Thursday cannon fodder: permanent debut drought

Premier League/England

Man City 2-0 Cardiff: Champions return to top of Premier League - BBC Sport
Manchester City return to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable victory over Cardiff City at Etihad Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Crystal Palace: Spurs win first game in new stadium - BBC Sport
Son Heung-min scores Tottenham’s first goal at their new £1bn stadium as Mauricio Pochettino’s side climb to third with victory over Crystal Palace.

Wolves set to confirm permanent signing of Raúl Jiménez for £30m | Football | The Guardian
Wolves are set to confirm the club-record permanent signing of Raúl Jiménez, after agreeing a £30m deal with Benfica.

Jürgen Klopp unconcerned by Mohamed Salah’s goal drought | Football | The Guardian
Jürgen Klopp is unconcerned by the longest goalscoring drought of Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool career.

Former team-mate claims Mane is ‘prepared’ for Real move - Football365
A former Southampton team-mate of Sadio Mane’s think he has all the necessary tools to play for Real.

Man City fan resigns after Swansea pitch invasion - BBC News
He quit his new police job due to “embarrassment” after he ran onto the pitch at an FA Cup match.

Mike Dean 100 Premier League red cards: Statistics and social media reaction - BBC Sport
Mike Dean becomes the first referee to show 100 red cards in the Premier League - let’s break down the “achievement”.

BBC secures Premier League radio rights until 2022 - BBC Sport
The BBC secures radio rights for Premier League games for another three years until the end of the 2021-22 season.

Hillsborough jury fails to reach verdict in Duckenfield case | UK news | The Guardian
No verdict against ex-police chief, but club safety officer found guilty on charge of breaching safety duty.

Europe

Leonardo Bonucci makes it hard to feel any optimism for Italian football | Paolo Bandini | Football | The Guardian
The Juventus defender’s claim that teammate Moise Kean shared the blame for monkey chants aimed at him against Cagliari felt staggeringly ill-judged.

Bayern avoid Cup shock in nine-goal thriller, Juve close on title as Napoli lose | Football | The Guardian
European roundup: Robert Lewandowski’s two goals helped Bayern Munich avoid a shock defeat to Heidenheim while Napoli lost to Empoli.

How the underrated Cup Winners’ Cup was never successfully defended in its 39-year history
For 39 years, the Cup Winners’ Cup was one of European football’s gems, underrated by many and missed by more. And yet no team ever defended it.

FC Emmen 2-5 Ajax: 33-time winners end 1,060-day wait to go top of Eredivisie - BBC Sport
Ajax end a 1,060-day wait and return to the top of the Eredivisie table with a thumping victory over FC Emmen.

Germans Have the Most (Footballing) Fun | StatsBomb
Germany is enjoying its closest title race in years and, perhaps more importantly, the Bundesliga remains a league where the goals go flying in.

MLS/Americas

USWNT players will get equal World Cup roster bonus as men - thanks to a corporate donation - Stars and Stripes FC
Get that energy bar money.

Other

Emiliano Sala: Cardiff City seek talks with Nantes over transfer fee dispute - BBC Sport
Cardiff City want direct talks with Nantes in an effort to solve the dispute over the £15m transfer fee for plane crash victim Emiliano Sala.