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• New York City FC v Colorado Rapids: Hosts’ morale strong as Cushing aims to extend winning run

  The morale in New York City FC’s squad is good, so says coach Nick Cushing, as his team aim to extend their winning streak when they take on the Colorado Rapids.

  NYCFC have won their last three MLS games, and are unbeaten in five, heading into Saturday’s fixture.

  It is their final game of a five-match home run, with Cushing’s team up to sixth in the Eastern Conference.

  "The morale is really good," Cushing said. "As a coach, you like it when the mood is happy and vibrant and everybody is flying but you also want to make sure the feet are on the floor and the eyes are facing forward.

  "We looked at the performance [against Charlotte FC], and I agree we have to score more goals. The process of scoring more goals was about how do we create more chances. I think now we're in a place where it is about how do we score more of the chances we create.

  "The aim is to make sure that we prepare ourselves well so that we get ourselves mentally to a place where we can perform well and control the game against a really difficult Colorado team.

  "We know they’re going to press and be aggressive. The area of development for the team is to take the chances we create and score goals and continue to be an attacking team.

  "Every time we’re hard to play against we give ourselves a chance of winning. When I look out at the guys on the training field I see hungry guys."

  The Rapids, meanwhile, are sixth in the Western Conference.

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  NYCFC – Santiago Rodriguez

  Rodriguez assisted on New York City FC’s stoppage-time winning goal on Saturday, his sixth goal contribution of the season (four goals, two assists), all at home. Since the start of last season, Rodriguez has recorded 15 goal contributions in 22 home matches compared to four in 19 away matches.

  Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro

  Navarro is the Rapids’ leading scorer this season, with four goals in MLS. All of those have come from his right foot, with Navarro averaging a goal every 201 minutes.

  MATCH PREDICTION: NYCFC WIN

  Colorado’s four-match unbeaten run ended last week with a 2-1 loss at FC Cincinnati. The Rapids are winless in their last nine away matches against Eastern Conference opposition in all competitions (D3 L6).

  NYCFC have won three straight regular-season matches for the first time since the last three matches of the 2022 season. NYCFC had managed only two wins in their previous 10 matches dating back to the end of last season.

  NYCFC are unbeaten in six all-time meetings with the Rapids (W3 D3). The Rapids are one of two teams (San Jose Earthquakes) NYCFC have played more than three times and never lost against.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  NYCFC – 52%

  Colorado Rapids – 21.1%

  Draw – 26.9%

• Shaw reveals how advice from former Man City stalwarts Bronze, Sterling assisted her to settle at the club

  After struggling to find her footing when she just arrived at Manchester City, Jamaica international Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw, revealed that it was the advice of Lucy Bronze and Raheem Sterling, coupled with hard work, that assisted in her now being the club's record goalscorer.

  Since her transfer from Bordeaux in 2021, Shaw has cemented her status as one of the game’s most clinical strikers during her spell with Gareth Taylor's side so far. In the process, she smashed a number of records, including most goals scored by a Manchester City women’s player in a single season -31 in the 2022-23 campaign -before becoming the club's all-time leading goalscorer with 72 goals overall.

  However, she wasn't always confident that she would have accomplished those feats, as she pointed out how guidance from former Manchester City pair Bronze and Sterling put her on the path to history in sky blue, after a difficult early period at the Joie Stadium.

  “When I came here initially, I was struggling a bit,” Shaw revealed on The Women's Game Podcast with Sam Mewis.

  “One day I was coming in from training and Lucy [Bronze] was coming in as well and she asked, ‘are you okay?’ and I said ‘I just can’t get the way they play, I can’t get it right’. City play a specific type of way and I was saying when we were walking in from training ‘I cannot get this right’. I didn’t know if here was for me.

  “She started laughing and she was like ‘you focus on what got you here, the bits you do well that got you here, there’s something they saw in you that got you here’. At that moment I was like ‘wow’. I then called Raheem [Sterling] and I said the same thing to him. He was just laughing and said, ‘when I came from Liverpool I struggled a bit, they play a certain way so trust the process, believe in what you’re doing and believe in yourself’," she added.

  From there, the 26-year-old Shaw said she continued to put in the work, both on and off the field until her performances came together.

  “I put the comments from both Lucy and Raheem together and it made sense. I told myself to continue working and watching the videos, see how I could improve my game and seeing how best I can help the team. By doing that, it helped a little better day-by-day. Couple of weeks later I called Raheem and said, ‘it’s working!’ He was laughing and said, ‘I told you, you’ve just got to believe in yourself and do all the right things and focus on you first and foremost before you can focus on anything else’," Shaw shared.

  Although her 2023/24 campaign was cut short due to a broken foot, Shaw will finish the campaign with 22 goals and five assists. And she credits her sparkling City success to her dedication on the City Football Academy training pitch.

  “I just kept at it and believing in myself. The confidence comes from scoring goals and as the games come, I’m thriving," she ended.

• Ronaldo delivers another hat-trick as Al Nassr ease past Al Wedha

  Cristiano Ronaldo crafted a decisive hat-trick as Al Nassr hammered Al Wedha 6-0 in Saturday's Saudi Pro League meeting.

  Portugal veteran Ronaldo found the net twice in the first 12 minutes at Al Awal Park before completing his treble after the interval.

  Sadio Mane teed up Ronaldo's third finish, as well as an 18th-minute strike from Otavio, who returned the favour for the Senegal international to score on the stroke of half-time.

  Mohammed Al Fatil added a late sixth as Al Nassr recorded their seventh straight league win since their March 7 loss against Al Raed, moving them back within nine points of leaders Al Hilal.

  Jorge Jesus's Al Hilal swept Al Tauwoon aside in a 3-0 away triumph on Friday for their fourth straight victory across all competitions.

  Talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium before Saud Abdulhamid and Saleh Alsherhi wrapped up a win that kept Al Hilal in charge of the title race.

  There was no such fortune for fifth-placed Al Ittihad as they fell to a third straight defeat in all competitions after a 3-1 loss away against Abha.

  Jota levelled after Grzegorz Krychowiak's 57th-minute penalty, only for Hassan Al-Ali and Fabian Noguera to power hosts Abha to a comfortable win.