemouth at the weekend by telling them to “bring your lunch” backfired spectacularly with a costly home defeat that ended with some fans booing the Premier League leaders off the pitch, this time the message was more considered.

Plus: scoring past three keepers in one day, highest ratio of European to domestic titles and a dream result Mail us with your questions and answers “I’ve been wondering: who is the greatest footballer never to make an appearance in England?” muses Cameron Turner. “Did any of the game’s greats go their whole career without visiting the home of football? I think the best bet might be a South American from the 1970s-1990s, though Brazil and Argentina often played friendlies at Wembley.” This question is difficult to answer categorically, mainly because the internet does not yet provide chapter and verse on every football match played by superstars of the black-and-white era. But it’s also far too interesting to leave on the cutting-room floor, so we’ve given it a go with the caveat that the answers are only 99% correct. Just Fontaine (France, 1953-60) Roger Milla (Cameroon 1973-94) Hugo Sánchez (Mexico, 1977-98) Romerito (Paraguay, 1979-90) Abedi Pele (Ghana, 1982-98) Mia Hamm (USA, 1985-2000) Michelle Akers (USA, 1987-2004) Hong Myung-bo (South Korea, 1990-2002)

Liverpool out of Champions League after loss to PSG Ekitiké carried off with suspected achilles injury Arne Slot once again lamented Liver­pool’s wastefulness in front of goal after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain and suffered the added blow of losing Hugo Ekitiké to a potentially serious injury. Liverpool produced a vastly improved second-leg display against the European champions but exited at the quarter-final stage after a 4-0 aggregate defeat. Ousmane Dembélé scored twice late on to extinguish Anfield’s hope of another European comeback.

Stage was set for one of Liverpool’s classic comeback nights – but not this team against these European champions Often in the past Liverpool has demanded and Anfield has delivered. Past glories perhaps shouldn’t influence the present, but they do; precedent begets belief. That’s part of the mythos of the great stadiums, how they develop a life and an identity of their own. But a club cannot simply give itself to an arena and hope that it will do the job that players and management and the executive body cannot. No ground, not even Anfield, has an infinite capacity for miracles. Just because Liverpool came from 3-0 down to beat Barcelona in 2019, there’s no reason to believe they could overhaul a two-goal deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in 2026. Anfield did its bit on a windy night on which early drizzle gave way to teeming rain. The rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone was suitably stirring, the noise from both sets of fans boisterous. But it was not enough.

‘We have to show on the pitch that we have the mindset’ Manager unsure when Saka will return from injury Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal must prove to themselves that they have the right mindset to win the Premier League title but revealed there are major doubts over when Bukayo Saka will return from an achilles injury. The England forward will miss the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final against Sporting on Wednesday and looks set to still be sidelined for Sunday’s crucial Premier League showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola said after City’s win over Chelsea last Sunday which cut Arsenal’s lead to six points that their recent resurgence is “about mindset, not tactics” as he attempts to win a seventh title in England.

Sarina Wiegman’s side followed up Euro 2025 final glory with another defensively minded win over biggest rivals As the seconds ran down, the tension was palpable around Wembley. Hearts were in mouths as Hannah Hampton made a world-class save from point-blank range to keep out Edna Imade’s header. Every sinew was stretched by Keira Walsh as she stuck out a head and then a boot to scramble away yet another delivery into the box, every single ounce of energy eked out to protect Lauren Hemp’s third-minute goal, a moment that felt like it belonged to another era of time. Despite the apparent commotion on the field and the anxiety of the spectators in the stands, there was, however, very little panic evident on the faces of the 11 Lionesses on the field. Instead there was an aura of confidence about them, a true belief that they would get the job done. They cut an image of a team that had been there and done it all before and completed the task at hand on a far more stressful stage than the hallowed Wembley turf.

Defeat never tasted so good. At the end of a battle in which both teams had fought and both had bled, in which they had suffered but above all played, a huge banner was unfurled at the Metropolitano. “We give everything to win the cup,” it said, and, boy, had they. For the first time, Diego Simeone had seen his team lose a Champions League knockout game at home, but it didn’t matter: instead there was delirium, the club’s anthem belted out louder than ever before. “Buah! You don’t know how lovely it is to be among the four best teams in Europe,” the coach said. They had waited a long time for this. Ten years and one day later, Atlético Madrid eliminated Barcelona to reach the semi-final of the Champions League again. “This is the third time we’ve done this – against Messi’s Barcelona, against Lamine’s Barcelona – and it isn’t easy,” Simeone said; the other two times, in 2014 and 2016, they reached the final to which they are so desperate to return and exorcise the ghosts from Lisbon and Milan. “I’ve been here 14 years and never stop feeling emotional,” Simeone said. “I told the players: thank you, thank you, thank you. For the things we do, the faith we have.”

Atlético Madrid held onto to reach the semi-finals against 10-man Barcelona on a pulsating night in the Spanish capital I always feel sorry for the young mascots on Champions League nights. They are living the dream but having to dress like a credit card. The teams are primed in the ‘tunnel’ which is more spacious than my house.

It felt routine in the end, the imperious champions of Europe through to another Champions League semi-final, Luis Enrique waving politely to the VIPs up in the Sir Kenny Dalglish stand having cavorted around Anfield following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory here last season, and a despondent Mohamed Salah bidding farewell to the Kop after his final European outing in a Liverpool shirt. But this was no routine departure from the Champions League for Liverpool. Having exited the FA Cup quarter-final 4-0 and with a whimper, Arne Slot’s side exited the Champions League quarter-final 4-0 on aggregate but with a fight. For 72 minutes they also had hope, went toe-to-toe with the finest unit in Europe and kept on pressing despite the loss of Hugo Ekitiké to a potentially serious injury and a debatable decision to give – and then take away – a penalty with the capacity to change everything. It will be of little consolation to Slot and his team that, for the second successive season against PSG, taking the fight to Luis Enrique’s champions and putting the fright on them brought no reward at Anfield. The damage inflicted in Paris last week proved irrepairable.

World Cup qualifier: England 1-0 Spain (Hemp 3’) Lionesses win sides’ first meeting since Euros final A resolute England gave their chances of ­automatic qualification for 2027’s World Cup a ­tremendous boost as they beat the world champions, Spain, at Wembley and demonstrated they are strong enough defensively to hold off the most technically gifted squad in the women’s game. In a closely fought match in which both teams missed some ­gilt-edged opportunities, the sides were ­ultimately separated by two moments where the ball bounced extremely close to the line; one where it did cross the goalline and another where it did not.

⚽ Full time: England 1-0 Spain (Hemp 3’) ⚽ Moving the Goalposts | Follow on Bluesky | Mail Simon 1 min: And we’re off! Spain get the game started. Right then, nothing between us and football but a few seconds and a whistle.

NJ Transit says no decision has been finalized Trip to New Jersey stadium typically is $12.90 Train tickets from New York City to MetLife Stadium, the New Jersey site of eight World Cup games this summer, are set to increase sevenfold to more than $100 during the tournament, according to a new report. The Athletic reported NJ Transit’s plans for the ticket increase on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the public transportation provider. NJ Transit told Fox 5 New York that the price has not been finalized. A decision is expected in the coming days, the Athletic report said.

EFL in race against time to hear charges Club alleged to have breached P&S rules West Brom could be given a points deduction that relegates them from the Championship after the season has finished as the club contest charges of breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability (P&S) rules. With the Championship league season concluding on 2 May the EFL is running out of time to hear the charges against West Brom, which relate to an alleged breach of the £39m loss limit in the three-year period culminating in the 2024-25 season. EFL sanctioning guidelines state that any punishment for a P&S breach must be applied in the campaign after it took place, which in West Brom’s case means this season, but the rulebook does not give a definitive cutoff point so it is unclear when the season ends.

⚽ Champions League latest, 8pm BST kick-off (first leg 0-2) ⚽ Atlético Madrid v Barcelona – updates | Live scoreboard When Warren Zaïre-Emery ran the show as a 17-year-old in a 3-0 win against Milan, Thierry Henry said “the sky is the limit” for the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder. His stratospheric rise led him too close to the sun, though, and the crash back down to Earth was a rude one. But he has since dusted himself off. Liverpool Van Dijk, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones. Paris Saint-Germain Nuno Mendes, Kvaratskhelia.

Mascherano coached one full season with Messi in Miami Inter Miami have been off to a slow start in 2026 Javier Mascherano has stunningly stepped down as Inter Miami’s manager, just months after leading the team to their first MLS title. In the club’s announcement of the move, Mascherano said he was leaving for “personal reasons,” though later on the announcement specifies that his coaching staff will also depart the club.

Crocker hired Emma Hayes and Mauricio Pochettino Sporting director duties to be split in the meantime US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker is leaving his post with less than two months to go until the 2026 World Cup, US Soccer announced on Tuesday. The Guardian can also confirm Fox Sports’ earlier reporting that Crocker is taking up a similar role with the Saudi Arabia football federation. US Soccer said Crocker’s duties will be shared by chief operating officer Dan Helfrich, assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu, women’s youth national team head of development Tracey Kevins, and “the broader sporting leadership team.”

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Seeing as the Ifab laws of football decree that hair-pulling is an act of violent conduct that is punishable by a straight red card, Football Daily is somewhat perplexed by the controversy surrounding the dismissal of Lisandro Martínez at Old Trafford on Monday night. Approaching the hour mark of his side’s 2-1 defeat by Leeds, the Argentinian quite clearly yanked Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair, sending the Leeds striker’s man-bunned up tresses cascading over his shoulders by pulling off the scrunchy that was holding them in place without so much as a formal invitation. Should Spurs be relegated (no question mark, this isn’t The Moral Maze), it will be not only funny, not only a salutary Ozymandias moment – the €uropean $uper £eague, anyone? – but also a perfect opportunity for a club with an undoubtedly great heritage to take stock, give its long-suffering supporters a season of winning, and come back up in better shape than they have been since Mauricio Pochettino left” – Mark Dawson.

Manager’s future has been talking point for months Players told of exit after training on Tuesday afternoon Andoni Iraola has informed Bournemouth he will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. He is expected to consider his options this summer with ­several Premier League jobs potentially arising. The 43-year-old’s departure could also open the door for the Basque to join his boyhood club Athletic Bilbao, but the former Borussia Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic is thought to be the frontrunner to succeed Ernesto Valverde.

Prof Stacey Pope’s showcase highlights how women have always been required to defend and justify their fandom “You can be the thickest bloke and you still think you know more about football than a woman,” reads a line from Newcastle fan named Jo around halfway into a new exhibition on women in football culture. “[They] say, ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Oh, I could wipe the floor with you, man, with my knowledge and how much I’ve been, how much I’ve seen.” “I love that quote,” smiles Prof Stacey Pope, a leading women’s football sociologist and creator of the Away From Home: The Untold Stories of Women Football Fans exhibition, alongside David Wright of Durham University’s museums, galleries and exhibitions Team. Away From Home runs until the end of the season at the Beacon of Light, and is available online. This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Our cartoonist on the Gunners’ latest wobble and who could be brought in to get final push back on track Buy this cartoon here | His favourites from 2025 And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Exclusive: Neville has criticised “those bloody YouTubers” – but The Overlap has now acquired channels with 3.7m subscribers for seven-figure sum Gary Neville’s sports media group has acquired two YouTube channels owned by one of the UK’s most popular but controversial football content creators in a deal understood to be worth a seven-figure sum. Mark Goldbridge’s The United Stand and That’s Football YouTube channels bring a combined 3.7 million subscribers to The Overlap, Neville’s group, which is understood to be seeking to grow its specialist coverage of big clubs across Europe.

Liverpool legend talks memories of Istanbul, learning magic and his adventures in Malaysia with Johor Darul Ta’zim Luis García was “super cool”, he says. That, at least, was the plan, but things have a habit of working out differently. When the former Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool player retired in 2016, it was the second time: he walked out of the game in 2014 and walked back in again six months later. But this time, he wasn’t going to be affected. All that suffering and satisfaction, the pressure, the emotion: that was no more. “I was always very competitive and once I had left football, I thought I wasn’t going to have those feelings I had before,” he says. “I still enjoy football, still play seven-a-side with my friends – every Saturday at 10am, Los Jareños Club de Futbol – but I thought I had lost that and it wasn’t coming back. In fact, I was trying to avoid it; I didn’t want it. So when it happened, it surprised me. I didn’t expect football to give me that again. But there I was, crying.”

Zahra Ghanbari had been on list of ‘traitors’ whose assets were frozen Latest move taken ‘following her change in behaviour’ Iran’s judiciary said on Monday authorities had released the assets of the captain of Iranian women’s football team which had been seized after she made and then withdrew an asylum claim in Australia last month. Zahra Ghanbari was among a group of six players and one backroom staff member who sought asylum in Australia in March after playing in the Women’s Asian Cup at the start of the Israeli-US war against the Islamic republic.

‘It is not aggressive, there is no jolt,’ says United coach Daniel Farke hails ‘amazing’ league win at Old Trafford Michael Carrick branded Lisandro Martínez’s red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair as “shocking” and said Manchester United may appeal as the defender faces a three-match ban. If the sending off in United’s 2-1 defeat by Leeds at Old Trafford on Monday night stands, Carrick could be without his two first-choice centre-backs for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea as Harry Maguire may be suspended for a second match. Martínez was sent off after 56 minutes when Paul Tierney, after reviewing the incident on the monitor, ruled it a red-card offence, with Leeds 2-0 ahead.

Hard work remains to do off the pitch, with the club needing to strengthen further if they hope to compete on all fronts Kobbie Mainoo put in a superb performance against Leeds on Monday night, as he did for much of Ruben Amorim’s tenure. The midfielder gets better with every game he does not play, proving how influential he has become under Michael Carrick. Injury meant the midfielder missed out for the first time since the interim head coach took over in January. In his place was Manuel Ugarte, making his first start for Carrick and it was clear to witness his rustiness, as was the case with Lisandro Martínez at centre-back, who re-emerged after two months out injured to replace the suspended Harry Maguire. The 33-year-old was rewarded with confirmation of his new contract last week, while Mainoo is locked in talks with his representatives who will be eager to point out how his absence affected United.

Chants of “Daniel Farke, Daniel Farke” rang out from the travelling faithful after this seismic Leeds win lifted them six points clear of Tottenham, whose plight darkens further after the visitors pulled off a first league win at Old Trafford since February 1981. It means Michael Carrick has lost a home game for the first time as Manchester United’s interim manager. His team lacked control throughout, a state not aided by Lisandro Martínez’s silly 56th-minute red card for yanking Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s ponytail, and he is now suspended for three matches, though the club may appeal.

Leeds United won at Old Trafford for the first time since 1981 to move six points clear of the relegation zone ⚽️ Table | Top scorers | Email Michael here 2 min: Sloppy from Ugarte, who gives the ball away at the first opportunity. A heavy touch and the Manchester midfielder has his pocket picked. Groans. We are underway in Manchester.

As his side look to overturn a two-goal quarter-final deficit against Atlético Madrid, the teenager is ready to give his all No pressure, kid. Lamine Yamal took the stage here and, he hoped, not for the last time. The 18-year-old, wearing glasses, sat in the press conference room at the Metropolitano where he said he would take inspiration from the basketball legend LeBron James and from Neymar on Wednesday night. He insisted that he welcomes the weight of expectation that has been loaded upon him from the beginning as he tries to lead Barcelona back from a 2-0 first-leg defeat against Atlético Madrid and into the semi-finals of the Champions League. When Barcelona were knocked out by Inter in last season’s semi-finals, Lamine Yamal promised that he would take them back. A year on, scorer of five goals and provider of four assists in Europe, described by Hansi Flick as “the best in the world one on one”, he is their great hope as they seek to return and try again, his appearance in front of the media a prelude to him leading on the pitch. “Ever since I was little I have had the fortune to have to take on more responsibility than I should,” the teenager said. “I am used to it. All I think about is enjoying it, not taking it as a problem but a virtue. I’m grateful for everything.”

Slot: ‘There is a belief we can do special things’ Luis Enrique tells his players to beware ‘pitfalls’ Arne Slot has said Liverpool do not face an impossible task against Paris Saint-Germain but must produce the perfect performance to overcome the European champions in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Liverpool require another stirring Anfield comeback in Tuesday’s second leg to salvage their hopes of silverware having lost 2-0 at Parc des Princes last week. PSG were vastly superior in the first leg and should have won more comfortably, although their head coach, Luis Enrique, described such talk as “a trap” and claimed there will be “pitfalls” for his team at Anfield.

Defender thought to have medial knee ligament damage Argentine may still recover in time for World Cup Tottenham’s deepening relegation concerns appear to have been heightened by the loss of their captain, Cristian Romero, for the remainder of the season. Romero was reduced to tears as he left the pitch after 70 minutes of Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Sunderland, following a coming together with the striker Brian Brobbey that led to the Argentinian clattering into his own goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky. Romero, it is believed, has sustained medial knee ligament damage that will take around eight weeks to heal.

Flamengo footballer previously accused pop star’s security of aggressive behavior to his 11-year-old stepdaughter The Chappell Roan security incident raises a bigger question: what do celebrities owe their fans? The Flamengo footballer Jorginho has clarified his comments on last month’s incident between his 11-year-old stepdaughter and a security guard in Brazil, calling his previous claims against Chappell Roan “a misunderstanding”. “I made my initial statement in the heat of the moment, after hearing that my child and wife had been approached by an adult male security guard in an intimidating way,” Jorginho wrote on Instagram. “I reacted as any father would. My priority is, and always will be, protecting my family, and that is exactly what I did.”

Former executive chairman received £5.76m Pay exceeded combined wage bill of women’s team Daniel Levy, the former executive chair of Tottenham, was paid more during the 2024-25 season than all 64 players and staff at the club’s women’s team combined, the publication of their latest financial accounts has shown. The highest-paid director, widely understood to be Levy, received £5.76m in remuneration for the year ending 30 June 2025, a significant uplift of around 54% to what he was paid in 2024 and, according to the football finance expert Kieran Maguire, ensured Levy was the Premier League’s highest-paid director last season. He departed Spurs in September after almost 25 years in charge.

Expansion and political influence have made soccer’s showpiece too big for one region to handle responsibly Sign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletter In retrospect, the 2018 World Cup in Russia looks like a gentle genuflection, a dainty little bow before its strongman leader. Vladimir Putin and his Russian project of gradual conquest were most definitely centered and validated eight years ago: the tournament showcased his nation and awarded its leader prominence of place. This summer, we will see something altogether different, as the runup to this edition of the world’s biggest and most popular sporting event has become a monument to Donald Trump. This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond, helmed this week by Leander in Jonathan’s absence. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email [email protected], and he’ll answer the best in a future edition. Leander Schaerlaeckens is a Guardian US contributor whose book on the United States men’s national soccer team, The Long Game, is out on 12 May. You can preorder it here. He teaches at Marist University.

Thierry Henry loves him. Didier Deschamps made him a France player at 17. And Luis Enrique says he is ‘spectacular’ By Get French Football News When Warren Zaïre-Emery ran the show as a 17-year-old in a 3-0 win against Milan Thierry Henry said “the sky is the limit” for the midfielder. His stratospheric rise led him too close to the sun, though, and the crash back down to Earth was a rude one. But he has since dusted himself off. Beeswax was Icarus’ undoing; a mild ankle sprain did it for Zaïre-Emery. Not quite the stuff of legend, but far from inconsequential. Having started six of PSG’s eight games in the league phase of the Champions League last season, he missed their playoff tie against Brest and would not start another game in the competition all season. Luis Enrique had found his formula and Zaïre-Emery was not part of it. Fabian Ruiz joined Vitinha and João Neves in the midfield and they started every knockout game as PSG won the competition for the first time. The PSG midfield was dazzling without Zaïre-Emery.

Reigning champions have a new coach and some new faces when they face the Lionesses in Women’s World Cup qualifier Eight-and-a-half months after they locked horns in the final of Euro 2025, England and Spain meet again on Tuesday night in front of more than 70,000 at Wembley. This time it is in qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup, another tournament in which they met in the final last time out. Despite the relatively brief period since the game in Basel, Spain have a noticeably fresh look with a new head coach and a crop of emerging young players. They have already won a trophy under Sonia Bermúdez, who led them to the Nations League title after replacing Montse Tomé, and, unlike England, are unbeaten since the Euros with five wins and a draw in six matches.

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! They say that if you’re expecting a kick in the swingers but only receive a punch in the face, you can probably consider it a good result. Because he probably wasn’t expecting his Arsenal players to ship a hoof to the collective crown jewels from Bournemouth on Saturday, Mikel Arteta understandably failed to find any positives as he told one post-match interviewer after another that his listless side’s thoroughly deserved defeat felt like “a big punch on the face”. Whatever about their toothlessness up front, devotion to sideways and backwards passes and an at times almost comical inability to beat the Bournemouth press, the manner in which Arsenal’s players seemed genuinely paralysed by terror will be of the greatest concern to their equally terrified fans. Whether the sight of an extremely agitated Spaniard bouncing around his technical area like Basil Fawlty thrashing his Austin 1100 with a tree branch does much to alleviate the cloud of anxiety that has descended upon the Emirates Stadium is open to extremely one-sided debate. Manchester City’s luminous monstrosity of a kit at Stamford Bridge made them look like 11 operatives in search of their missing bin lorry. Maybe Chelsea thought the same too, which would explain why they were rubbish in the second half” – Phil Taverner. Roberto De Zerbi has reportedly said he’s going to stay with Spurs until they win the Premier League. Maybe he should share his secret on eternal life” – Andrew Bryant. Has the Spurs/Brighton game next Saturday been given a nickname yet, or is ‘Ze De Zerbi Derbi’ still an option? Assuming he’s still in charge by then, of course!” – James Vortkamp-Tong Re Friday’s Memory Lane (full email edition): I’m sure many readers will have fretted away the weekend wanting to know more. Marks & Spencer played Invictas twice in June 1933. The first game, a trial match on 21 June, was played at Oakley Road and the Invictas won 4-0 ‘but did not necessarily prove themselves the better team’, according to the Bromley and West Kent Mercury. A week later at Queen’s Mead, M&S took revenge with a 1-0 win in the Broom-Day Gala match. The goalscorer, L Hallam, is second from the right in Friday’s photo” – Jon Gregory. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Teenager’s landmark night delivers derby win that confirms what has been clear for weeks: this title race has been over in spirit long before the maths agrees Lamine Yamal had not crossed the line yet but he was celebrating already, everyone else following him. It was not over, not officially, but it was done: the derby and the whole damn thing. The nights Barcelona took their last two league titles, they did so against RCD Espanyol, heading beyond the city limits and coming back as champions; the evening they took their third in four years, they faced the same opponents: the rivals Barca’s goalkeeper had grown up with and so many of them had grown up against. Chased from the Cornella pitch in 2023, cycling up Avinguda Diagonal in 2025, this time it was the 18-year-old with the symbolic escape. There were three and a half minutes left on Saturday night when it happened. Marc Casadó slipped the ball through, Lamine Yamal ran on to it and Marko Dmitrovic ran out to it. The Barcelona forward blocked the Espanyol goalkeeper’s clearance, the rebounded setting him up and leaving Dmitrovic and everyone else to watch the inevitable. Alone, running free into the area, an open goal before him, Lamine Yamal slowed, smiled, maybe even laughed a little, took in the moment, and raised his arms, Usain Bolt contemplating Richard Thompson and Walter Dix. He had not finished, his team had not either, but he knew. They all did.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jacob Steinberg and Seb Hutchinson after a dramatic weekend in the Premier League. On the podcast today: Manchester City draw nearer to Arsenal as the nervy Gunners lose at home to Bournemouth, whilst City brush Chelsea aside at Stamford Bridge. Worrying times for Spurs fans as the Lilywhites replace West Ham in the drop zone after a limp defeat at Sunderland, in the wake of the Hammers thrashing Wolves at home. Elsewhere, Forest get a crucial point against Villa, and Liverpool consolidate fifth place. In the Football League, Ipswich won the East Anglian derby at Carrow Road – now second and two points clear of Millwall – but with two games in hand. A huge weekend in League Two as the top four played each other, leaders Bromley losing 2-1 at second place MK Dons, Cambridge leapfrogging Notts County after hammering them 4-0. Also a big weekend in Scotland, with the top three teams winning, Hearts staying ahead by a point.

Midfielder has again been Napoli’s star but ageing squad has taken club backwards and Conte’s future is uncertain Was this the end of the Serie A title race? On a weekend when the last two teams pursuing them both slipped up, Inter delivered another statement victory, recovering from two goals down to win 4-3 away to a Como side who had been playing some of the best football in the division. When the final whistle went, manager Christian Chivu celebrated like a man who knew exactly what it meant, hugging an assistant so hard he lifted them off the floor. Inter were nine points clear now in first place, with six games to go. But when the cameras arrived for post-game interviews, he played coy.

De Zerbi looks past Simons, Arsenal fans are not helping their team and Ngumoha can give PSG something to think about Football is such that, when you’re down, there’s a good chance the game boots you in the solar plexus, and that’s exactly what happened to Tottenham at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland’s winner coming by way of a deflection. But you can also take steps to help yourself and, though Roberto De Zerbi’s midfield setup made some sense – he picked three hard-runners in order to compete with Sunderland’s physicality – even pre-match, it wasn’t clear who would create their chances. It’s true that Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Mohammed Kudus are out injured, but in that context, it is surely even more important a place in the XI, whether in midfield or out wide, be found for Xavi Simons, left on the sidelines until the 85th minute. Simons is not perfect, but of the players De Zerbi has available he is the only one with the imagination and technique to make things happen. He may lack physicality, but what Spurs need more than anything is quality. Daniel Harris Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Match report: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth Match report: Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City City improve in good weather, says Guardiola

Kara Nortman talks Monarch Collective’s sports ownership portfolio and potential investment in England Many Women’s Super League clubs are treated as “an afterthought” by their owners according to Kara Nortman, the co-founder of the women’s sport investment fund Monarch Collective and Angel City FC. Monarch last month became the first women’s multi-sport group by buying a minority stake in Cleveland WNBA, the basketball franchise joining an ownership portfolio that includes the NWSL teams San Diego Wave and Boston Legacy, and the German club Viktoria Berlin.

Midfielder expected to earn £120,000 a week New deal marks turnaround for Mainoo under Carrick Michael Carrick has indicated Kobbie Mainoo is moving closer to signing a new contract with Manchester United, saying negotiations are “in a good place”. The 20-year-old, whose deal expires in the summer of 2027, is expected to earn about £120,000 a week, a marked increase on his current terms, which are in the region of £25,000 a week. “It’s getting closer, so we’re positive about that,” said Carrick. “We’re calm with it, but we’re positive with it and time will tell how it goes. But at the moment, we are in a good place.”

Inter move nine points clear of Napoli after late 4-3 win Union Berlin make Eta Bundesliga’s first female manager Inter put one hand on the Serie A title on Sunday after coming back from two goals down to win 4-3 in a thrilling match at Como and move nine points clear of Napoli, who could only draw 1-1 at Parma. Two goals down in the dying moments of the first half due to goals from Álex Valle and Nico Paz, Inter looked set to give champions Napoli hope that their Scudetto defence might still be alive.

Manchester City’s unbeaten April record in the past four years bodes well for their end-of-season pursuit for glory “I have a particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. I may stumble a little in the autumn. I may get a little caustic with a TV camera crew or sarcastically applaud a referee. But I will pursue you. I will hunt you down. I will, in all likelihood, narrowly pip you to the line in an agonising title chase.” Welcome to Pep in April, the franchise. In which a furiously intense, bald, skinny man becomes a serial springtime league title avenger. At the finish of what was by the end a celebratory, one-hand-on-the-wheel 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge, Manchester City’s record in April in the past four years reads: played 23, won 19, drawn four across all competitions.

1-0 defeat at Sunderland leaves Tottenham in bottom three ‘Win a game, everything will be different,’ De Zerbi says Roberto De Zerbi diagnosed a lack of confidence as the root cause of Tottenham’s ills after his first match as manager ended in a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland. The result leaves Spurs in the relegation zone, two points adrift of 17th with six games remaining. “We didn’t deserve to lose,” said De Zerbi after a match decided by Nordi Mukiele’s deflected second-half winner. “We played a good game, but maybe not good enough to win.

After a season dominated by long throws, tortured set-piece routines and rigid football, a killer blend of artistry and firepower is threatening to deliver another domestic treble for Manchester City. They have stirred when it matters most, crushing Liverpool in the FA Cup last weekend, and have their gaze firmly fixed on wounded prey after closing the gap on Arsenal with an expert destruction of Chelsea at a flat Stamford Bridge. Pep Guardiola’s sharks could smell the blood in the water after Arsenal’s stumble against Bournemouth. City were ferocious and unstoppable. They took this game away from a callow and careless Chelsea with a blistering surge at the start of the second half and, even if there are twists and turns to come, there is no doubt this emphatic 3-0 win has tilted momentum in the title race to Guardiola’s side.

⚽️ Premier League updates from 4.30pm BST ⚽️ Jonathan Wilson on Chelsea | Follow us on Bluesky Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur Match report: Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle

Final: Luton 3-1 Stockport Scorers: Lawrence, Wells (2); Sidibeh Luton have had bigger days at Wembley, more glorious Hatters’ tea parties. They retain a chance of returning for League One’s playoffs in May. If this did not match 1988’s League Cup final, Brian Stein and all that, or 2023’s promotion from the Championship, it can signpost the club’s current road to recovery. For Jack Wilshere, six months and 38 games into his managerial career, at the club he played for until joining Arsenal at seven, it was a first trophy of a second footballing life, Nahki Wells’ double securing victory. This was the trophy Luton had lost in the quarter-finals, only to be reinstated, amid Swindon’s “whoopsie” of ineligible players, as Ian Holloway, their manager, called it. Stockport suffered the same fate as in 1992 and 1993, when losing under Danny Bergara, the Uruguayan after whom an Edgeley Park stand is named. Wembley continues to disappoint those with an SK postcode.