Prodigies

With just seven matches remaining in the Eredivisie season, Groningen slipped closer to relegation following a 3-1 away defeat to Fortuna Sittard on Sunday. They're seven points from safety and looking destined for the Eerste Divisie.

The lone bright spot for Groningen has been 20-year-old American striker Ricardo Pepi, who's on a year-long loan from FC Augsburg. Pepi scored Groningen's lone goal of the match and now has 10 this season to go with three assists. 

The club has only managed 26 goals in 27 games, but Pepi has now been involved in 50% of them.

Pepis rule.

Last Friday, Ricardo Pepi (age 20) made his triumphant return to the USMNT by scoring a brace against Grenada — his first international goals dating back to October 2021, a drought that ultimately cost him a place on the World Cup roster.

We already knew that Alyssa Thompson was special. The 18-year-old made history when Angel City, with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, made her the first-ever selection straight out of high school. 

Then, back on March 9, she scored her first goal for the club in a friendly win over América — a remarkable dribble from the center circle that left four defenders and the goalkeeper in her wake.

Opening weekend of the NWSL season continued Sunday with the Washington Spirit welcoming OL Reign to Audi Field, where Trinity Rodman brought the crowd to its feet with some sublime quality on the ball and a solo game-winner in the second half.

We had a scoreless opening 45 in the nation's capital, but Rodman established herself as the standout player with a couple brilliant moments. 

One run from deep inside her own half was finished with a backheel pass and half-chance for Ashley Hatch.  

LONDON - Bukayo Saka is one of the first names on England manager Gareth Southgate's teamsheet and his weekly performances for Arsenal are driving them towards the Premier League title so it's no wonder the 21-year-old cannot stop smiling.

The winger created England's opener for Harry Kane in the comfortable 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Euro 2024 qualifying Group C at Wembley on Sunday, then scored an absolute beauty himself to seal the man-of-the-match award.

Goalscoring has been an awfully bleak exercise for the Republic of Ireland since all-time leading scorer Robbie Keane announced his international retirement in 2016. The team only scored seven goals in nine matches during a failed qualifying cycle for Euro 2020, and things didn't get much better on the road to Qatar where Ireland only scored 11 in eight games (the majority coming against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan).

Arsenal comfortably dispatched Crystal Palace 4-1 at the Emirates on Sunday to open up an eight-point lead on Manchester City heading into March's international break. The Gunners are now just 10 tantalizing matches away from a first Premier League title in 19 years. 

The main concern for Mikel Arteta was how his side would respond to Thursday's shock Europa League elimination to Sporting and that 46-yard Pedro Gonçalves worldie. It's still worth another watch.