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Looking at the Premier League table one-third of the way through the season, and it seems more unpredictable and wide-open at the top than it has in a long time.

Manchester United are in the title race after manager Erik ten Hag stumbled on a winning formula; Arsenal are top of the table despite doubts over their two senior goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya; Tottenham Hotspur can move level with reigning champions Manchester City with a win at the Etihad on Sunday, despite having lost three successive league games. And then there is Aston Villa, which started the season a with a 5-1 defeat at Newcastle but have emerged as surprise challengers after moving within two points of top spot with a 2-1 win at Spurs at the weekend.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw between City and Liverpool at the Etihad felt like a game between the teams most likely to finish in the top two when the season ends in May, but right now, the 2023-24 title race has become a footballing version of the “Wacky Races” cartoon, with none of the contenders immune to the pitfalls that the best teams are usually able to avoid.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Even City, last season’s treble winners, have displayed vulnerabilities. Who would have expected Pep Guardiola’s side to lose at Wolves in September and then follow it up with a loss at Arsenal a week later? Meanwhile, Liverpool have perhaps been the most consistent of the expected challengers, losing just once in the league so far — and that came amid two red cards and one of the Premier League’s most controversial moments as VAR disallowed a legitimate goal from Luis Díaz — but they also needed a stoppage-time equaliser to snatch a point at lowly Luton earlier this month as Jurgen Klopp’s side have also displayed vulnerabilities.

It is unusual — possibly even unique — for the top seven teams in the Premier League to be separated by only seven points at this stage. All the teams have now completed more than a third of their season, and nobody has emerged as a clear favourite to end up as champions. It’s been an unpredictable, and at times chaotic, season. The fact that United are just six points off top spot, having made their worst start to a campaign since the 1980s, suggests that while we may be set for a competitive title race, it is one that lacks an outstanding side.

But maybe that is the beauty of this season. Man City’s dominance has been good for them, but nobody else — especially the Premier League as a brand, which projects itself as the most exciting in the world. If Guardiola’s team go on to win the title and become the first in English football history (dating back to the first season in 1888) to win four successive championships, the Premier League will start to earn comparisons with the German Bundesliga and Bayern Munich’s long-term dominance.

The inconsistencies of the leading teams this season add to the spectacle of the Premier League — it just needs one of the clubs to find an extra gear to stop City. It doesn’t seem credible that United could be that side, despite the fact that six points is a minimal deficit to close with two-thirds of the season to come.

United sit on top of the form table, having won five of their last six league games, but even their most ardent supporter would struggle to point to a game they have dominated. Injuries and a loss of form suffered by last season’s key players — Lisandro Martínez, Raphaël Varane, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen among them — have forced Ten Hag to turn to players he was happy to offload, such as Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay. Teenage midfielder Kobbie Mainoo’s outstanding performance in the 3-0 win at Everton on Sunday hinted he will get a sustained run in the side and if Marcus Rashford can start firing again then United could yet make a charge up the table, even if their performances suggest otherwise.

Newcastle, a point behind United in seventh, are capable of beating anyone, especially at home, and thanks to their Saudi Arabian owners they have the financial strength to make significant additions to Eddie Howe’s squad in January. Saturday’s clash against United at St James’ Park will be a key indicator of the prospects of both sides.

Villa should not be discounted either. Unai Emery’s pedigree as a top-level coach is without question, and he has built a confident attacking team in just 12 months at Villa Park. Their squad perhaps lacks depth and the top teams could punish Villa for their high defensive line, but if they can avoid injuries they could sustain a top-four push.

And what of Spurs? The Ange Postecoglou revolution has hit the brakes on the back of three successive defeat as injuries are biting hard, especially with James Maddison and Micky van de Ven facing long-term absences. Postecoglou’s side are so attack-minded that they will surely return to winning ways soon. Though Sunday’s trip to City looks the worst possible place to find some form, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have attacked City and been rewarded. Spurs could profit by taking the same approach.

The real threat to City is likely to come from Liverpool and Arsenal. Liverpool need to iron out defensive flaws and hope that goalkeeper Alisson Becker’s hamstring injury is not an issue that forces him out for a sustained period. Arsenal, meanwhile, just need one of their keepers — Raya or Ramsdale — to settle down and mute the noise around the position that has been created by manager Mikel Arteta’s mixed messages on who is his No. 1 and why.

City will certainly be concerned that there are so many rivals capable of thwarting them this year, despite the goals of Erling Haaland (18 in 19 games this season) and Rodri’s emergence as the most important midfielder in the Premier League. Guardiola’s side are still favourites, but with so many teams within striking distance, City need to raise their game to keep them at bay.

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The summer transfer window has closed throughout most of Europe, but there are still moves in the works and plenty of gossip swirling around. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings, goings and, of course, done deals!

Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct?

After each weekend, we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game.

– How VAR decisions have affected every Prem club in 2023-24
– VAR in the Premier League: Ultimate guide

In this week’s VAR Review: What went wrong in the VAR room to disallow Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur, Curtis Jones’ red card, a missed penalty award for Brentford and the rest of the weekend’s events.

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Possible offside overturn: Diaz goal

What happened: Mohamed Salah played Luis Díaz through on goal in the 34th minute, and the forward produced a superb strike across goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to score. However, the offside flag immediately went up for offside, and the VAR, Darren England, began a check. (watch here.)

VAR decision: Goal, incorrectly communicated.

VAR review: How do you get a decision both right and disastrously wrong at the same time? It’s a question that refs chief Howard Webb and his leadership team will have to answer in the coming days and take steps to ensure an inexcusable mistake of this magnitude can never happen again. It’s the biggest error the Premier League has seen.

England and the assistant VAR, Dan Cook, were swiftly both stood down from duties in fixtures on Sunday and Monday, but that kind of action is of no comfort to Jurgen Klopp and his Liverpool players. Both are unlikely to be selected in the upcoming matchweeks.

The VAR made one very simple but inexplicable error: He lost concentration and got the on-field decision incorrect when completing the check.

When the VAR looked at the position of Diaz, it quickly became apparent that he was very clearly onside. It was checked with the use of the offside lines in the background — you see proof of this on the VAR feed when the technology operator zooms in to place them.

And this is where it starts to go wrong. England somehow now thinks he is checking a goal, rather than a disallowed goal (he cannot see the overlay shown on TV and in the stadium). If he was confirming an overturn he would lock in the offside lines, but as he now thinks the on-field decision is “goal,” there’s no prerequisite to do so when the onside is an obvious one.

England cleared the review so quickly and with such confidence he didn’t even get the opinion of the assistant VAR. Perhaps that was the issue, it was such a regulation “onside” decision that he thought he would wrap it up. And he said “check complete.”

Perhaps the decision was so straightforward that England lost focus and forgot what the on-field decision actually was, because by saying those two words, he’s telling the on-field officials their decision is correct. Rather than clearing the goal, he was mistakenly telling the referee the offside call was correct.

Semi-automated offside technology, which Premier League clubs chose not to introduce this season, would have made no difference in this situation because the error is the communication with the referee. England correctly identified that Diaz was onside.

Phil Bentham was brought in from rugby league last season as VAR coach specifically to work on communication. Lessons will need to be learned about the process of “check complete.”

What happened next came so fast, there was no time to react within protocol. Just two seconds after the VAR has said “check complete,” Spurs took the free kick, which creates a cut-off point. Nothing can be reviewed after a restart. (This doesn’t apply to penalties awarded for offences before the half-time or final whistle, as play was still active at the time of the offence.)

Seven seconds later, the VAR team realised their error. Panic set in, but they decided they couldn’t go against protocol so they let play continue. But in this situation, where a very serious mistake has been identified within seconds of the restart, football would rather the VAR went against protocol to achieve the fairest outcome for the game. The match should have been stopped.

Not only did the VAR team fail to react, but also the management team, which could have stepped in and told the VAR team to roll the game back.

There was the opportunity to fix it, and it was missed.

The VAR audio of the incident will be released, which will at least provide transparency for what happened.

Errors in process keep happening, even at the very highest level. At the World Cup last year, France had an injury-time equaliser disallowed against Tunisia when the VAR ruled Antoine Griezmann was offside after the kickoff had been taken.

And only a few weeks ago in the Bundesliga, Heidenheim had a penalty ruled out for offside following a foul by Borussia Dortmund’s Sébastien Haller. The officials allowed Haller to be substituted, and during that process the VAR realised the offside decision was incorrect. The penalty was reinstated, but Haller, who should have been sent off for pulling back the striker, was no longer on the pitch. He was only shown a yellow card on the bench instead.

That doesn’t excuse what happened in the Premier League on Saturday.

Questions will be asked about the wisdom of allowing England to travel to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, along with Michael Oliver as a team of English officials, to take charge of a league game between Sharjah and Al Ain. In terms of preparation, it’s no different than a game in the Europa League and Europa Conference League; the officials were back from the UAE on Friday lunchtime. But it’s the optics of travelling to the Middle East to take up an approved, paid job and then coming back to the Premier League and making a huge mistake.

Webb has been in charge of referees for only nine months, yet he faces the huge problem of public perception that refereeing is getting worse. The stats from the Independent Key Incidents Panel suggest standards are improving, but catastrophic mistakes like that at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium take a hammer to any progress.

Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday evening insisting the incident has “undermined sporting integrity,” and you can understand their point. But the Laws of the Game specifically state that a mistake in the VAR room is no different from a genuine error on the pitch. France appealed to FIFA to try to get their goal back, but were told they had no grounds. Usually, a game would be replayed only if there was a misapplication of the laws, rather than just an incorrect decision.

This will now be tough on England and will take some coming back from. Last season he was shadowed by The Guardian and reference was made to how the official seemed mentally exhausted after awarding a controversial late penalty to Manchester City against Fulham. This is going to be even tougher.

Possible red card: Jones challenge on Bissouma

What happened: The game was goalless in the 26th minute when Curtis Jones challenged Yves Bissouma for the ball, and committed a foul. Referee Simon Hooper produced a yellow card, but there was a VAR check for a possible red (watch here.)

VAR decision: Yellow card upgraded to red.

VAR review: Ex-pros and supporters are always split when a player receives a red card when they have played the ball first, but that doesn’t excuse the player for how he may catch an opponent. Jones will no doubt feel himself unlucky to get a red card, but the nature of the challenge always meant a VAR intervention was likely.

As explained last week in the review for Malo Gusto’s red card for Chelsea against Aston Villa, when the replays show that an opponent’s leg has effectively been bent by the tackle, that will be seen as evidence of excessive force.

Jones’ foot came off the top of the ball and led to him catching Bissouma high on the shin and forcing his leg backward. It’s similar in nature to the dismissal of Manchester United midfielder Casemiro against Southampton last season (though that was a clearer red card due to the way he went into the challenge).

Jones was unlucky, but a VAR intervention for a red card was always likely.

Some supporters complained that England showed Hooper a freeze frame of the point of contact as he walked over to the pitchside monitor, effectively pre-judging the review. Yet as the monitor is specifically there to confirm an overturn (though the referee retains the right to reject the advice of the VAR), a referee is always going to be shown the clearest evidence to support the decision. Hooper will be told as he walks over the screen exactly what he will see and the kind of replays he will be offered. The referee always has the option of requesting additional angles and replay speeds.

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Possible penalty: Handball by Domínguez and Boly

What happened: Brentford had a corner in the final moments of the first half. Nicolás Domínguez jumped for the ball with Vitaly Janelt, and the ball appeared to brush the raised arm of the Forest player as it was nodded on. When the ball bounced inside the area, it was then touched by the hand of Willy Boly.

VAR decision: No penalty.

VAR review: After the decision to penalise Wolves’ João Gomes for his raised arm at Luton Town last weekend, you could understand questions over the first handball by Domínguez. His arm was high, and it was hit by the ball. He escapes because it hit him at point-blank range and the arm position was justified when jumping.

Boly had his arm by his side, so it would need to be a deliberate handball, and while there was a movement, it appeared to be natural rather than specific to push the ball away.

Possible penalty: Turner on Wissa

What happened: Yoane Wissa closed down Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner following a back-pass by Murillo. The Brentford striker got a toe to the ball and pushed it toward goal, and was then caught by Turner as the keeper tried to make the clearance. A defender cleared the ball before it crossed the line.

VAR decision: No penalty.

VAR review: This definitely should have been a penalty, and that the error was made by Michael Oliver, who was in the UAE with Darren England, only adds to the issues facing PGMOL this week.

Wissa gets to the ball first and is kicked by the goalkeeper. Perhaps it was Wissa’s immediate reaction to get up and play on, rather than appealing for the foul, which threw Oliver. Either way, it was a mistake not to intervene.

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Possible offside: Zaniolo on Watkins’ second goal

What happened: Ollie Watkins doubled Aston Villa’s lead in the 21st minute when finishing into the corner. It looked initially as though goalkeeper Jason Steele had let a weak shot past him into the corner of the net, but was he impacted by Nicolò Zaniolo in an offside position in front of him? (watch here)

VAR decision: Goal stands.

VAR review: It provides a good comparison with an incident from a month ago, when Manchester City saw a goal allowed to stand when Manuel Akanji was in front of Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno. PGMOL admitted that goal should have been ruled out by the VAR, and on the face of it, this is the same. Then last week Manchester United had a goal ruled out by the VAR when Rasmus Højlund was in front of Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford on Jonny Evans’ header. So what’s the difference, and why wasn’t Villa’s goal ruled out?

The key difference between Akanji and Zaniolo are the actions of the players in front of the goalkeeper. Akanji made an obvious action to play and/or evade the ball on its way to goal, which had to affect the goalkeeper’s decision-making. However, Zaniolo makes absolutely no movement at all — and this makes any impact on the keeper far more difficult to evaluate.

The VAR has decided that he couldn’t be certain there was any impact on Steele in the Brighton goal. It’s certainly a situation that will split opinion.

The disallowed Man United goal was slightly different in interpretation, as Højlund was in direct contact with the Burnley goalkeeper so he had to be considered to be having an impact.

We can also look at Crystal Palace’s goal at Old Trafford on Saturday. Although there were two players in an offside position in front of goal, they were not impacting André Onana.

Possible foul: Luiz on March before Estupiñán own goal

What happened: Villa got a third goal in the 26th minute when Pervis Estupiñán diverted a shot from Moussa Diaby into his own net. However, Solly March was adamant he was fouled in the buildup to the goal, which was checked by the VAR (watch here.)

VAR decision: Goal stands.

VAR review: There’s no doubt that March was fouled by Douglas Luiz, who effectively fell into the Brighton player and brought him down. That means the only judgement for the VAR is on the attacking phase: Did the incident happen too far back in the move for it have a material impact?

It’s a tough call, because you could judge winning the ball to be crucial to a goal whenever it happens in the buildup. But, in the Premier League, at least, there has been a desire not to look too far back to disallow goals for a foul.

Last season, 10 goals were disallowed because a foul in the leadup to a goal. From Phil Foden’s goal against Liverpool for a foul by Erling Haaland, to Leandro Trossard’s strike for Ben White holding on to the arm of Leicester City goalkeeper Danny Ward. But in each case, the goal came very quickly after the incident.

After March is fouled there is another 50-50 challenge for the ball, so Villa didn’t achieve possession directly as a result of the foul. There are then several passes over 15 seconds before Diaby has a first shot on goal, which was saved by Steele, before his second effort went in off Estupiñán.

It’s a tricky judgement call on the attacking phase, but it’s consistent in the application we’ve seen in English football.

Possible offside: Ansu when scoring

What happened: Brighton & Hove Albion got a goal back in the 50th minute through Ansu Fati. The goal came after João Pedro had go to the goal-line and attempted a cut back, and eventually got the ball to a teammate at the second attempt. The VAR began a very lengthy check on the goal. (Watch here.)

VAR decision: Goal stands.

VAR review: It took an inordinate amount of time for what seemed like a pretty straightforward VAR check, which looked at two possible situations.

In total, the review took 2½ minutes. First, there was a question of the ball being out of play when Pedro controlled it, but it soon became clear the whole of the ball hadn’t crossed the goal-line. Second, whether a possible offside against goal scorer Ansu, which seemed to go on and on.

It doesn’t matter that Pedro’s touch sends the ball backwards, the direction the ball goes doesn’t matter — only the position of the attacking player who receives the ball. But the situation is complicated slightly as John McGinn has run off the pitch in trying to challenge Pedro — it gives the immediate impression that Ansu has to be offside. But in law, McGinn is considered to be on the goal-line, which makes goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez the second defensive player, and the one who creates the offside line.

The VAR seemed to spend a long time trying to determine the correct frame for the kick-point by Pedro, but even during this process, it seemed very evident from the naked eye that Ansu was being played onside by the heel of Martinez. The VAR needs to apply the lines to prove this, of course, but it took far too long for what was essentially a straightforward situation.

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Possible penalty: Handball by Ward

What happened: Manchester United were already trailing 1-0 to Crystal Palace in the 59th minute and looking for a way back into the game. Bruno Fernandes lifted a ball into the box aimed for Marcus Rashford, and the ball hit the hand of Joel Ward before it could get to the striker. United players appealed for a penalty, but referee Chris Kavanagh said no.

VAR decision: No penalty.

VAR review: While Ward did check over his shoulder for the flight of the ball, there’s no way this could be considered deliberate after the ball flicked off his hand. Ward also had his back to the ball when it hit him, and his arm was close to his body in an expected position.

Poor defending to misread the flight, but not a handball offence.

Possible penalty: Handball by Amrabat

What happened: Palace had a handball appeal of their own in the 90th minute when the ball hit the arm of Sofyan Amrabat. Did Palace have any grounds for a spot kick?

VAR decision: No penalty.

VAR review: As with Ward, Amrabat had his arm close to his body, so there was no chance that the VAR, Peter Bankes, would advise a penalty kick.

Amrabat also had the ball hit onto him at close proximity by Jairo Riedewald.

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Possible penalty overturn: Al Dakhil challenge on Gordon

What happened: Newcastle United were awarded a penalty in the 75th minute when Ameen Al Dakhil brought down Anthony Gordon. The Burnley defender appealed against the decision, and there was an automatic check made by the VAR, Jarred Gillett.

VAR decision: Penalty stands, scored by Alexander Isak.

VAR review: A very simple and quick check, despite Al Dakhil’s claims that he had got to the ball. It was clear from the angle behind the play that it was a foul, and referee Thomas Bramall had made the correct decision.

Some parts of this article include information provided by the Premier League and PGMOL.

Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos scored their first goals for Paris Saint-Germain as the French champions crushed bitter rivals Marseille 4-0 in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Kolo Muani and Ramos, with a brace, added to Achraf Hakimi’s early opener to lift PSG up to third in the standings with 11 points from six games, two behind surprise leaders Stade Brestois.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

It was not the perfect night for the hosts at the Parc des Princes, however, as Kylian Mbappe limped off the pitch with a possible ankle injury in the first half.

“It was a perfect game. We’re getting close to having what we want, players always connected, defending and attacking together,” coach Luis Enrique told a press conference.

Marseille, who have had a rough week off the field amid a feud with their fans, are seventh on nine points.

The Provence side parted company with coach Marcelino and hit out at their fans’ representatives during the week after they allegedly threatened the club’s management and pressured them to resign.

President Pablo Longoria vowed to stay on, saying he had received “unconditional support” from the club’s owner Frank McCourt.

With interim coach Jacques Abardonado on the bench — or, more precisely, gesticulating and screaming from the touchline — Marseille were unable to respond to PSG’s ‘Tiki Taka,’ the ultra possessive strategy coach Luis Enrique has been looking to impose on a team who have long struggled to find a playing style.

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PSG were rewarded after eight minutes when Hakimi fired a free kick into the top corner after Mbappe had been fouled at the edge of the box.

The France forward was replaced by Marcelo Ramos on 32 minutes with a potential ankle injury.

“We tried to strap it again but it was still hurting, so we decided not to risk anything. I don’t think it’s serious he should be back soon,” said Luis Enrique.

Bradley Barcola tormented the Marseille defence on the left flank, threatening multiple times with his silky dribbling.

The visitors, however, came close in the 23rd minute as Vitinha’s header shaved the crossbar.

But PSG were far more clinical.

In the 40th minute, Hakimi’s brutal strike crashed on to the post and was deflected by keeper Pau Lopez’s back into the path of Kolo Muani, who only had to tap in for his first goal with PSG.

Vitinha and Azzedine Ounahi were substituted at half-time by Ilian Ndiaye and Amine Harit, respectively, but it was PSG who made the fastest start as Ramos headed home from Ousmane Dembele’s cross on 47 minutes.

The night ended with PSG fans in the Boulogne kop celebrating with anti-gay chants, and a big part of the crowd clapping along.

The chants briefly stopped when Ramos scored the fourth goal after being set up by Kolo Muani at the end of a sharp counter-attack.

Jadon Sancho is facing a battle to regain the support of his Manchester United teammates as well as manager Erik ten Hag following his angry reaction to being dropped for the Premier League defeat at Arsenal, a source has told ESPN.

Sancho, 23, posted a strongly worded social media rebuttal of Ten Hag’s postmatch claims that he had been omitted from the squad at the Emirates due to unsatisfactory training performances, with the England international rejecting the “completely untrue” comments and saying on his X account that he had been a “scapegoat for a long time.”

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

But one source has told ESPN that there is little sympathy for Sancho inside the United dressing room, saying, “The players have had enough of him.”

Sancho’s performances in training and on matchday, as well as his demeanour around the club, have led to the £73 million ($91m) signing from Borussia Dortmund becoming a peripheral figure with Ten Hag and his coaching staff becoming exasperated by the former Manchester City youngster.

Despite Sancho’s swift reaction to Ten Hag’s comments in the postmatch news conference at Arsenal — Sancho has not deleted his post and it remains pinned at the top of his X account — sources have said that the United manager has felt no need to clarify or tone down his remarks.

Ten Hag criticised Cristiano Ronaldo on two occasions for his conduct prior to the forward’s departure following a mutually agreed contract cancellation last November, while the former Ajax coach also publicly confirmed that Marcus Rashford was dropped for last season’s Premier League game at Wolves due to him missing a team meeting.

Sources have said that the players accept and respect Ten Hag’s firm approach because it applies without exceptions to squad members, regardless of their status, and that Sancho’s reaction has gone down badly within the dressing room, although a source has said that it was not greeted with surprise.

Sources have told ESPN that Sancho and Ten Hag are set for talks before United’s game against Brighton on Sept. 16 to decide the forward’s future.

United, according to sources, held preliminary talks with Al Ettifaq FC — managed by Steven Gerrard — about a possible loan on Thursday but a deal was never close before the Saudi Pro League transfer window closed.

It leaves Ten Hag with a decision to make about whether Sancho will be part of the squad for the first half of the season.

Since signing for United on a five-year contract in the summer of 2021, Sancho has scored 12 goals in 82 first-team appearances and registered six assists. In his final season with Borussia Dortmund, he scored 16 goals and provided 20 assists in 38 games in all competitions.

ESPN’s Rob Dawson contributed to this report.

LONDON — Arsenal paid the big bucks to sign Declan Rice for a reason.

In truth, it wasn’t primarily for his goal scoring, but then again, the £105 million man has made it a personal mission to improve his end product, and Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United was quite a spectacular way to start.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Rice’s first Gunners goal came in the sixth minute of added time with the score level at 1-1, squeezing a deflected shot inside André Onana’s near post to spark Emirates Stadium euphoria. The game had been on a knife edge after Martin Odegaard cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s first-half opener for United with substitute Alejandro Garnacho denied what could have been the winning goal by a marginal — but correct — VAR review for offside in the 88th minute.

Yet Rice turned the game decisively in Arsenal’s favour before Gabriel Jesus added a third even deeper into added-on time to spark the sort of jubilation associated with a title run, rather than in early September. Arsenal are often criticised for over-celebrating, but the explanation here is simple. Of course, the opponent — an old adversary — makes winning sweeter but of more immediate pertinence is the need to maintain pace with Manchester City, an admittedly absurd premise at first glance given the Premier League season is only four games old.

Arsenal reached 50 points at the halfway stage last season and failed to win the title — City have raised the bar to the extent the margin for error is smaller than ever, and entering the first international break with 10 points from a possible 12 — two behind City — is a significant boost for Arsenal’s self-belief.

Rice was acquired at great expense from West Ham to bridge the gap, and his all-round display ultimately proved a match-winning contribution. Could this be the first of many goals from their new midfield man?

“For sure, when you see the technical ability that he has and how he executed in this these moments,” said Gunners boss Mikel Arteta. “His range when shooting from accuracy and the power he generates with no space, that’s with both legs, he can do it with both feet. He’s got the timing as well to arrive in the box. The position will dictate that a lot because it’s about how you arrive in the box. But he’s got the ability to do that, that’s for sure.

“When you look at how a holding midfielder needs to dominate his area, how he needs to break up play, how he glided the team together when they were stretched a bit. Then he produced a magic moment to win us the game, so, really happy with him.”

It was also Rice’s drive forward that led to Kai Havertz, generally subdued once again, going down in the box for a penalty overturned on VAR review, as he sought to alter an unusually cautious first half from the home side.

Arsenal had just 45 percent possession in the first half. They usually dominate opponents on their own turf — aside from Brighton’s deserved win here in May, when they took control of proceedings in impressive fashion — and no team had enjoyed more of the ball in the opening 45 minutes since January 2022. The opposition that day was also United, a clear sign that Arteta is inherently wary of the counterattacking threat Rashford once again ruthlessly demonstrated on Sunday.

“The first goal that we gave away we talked about it, if you lose the ball inside the first two passes after regaining it, you are kaput,” Arteta said. “We did it again.”

Rice won four of his five duels and all three aerial challenges, recovering the ball five times in all. But more than that, he helped Arsenal play more on the front foot in the second period — ending with 55 percent possession overall but more significantly, creating good chances with Bukayo Saka guilty of missing the best of them when clean through nine minutes from the end.

United will rue the fine margin of Garnacho’s disallowed goal and failing to capitalise on a promising cameo by their own big-money summer signing, £72m Rasmus Hojlund, who gave the visitors a more potent threat than Anthony Martial will probably ever be when introduced on 67 minutes. There will be plenty more to come from him, but it was a damning indictment of United’s summer window that they ended this game with 35-year-old Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire at centre-back, while Sofyan Amrabat was not ready to feature at all.

In mitigation, United have suffered badly with injuries at centre-back with Lisandro Martínez and Victor Lindelöf forced off here to join Raphaël Varane and Luke Shaw on the sidelines. Yet re-signing Evans and using Maguire, who they were desperate to offload all summer and was actually cheered by Arsenal fans upon his introduction, underlines the lack of prudent squad planning, as does acquiring Amrabat so late in the window, when he had been ready to leave Fiorentina in July if the clubs could agree a fee.

Already, it once again appears United are some considerable distance away from closing the gap to City, an aim both of these teams harbour but that Arsenal look much more equipped to take on. They are yet to be entirely convincing in any game this season, it must be said, but the Gunners have found a way to win three of their four games, and on Sunday, the club-record buy made the difference.

As Arteta put it: “Big matches are for big players, and Rice was tremendous.”

The transfer window has entered its final stages as the clock ticks down to Friday’s deadline. The Premier League is set to close for business at 6 p.m. ET / 11 p.m. BST (find out when other leagues close here), but despite time running out for deals to do be done, there are still lots of club and players around Europe aiming to get moves over the line.

Some will get done, others will fizzle out before the deadline, while there are players who will be linked over the next 24 hours who are highly unlikely to join a new team.

Here are some deals that could happen on Friday.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Mohamed Salah: Liverpool to Al Ittihad

File this one in the “highly unlikely” category, but because of the sums reported to be involved in terms of potential transfer fee (£118m) and wages (£65m per year), Al Ittihad’s interest in the Liverpool forward must be taken seriously. Liverpool insist Salah is going nowhere, while the Saudi window is open until Sept. 20, but it’s still one to watch.

Sofyan Amrabat: Fiorentina to Manchester United

Manchester United have held a summerlong interest in the Morocco midfielder, but financial restrictions at Old Trafford mean they can only structure a loan move. United’s initial offer was rejected by the Serie A club, but the player is keen to sign, so this one should get done.

Eric Dier: Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich or Fulham

The versatile Tottenham defender is the subject of interest from Fulham and Bayern Munich, while he has been told he can leave Spurs by coach Ange Postecoglou. It’s a straight choice: stay in London with Fulham or hook up with close friend and former Spurs teammate Harry Kane at Bayern. Though Bayern are also tracking Fulham’s João Palhinha, so that could make an impact on where he ends up.

Harry Maguire: Man United to West Ham United

Man United boss Erik ten Hag is happy to offload the world’s most expensive defender (£80m), and West Ham are prepared to strike a £30m deal to sign him, but despite a lack of opportunities at Old Trafford, Maguire is resisting a move. Deadline day may prompt a late U-turn by the England international.

Ansu Fati: Barcelona to Brighton

Brighton have moved ahead of Tottenham in the race to sign the Barcelona forward on a season-long loan. The prospect of European football at the Amex and Brighton’s reputation as a club that dramatically improves players is likely to swing the deal in Brighton’s favour. As a result, Barca could land João Félix on loan from Atletico Madrid as a replacement.

Jesse Lingard to West Ham

The former Manchester United midfielder is a free agent after seeing out a 12-month deal at Nottingham Forest. The 30-year-old has seen interest from Saudi Arabian clubs, but West Ham are frontrunners after opening talks to re-sign a player who impressed during a loan spell at the London Stadium in 2021.

Marc Cucurella: Chelsea to Man United

Just 12 months after sealing a £63m move from Brighton to Chelsea, Cucurella is on the way out at Stamford Bridge with Manchester United close to agreeing a loan deal to solve their injury crisis at left-back after injuries to Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.

Ryan Gravenberch: Bayern to Manchester United or Liverpool

Liverpool and Manchester United are both interested in signing the Bayern Munich midfielder, but with United focusing their attention on Amrabat, the path is clear for Liverpool to seal a loan deal for the 21-year-old, who only signed from Ajax last summer for €18m.

Randal Kolo Muani: Eintracht Frankfurt to Paris Saint-Germain

The Eintracht Frankfurt forward is holding out for an €80m move to Paris Saint-Germain and is refusing to train with the Bundesliga club in an effort to force the transfer to go ahead. PSG need a forward, so expect this one to happen, with Hugo Ekitike possibly moving the other way as part of the deal.

Brennan Johnson: Nottingham Forest to Tottenham or Brentford

Tottenham are pushing hard to sign the Wales forward as they attempt to reinvest the £88m received from Bayern Munich for Harry Kane. Forest want at least £50m from clubs keen on Johnson and, with Spurs set to miss out on Ansu Fati to Brighton, Postecoglou could move for him. Brentford are also reportedly in the battle and have had a £43m bid rejected.

Donny van de Beek: Man United to Lorient or Galatasaray

French club Lorient and Turkish side Galatasaray are both in talks with Manchester United over a move for the former Ajax midfielder. Van de Beek, who signed for €45m from Ajax in 2020, has endured a miserable three years at Old Trafford and has no prospect of game time, so a deal with either club is likely.

João Cancelo: Man City to Barcelona

Barcelona want to sign the Portugal defender from Manchester City, and a loan deal is likely. But the LaLiga champions must offload a number of players to enable them to register him with the league to comply with their salary cap regulations.

BRISBANE, Australia — When the final whistle blew, Germany’s players looked at one another, turned to the bench and hoped for a miracle. But there wasn’t one coming from the Morocco match in Perth, no late equaliser from Colombia to save them.

The realisation started to ebb through that their Women’s World Cup had finished at the group stage for the first time in their history. A team that came to Australia with the billing as one of the favourites crashed at the first hurdle in a group they were expected to breeze through.

As players sunk to their knees, lay down on the pitch or stayed rigidly still, the loudspeaker in the stadium announced Germany striker Alexandra Popp as Player of the Match. She shook her head ruefully as the camera panned to her. The tears had already started elsewhere at that point. Some still stood still, having not moved an inch since the whistle blew.

– Women’s World Cup: Landing page | Schedule | Rosters | News

Coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg moved among the stricken players. They eventually formed a huddle, players moving there, heads bowed. There were few words. The manager said thank you to the players for the effort they put into the match; said they had to stick together amid the criticism they’ll receive.

It wasn’t meant to be like this. Germany started the tournament with ruthless efficiency, beating Morocco 6-0. They were living up to their favourites tag, putting down a marker to the chasing pack: they had built from reaching the Euro 2022 final last year and were ready to take down the World Cup.

They had issues. They came to the World Cup without star right-back Giulia Gwinn and lost Carolin Simon to a serious injury in their friendly against Zambia. Marina Hegering came into the tournament injured and then Felicitas Rauch was injured in training before Colombia. They ended up playing forward Svenja Huth at right-back, and the Rauch injury meant Sara Doorsoun had to start in the middle against Colombia, with midfielder Chantal Hagel filling in at left-back. The fix didn’t work, Colombia flooding the wings and defeating Germany 2-1 thanks to a 97th minute winner.

And despite Hederling returning to the heart of defence for the South Korea match, they had to deal with another injury with Doorsoun picking up a knock late against Colombia. The rejig robbed them of any stability and South Korea pounced on that uncertainty, scoring after just six minutes as one through ball bisected the scrambled defence and gave So-Hyun Cho a chance to score. The defensive uncertainty was something South Korea manager Colin Bell had targeted. Talking about Huth and Hagel, he said: “They’re not full-backs, they haven’t got the schooling of full-backs so it was right to target those areas. They’re very good players, but they’re not full-backs.”

Germany eventually equalised in the 42nd minute and in the second half Popp had a goal disallowed for offside; she also planted a header on the bar as frustration grew. Goalkeeper Merle Frohms said they found out the gravity of their situation in the 85th minute — when the bench pulled the emergency lever and told the players they had to scramble to find a winner. But their disjointed nature was showcased in the statistics of the final 10 minutes of normal time where South Korea dominated possession (60%, compared to Germany’s 29%.)

Germany had two half chances late on with Sydney Lohmann shooting wide and then blasting over, but there was no late rally, no goal to keep them in the World Cup and no answers. “We showed strong desire and grit to go for a goal but somehow it just didn’t want to go in,” Popp said afterwards.

In her news conference, Voss-Tecklenburg didn’t provide answers to why their World Cup had capitulated. As she faced the media, she repeatedly said she wasn’t looking for excuses. “Please don’t think I’ll provide you with analysis on the future and where we’ll work heading forward,” she said. “Maybe we lacked precision, maybe we tried to force things, but there was a feeling of something missing. Of course, I’m disappointed and I’m also frustrated because we were expecting more of us and that’s very clear.

“You can look it critically that we used them as fullbacks but some input we’ll accept and we’ll think about alternatives, but again I don’t want to look for excuses — we created the formation in the way we thought best and if the result isn’t what we want, you have to accept that responsibility.”

Now comes the post-mortem, and the players are ready for the criticism. “We have to face that, and live with it,” star midfielder Lena Oberdorf said.

It compounds a miserable year for Germany’s football teams. The men failed to get out of the group in the Qatar World Cup. The men’s Under-21s, champions in 2021, finished bottom of their group in the 2023 Euros in July. The two Women’s World Cup winning stars from 2003, 2007 were there illuminating Voss-Tecklenburg’s blazer as she was asked about the nation’s miserable footballing year. “If you want to see it as a disaster in terms of sports, it’s hard to argue against it. What it’s about is to rise again and not give up,” she said. “We love this sport. We need to let it sleep on it and work with what happened.”

The Germany team will return to their hotel on Thursday night. Voss-Tecklenburg is expecting some of the team to seek solace in group company, others to kick the door down, but each will deal with this differently. That’s the bizarre nature of these moments where the narrative is ripped up.

The team, together at least, never spoke of this eventuality where their fate would be intertwined with a shock Morocco win over Colombia. They didn’t let thoughts of various permutations cloud their own resolute confidence, believing they’d get the job done. But a wounded South Korea were looking to finish with something after losing their first two matches and football is merciless. Ji So-yun’s reunion with her old Chelsea teammates Ann-Katrin Berger and Melanie Leupolz wasn’t as it was planned to be. “We should’ve got through together,” Ji told ESPN afterward. “It’s a real shame. I felt so sorry for them. We had to play our best.”

Both teams now head home; Colombia and Morocco progressing. The German management will do their own post-mortem while the rest of the footballing world wonders and opines on where things went wrong.

“We do need a little bit of time now to process what has happened and to be able to find some confidence again,” Popp said. “At this stage, we know that our squad is good but during those two games, we were not optimal. But I have no answers at this stage.” But for now, Germany became the latest big team to fall in this tournament where reputation on the international stage means nothing.

Bayern Munich’s president confirmed on Wednesday that the club is aware of “initial talks” around a reported move for forward Sadio Mané to join Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr, where he could team up with Cristiano Ronaldo.

“FC Bayern is informed about this,” club president Herbert Hainer said in Japan during a preseason tour. “But these are initial talks; you have to wait and see.”

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

His comments followed a report in German tabloid newspaper Bild that an adviser to Mané would meet representatives of Al Nassr to discuss a possible deal. A Premier League and Champions League winner with Liverpool, Mané would be the latest in a series of big-name players in Saudi clubs’ signing spree.

Mané has two years left on his contract with Bayern after a disappointing and injury-hit first season since joining from Liverpool last year.

The Senegal forward scored 12 times in 38 games for Bayern, but only one of those goals came after a leg injury in November that ruled him out of the World Cup. Mané was also suspended for one game by Bayern for “misconduct” in April after he reportedly struck teammate Leroy Sané in the locker room after a Champions League loss to Manchester City.

On Tuesday, Hainer described Mané’s first season at Bayern as “certainly not satisfactory, neither for him nor for us.”

Mané came off the bench in Bayern’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City in a friendly in Japan on Wednesday, replacing Kingsley Coman as Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel changed the entire starting XI at the break.

باشگاه منچستریونایتد روز سه شنبه اعلام کرد مارکوس راشفورد قرارداد جدیدی را با منچستریونایتد امضا کرده است.

این ملی پوش انگلیسی با قراردادی پنج ساله جدید موافقت کرده است که او را تا سال 2028 در اولدترافورد نگه می دارد. او از اولین بازی خود به عنوان نوجوان در سال 2016، 359 بازی برای این باشگاه داشته است.

– پخش جریانی در ESPN+: لالیگا، بوندسلیگا، بیشتر (ایالات متحده)
– FC 100: راشفورد در لیست فوروارد ESPN در کجا قرار گرفت؟

رشفورد از لوک شاو و دیوگو دالوت پیروی می کند تا آینده بلندمدت خود را به یونایتد متعهد کند. قرارداد جدیدش او را فراتر از تولد 30 سالگی اش می برد.

راشفورد به وب سایت این باشگاه گفت: من به عنوان یک پسر 7 ساله با رویا به منچستریونایتد پیوستم. “همین شور و غرور و عزم برای موفقیت هنوز هم هر بار که افتخار پوشیدن این پیراهن را دارم، مرا به حرکت در می آورد.

من قبلاً تجربیات شگفت انگیزی در این باشگاه باورنکردنی داشته ام، اما هنوز چیزهای بیشتری برای دستیابی وجود دارد و من بی وقفه مصمم به کسب جام های بیشتر در سال های آینده هستم.

به عنوان یک هوادار یونایتد در تمام عمرم، مسئولیتی را که همراه با این نشان به همراه دارد می‌دانم و مثل هرکسی پستی و بلندی‌ها را احساس می‌کنم.

“من می توانم به شما اطمینان دهم که همه چیز را برای کمک به تیم برای رسیدن به سطحی که ما می توانیم انجام خواهم داد، و می توانم همان عزم را در رختکن احساس کنم. نمی توانم بیشتر از این برای آینده تحت این مربی هیجان زده باشم.”

این بازیکن 25 ساله پس از به ثمر رساندن 30 گل در تمامی رقابت ها، از جمله 17 گل در لیگ برتر، بهترین فصل دوران حرفه ای خود را پشت سر می گذارد. او در جام جهانی قطر نیز سه گل برای انگلیس به ثمر رساند.

یونایتد، تحت مدیریت اریک تن هاگ، همچنان مشتاق جذب مهاجم دیگری در طول پنجره نقل و انتقالات است و به راسموس هوجلوند از آتالانتا و راندال کولو موانی از اینتراخت فرانکفورت علاقه مند است.