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Jimmy Thunder was having none of Crawford Grimsley's chutzpah, none of his mouthing off before their heavyweight contest back in the late 1990s, none of his pre-bout arrogance. Thunder took precisely 1.5 seconds to put Grimsley down - one punch, an overhand right to his opponent's temple. Lights out. Fight over. Statement sent. As Celtic unloaded on Hearts at Celtic Park it was football's equivalent of Thunder's devastation; speed and accuracy and ruthlessness in the face of a challenger akin to a rabbit caught in the headlights. Hearts didn't give it the big one in the preamble to this evisceration, but they set up in the manner of a team who truly believed they were a whole lot better than they actually are. Poor concentration and lack of physicality cost them two set-piece goals inside 10 minutes. The game was effectively over, but the visitors' suffering had only just begun. Celtic score seven in humiliation of title rivals Hearts All the latest Celtic news, views and analysis The pretenders came to Glasgow with a weak away record in the league - two wins in 11 between this season and the end of last, both against Hibs - and tried to go toe-to-toe. Thinking attack is the best form of defence is all very well as long as you can back it up, as long as you can defend competently, as long as you can pass from A to B without losing your mind, as long as you don't concede acreage of space to exploit. Time and again, Hearts rolled out the red carpet to Celtic. A clinical Celtic made them pay for their naivety and maybe their arrogance, too. The footballing version of poor Crawford Grimsley. On their backside before they knew it. Hearts played the highest line with slow defenders, they pushed up the park and left themselves exposed to Celtic's speedsters. That gameplan was not high-risk, it was reckless. Martin O'Neill needed a win after his recent travails and this was a stroll in the park that he could not have imagined. The stats are, frankly, hilarious. If it was a horrific day for Wouter Vrancken and his players then it was every bit as grim an experience for those who try to see sense in numbers. Hearts had more shots than Celtic (20-18). They had more shots inside the box (16-13). They had more possession (52%-48%). They had more crosses (16-10). They won more duels (51%-49%). They had more passes in their opponents' half (244-202). They had more accurate passes (458-423). That last one was laugh-out-loud funny, for Hearts' use of the ball was comically bad. So often, when under a little bit of pressure, or no pressure at all, they passed into space only for Celtic to gobble up the loose ball and launch an attack which usually ended in a big chance or a goal. The home team was slick. Benjamin Nygren, Callum Osmand, Camilo Duran and Haissem Hassan were devastating. Seven did not flatter them in the slightest. It began with those two early goals - Liam Scales showing the desire to win a near-post header from a corner and Kieran Tierney left alone a few yards out to force in, then Dane Murray outfighting Claudio Braga to help it back to Nygren to score. Hassan hit a post when he turned and darted away from Stephen Kingsley. People wondered what was Vrancken going to do to change this. Answer: nothing. When Celtic score seven it seems odd to talk about pieces of defending they did that were significant, but Colby Donovan's cameos warrant mention. Around the midpoint of the first half, Hearts stirred a little. You wouldn't say that they had momentum, but they had a bit of a possession and their hair-on-fire panic of the early minutes seemed under control. Twice in the space of three minutes, Josh McPake - one of the form players in the country - took on Donovan and twice Donovan routed him. Those little duels might disappear from relevance after the deluge, but at the time they were important. The Hearts dangerman had been snuffed out. His morale had taken a hiding. And the stadium loved it. Hearts fell apart at the seams from there. Sabri Guendouz gave the ball away and Duran combined with the impressive Osmand to score number three. Jamie McCart then became detached from his trolley and Celtic scored from that error, too. Osmand, again, but with lovely work from Duran. And easy, oh so easy. Celtic's pace in attack was terrific. Their alertness was outstanding. Their disbelief was there, too. How could a team with a seemingly good coach and a strong squad of players be performing like a pub team? Hearts fans started heading home at that point. They missed the goal that made it 4-1. They won't have shed any tears. Had they gone back they'd only have suffered on. Best get out of dodge as quickly as possible. Soon, it was 5-1, Mika Baur slaloming his way past the comatose figures of McPake and Malachi Fagan-Walcott to dink a shot on goal, helped on its way by Kingsley and McCart, sitting on the floor, all flailing legs, like an octopus who had fallen out of a tree. Hearts' heads had long since gone. They were a broken team, psychologically. The doubt and fear coursed through their veins. The easiest things became difficult. The difficult things became impossible. They had no discipline, no direction. Vrancken spoke later about individual errors and that was obvious, but what else? He was given an opportunity to take some responsibility for the way he set his team up to begin with, but he declined to go there. On reflection, maybe he will. He should. Gung-ho football is fine when it works. Unless it's laced with some pragmatism when facing the best teams in their own backyard then it can blow up in your face, which it did at Celtic Park. Then it was 6-1 (Laurent Mendy the culprit, followed by McCart) and 7-1 (Tomas Magnusson in the frame). Duran and Nygren finished with aplomb. Seven minutes remained. The expectation was that this could still become eight or nine. We like to think this league title race can be a three-horse thing again this season. We want the drama of last time. Hearts played Celtic four times last term. They won two, drew one and lost one. They had nous and resilience before it all slowly slipped away from them. This team has talent but, with their away record as it is, they're not going the distance, or anything close to the distance. Celtic will be buoyed by this. Using it as fuel is the next step. Osmand was a big player for them. O'Neill might have hit on a powerful front three that doesn't involve Kasper Hogh from the start. After some rough days and nights they have some of their feelgood back. Keeping it on the long road ahead is the challenge now.

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After Diego Gomez's halfway-line stunner for Brighton on Sunday, BBC Sport looks at the previous longest-range Premier League goals as recorded by Opta in the last 20 seasons.

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Noni Madueke broke the deadlock in a dull game as Arsenal squeezed past Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Who rated the highest as the champions claimed a crucial victory? Matz Sels: The goalkeeper was untroubled with Arsenal struggling to create clear chances until Forest's resistance was broken with 10 minutes left. 6 Murillo: He took a blow to the head in the first half which required treatment and almost grabbed an injury-time leveller following some great skill. 6 Ousmane Diomande: It was only the summer signing's fourth Premier League start but he has settled well and looked to be helping Forest to a positive point. 6 Jair Cunha: Has become a dependable member of Oliver Glasner's side and was unlucky when Madueke's shot clipped him and flew in. 6 Neco Willams: Booked in the first half and was unable to threaten from wing-back while his usual reliable deliveries did not meet his normal standards . 6 Xaver Schlager: The midfielder has slotted in well to the Forest engine room but was unable to influence the game this time. 6 Nicolas Dominguez: Neat and tidy in the middle in his first Premier League appearance of the season but naturally ran out of steam. 6 James McAtee: Without the injured Morgan Gibbs-White the onus fell on him to be a creative force but, while he worked hard, could not find that spark. 6 Daniel Munoz: Tested David Raya and tried to get forward, especially in the first half, but more will be needed. 6 Dan Ndoye: The forward shot wide early but there was little end product and he was unable to get the better of Riccardo Calafiori. 6 Liam Delap: Enjoyed the physical battle with Arsenal's defence and was a nuisance to Ezri Konsa and Gabriel but did not get close to a goal. 6 Ibrahim Sangare (on 74, Dominguez): Stopped at the crucial moment to allow Arsenal to regroup and score. 5 Subs not used: John Victor, Yates, Netz, Milenkovic, Aina David Raya: A solid display from the Gunners number one. A great take from a corner in the first half. 6 Ben White: Lots of overlapping runs and solid defensively but no breakthrough. Replaced by Timber. 6 Ezri Konsa: Involved in the physical battle with Delap. Part of the back four that kept a clean sheet mainly thanks to his brilliant injury-time tackle on Delap. 7 Gabriel Magalhaes: Pressured and tested like his centre back partner but stood up to the challenge as he often does. 6 Riccardo Calafiori: A loose pass in the first half which ended with a good Forest attack. Lots of adventurous runs but did not lead to a goal for the fullback. 6 Declan Rice: Powerful running and energy as expected from the midfielder. Part of an Arsenal midfield that struggled to create. Missed a big chance but played the ball to Madueke for his goal. 7 Bruno Guimaraes: Not the midfielder's best day and he was replaced by Merino. 5 Martin Odegaard: Tried getting on the ball and looked to make things happen. Could not find the pass to open the Forest defence. 6 Bukayo Saka: Dangerous crosses into the area but not much room to operate as Forest sat deep. 6 Eberechi Eze: This was a big chance for Eze to make the left wing his own but he didn't take it. Subbed at half-time. 5 Kai Havertz: Arsenal were poor going forward despite lots of the ball. Havertz did not offer much and was taken off. 5 Noni Madueke (on 46, Eze): Brought off the bench to add energy and spark to the attack. Scored the winning goal with a deflected effort. 7 Viktor Gyokeres (on 66, Havertz): Worked hard when he came off the bench. 6 Mikel Merino (on 66, Guimaraes): Tidy and composed in midfield. 6 Jurrien Timber (on 66, White): Provided a cross for a late Rice chance. 6 Subs not used: Meslier, Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera, Zubimendi, Dowman. After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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In a season that is forcing Manchester United fans to dig deep for reasons to be positive, Bryan Mbeumo scored again at Elland Road. That is four goals in seven Premier League games for the Cameroon forward. Apart from Bruno Fernandes, who scored a hat-trick against Ipswich in August, no-one else in Michael Carrick's squad has scored more than one. But it's meagre fare. It is true to say Manchester United did reasonably well in their 1-1 draw at Leeds United, just as they did at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday after conceding inside the first minute. Carrick told BBC Radio Five Live afterwards he "had the headphones on" this week so he hasn't heard the external noise created by Lisandro Martinez's rant. However, he knows his side have to win matches at some point. That is six without a victory now, the worst run since 2018-19, when form nosedived after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was confirmed as permanent manager. "Because they haven't lost at Leeds, we're thinking United have done all right," said former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports. "But in some ways that is a negative. We are dropping the standards. We shouldn't really be talking about Manchester United like that." After the corresponding fixture last season, Ruben Amorim gave the explosive press conference that triggered his dismissal within 24 hours. This time, it was Lisandro Martinez who lit the touchpaper before the game, criticising sporting director Jason Wilcox and the United hierarchy for failing, in his view, to recruit effectively during the summer. Wilcox was in the stands at Elland Road, while Martinez started the game following his apology for the timing and forum of his attack rather than the words themselves. To highlight the general view that United failed Carrick by not bringing in competition for Luke Shaw at left-back, Diogo Dalot became the fifth different player to start in that position this season. It remains to be seen if Shaw will be fit enough for Wednesday's Champions League trip to Serie A outfit Como, but the repeated changes cannot be helping Carrick. Martinez went off at half-time with a thigh injury, and such is the delicate nature of Matthijs de Ligt's fitness after almost 11 months out with a back complaint, Carrick preferred to bring on full-back Noussair Mazraoui rather than the Netherlands international. Carrick's side ended the game 13th in the Premier League table, with the possibility they might drop further before the match round is complete. Unlike Amorim, Carrick found it easy to come up with a positive spin on the present situation. "It felt like a bit of a fresh start today, to be honest, with where we're at - accepting it and doing something about it," Carrick said. "I'm not accepting it as everything's great by any stretch. I'm realistic with that. "But sometimes you do struggle. Sometimes there's a bit where you have to find a way through. "There has been a cycle at times here over a period of time when it can go in different directions. We've got to be stable enough to keep doing the right things. We're more than capable of winning football matches. "I understand the situation doesn't look too good if you look at it from a certain way, but I've got no doubts that we can go on a good run." Calvert-Lewin scores as Leeds deny Man Utd Everything a struggle for Fernandes - Leeds v Man Utd ratings Mbeumo's performance wasn't flawless by any means. He should have done much better when he missed the target with a free header before he scored, and the former Brentford man then failed to prevent Dominic Calvert-Lewin powering in an equaliser just after half-time. But in a campaign when so many of Carrick's attacking players are struggling – skipper Fernandes has been a shadow of the player who broke the Premier League assists record last season even though the United boss said the Portuguese was 'absolutely fine' – Mbeumo's performances have been vital. Their importance has been heightened by the continued absence of striker Benjamin Sesko with a shin injury. Mbeumo spent the first few games on the right of United's attack when Amad Diallo was ruled out by injury. When Amad returned, Mbeumo moved into the number nine role. At Elland Road he was shifted again, to the left as Fernandes played more through the middle. "When you are the kind of player who can be very good in a lot of positions, managers will always say: 'Can you do this? Can you do that?'" former United striker Dion Dublin told BBC Sport. "When you're in this Manchester United team at the moment, you just have to go where is best for the team." Carrick was even more effusive in his praise. "Bryan gives so much to the team," he said. "He sacrifices so much. "He's willing to do pretty much anything that needs to be done to benefit the team - whether that's defending in certain areas, whether that's attacking. He'll give everything he's got. "He's getting in really good positions to be really dangerous for us, and it's great to have him." Pre-match, post-match and topical United content Subscribe and listen for everything you love about the Red Devils Latest Manchester United news, analysis and fan views Ask about Man Utd - what do you want to know?

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Chelsea secure their fifth-consecutive Women's Super League win with victory over Tottenham in manager Sonia Bompastor's 50th game in the competition.

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Khadija Shaw scores twice as Manchester City made it six wins from six in the Women's Super League after a 3-2 victory over Brighton.

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Manchester United manager Michael Carrick says his side showed "unity" during their 1-1 draw with Leeds at Elland Road.

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Crystal Palace head coach Pierre Sage says he feels "shame" after their 5-0 defeat by Brighton.

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Manchester United have gone six games without a win for the first time since 2019. Who rated highest in their Premier League draw with Leeds? James Trafford: Brave enough to race 30 yards out of his box to clear when failure to execute would have been disastrous. Leeds defenders know they can give him the ball under pressure. 7 James Justin: Swung over a couple of early crosses to test the visitors' defence but caught on his heels by Mbeumo for Man Utd goal. 6 Nico Elvedi: Near-post header almost put Leeds in front. 7 Tarik Muharemovic: Calm in possession but visitors' set-up left him with no-one to mark at times. Major threat at the other end though, with header setting up Calvert-Lewin equaliser. 7 Jayden Bogle: An attacking threat from wing-back as Leeds pushed forward and had shot saved by Lammens. 7 Ethan Ampadu: Lucky to get away with no card for a late tackle on Mbeumo at start. Usual assured display. 6 Ao Tanaka (off 79, Longstaff): Maybe a little too cautious at times. Got into the game as Leeds pressed after leveller. Long-range effort over. 6 Gabriel Gudmundsson: Caught Andrey Santos from behind and was booked. Did really well to force Amad back when the Ivorian wanted to run free on goal. 7 Anton Stach: Wasn't able to control midfield duels in opening period but second half was better. 6 Noah Okofor (off 72, Nmecha): No chance to repeat Old Trafford heroics. Lashed a second-half shot over and poor pass when he might have released Calvert-Lewin. 6 Dominic Calvert-Lewin: Grew into the game after subdued start. One first-half header wide, another straight at Lammens in second. Strong enough to control and apply finish to level. 8 Lukas Nmecha (on 72, Okafor): Worked hard to try and create. 5 Subs not used: Zetterer, Wilson, Aaronson, Bijol, Bahoya, Bard, Gruev. Senne Lammens: Good save to deny Elvedi and solid performance. 7 Leny Yoro: Given a stern physical test despite starting at right-back. Thrown in at the deep end this season. 6 Harry Maguire: Another largely solid display. Came out on top in one-to-one duel with Calvert-Lewin in first half but found it much harder in the second. 7 Lisandro Martinez (off 46, Mazraoui): Kept his place despite inflammatory comments and was cheered by Man Utd fans, booed by Leeds'. Did well enough. Replaced at the break. 6 Diogo Dalot: Yet another different left-back option. Held his own but he shouldn't really be in that position. 6 Andrey Santos: Another industrious performance which questioned why he had been used so sparingly previously. 7 Carlos Baleba: Keen to get on the ball and carry it forward. Partnership with Santos brings energy. He even tried a 25-yard shot but it was off target. 7 Amad Diallo: Pace was a threat, even if visitors didn't make most of it. Second-half shot blocked. 6 Youri Tielemans: Excellent cross for Mbeumo opener. More effective with two midfielders behind him. 7 Bruno Fernandes: Overhit a free-kick in a dangerous position and sent it out for a throw, then booked for late tackle on Muharemovic. Everything seems forced and a struggle at the moment. 6 Bryan Mbeumo: Started in an inside left position and tried to link play but not a natural role. Should have scored with first-half header, didn't threaten with another opportunity but persevered and eventually got his goal. Not strong enough to hold Calvert-Lewin off for equaliser. 7 Noussair Mazraoui (on 46, Martinez): Leeds more of a threat when he came on. Vital injury-time block. 6 Mason Mount (on 72, Baleba): Can be effective and tried to create but limited impact. 6 Subs not used: Darlow, De Ligt, Rashford, Zirkzee, Lacey, Amass. Rate players out of 10 for this game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle. You must be signed in to a BBC account to play. After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Pre-match, post-match and topical United content Subscribe and listen for everything you love about the Red Devils Latest Manchester United news, analysis and fan views Ask about Man Utd - what do you want to know?

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With the appointment of Duncan Ferguson at the Oval expected to be confirmed on Monday, the club's five-week search for a new manager illustrates again that there is the easy way, the hard way, and the Glentoran way. When the east Belfast outfit parted company with Declan Devine on 14 September, the simple solution to the early-season vacancy appeared to be a reunion with former assistant Tiernan Lynch. A two-time winner of the Irish Premiership with Larne, Lynch was freshly back on the market after leaving Derry City in August and immediately installed as favourite for the post. Instead, the Glens made the trickier prospect of prying Jim Magilton out of his contract at Cliftonville their priority. When the former Northern Ireland and Ipswich Town midfielder made it clear he intended to stay at Solitude, nobody would have predicted what came next. A pivot towards Everton legend Ferguson, who also had spells with Rangers and Newcastle United, was not, as they say, on anyone's bingo card. A to Z: Duncan Ferguson - 'The original Everton hero' Ferguson link has caused a 'real buzz' - McCann The appeal of bringing Ferguson's star power to the Irish Premiership is obvious, akin to the boost provided to the League of Ireland by former Chelsea winger Damian Duff's successful, if short, stint with Shelbourne in recent years. A cult figure across two playing spells at Goodison Park thanks to both his goalscoring exploits and aggressive style - no player has ever received more than his eight Premier League red cards - the 54-year-old Scot instantly becomes the most recognisable face in the league. Fans quickly had their own fun with the imminent appointment on Saturday, with erroneous reports of the seven-times capped Scottish striker being spotted everywhere from his prospective new side's 1-0 win over Limavady to a local chip shop on the Newtownards Road. Glentoran are no strangers to big names in the playing ranks having had the likes of Keith Gillespie, Nacho Novo and Niall McGinn plying their trade at the Oval in recent times, but it is different when such a presence is in the dugout. Ferguson, after all, will have been the only applicant with spells as an assistant to the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez and Ronald Koeman on his CV. In all, the Scot worked under seven different permanent bosses at Everton, as well as two separate stints in interim charge. After leaving Merseyside following the departure of Frank Lampard in 2022, managerial roles at Forest Green Rovers and Inverness Caledonian Thistle were hardly considered a success, admittedly both in testing circumstances. Coupled with his unfamiliarity with the Irish League and, for all the headlines already generated, there is no doubt that the left-field appointment is a gamble. The Glentoran hierarchy clearly believe it is a risk worth taking. Some Oval regulars may well suggest that the club have tried just about everything else in their quest for a first league title since 2009. Owner Ali Shams Pour arrived a decade after the late Alan McDonald delivered the most recent of the side's 23 Gibson Cups. Since then, the turbulent reign of Mick McDermott brought Irish Cup success in 2020 yet he still was the victim of supporter protests. The calming presence of Rodney McAree delivered immediate results, but the now Dungannon boss lasted just under five months before departing for personal reasons to be replaced by Warren Feeney. Unpopular from the off owing to his previous association with bitter rivals Linfield, the 46-times capped Northern Ireland international was unable to win over the fanbase during another short reign. That brought about Devine's appointment with the County Antrim Shield triumph of January 2025 a high the club could not build upon. Consecutive losses in BetMcLean Cup finals created a sense of stalled momentum. It already feels likely to be forgotten just how close Devine came to delivering that long-sought title. A win in the penultimate league game of last season against Larne and the Glens would have gone into the final day top of the table. Instead, the disappointment of a 0-0 draw from a game in which they were the better side lingered into the subsequent performance against Coleraine and they were beaten 6-2 at the Showgrounds to ultimately finish third. It will not have escaped Ferguson's attention that one half of the league's so-called 'Big Two' have still not finished in the league's top two for 17 years. In replacing Devine, Ferguson will inherit a squad built by and for the former Derry City and Bohemians boss. And just as Devine's appointment brought about a sweeping clear-out in the summer of 2024, it is again a playing group that for all the expenditure over the past five transfer windows again feels imbalanced. An over-reliance on Jordan Stewart for a creative spark led to the September return of Conor McMenamin just two months after he had signed for Coleraine - that transfer now somehow the second most surprising story of Glentoran's season. That in turn, however, saw Joe Thomson move the other way, robbing the side of midfield drive only months after one of last season's star performers, Cammy Palmer, returned home to Scotland. Similarly, the absence of 2025-26 top scorer Pat Hoban during the early months of this season highlighted the lack of like-for-like cover given the talented Jordan Jenkins plays in an entirely different way. Four wins and a draw from their past five league games under interim boss Paddy McCourt, however, offers the reminder that most in the Irish Premiership would still happily swap their squads for the one Ferguson will now hope to rebuild into title challengers once again. Those managers will not, however, be dealing with the same expectations. Nor the same attention.

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Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez says he will be fit "in a few weeks" after having an operation following the 2-0 Premier League win at Everton on Saturday. The 34-year-old Argentina international reportedly broke his jaw after a head collision with Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite in the second half at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Martinez needed treatment for eight minutes before leaving the pitch on a stretcher. He was taken to hospital and manager Xabi Alonso later said he was concussed. Martinez, wearing a hospital gown, wrote on social media, external on ‌Sunday: "Thanks to everyone for the messages. The operation ‌went well. "The most important thing is that we won, and kept a clean sheet. In a few weeks we'll be back." Mike Penders, who replaced Martinez to make his Premier League debut, looks set to play in Chelsea's next three matches at least. They face Tottenham and Manchester United in the Premier League, with a Carabao Cup tie at Liverpool in between. Penders, 21, signed from Belgium club Genk for £17m in 2024. Alonso said: "Mike has personality. He's brave and we have full trust ‌with him. He did well when he came on. "He played in the cup games and whenever he's ⁠needed. Like the other players, whenever they are needed they can perform. "It's all about the squad - ‌that all the ​players feel important and can have ‌their moment whenever they are needed, ​and that's very positive." Chelsea's Martinez taken to hospital for 'precautionary tests' Injured Martinez taken to hospital as Chelsea beat Everton

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The rules are simple. Each day there's a new Women's Super League footballer and the challenge is to guess who they are in as few attempts as possible. After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. The fewer clues you need to get the right answer, the more points you score. Three is a good score, four or five points is exceptional. So take part and return for more tomorrow. Today's player and clues set by BBC Sport's Flora Snelson. After more quizzes? Go to our dedicated Football Quizzes and Sports Quizzes pages and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device. All our Five in Five quizzes in one place Play BBC Sport's Match of the Day Predictor game Can you name the 10 Lionesses with most England caps?

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Former England striker Fran Kirby says the departure of Brighton head coach Dario Vidosic on the eve of the season left her feeling "stressed" and "disappointed". Vidosic guided Brighton to the club's first FA Cup final this year and finished a club-record fifth and seventh in the Women's Super League before leaving abruptly on 28 August, nine days before their opener against Arsenal. He was replaced by Real Sociedad manager Arturo Ruiz on the same day. "It wasn't easy when I heard," Kirby told the Women's Football Weekly podcast. "I was a bit disappointed. "I had a really good relationship with Dario and think he's a fantastic coach that can go on and achieve amazing things with top clubs. "But we had Arsenal coming up and hadn't had a coaching session with the new manager. Ruiz named Brighton boss after shock Vidosic exit Brighton lost their season curtain-raiser to the Gunners, the only game Arsenal have won so far in the WSL, and went winless through their first four league matches under Ruiz. The 29-year-old did secure his first victory in the English top-flight before the international break, thrashing promoted Charlton 5-1. However, this Sunday, Brighton travel to champions Manchester City, who have won all five WSL matches this season, for a game live on BBC Two (Sunday, 14:30 BST). It is the first time the two sides have met since City won 4-0 in the FA Cup final in May. A seven-time winner of the WSL with Chelsea, Kirby conceded 2026-27 has not been easy. "We're under no illusions – it's been a tough start," said Kirby. "Getting the manager in so late and trying to adapt to his style of play. It's difficult when it comes so close to the start of the season. "People say, 'Who have you got after the international break?' and it's Man City. We're trying not to think too much about it." Manchester City v Brighton & Hove Albion Under Vidosic, Brighton became a team seeking to dominate the ball, and during his first season in charge, they were very successful with only Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City averaging more possession per game. They were physical too, committing the most fouls and accruing the most yellow cards in both 2024-25 and 2025-26. "They could soak up pressure, and then build from the back," women's football journalist Annabel Bassett from The Brighton Base said. "They would overload in midfield and then possessed a real goal threat. It all came together." That culminated in that inaugural FA Cup final in May, where they initially played well before being overrun. Vidosic's departure damaged hopes for further progression, although Ruiz's success in leading unfancied Real Sociedad to Champions League qualification through finishing third in Liga F last year offers encouragement. It has been a slow start. Following that opening defeat by Arsenal, Brighton dropped points against struggling Birmingham City and Aston Villa, despite strong performances. Two League Cup wins helped, and the nature of that commanding victory over Charlton suggests Ruiz's style is starting to take root. "We still want to play," said Kirby, "[but] now it's more about how we harm the opposition quicker. There was an element previously where we overplayed when we could have gone forward. "It's hard to change the mindset quickly, but we've got a great group of people. "I'm very black and white. Tell me what you want and I'll do my best for you." Bassett has noticed the desire for possession has become even more pronounced. "[Ruiz] talks a lot about nullifying opponents," she said. "He likes to win the ball high and their key threats are on the flanks to open up space in the middle. "He seems really willing to try things and the message from the club is that behind the scenes, everything is working." For his part, Ruiz is also confident his methods are getting through. "I'm really happy with the performances and the work we have been doing," he told BBC Sport. "We could have done better to get more points but the beginning is very difficult without previous time to build identity and clarity. "I hope that from this Sunday we can be more solid and have more consistency and clarity with and without the ball." Beating Charlton was important for Brighton before the pause in action, especially given hosts City are on a club-record run of 15 straight home wins. "They're a quality side," Kirby said. "You can nullify one player but then they've got another two or three. "But we've got quality that can harm teams. Hopefully, we can put on a good performance." Seike double helps Brighton to first WSL win of season Brighton plan Europe's first purpose-built £80m women's stadium Lionesses on track, Cuthbert returns and Kirby on Brighton's start

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There's a crackdown on sports piracy - but is it already out of control? "Football's Gone Round the Spend!" screamed The People newspaper one Sunday in July 1995. It reported breathlessly that three clubs between them were set to pay out more than £20m on new players. The highlight that summer was the transfer of Stan Collymore from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for a British record fee of £8.5m. That number might not seem too impressive today, in an age when £100m transfers are almost commonplace. But at the time it was seismic stuff, and it symbolised the conversion of football from sport into big business. All of this had been made possible in the early 1990s by the creation of the Premier League, and its initial TV deal with the broadcaster Sky, which paid more than £300m for five years of rights. The agreement put live top-tier football behind a TV paywall for the first time. It was a lucrative model, one that other leading championships in motorsport, rugby, golf and cricket would later seek to replicate. But now, that model is coming under pressure. Piracy has become endemic in British sports: around half of sports fans now admit to using what they might euphemistically call "alternative" means to watch paywalled material, according to the consultancy Ampere Analysis. And this summer saw signs of a clampdown. In August, a man in Lancashire was jailed for six and a half years for running an illegal streaming service that police said had generated almost £1m in illicit profits. In June, a postman from Pembrokeshire was jailed for over three years for selling illegal subscriptions and supplying pirate software to nearly 2,000 people. A third man, from Merseyside, received a suspended 32-month sentence in August for similar offences. Several pubs have been fined thousands of pounds for screening matches illegally. TV companies that have paid huge sums for exclusive rights to high-profile sports are having to work harder than ever to protect their investments. To some extent, broadcasters used to see copyright theft as a cost of doing business: irritating and expensive, but not an existential threat. But now, as advertising revenues fall, and viewers move away from long-term subscription services like Sky or TNT Sports, the industry is getting seriously worried. There is a great deal at stake. The Premier League alone is a sporting monster. In its most recent deal, it sold its viewing rights to domestic audiences for £6.7bn over four years, with almost as much coming from foreign rights. Armed with bundles of TV cash, clubs have been able to attract the finest players in the world. That in turn has given the league a major international profile. Although football has been the main beneficiary of paid-for TV in the UK, other competitions such as Formula One, Six Nations rugby and the Wimbledon tennis championships have also commanded very high fees for selling exclusive rights. Live sport on free-to-air television has become increasingly rare. Yet that wealth could be threatened by a surge in piracy and illegal viewing. The practice is most common among younger, digital-native audiences, who each year become a larger and larger share of sports fans. But many older viewers also seem comfortable with it. "For 18 to 34-year-olds, it's over 70% who admit to doing this regularly," says Daniel Monaghan, a researcher at Ampere Analysis. "Over half of 35 to 44s admit to doing it, and about a third of those aged 45 to 64." This year's Champions League final went behind a paywall in the UK for the first time in more than 30 years. Viewers were asked to pay at least £4.99 to watch it, prompting a backlash, including from the then-prime minister, Arsenal fan Sir Keir Starmer. "Hardworking people shouldn't have to fork out for a subscription to watch this match," he wrote on X. Many simply refused to pay: 3.7 million IP addresses accessed illegal streams of the match in the UK, according to research carried out by the Gaming Compliance International consultancy, on behalf of the Guardian newspaper. That compared to around seven million people who watched it legally in the UK. One prolific user of pirate streams is "Kiran", a tech sector worker in his 30s, who prefers not to give his real name. A keen Arsenal fan, he likes to watch Premier League and Champions League games, as well as big matches in Spain's La Liga. He has a paid subscription to TNT Sports, but uses streaming websites to see games that are not available there. "What it comes down to is the financial side - that's the big one - and ease of access as well," he says. "Getting every single game will cost you hundreds of pounds a year." Meanwhile the streams he uses are free, with links readily obtainable on social media. But there's another issue, he says: the famous blackout. Games taking place between 14:45 and 17:15 on a Saturday are not usually screened live in the UK, a decades-old policy designed to protect crowds at lower league matches. But broadcasters outside the UK can and do show those matches, fuelling pirated streams. "I pretty much got into streaming stuff due to [the blackout]," Kiran says, "and I'd say I sort of did it a bit more as subscriptions got more expensive." Those searching for pirated material have plenty of options. Streaming links, along with advice on how to avoid their pitfalls, are freely available in online discussion groups. These links, used by Kiran and his friends, have practical downsides – such as frequent buffering or poor quality, or platforms that disappear without warning. In some cases, they can also be used to bombard viewers with explicit ads for porn sites. Many people prefer to access illegal content with a streaming device, such as an Amazon Fire Stick, a pocket-sized gadget that plugs into a TV. The sticks are legitimate products, but they can also be "sideloaded" with unauthorised software, allowing pirates to mimic the output of legitimate outlets by offering packages of selected channels. A third option for illicit viewing is to use a virtual private network, or VPN, which effectively allows your computer to pretend it's in a different country, one in which access to sports programming is cheaper than it is in the UK (or totally free). Earlier this year, the Sports Industry Group found that 58% of fans surveyed considered illegal streaming to be socially acceptable. That may be because viewers have simply come to resent the amount of money they are expected to pay. As the government's Intellectual Property Office puts it, "a main driver of illegal content access is the perception of unfair or high pricing for legal services". A British person wanting to access all live Premier League games, for example, would need subscriptions to both Sky Sports and TNT Sports. Throw in some matches from Spain, or European Champions Cup rugby, and Premier Sports has to be added to the list. Many boxing matches and NFL games are on DAZN. A keen fan could easily end up paying £80 to £100 a month. Until relatively recently, clamping down on piracy was not seen as a priority by the broadcasters themselves. They were focused on audience growth, and copyright infringement was simply a cost of doing business. In some parts of the industry, it was even seen as a benefit. In 2013, the then-chief executive of Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes, notoriously welcomed the drama series Game of Thrones becoming the most pirated show in the world. He suggested that the attention generated by illegal viewing was "better than an Emmy" because it helped create buzz and ultimately attract new subscribers. Now, however, the mood has shifted. Conventional broadcasting is under pressure as advertising revenues fall and viewers move away from long-term subscription services, towards more flexible offers from streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Both Sky and TNT Sports have reported losses. According to a recent report by WPI Economics, illegal sports streaming costs the broadcasting industry about £700m each year. And piracy is already having impacts on the pitch. At a conference last year, Tom Burrows, the head of global rights at the sports streaming platform DAZN, described piracy as a "huge problem" for his company, and "almost a crisis for the sports rights industry". Just months after he made those comments, DAZN agreed to end its deal with the French football league, under which it was allowed to screen the top tier of French football matches within France. The agreement followed a bitter dispute, which focused in part on the streamer's claims the league had not done enough to combat piracy – although subscriber numbers were also understood to be an issue. Even though DAZN paid a reported €100m (£85m) to end the contract (along with outstanding rights fees worth another €140m), its departure created a hole in the French league's finances. It was left to set up its own streaming service, and the amount of broadcast income fell from roughly €700m per year to €412m this season, according to figures compiled by football-finance.com. For a European powerhouse like Paris St Germain, with plenty of other revenue sources, this probably matters little. But for smaller teams it has been a serious problem. Angers SCO, a club in the west of France, said last year the affair had cost it €30m over two seasons, and forced it to sell its striker Estéban Lepaul. It's unlikely that a competition on the scale of the Premier League would lose its broadcaster. But piracy could ultimately limit how much they will be willing to pay in future. "If you look at the finances of some of the broadcasters, they're losing money," says Kieran Maguire, associate professor of football finance at the University of Liverpool. "Piracy… is taking up a larger and larger share of the revenues that they would anticipate being able to generate through their subscription models. So yes, it is a worry for them." Daniel Monaghan of Ampere thinks piracy "is at the very least a significant constraint on the sports rights models that have been highly lucrative for broadcasters and rights holders over the last 30 years". If left unchecked, he thinks this will make it harder for rights holders to generate a return on their investments. At best this could hamper future growth. At worst it could lead to falling revenues over time, hitting the sports that have benefitted most from the wave of TV money. In the case of the Premier League, this might just mean fewer blockbuster transfers - but it could also reduce the sum the League gives to the wider football game, from grassroots upwards, which amounted to £1.6bn over the three years to 2025. A key part of the solution, according to the industry-funded Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact), is changing attitudes among consumers. Nick Sumner, the organisation's investigations manager, insists piracy is not a victimless crime. "Organised crime is behind this, and they want to make money by any means possible," he explains. It also leaves users at risk of fraud, he warns. "They capture… a lot of personal data, which they can then sell for criminal gain." Broadcasters and sporting bodies have been working hard to shut off illegal online streams. Hundreds of thousands are taken down each year. But tackling them is, as Monaghan puts it, like whack-a-mole: "Some get taken down, others come up, often in different countries." In the UK, downloading or streaming pirated content can be a crime. Yet the chances of viewers themselves being prosecuted for watching a cheeky Saturday game on a pirate stream are extremely low. The £5 coffee that tells a story of global economic turmoil Europe's car makers are in crisis. Will the threat of war rescue them? Why some experts increasingly fear AI will take over Nick Sumner of Fact says the current priority is to educate people about the risks of piracy - but he conspicuously stops short of ruling out a more punitive future policy. "There are crimes being committed here," he says. So it is possible that viewers of illicit material just might one day find themselves in expensive legal trouble. However, the sheer scale of a major clampdown would present a formidable challenge, and could generate resentment. There would be no guarantees that those watching illegally today would take out legitimate subscriptions tomorrow.

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