English Clubs

Manchester City beat West Ham 4-0 on Sunday to keep pace with Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the FA Women’s Super League. Rose Lavelle — making her first appearance since spending January with the USWNT — came off the bench in the 65th-minute and promptly scored her first league goal for City in the 71st.

It was a moment to forget for West Ham left back Mayumi Pacheco. The English defender showed for the pass, received it and then spontaneously combusted. Lavelle was free to take a couple touches towards goal before threatening to take Mackenzie Arnold’s head off. 

Chelsea notched up their first win under Thomas Tuchel on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Burnley thanks to goals by Spanish defenders César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso who have both been given a chance to shine under the German coach.

Azpilicueta was entrusted with a place in Chelsea's starting lineup by Tuchel in his two games since replacing Frank Lampard and he scored with an angled shot in the 40th minute after sprinting 80 yards to seize on a lay-off by Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon a year ago Friday. In that time, he’s become the Red Devils’ most important player, scoring and assisting at an incredible rate. This season alone, he’s supplied 16 goals and 10 assists in 31 appearances. 

But he was lucky to avoid all punishment for a bad challenge on Granit Xhaka on Saturday. Had the roles been reversed, few doubt the result would have been a red card for the Arsenal man.

Liverpool supporters would have found themselves sighing in exasperation when Joel Matip came off injured at halftime against Tottenham on Thursday.

There is a genuine argument to be made that, when fit, Matip is a top-five center back in the league. Much to the chagrin of Reds everywhere, the Cameroonian international is seldom fit for more than a few games at a time. He was substituted at halftime against Fulham due to injury, subsequently missing out against last month's game against Spurs, before returning against Crystal Palace.

The USWNT will go for its first trophy of 2021 at the SheBelieves Cup in February. They’ll be without star winger Tobin Heath.

Manchester United ruled Heath out for 10-12 weeks with an ankle injury, manager Casey Stoney said on Friday. In addition to being a big blow to United’s title challenge, Heath will also miss the SheBelieves Cup, which is back in the U.S. from Feb. 18-24. 

The Premier League and Women's Super League will introduce concussion substitutions trials from Feb. 6, England's Football Association said on Friday.

The decision comes after the game's rule-making body IFAB last month gave the go-ahead for trials of additional "concussion subs."

Manchester United on Thursday condemned the racial abuse of some of their players following Wednesday's shock 2-1 Premier League home defeat by Sheffield United.

Sky Sports reported that former England under-21 defender Axel Tuanzebe and France forward Anthony Martial were targeted on Instagram, with several users posting racist comments and symbols on their pictures. Tuanzebe also suffered abuse on Twitter, the report added.

Sam Kerr signed with Chelsea in November of 2019. She’s yet to lose a league match with the Blues.

Kerr scored the opener as Chelsea eased past Aston Villa 4-0 on Tuesday. The win moved the Blues’ unbeaten streak in FA Women’s Super League action to 32, setting a new record and breaking a tie with Manchester City.

32 games unbeaten in the #BarclaysFAWSL.

Arsenal have signed Real Madrid midfielder Martin Ødegaard on loan until the end of the season, the two clubs announced on Wednesday.

Ødegaard, 22, has made only three LaLiga starts for Real and was also linked with a move to Spanish rivals Real Sociedad, where he spent last season on loan, helping the club to finish sixth and qualify for the Europa League.

✍️ It's øfficial… pic.twitter.com/4eV5gNjK3x