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Club’s eye-popping Champions League pricing has rankled the fanbase amid planned protests at home to Everton

It was on the fictional island of Isla Nublar somewhere off the Pacific coast where Dr Ian Malcolm, over a spot of lunch in a space-like booth, delivered a lesson in ethics that has felt pertinent in the real world over the past week or so. Until Aston Villa released their eye-popping Champions League ticket prices, a comparison between the club and a cutting line from Jurassic Park would have felt far-fetched. “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should,” said Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum, as the park’s altruistic founder got giddy at the prospect of bringing dinosaurs back to life.

The 1993 film was directed by Steven Spielberg, Villa’s ticket prices seemingly by Chris Heck, the president of business operations, who doubled down on the price points in a statement on Tuesday, almost a week on from sparking the storm. He blamed profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and the “need to generate” maximum revenue through sponsorships, merchandise and, er, ticket sales.

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• Men’s transfers 2024: all the moves in top five leagues
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• Manager is happy Premier League FFP case is starting
• La Liga chief says rivals believe City should be punished

Pep Guardiola has stated he knows what “people are expecting” as Manchester City prepare for the hearing into their Premier League charges to start on Monday. The manager’s comments came as Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, claimed several Premier League clubs had told him City should be punished.

City have denied wrongdoing and Guardiola was asked about the case, which will be heard by an independent commission. He said, not in reference to Tebas or his remarks: “I’m happy it starts on Monday and I know there will be more rumours about the sentences that come up and we’re going to see. I know what people are looking for, I know what they are expecting – I know it because I have read it for many years – but I’ve said everyone is innocent until guilt is proven. So we will see. It starts soon and hopefully finishes soon. An independent panel will decide. I’m looking forward to the decision.”

Tributes paid to ‘genuinely kind’ former England and Lazio football manager in his home town of Torsby

• Sven-Göran Eriksson obituary

David Beckham joined mourners at the funeral of former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in his home town of Torsby in Sweden to hear tributes to a “genuinely kind” man who “loved good food and drink and travelling first-class”.

Addressing full pews in the Fryksände church, and hundreds more watching outside on a big screen, the priest, a close friend of Eriksson, Ingela Alvskog, spoke of a final months that had been “full of life” despite him being diagnosed with terminal cancer of the pancreas.

Panic on the streets of Islington, panic on the streets of Tottenham. Yes, with apologies to the Manchester band that won’t be surge-pricing any time soon, it’s time for the chippiest derby of all. OK, there’s Celtic v Rangers, who have 17th-century geopolitics and Scottish company law to rage at each other about, and Boca v River seems like it can get pwopah nawty. From experience, Swindon v Oxford is one to swerve if you don’t like foul language and United v City can often resemble a seething mass of anoraks and buzzcuts, a right swagger-off. Liverpool v Everton? Often not a fair fight in recent years, despite Sean Dyche pulling off a heist last season.

We have received explanations about the representation of the names and surnames of the players of the Latvian U-21 national team in the official game programme of Tuesday’s match, as well as an apology from the creators of the programme” – the Latvian FA accept the FIA’s admission that a translation error led to some of their players being listed as “Robert the Liar”’ and “Dario Sh!t” before the Euro 2025 qualifier against Republic of Ireland U-21s.

In reporting that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had signed a contract extension you mentioned that this was after ‘zero league titles’. Do you mean to suggest that any manager who has failed to win a league title in the past five years is undeserving of a contract? If so please note that besides the currently retired Jürgen Klopp only one man (the bloke at City) has claimed this honour. Might want to consider more realistic standards for retaining a gaffer” – Richard Hourula.

I have to say that I entirely agree with the view of Simon Mazier with regard to the previous day’s letter from Chris Wheal. I have counted the number of words in Chris Wheal’s letter and, following a recount, have reached the conclusion that his assertion regarding long sentences simply doesn’t add up” – Adrian Irving.

Hey, I’ll root for Maurico Pochettino’s team like any other red-blooded whoopin’ USA! USA!! USA!!! supporter (we’ll let you have those exclamation marks – Football Daily Ed). But can we please – please! – bring back the 1950 World Cup kit seen in yesterday’s Memory Lane (full email edition)? For a politically polarised nation, we can surely agree that a jersey with a sash will bring our troubled people back together” – Mike Wilner.

A clash of colours in north London, Manuel Ugarte getting the Ten Hag call and more new faces featuring

After Casemiro’s disastrous 45-minute outing in the thumping by Liverpool, Erik ten Hag looks certain to hand the Uruguayan midfielder Manuel Ugarte his debut at St Mary’s. Last time out, Ten Hag was forced to send on the inexperienced Toby Collyer at the break to try to bring calmness alongside Kobbie Mainoo because Casemiro was so embarrassingly off the pace in handing goals to Liverpool. Having not featured for Paris Saint-Germain before his deadline-day move to the Premier League, Ugarte got minutes in his legs with Uruguay, including a full 90 in Venezuela on Tuesday before returning to his new home to get to know his teammates. It seems a big ask for Ugarte to perform on Saturday lunchtime after a hectic few weeks but Ten Hag has little to no choice because he needs results and is heavily invested in the 23-year-old midfielder. Will Unwin

Southampton v Manchester United, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Brighton v Ipswich, Saturday 3pm

Crystal Palace v Leicester, Saturday 3pm

Fulham v West Ham, Saturday 3pm

Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Brentford, Saturday 3pm

• Director of football and Howe not spoken for nine days
• ‘I’m very, very proud of every single player we signed’

Eddie Howe has not spoken to Paul Mitchell in the nine days since Newcastle’s director of football claimed he had inherited an unclear transfer strategy, unfit for purpose.

Tensions between Howe and Mitchell have been simmering since the latter’s appointment in early July and although they appear to have reached a truce it seems fragile. “I’ve had no contact from Paul,” said Newcastle’s manager, who maintains he is “very, very proud” of every player he helped sign between January 2022 and Mitchell’s arrival. “But I don’t think that’s unusual – we’ve got different jobs.”

• Ruling finds Hugo Mallo touched woman’s chest
• He ‘completely denies’ charges and has said he will appeal

Celta Vigo’s former captain Hugo Mallo has been found guilty of the sexual assault of a woman who was working as the Espanyol mascot in the final moments before a game in La Liga.

A judge in Barcelona fined him €6,000 (£5,100) with a further €1,000 with interest to be paid in compensation after ruling that Mallo put his hand inside the victim’s parakeet costume and touched her chest as she and another mascot waited at the end of the line of players shaking hands with opponents. He will also have to pay costs. Mallo, who was then with Celta and now plays in Greece for Aris, has announced he will appeal.

• ‘He is far away in Saudi. Everyone can have an opinion’
• United visit Southampton after consecutive defeats

Erik ten Hag has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo by pointing out that the Portuguese admitted Manchester United are not well placed to win the biggest trophies this season despite criticising the manager for stating the same.

In a pre-season interview Ten Hag discussed United’s chances of winning the Premier League and Champions League. “We are really a long way away from that,” he told the Dutch outlet AD Sportwereld. Ronaldo criticised this apparent lack of ambition on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, saying: “Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League.” But Ronaldo then effectively contradicted himself. “They can win the Carabao [Cup] – Champions League or Europa League or Premier League, difficult,” he said.

• Manager dealing with ‘volatile situation on and off pitch’
• Club say Textor remarks ‘merely represent personal view’

Sean Dyche says he cannot focus on his Everton future while dealing with a “volatile situation on and off the pitch” after the club distanced themselves from comments from the prospective new owner, John Textor.

Everton travel to Aston Villa on Saturday bottom after losing their opening three Premier League matches. Over the international break the focus has been on Textor’s potential takeover, which he is confident of completing before the 30 November deadline.

New coach has not put a foot wrong and is reaping rewards from integrating himself into Catalan club and culture

First he went to the Costa Brava, visiting the small, picturesque towns of Llafranc and Calella de Palafrugell. Next he was in Sant Quirze del Vallès, taking the staff to Masia Can Ferran, a restaurant favoured by Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernández where they have served traditional Catalan cuisine since 1949. Then he was back in Barcelona for the Diada, Catalonia’s national day which commemorates the fall of the city in 1714. And on Sunday Hansi Flick’s Catalan week will be complete when he travels to Girona, home of Carles Puigdemont, the Generalitat’s president in exile, for the derby.

“Flick is integrating into the country, the city and the club, and he it was who said he wanted to experience this day that’s so special in Catalonia,” Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, said after his coach joined the club delegation laying a floral offering at the statue of Rafael Casanova i Comes, the conseller en cap (mayor) injured during the siege 310 years ago. “A round of applause for Flick,” wrote one nationalist newspaper, “next step, speak Catalan in press conferences, but let’s not hurry him”. Applause? Ten days earlier, at the Lluís Companys Olympic stadium on Montjuïc hill, they had sung his name.

With the return of the group stage imminent, we cast an eye over eight of the competition’s emerging talents

In 2021 Norwich had high hopes of the Greek striker, signed from Paok Salonika for £8.8m. Tzolis started his Carrow Road career with two goals and a couple of assists in the 6-0 demolition of Bournemouth in the League Cup but rarely started after that. Dismissed as a flop, he was loaned to Fortuna Düsseldorf last summer. The tricky and speedy left-winger flourished, finishing as the 2.Bundesliga’s top scorer with 22 goals and nearly leading his club to promotion. Fortuna didn’t have the funds to keep Tzolis with the £3m buy option but it made sense to activate it in order to resell at a cool profit. Club Brugge were delighted to get him, and Tzolis has started brightly in Belgium .

• Manager’s deal had entered its final 12 months
• Josh Kroenke says Arteta has led team ‘to another level’

Mikel Arteta was saluted by the co-chair Josh Kroenke for taking “the team to another level in an Arsenal way” after the manager signed a new contract until 2027.

Negotiations had been taking place for some time, with Arteta saying in June the situation “motivates me, keeps me on my toes, and it keeps me hungry to go again” after he led Arsenal to successive second-place finishes in the Premier League.

There has been a big turnover in the squad since promotion to the WSL and the coach, Laura Kaminski, approaches new season on a game-by-game basis

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Sophie Downey’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 1st (Championship)

• Forward has turned down a number of offers
• Parris would join fellow Lioness Kirby at club

Brighton are in advanced talks with Manchester United over the potential signing of the England forward Nikita Parris.

It is understood the 71-times-capped Lioness has turned down a number of offers from other clubs and Brighton, whose opening WSL fixture of the season is at home to one of her former clubs Everton on 21 September, are now the favourites to secure her signature on Friday, the Women’s Super League’s transfer deadline day.

Football fans don’t really like change, and a 36-team table and playing eight teams instead of three certainly counts as that

A few weeks ago I was sitting down to eat the neighbour’s cat (it’s OK, I’m an immigrant) when I saw something even more off-putting – The Uefa Champions League’s X (Twitter) video entitled The dawn of a new era. This 30-second clip was an attempt to soft-launch the European Cup format which starts next week.

They’d hired a good set of ex-pros: Luís Figo, Gianluigi Buffon, Robbie Keane (who presumably has supported the new 36-team league system since he was a small boy) are there looking confused. It culminates with Zlatan Ibrahimovic ready to conduct an orchestra. “Who wrote this?” he asks. In walks Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, in impossibly shiny shoes. “I did,” he says, arms outstretched, before folding them and smiling.

• Uruguay midfielder said South Koreans ‘all look the same’
• Bentancur has apologised to teammate Son Heung-min

The Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged by the Football Association for an alleged misconduct breach for a remark made about his teammate Son Heung-min.

In June the Uruguay international was asked by the host of the Canal 10 show for a Spurs player’s shirt, to which he replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

Summer insecurity and England job speculation have not gone away, but things are settling down at St James’ Park

Eddie and Paul are at war. Eddie may leave for England. But hold on a minute, Paul is close to walking out. No, scrub that, seems like they’ve called a truce and it will be all smiles at Wolves on Sunday.

Events at Newcastle have been nothing if not confusing lately but the latest twist, a rapprochement between the manager, Eddie Howe, and the sporting director, Paul Mitchell, appears genuine. For the moment at least everyone is on their best behaviour and fathoming out the best way of signing Marc Guéhi from Crystal Palace in January.

• Interim manager in running to land permanent role
• Southgate ‘completely content’ to see England thriving

Lee Carsley said he sees trophy-­winning potential with England and not the so-called “impossible job”, as he reflected on a confidence-boosting first camp in interim charge.

The manager recorded 2-0 wins over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin and Finland at Wembley, and the sense of positivity has done his chances of landing the role on a full-time basis no harm. He will remain as caretaker for the October and November windows, when England face Greece at home and Finland away, then Greece away and Ireland at home to complete their Nations League group campaign.

The former Luton and Tottenham manager on spotting players, the limitations of data and his greatest game

‘“No. I’m afraid it’s an addiction or an obsession – whatever you want to call it,” smiles David Pleat. We’re sitting in a hotel just off the M1 motorway where the 79-year-old recalled that he sold the defender Matt Jackson to the Everton manager Howard Kendall back in 1991 for £600,000. “He’d only played nine games for us … that was one of my best bits of business.”

Pleat, whose long association with Tottenham came to an end only a few weeks ago when he left his role as consultant scout, has just been asked whether he has any other interests outside football. It later emerges that the former Luton, Spurs, Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday manager has already attended an astonishing 14 games this season despite it only starting a month ago, including a National League fixture at Wealdstone and an academy match at Watford.

Branded stadiums turn community hubs into billboards. Memories are still made, but the corporate influence dulls the purity of the experience

The Cleveland Browns held an oddly celebratory press conference last week to announce the sale of the naming rights to their stadium to Huntington Bank, a regional bank headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For the next 20 years, what was once Cleveland Browns Stadium will be known as Huntington Bank Field. Never mind that Huntington Bank Field is a laughably generic name that does not even attempt to maintain continuity with the arena’s two most recent monikers, both of which labeled it a stadium rather than a field; the real catch is that the Browns haven’t even decided whether to renovate their current home on the shore of Lake Erie or build a new stadium in Cleveland’s southwestern suburbs.

Under the terms of the deal, the Browns’ home will be Huntington Bank Field wherever it ends up: the stadium now has a fixed name but a curious air of ephemerality hangs over its address.

Striker grew the game with skills and warmth, while raucous fans watched her like the Beatles were in town

One hundred and twenty-three goals in 224 appearances for the US women’s national team. Two World Cup wins. A gold medal, a bronze medal, a three-time Olympian. A National Women’s Soccer League champion. A relentless advocate for the growth of the game. Alex Morgan retired from professional football this past weekend in San Diego, California as one of the most successful players ever to lace up her boots. She leaves a multifaceted legacy behind her. One of its greatest aspects is the excitement she uniquely inspired, and her ability to leverage it for broader growth.

In a decade when the popularity of women’s football skyrocketed globally, Morgan was often its key name. Stateside, every stadium Morgan played in drew enormous crowds. Upon her arrival, those elated crowds were decked out in Morgan gear, carrying AM13 signs and shrieking with joy at her every movement. It was like watching the Beatles swing through town. Morgan-mania was for real.

The Manchester City defender showed the influence of Pep Guardiola as he flummoxed Finland at Wembley

New vibes. New toys. New roles and perhaps even new rules. And, yes, the more familiar sight of Harry Kane banging in a couple of goals and wheeling off to the corner flag in that slightly leaden jog of his: less a man who has just scored for his country and more a guy who has just secured quite a good parking space.

But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this routine win secured against routine opposition was just how mystifyingly un-routine it felt in parts: the same team, but somehow lit in a different way, filmed from different angles. It’s still probably too early to say whether this is the Lee Carsley effect. But it definitely feels like the No Gareth effect.

Plus: hat-tricks on the losing side, bottom-placed sides winning big and Shay Given’s special bottle

• Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“Sorry to lower the tone but curiosity got the better of me: last week in Peru, Sebastian Muñoz was sent off for appearing to urinate at the side of the pitch, while in Sweden in 2016, Adam Lindin Ljungkvist was given a second yellow card for ‘unsportsmanlike’ behaviour when he audibly broke wind. Are there any other examples of players being given their marching orders for bodily functionality?” wonders Dave Payn.

Let’s start with a bit of housekeeping. We haven’t included spitting, because Rudi Völler has suffered enough, but we have broadened the question to include unpunished acts of biology, partly so we can start with the most famous egestion of all. Gary Lineker didn’t receive a yellow card during his career, never mind a red, not even in England’s opening match of the 1990 World Cup. “I tried to tackle someone, stretched and relaxed myself and erm …” he said in 2010. “You can see myself rubbing the ground like a dog trying to clean it. It was the most horrendous experience of my life.”

Former Chelsea boss must build trust with his squad quickly before a home World Cup in 2026, but time is working against him

When the US men’s national team players are introduced to Mauricio Pochettino, they will meet a coach unlike any the US has had in program history.

Pochettino, officially appointed on Tuesday, boasts an impressive coaching résumé involving some of the biggest clubs and players in European football, and has no history anywhere within the US soccer system. His profile is immense, yet his working style will be unfamiliar. The desire to find out what the new boss is like will probably color the players’ early interactions, down to the very first handshake.

Pep Guardiola claims he knows what “people are expecting” with Manchester City preparing for the hearing into their Premier League financial charges to start on Monday. The manager’s comments came as Javier Tebas, La Liga president, claimed representatives of several Premier League clubs had told him City should be punished. City deny wrongdoing and Guardiola was asked about the case, which will be heard by an independent commission.

He said (not in reference to Tebas or his remarks): “I’m happy it starts on Monday and I know there will be more rumours about the sentences that come up and we’re going to see. I know what people are looking for, I know what they are expecting – I know it because I have read it for many years – but I’ve said everyone is innocent until guilt is proven. So we will see. It starts soon and hopefully finishes soon. An independent panel will decide. I’m looking forward to the decision.”

• People are ‘expecting’ Manchester City to be found guilty, says Pep Guardiola

• Guardiola insists Manchester City will accept verdict on alleged rule breaches

The former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been laid to rest in his home town of Torsby, Sweden. The funeral was attended by around 600 mourners, including friends, family and his partner, Yaniseth del Carmen Bravo Mendoza. David Beckham, who captained England under Eriksson, and the Swede's former partner Nancy Dell'Olio were among those in attendance at Fryksande church.

Eriksson, who also had spells with Benfica, Lazio, Manchester City and many other clubs and national teams during a 42-year managerial career, passed away at the age of 76 after losing a battle with pancreatic cancer at the end of August

• Sven-Göran Eriksson obituary

• ‘A true gentleman’: Beckham leads tributes to Eriksson

• Sven, the strange power of football and maybe even the meaning of life

Erik ten Hag has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo by pointing out that the Portuguese admitted Manchester United are not well placed to win the biggest trophies this season despite criticising the manager for stating the same.

In a pre-season interview Ten Hag discussed United’s chances of winning the Premier League and Champions League. 'We are really a long way away from that,' he told the Dutch outlet AD Sportwereld. Ronaldo criticised this apparent lack of ambition on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, saying: 'You cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League'. But Ronaldo then effectively contradicted himself. 'They can win the Carabao [Cup] – Champions League or Europa League or Premier League, difficult.'

Ten Hag was asked about Ronaldo’s claim that the manager should not say the club cannot win the league. 'No, he said this, if you read the article very well. He is far away in Saudi. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion. It is OK.'

Cristiano Ronaldo gave his thoughts on Erik ten Hag and Manchester United during an interview with Rio Ferdinand. The Al-Nassr player reflected on his second spell at United and criticised Erik ten Hag's mentality. Speaking about Ten Hag's modest ambitions for the club, Ronaldo said: 'If you are Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League.'

• Ronaldo criticises Ten Hag and claims Manchester United need total rebuild

A Folkestone player was sent off after an altercation with Billericay's keeper, during what became an impromptu moment of 'piggy in the middle'. In the 75th minute of their Isthmian League Premier Division fixture, Tom Derry was dismissed for kicking goalkeeper Sam Donkin, with Billericay 2-0 up at the time. They went on to win 3-0

Lee Carsley defended his decision not to sing England's national anthem during their 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland. The England interim manager, who earned 40 caps for Ireland during his playing career, said: 'I don't think it makes me or anyone that doesn't any less committed.' He went on to say 'I respect everyone's opinion' regarding the national anthem. Former Republic of Ireland youth internationals Declan Rice and Jack Grealish scored England's goals. Carsley said: 'I thought that they both handled the atmosphere.'

• Rice and Grealish start new England era with Nations League victory in Ireland

• Lee Carsley lets England players make all the right noises in smooth audition

After defeat at home to Italy and a win over Belgium, the overarching ethos remains the same: substance over style

By Raphaël Jucobin for Get French Football News

The crowd in Lyon was in an unforgiving mood. Just under 24 hours after the country closed out an unforgettable summer of sport, the unwavering home support that had carried French athletes in Paris since the end of July largely dissipated as the men’s football team lined up in Lyon to face Belgium.

All of Didier Deschamps, Kylian Mbappé, Mattéo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola were booed by sections of the home support when their names were announced in the lineups. The most hostile reception was reserved for Barcola’s introduction in the second half, with the player’s departure for Paris Saint-Germain more than a year ago still leaving a bitter taste for locals.

• Former internationals among those banned
• Move relates to match-fixing and gambling

The Chinese Football Association has banned 38 players and five club officials for life after a two-year investigation into match-fixing and gambling. The investigation, part of a crackdown on corruption in the sport, found that 120 matches had been fixed, with 41 clubs involved, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The report did not say whether all the matches were in China.

The former China internationals Jin Jingdao and Gu Chao and the South Korea midfielder Son Jun-ho were among those banned for life, according to findings made public on Tuesday.

• World Cup winner retires after victories on and off pitch
• Forward scored 123 goals for US women’s national team

Fighting back tears, Alex Morgan waved to the crowd and walked off the field for the last time on Sunday as she capped a remarkable career.

The two-time Women’s World Cup winner announced on Thursday she is pregnant with her second child and retiring from the game at the age of 35.

• European champions win 4-1 despite Le Normand red
• Croatia beat Poland; Northern Ireland lose in Bulgaria

The newly crowned European champions Spain romped to a 4-1 away win against Switzerland in Nations League Group A4, despite being down to 10 men after just 20 minutes.

Luis de la Fuente’s side had been held to a 0-0 draw by Serbia in their pool opener but raced into a 2-0 lead in Geneva with goals from Joselu and Fabián Ruiz after only 13 minutes, before Robin Le Normand was shown a red card for a foul on Breel Embolo. Switzerland’s Zeki Amdouni halved the deficit before the break but as the Swiss pressed for an equaliser late in the second half, Ruiz netted his second and substitute Ferran Torres also got on the scoresheet as Spain hit the hosts with lightning counterattacks.

A stomp towards the delirious crowd followed by an impish grin and the I-remain-the-man pout of celebration: on 88 minutes Cristiano Ronaldo saluted his 901st goal after sliding home and shred the narrative of a point won bravely by Scotland. Until then, Steve Clarke appeared heading to replenish the goodwill he had been draining from the Tartan Army.

The manager may still, of course. And afterwards, Clarke, whose team were knocked out of Euro 2024 at the group stage, was careful to talk his side up. “Disappointed to lose the game especially for the players, for all the effort they put in,” he said.

• Players criticised after missed chances in 0-0 draw with Indonesia
• ‘It’s been a common theme for over a year,’ says coach

Under pressure amid months of middling form, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold did something unusual following the scoreless draw against Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday night that leaves Australia languishing in World Cup qualifying Group C.

The famed man-manager – who has built a reputation on maintaining strong rapport with his dressing room – was critical of his players.

AAP contributed to this report

• Brazil 1-0 Ecuador; Díaz rescues Colombia in Peru
• Uruguay held by Paraguay in Suárez farewell

Rodrygo scored in the first half as Brazil defeated Ecuador 1-0 in Curitiba to end a four-game winless streak in World Cup 2026 qualifying.

The 23-year-old Real Madrid winger scored with a shot from outside the box in the 30th minute, which was deflected by a defender and went in off the right-hand post. Victory boosted the Seleção’s qualifying campaign after they had lost to Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina at the end of 2023 after a 1-1 home draw with Venezuela.

Seeking an early goal to settle their nerves, the hosts almost got it when Vinícius Júnior closed down the goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez, whose clearance ricocheted off the forward and into the side-netting. After the goal, Moisés Caicedo was denied a leveller, first by Alisson’s save and then by Gabriel Magalhães, who cleared his follow-up shot off the line.

• Morgan to end playing career after weekend’s match
• US forward: ‘I don’t think coaching is in my future’

Alex Morgan said that her role after football is still to be determined but that her future lies “in investing in women’s sports”, after announcing that she is pregnant and will end her professional playing career after Sunday’s game against North Carolina Courage.

Asked whether she might be considering a coaching career, the San Diego forward said: “I have not taken any coaching licenses. I’ll just say that: I don’t think coaching is in my future.

• Nicko Sensoli’s goal earns historic 1-0 League D victory
• Ronaldo’s 900th career goal helps Portugal beat Croatia

San Marino have beaten Liechtenstein 1-0 in the Nations League’s fourth tier, securing their first-ever competitive victory after 34 years of trying.

Nicko Sensoli scored the only goal of the game in Serravalle, the teenager pouncing on a defensive error and steering the ball past Benjamin Büchel in the 53rd minute. Liechtenstein’s Fabio Luque Notaro had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half and also saw a close-range shot blocked just before Sensoli’s opener.

Interim manager will need support if he is to emulate Gareth Southgate’s navigation of off-field matters

It required a double-take. Was that Lee Carsley, the new England manager, albeit on an interim basis, laying out the cones for a warm-up drill on the Aviva Stadium pitch before his first game in charge against Republic of Ireland on Saturday?

The top man on the coaching staff almost never does this; he delegates to an assistant. But yes, it really was Carsley – doing what he does, setting out as he intends to go on. “Well, I do have my qualifications,” he said with a smile after overseeing a 2-0 victory that offered cause for optimism, even if the paucity of the opposition had to be considered.

A new wave of owners, players and fans are ensuring women’s football is not just a pale imitation of the men’s game, but celebrates its own unique values

A small wooden beach hut. Not your usual pitch-side corporate hospitality suite. But this is Lewes FC and the four beach huts are its equivalent of glass-encased executive boxes. “You can rent them out,” says Karen Dobres, the club’s special project lead. I have a quick look in one: clean, functional, also chilly, I should think, in winter. But the open shutters give a high vantage point on to the pitch, which is smooth and green and perfect on this warm July day.

I’m here to watch a pre-season women’s match against MK Dons, and Dobres, a local writer and activist, is taking me on a pre-game guided tour. I like football, but even if I didn’t I’d like Lewes FC. Right on and stubborn with it, the club has forged its own identity within the game. There’s the statue of two female pirates; the dedicated areas for breastfeeding; the club’s community garden, set up a couple of years ago by men’s team midfielder, Bradley Pritchard, known as Brad’s Pit. When a player gets player of the match, they are given garden produce: a brace of spring onions, some beetroot, a cauli. At the covered stand, Dobres points out that the seats are padded, rather than just plastic. “We heard they were being removed from Wembley in a refurb, so we asked if we could get them,” she says.

The economic boom that reformed the top flight in 1992 could be about to devour one of its original ‘big five’

It’s 40 years since the greatest season in Everton’s history, when they won the league and the Cup Winners’ Cup and reached the FA Cup final. But it was a strange glory, coming as it did at a time when it was hard to see how English football, devastated by tragedy and disaster, could go on. Everton were – along with Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham – one of the “big five” clubs who led the Premier League breakaway in 1992, an event now widely regarded as having been a necessary step in the rebirth of the game.

But the move also led to football’s embrace of neoliberal economics: Everton’s only trophy since the breakaway is the 1995 FA Cup and, after three straight league defeats at the start of this campaign, they look like spending a fourth successive season battling relegation.

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What a night it was for Harry Kane on Tuesday at Wembley, scoring twice to down the mighty Finland and also being handed a beautiful golden hat crocheted by everyone’s favourite footballing raconteur Frank Lampard. No, but seriously, winning 100 caps for your country is no mean feat, even when it is a small island whose men’s team has only ever won one major trophy.

Further to news that Chelsea may relocate to Earl’s Court in a mixed use development site (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition), one wonders if this might include an Ikea. It would be apt given the tendency to come home from one laden down with countless items that looked nice at the time, but have no clear value or purpose, with nowhere to put them” – Kevin Goddard.

Serious crimes deserve long sentences, so I am wondering what we did to deserve the punishment of your football emails. A group of us now have a regular competition to guess how many words the longest sentence will contain. Yesterday’s 57-worder was only Championship stuff compared with a recent 88-word effort. Sometimes it’s the average that gets us. There was a 42-word average back in a classic July email. And that was with a seven-word first sentence. The second was 45 and the third 60. There was a second 60-worder and a 57-worder. Whether consecutive or concurrent, that many long sentences amounted to a cruel and unusual punishment” – Chris Wheal.

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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Paul Watson and Dan Bardell to wrap up the latest from this season’s first international break

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On the podcast today: Harry Kane scores twice in his 100th game for England, a game that will probably prove completely forgettable in a week or so. Regardless, it’s an impressive landmark for Kane, who looked so much sharper than he did at the Euros.

In this week’s newsletter we reflect on a five-week summer tour of the US to watch women’s football

As the lights went down on Barcelona’s famous Champions League win back in May, the biggest question in my head was “What now?”. For the first time in two years, we were looking at a three-month football-less gap. Yes, the Olympics were on the horizon but without the involvement of Team GB, opportunities were limited.

Our eyes immediately turned to the US. There was little surprise from friends and family when we announced that a busman’s holiday was the only real solution to the problem of having time off. The NWSL has been a source of interest for years. A visit to Angel City on our return from last year’s World Cup gave us a taste for the league and left us with a desire to learn more.

Plus: hat-tricks bridging seasons, a rolling roll call of managers and when Harry Redknapp fielded a spectactor

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“Last month, the Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen played for both sides during a match against the Toronto Blue Jays. Has something like this ever happened in football?” tweets Dylan Hoekzema.

Jansen was playing for Toronto when their game against Boston was suspended in June. Boston then acquired him in July, with the match resuming in August, so he was an active participant for both sides in the same game.

The defender featured for Port Vale at the Valley on Boxing Day in 1932 in a game that was abandoned due to fog, and subsequently joined the Addicks, lining up for Charlton in their 2-1 triumph in the rearranged fixture in April 1933.

In February 1925, Clapton Orient travelled to a match against a Manchester United side that had just sold its star striker, Bill Henderson, to Preston North End. United manager John Chapman had telephoned the Orient manager Peter Proudfoot before they left London, and the two clubs agreed a fee of £1,070 for Pape. They met up at Manchester Piccadilly station just after noon, and Pape – who was a friend of the United captain, Frank Barson, and had relatives in nearby Bolton – quickly agreed terms.

The details were wired to the Football Association and the Football League at around 1.30pm, and although Pape had been named in Orient’s starting lineup for the match, he was confirmed as a Manchester United player with about an hour left before kick-off. Pape was not only allowed to start the match in the colours of Manchester United, but he also scored the team’s third goal in a 4–2 win over his previous employers, as well as hitting the post with a header late in the game.

Jack Grealish on the comeback trail, Iliman Ndiaye offers Everton hope and Declan Rice appears unruffled

While Mikel Arteta fumed at the perceived injustice in Declan Rice’s sending off against Brighton, there was a far more measured response from the England midfielder. Despite admitting he had been “shocked” to see the referee, Chris Kavanagh, show him a second yellow card for obstructing Joël Veltman from taking a free kick, Rice acknowledged that a first dismissal on his 245th Premier League appearance had cost his team victory as they head into the first international break already playing catchup to Manchester City. “I just wanted to apologise to my teammates, which I’ve done, and to the fans,” he said. “When you get sent off, it’s never nice, you get a sense of guilt over you, and I was lucky that my teammates really helped me out and we didn’t lose the game. I’ll learn from it.” Ed Aarons

Match report: Arsenal 1-1 Brighton

Match report: West Ham 1-3 Manchester City

Match report: Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool

Match report: Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham

Match report: Ipswich 1-1 Fulham

Match report: Everton 2-3 Bournemouth

Match report: Chelsea 1-1 Crystal Palace

Our cartoonist on travel blogger Noni Madueke, Chelsea outcast Conor Gallagher and Erik ten Hag’s seaside trip

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• And you can pre-order his new book, Chaos in the Box

Erling Haaland looks sharp, Emile Smith Rowe makes impact for Fulham and Luis Díaz seals unusual hat-trick

Perhaps the comparison isn’t entirely fair. Fabian Hürzeler is 31, new and fresh and clearly exhilarated by the process of climbing the mountain. Erik ten Hag is 54 and in his third season as Manchester United manager, which is enough to wear anybody down. It doesn’t help that Ten Hag’s socklessness makes it seem as if he’s forever on the verge of kicking his shoes off, stuffing his face with Toblerone and driving barefoot to Dundee. But where Hürzeler speaks impressively about processes and the dangers of euphoria, bright-eyed and enthusiastic, Ten Hag seems (understandably) despairing of a team that, in the fifth minute of injury time, can let Simon Adingra cut back on his stronger right foot to cross for João Pedro’s winner. “We have to be more clinical in both boxes,” may be true, but why are they not already? How do you put that right if players aren’t doing the basics? Jonathan Wilson

The former Ipswich and Spurs player on expectations after becoming the youngest goalscorer in England’s top flight and finding clarity after his mental health spiralled

It turns out that, even 40 years on, there are still Ipswich fans who have not yet stopped Jason Dozzell in the street. He is walking along Portman Road, passing beneath the ageing Cobbold Stand and a display that evokes some of his happiest times, when a grey-haired man diverts from his dog-walking path to instigate conversation. “I was in there when you scored that goal,” he informs Dozzell, who engages as if this is the first time he has heard such recollections. “I just had to tell you. Incredible. Where does the time go?”

That goal. It has followed him everywhere since 4 February 1984 when his smartly hooked finish had the final say in a 3-1 win over Coventry. Dozzell was making his senior debut at 16 years and 57 days old; he became the youngest goalscorer in England’s top flight and it is a record nobody has come particularly close to breaking. He remains a genuine home town hero – the boy who grew up 500 metres from the stadium and watched from the terraces until the moment that changed his life.

The FA’s answer to Luis de la Fuente may look like a hungover Alan Shearer but it would make a lot of sense to give him the job

Enter: the Carsley-verse. Look back just a couple of weeks and the Football Association’s decision to install an internal temporary replacement for the men’s senior manager, thereby delaying any permanent decision while relegitimising the architecture of the existing pathway structure, still felt like an act of such mind-numbing dullness that even reading these words now is likely to induce a form of narcolepsy, insomnia, haunted dreams, night terrors.

Cut back to this weekend and that trial appointment has already achieved one significant thing, specifically lending a mild air of jeopardy and intrigue to an otherwise unwanted back-to-school September international break.

The former forward has moved into football governance and is excited about making the NWSL even more attractive for players

It’s already been a seismic couple of weeks for the National Women’s Soccer League, from the announcement of a landmark deal with players that abolished the draft system, to Thursday’s record-breaking $250m sale of Angel City. But the league clearly does not intend to rest on its laurels.

On Friday, two new recruits to the NWSL’s leadership team were unveiled: Sarah Gregorius, the former women’s football lead at the world players’ union, Fifpro, joins as senior director, sporting, while Karla Thompson, the former San Diego Wave executive director of performance and development, becomes the league’s new director of youth development. Both roles are designed to continue to raise standards for players around welfare and provisions, and to develop more homegrown stars, as the league enters a new era without a college draft.

Coach on the road to winning Olympic gold with the US, why her final months at Chelsea were so tough and immersing herself in politics

‘Was there a moment that I knew we were going to win gold? Probably the toe save,” says Emma Hayes, after a pause to think. “After the toe save I was like: ‘Oh, your name’s on it. Your name’s on it.’”

That “toe save” came in the 119th minute of the United States’ Olympic semi-final against Germany, the goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher leaping and flicking away Laura Freigang’s point-blank header to preserve their lead. Four days later, Mallory Swanson’s 57th-minute strike earned the US gold against Brazil, just 73 days after Hayes oversaw her first training session.

Erling Haaland has been voted the best player in the world for 2023 by our 218-strong panel, with Jude Bellingham finishing second

• 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
• Meet the judges | Best female footballers to launch in January

Aitana Bonmatí, Sam Kerr and Salma Paralluelo top the list of female footballers in the world in 2023 according to our judges

• Putellas tops 2022 list | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | Meet the judges
• Spain and Barcelona lead the way after year of success
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The Norwegian is only 23 but his devastating goal record has seen him voted as the No 1 player in the world by the Guardian’s expert panel

When Pep Guardiola tearfully claimed Manchester City could not replace the departing Sergio Agüero in May 2021, he didn’t just create a meme. Guardiola was soft-launching a global audition for his team’s new attacking talisman. An unsuccessful pursuit of Harry Kane in the summer of 2021 came between two title-winning seasons where Ilkay Gündogan (13) and Kevin De Bruyne (15) were the club’s top league goalscorers. Guardiola’s slick creative machine needed a new front man, and they found him in Erling Haaland.

Like Agüero before him – and in contrast to many of City’s most successful Pep-era signings – Haaland arrived as a bona fide superstar, a plug-and-play addition to an already stellar lineup. Whether he was a bargain is another question. The release clause paid was €60m (£51.2m), but some reports suggest Haaland’s five-year deal could cost the club in the region of £300m. And while there was an ominous logic to the move for City’s rivals, questions remained.

Aitana Bonmatí the clear winner of the Guardian’s best 100 female footballers in the world with 15 Spaniards on the list

• The 100 best female footballers in the world 2023

After Alexia Putellas reigned in 2021 and 2022, her Barcelona and Spain teammate Aitana Bonmatí has been crowned the top female footballer of 2023 by the Guardian’s panel of 112 experts. The World Cup winner triumphed by a clear margin, finishing more than 500 points ahead of second-placed Sam Kerr.

Injuries and a World Cup meant there was a definite changing of the guard feel to this year’s list, sadly emphasised by the fact last year’s top two – Putellas and Beth Mead – missed a large chunk of our 12-month voting period with ACL injuries.

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

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2006 and 31 August 2007, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 … and look at the editions from further back

• Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best talents around the world

Five years ago we picked 80 of the most talented players in the world to follow their progress in a cut-throat business

It is the time of year when we check in on the Next Generation players we picked in 2018 to follow for five years, to assess their progress amid success, setbacks, injuries, trophies won and transfers made.

Next Generation started in 2014 with the aim of showing the difficulties that even the best prospects in the Premier League (we pick one from each club at first-year scholar age) and the rest of the world (we choose 60 born in a specific calendar year) face on their way towards the top.

A defensively minded midfielder who is incredibly strong (he used to be a wrestler) but with an excellent touch to go with his physicality. Made his debut in the Swedish top flight as a 16-year-old last year and captained Sweden as they reached the quarter-finals of the Euro Under-17 tournament in England this summer. Has taken an unusual path to the top. He left the top-flight side IFK Göteborg for sixth division Angered MBIK as a 14-year-old as he felt that he was not getting the right support for his football education. Another Gothenburg club, Häcken, snapped him up in 2017 and he made his senior debut that season. Has signed a new contract with the club from Hisingen until 2021 despite interest from Real Madrid and Benfica and trials at both Manchester clubs.