Manchester City

Manchester United has arguably been the biggest surprise in women’s football this season. Casey Stoney’s side, with new signings Tobin Heath and Christen Press, surged to the top of the table in just its second season in the Women’s Super League. It looked like the Red Devils could actually challenge the established elites — Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal — for the league crown.

Those hopes were dashed on Friday as Man City humbled United 3-0 in a one-sided Manchester Derby, capped off by a stunning chip shot from Caroline Weir.

An FA Cup last-16 tie between Premier League leaders Manchester City and Championship promotion hopefuls Swansea took on significant importance stateside on Wednesday as USMNT No. 1 Zack Steffen started in goal for City while Seattle Sounders loanee Jordan Morris got his first Swansea start and D.C. United loanee Paul Arriola made his debut off the bench.

After 73 minutes of tense, tactical equality between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, Alisson suffered a goalkeeping meltdown unseen since Loris Karius’ infamous night in Kyiv to transform a 1-1 stalemate to a 3-1 City lead inside three minutes of total madness. 

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. 

If you’re FC Barcelona, do you want the good news first, or bad news? The good news is that, according to Deloitte’s annual report for the world's richest soccer teams 2021, Barcelona was the highest-earning club in 2020! The bad news is that total revenue was decreased by nearly $153 million, a precipitous fall of 15 percent from 2019’s earnings. Oh, and you’re also $1.46 billion in debt.

Most expected to see fireworks when Manchester City visited third-division Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup on Saturday. Few expected they would be literal fireworks.

The FA Cup fourth-round match, which the Premier League side rallied to win 3-1, was suspended for five minutes late in the first half as a fireworks spewed above Jonny-Rocks Stadium on Saturday. The referee halted proceedings as some of the sparks actually landed on the pitch. Fortunately, nothing caught on fire, even if players were left bemused by the display.

Manchester City players will be getting changed in the bar at Cheltenham Town's stadium when they visit for an FA Cup clash on Saturday, but their fourth-tier hosts aim to make Pep Guardiola's men as comfortable as possible, manager Michael Duff said.

City, whose market value is estimated at over 950 million pounds ($1.3 billion) by specialist website Transfermarkt, play its fourth-round clash at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium where away teams have used the Victory Bar as a changing room during the COVID-19 crisis.

Manchester City’s first goal in its 2-0 Premier League victory against Aston Villa on Wednesday will go down as one of the most controversial goals of the season.

A goal had yet to be scored heading into the final 11 minutes of normal time. Controversy struck when a City player headed the ball up the field to no one in particular. The only City player nearby was Rodri standing in an obvious offside position.

Christian Pulisic GQ photoshoots aside, Chelsea’s men’s side has struggled recently; reports suggest Frank Lampard will be fired sooner rather than later. The women’s team, however, is currently playing the best soccer in England.