Women

Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi will become the first female official to take charge of a Serie A match when Sassuolo host Salernitana on Sunday, the Italian Referees' Association (AIA) said.

Ferrieri Caputi became the first woman to officiate a top-level Italian match last year when Cagliari played Cittadella in the Coppa Italia. She joined Serie A's officiating team in July.

"This is a historic moment," AIA president Alfredo Trentalange told a news conference on Wednesday.

Racing Louisville FC confirmed a season-ending knee injury for forward Nadia Nadim prior to Sunday's contest against Angel City FC.

Nadia Nadim ACL injury 

Nadim tore her left ACL in Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Portland Thorns, one year and one week after tearing the ACL in her right knee.

The 34-year-old from Denmark scored six goals in 11 appearances this season.

Vivianne Miedema scored twice in Arsenal's commanding 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in front of a Women's Super League record crowd of 47,367 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Dutch international Miedema struck in either half after Beth Mead scored the opener, with Rafaelle Souza also getting on the scoresheet in a dominant performance for the hosts, to the delight of the partisan crowd.

The NWSL playoff picture became a little clearer Wednesday after four results brought every team to 20 matches played in the 22-game regular season. However, there's still everything to play for with the distance between first-place and sixth-place (the final playoff position) just five points.

Alex Morgan's San Diego Wave had been leading the NWSL Shield race for a majority of the season, but the Portland Thorns took pole position last night, and clinched a spot in the playoffs, after a 3-0 hammering of already eliminated Racing Louisville.

Sophia Smith called out NWSL’s continuously awful officiating on Tuesday after the referees missed a clear foul on her in the Portland Thorns’ game vs. Kansas City Current game from Sunday. In the second half of Sunday’s game Smith was taken down in the box with a dangerous tackle from behind.

No foul was called, and one Twitter user posted the highlight asking how nothing was given from the referee. Smith responded, too.

Lyon kept pace with rival PSG at the top of the Division 1 Féminine table by beating Soyaux 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.

After opening the season last weekend with a commanding 5-1 victory over Stade Reims behind a Daniëlle van de Donk brace, Lyon found things more difficult on the grounds of the Groupama OL Training Center. 

The match required a moment of magic from American midfielder Lindsey Horan in the 32nd-minute to open the scoring. After failing to get off the bench in Lyon's first game, Horan started alongside Van de Donk and Sara Däbritz in a three-woman midfield.

The OL Reign placed forward Tobin Heath on the season-ending injury list Friday following left knee surgery.

Heath, 34, recorded one goal in five matches after signing with the Reign in June.

Forward Tobin Heath Placed on Season Ending Injury List

Here for every step of recovery, Tobin ❤️

➡️ https://t.co/DSDBWft1Rl pic.twitter.com/Gn3nVrx5Ws