Skills

The year of Marcus Rashford continued Thursday as the Manchester United forward scored the lone goal against Real Betis at Estadio Benito Villamarín, giving the Red Devils a 5-1 aggregate victory and easy passage to the Europa League quarterfinals.

Before the World Cup, Rashford had a total of eight goals in 19 appearances across all competitions. Since the tournament in Qatar, the 25-year-old has found the back of the net 18 times in 24 games. The total of 26 from 43 is already a career best and the Red Devils are still competing on three fronts.

There are all sorts of stats and accolades that illustrate how talented Gavi is — the Golden Boy award, Spain's youngest goalscorer, the youngest World Cup scorer since Pelé — but he's a phenomenon best experienced live.

The sky might be falling on Barcelona (littered with fake cash featuring the word "MAFIA"), but Gavi's willing to take on that duel. "Lost cause" is not in the 18-year-old's lexicon. 

LONDON - Sam Kerr's superb first-half goal gave Chelsea a 1-0 home win over Manchester United that saw them climb past the Red Devils to the top of the Women's Super League after a tight, tense encounter at Kingsmeadow on Sunday.

Chelsea are now in pole position in the standings on 37 points after 14 of the season's 22 league games, two points ahead of United and with a game in hand. Manchester City are third on 32 points.

Alyssa Thompson made history in January when she was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NWSL draft and the first player ever drafted out of high school. The 18-year-old phenom has already appeared for the USWNT and played her first game for Angel City on Wednesday night.

Angel City defeated Club América 3-0 at BMO Stadium in a club friendly. Thompson was given her first start and immediately made an impact just five minutes into the game.

We haven't covered Gonçalo Ramos much since the 21-year-old took Cristiano Ronaldo's spot at the World Cup and promptly fired Portugal into the quarterfinals with a hat-trick, but we've got to speak about his outrageous talents again because he's just put Benfica into the quarterfinals of the Champions League with two goals and an assist on Tuesday.

You know it's heady times in the Premier League when Brentford versus Fulham makes for can't-miss TV, and that was the case in a Monday Night Football clash at Gtech Community Stadium that outlined why both clubs are safe from relegation and eyeing a place in Europe. The London derby was a five-goal barn burner.

Brentford flew out of the traps and earned a deserved lead in the sixth-minute. A barrage of early balls into Fulham's area had been met by Tim Ream, but the American defender could only watch in horror as his attempted block deflected beyond Bernd Leno.