Foden genius, VAR 'disgust': Title races go to wire. Plus: Shakira at World Cup half-time show

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Plus: Shakira at World Cup half-time showFoden starred against Crystal Palace Naomi Baker/Getty Images Share articleThe Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hi! Phil Foden did something to make you love football and forget all the other noise last night… until VAR controversy reared up once more, this time in Scotland. 🎤 World Cup half-time show stars We know all the cliches: cream rises to the top; form is temporary, but class is permanent. Well, Phil Foden makes it hard to think beyond such well-worn sayings about the way innate brilliance returns in key moments, despite adversity. The Manchester City and England midfielder has, by his lofty standards, had a season to forget. He has gradually fallen out of the permanent first-team picture at the Etihad Stadium, starting just 22 games, as his spot has come under pressure from others, such as new-signing French maestro Rayan Cherki. Compare it to City’s 2023-24 title-winning campaign when Foden was unstoppable — starting 33 of the 38 league games and nabbing a host of individual awards — and it has felt the 25-year-old has stood still, if not slipped backwards slightly. It hasn’t changed the esteem in which he is held by manager Pep Guardiola and the City hierarchy, though. Earlier this month, The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that the club had reached an agreement in principle with him over a new long-term contract. But in general, the ‘wow’ moments have been a little more few and far between. Until last night. Foden whipped out a show-stopper to kick-start a convincing win over Crystal Palace, and ensure the Premier League title remains very much in play for City with two games to go. His assist for Antoine Semenyo’s opening goal, above, is endlessly rewatchable. We’ve all read about the importance of scanning and enhanced super-vision at the game’s highest level. Well, in one glorious instant, above, Foden showcased it all. As the ball goes to right-back Matheus Nunes, the Portuguese — who deserves credit for killing the attempted press by Jefferson Lerma in the way he receives the ball — immediately plays it through the line to Foden, who has dropped into a pocket of space. After that, it’s all down to the latter’s inspiration. As Nunes was collecting that initial ball, the England man had glanced to his right. He had already spotted Semenyo, reading his intention to run between Palace defenders Chris Richards and Jaydee Canvot. He’s got his back to goal as he takes the ball on his right foot, then deftly backheels it with his left, catching Palace by surprise and letting Semenyo do the rest. You don’t have to be a City fan to drink in every last drop of Foden’s magic moment last night. If he can conjure one or two more in the next couple of games, maybe he can rewrite the narrative for his club and himself. From the sublime to the shocking. The Premiership title race in Scotland is also going to go to the wire after last night, but the reason is less exalted. Yep, you guessed it, it’s VAR. The penultimate round of fixtures seemed set to give leaders Hearts a major advantage going into Saturday’s showdown away to second-placed Celtic in Glasgow. Derek McInnes’ men won 3-0 at home against Falkirk, and Celtic were being held to a 2-2 draw at Motherwell, which meant they were going to have to beat their Edinburgh rivals by a wide margin at the weekend to take the title on goal difference. Then Celtic’s USMNT defender Auston Trusty went down in the Motherwell box after it appeared he had been caught in the head by a stray elbow from Sam Nicholson. But something else was going on. The referee was sent to the monitor to check for a handball, for which he awarded a spot kick. Kelechi Iheanacho converted it, Celtic celebrated, and over at Tynecastle, McInnes later called it “disgusting”. He’s not the only one who disagreed. The Athletic’s referee columnist and former top-flight official Graham Scott called it “a baffling decision” and felt there was “no evidence” of the handball. VAR drama, it just never, ever seems to end. Cavan Sullivan’s name is fairly well known in the wider football world since 2024, when the Philadelphia Union talent agreed to join Manchester City after his 18th birthday. He is still a couple of years away from moving to the Premier League, but the Philadelphia-born midfielder scored his first MLS goal on Thursday, and reminded everyone of his potential. Sullivan, who passed Freddy Adu as the youngest player to debut in MLS history at 14 years old, is now also the eighth-youngest goalscorer ever in the competition at 16 years, 227 days. Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio notes that another fresh-faced U.S. starlet, Zavier Gozo, strengthened his claim for inclusion in Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT World Cup squad this summer with an impressive brace for his team Real Salt Lake, including the poacher’s finish, above. Gozo, 19, now has five goals and three assists so far this season. It’s the sort of surge in form that could be tempting for the national team’s head coach. Could he be the game-changer Pochettino needs? It will inevitably be a busy summer at Wrexham. Life is rarely quiet for the north Wales club under their ambitious Hollywood owners. But it might have been a whole lot busier if they had managed to sneak into the Championship play-offs at the end of the regular season and then win promotion to the Premier League. That’s because their historic Racecourse Ground stadium would have needed a gargantuan series of upgrades to make it comply with regulations of the English top flight. They already have their hands full building a new £70million ($94m) Kop stand that is due to open sometime during next season. But in today’s feature on what else owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac need to get done, it’s clear the answer is: a lot. That 7,750-capacity stand will include new dressing rooms and a players’ tunnel. A modern physio and medical area is also on the plans, along with a kit room and an area for cryotherapy sessions (which currently take place in a van). There will also be an auditorium for press conferences and a plush media lounge. All of these are minimum requirements in the Premier League handbook, and upgrades that would have been incredibly difficult to turn around before the 2026-27 top flight starts in August. If they had made it to the promised land, Wrexham would probably have embraced it. But there might be at least a few dozen construction workers in that part of Wales breathing a sigh of relief. La Liga: Real Madrid vs Real Oviedo, 3.30pm/8.30pm — ESPN, Fubo/Premier Sports. “Football is life!’ That was the mantra of Dani Rojas, the lovable Mexican striker who won over fans and team-mates alike in hit TV drama Ted Lasso. Now, for Cristo Fernandez, the actor who played him, the catchphrase has come true. The 35-year-old has signed with El Paso Locomotive FC in the USL Championship after an “extensive” two-month trial with the Texas-based club. Fernandez was a promising youth player before being sidelined by injuries, but he decided to pursue his sporting dream anew after his successful TV role. He has been documenting his journey back to professional soccer on social media and training with various professional teams around the United States, including MLS-affiliated clubs in lower divisions. How long before a show is commissioned about his heart-warming second chance, meaning that art can imitate life, imitating art? Spot the pattern. 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