England

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City were held to a frustrating goalless draw at home by Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, despite being handed a reprieve when a VAR review led to a penalty and a red card for Kyle Walker both being overturned.

After an uneventful first half where City were well below par, Southampton thought they had been handed a golden chance to edge in front early in the second period as they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Adam Armstrong.

England's Manchester United and Italy's Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo's current and former teams, both suffered hefty financial losses for 2020-21 as the coronavirus crisis drained European soccer stadiums of fans.

While Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward expressed confidence in United's recovery as Old Trafford hosts capacity crowds for the first time in almost 18 months, Juventus said it would also end its 2021-22 financial year, which will still be heavily affected by the pandemic, with a "significant loss."

Euro 2020 finalists England pushed world champions France out of the top three in world soccer body FIFA's latest men's soccer rankings published on Thursday.

Belgium remained the top ranked side, followed by Brazil. European champions Italy, on a record unbeaten international run of 37 matches, are fifth with Argentina sixth.

Third place equals England's highest ranking since 2012. Gareth Southgate's side lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in July and were World Cup semifinalists in Russia in 2018. France went out of Euro 2020 in the Round of 16.

Manchester City and RB Leipzig played the most thrilling game to open up the 2021-22 Champions League season with a nine-goal thriller that saw City win 6-3. American fans won’t want to talk about the Jack Grealish vs Tyler Adams moment for City’s fourth goal.

Adams was caught ball watching and far too lackadaisical tracking back to get to a ball in his final third. His slowness allowed Grealish to pick up the ball and proceed to do horrible things to the American. Close your eyes USMNT fans, Adams is about to get murdered.

Nothing ignites the kindling like Liverpool versus Milan — two clubs that’ve combined to appear in 20 Champions League finals and contested the greatest of them all — and Wednesday night’s group stage encounter at Anfield was a wildfire.    

The first half was a miniature reversal of the “Miracle of Istanbul.” Liverpool dominated the opening 40 minutes with wave after wave of pressure while Milan struggled to break through the press. The stat that best exemplified the one-way action was Liverpool earning 10 corners in the first half to Milan’s zero. 

Romelu Lukaku’s 69th minute header proved to be the difference in Chelsea’s 1-0 Champions League opener against Zenit on Tuesday. The Chelsea vs. Zenit highlights saw the defending champs frustrated by a feisty Russian side for most of the game.

Zenit’s defense dug its heels into the ground and dared the Blues to try and get past. I’m willing to bet that if Chelsea had the same squad as last season, then this match would have ended in a draw. That’s not the case when a player like Lukaku roams in the opposition’s box.

With Villarreal and Atalanta lying in wait, Manchester United travelled to Swiss Super League champion Young Boys knowing that three points was vital against the side 30 places beneath them in UEFA’s club coefficient. 

All eyes were on Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team after the manager again fielded the exciting quartet of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba that’d decimated Newcastle on Saturday.

After going 35 Premier League games without a goal, Andros Townsend — reunited at last with Rafa Benítez at Everton — scored the sort of goal that only Andros Townsend can produce. It was a beautifully shaped 25-yard effort that was equal parts violence and precision, and the go-ahead strike in Everton’s 3-1 win over Burnley on Monday night. 

With 10 points from four games (good for fourth in the table) and Townsend already scoring one and creating two, Benítez is quickly winning over Goodison Park with his decision-making.