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• Man City's Shaw, Foden cop FWA Footballer of the Year awards

  Jamaica international and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has achieved another remarkable feat in a dazzling career that has left her heat filled with pride and gratitude.

  The 26-year-old, whose journey from humble beginnings in Spanish Town, St Catherine to stardom for both club and country, has been nothing short of triumph of talent and tenacity, and copping the Footballer Writers' Association's (FWA) Women’s Footballer of the Year for 2023-24, is another testament of her unwavering determination and indomitable spirit to rise above challenges.

  Shaw won the women’s Footballer of the Year award with almost 80 per cent of the voters opting for either the Manchester City striker or Chelsea’s Lauren James.

  James finished runner-up with another Manchester City standout Alex Greenwood finishing third. Yui Hasegawa, Elisabeth Terland and Khiara Keating completed the top six.

  The prolific Shaw scored 21 goals and got three assists in 18 Women’s Super League (WSL) games for her side who are on the brink of securing their first WSL title since 2016.

  “I am very proud and privileged to have received this award and to be recognised in this way is a special honour," Shaw, who recently did a season-ending surgery for a broken leg, said in a statement.

  "I want to also thank all of my teammates. They provide me with the chances to score goals and I could not have won this award without them. I also owe a lot to Gareth [Taylor], the rest of the coaching team and everyone else here at City. It’s a pleasure to be part of such a special group.

  “Many thanks to all who voted for me and to my fellow nominees. It means such a lot to have won this award. Hopefully the side can now finish off the season in style and give everyone special cause to celebrate,” she added

  Meanwhile, another Manchester City stalwart, Phil Foden, copped the Male Player of the Year award.

  Foden has enjoyed a fantastic campaign with Manchester City, scoring 24 goals in all competitions so far. He garnered more than 42 per cent of the votes with teammate Rodri, and Arsenal's Declan Rice, named as runners-up.

  "Being named the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year is a huge honour. I’m very, very happy to receive this award but I could not have done it without the help of my teammates. We have a very special squad of players at City, and I’m privileged to be a part of that group. I want to thank all my team-mates as well as Pep and the coaches for all the support and advice they have given me," Foden said in his statement.

   

  "I strive to be the best that I can be every single day and that is all down to the way the manager and my colleagues always seek to improve and get better. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who voted for me as well as my fellow nominees. I’m immensely proud to have won this award. Now I am focused on seeking to finish the season as strongly as possible and to try to help City win more trophies," he noted.

  It is the second time that two City players have won the men’s and women’s awards. Raheem Sterling and Nikita Parris picked up the prizes in 2019.

• Ten Hag admits Man United missed out on Kane

  Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Manchester United wanted to sign Harry Kane last year but were unable to bring him to the club.

  The England captain joined Bayern Munich and has scored 43 goals so far in his maiden Bundesliga season.

  United instead brought in Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, though the forward initially struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, failing to score in his first 14 matches in the competition.

  Overall, the forward has netted 14 times in all competitions, with eight of those coming in the top-flight, but Ten Hag admitted that the club did try to bring in a more high-profile striker.

  Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "This club can only have outstanding players because the expectations are so high. Manchester United is the biggest, or maybe second or third, biggest club in the world, the highest fanbase, so expectations will always be there.

  "Everyone has an opinion about Manchester United and it can only be outstanding players.

  "That's players who have all the skill set, that is the physical and especially the mental skill set they need to perform and contribute because we have to win every game. There's an expectation around every game from us so you can only fulfil that expectation when you have those outstanding players.

  "But in the last decade and in this period, we couldn't always get the players we wanted. But then you have to build, and you have to accept that you get talent in instead of players who already proved it in the past.

  "We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund. I can see a striker who already proved it, who we want to sign, and we couldn't get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he's a talent."

  When asked if the unnamed striker he was referring to was Kane, Ten Hag confirmed that the 30-year-old had been a target for them.

  He continued: "Yes, and you know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals. I think Rasmus will get there, but he needs time. It's not fair to assess him the same as Harry Kane. I would never compare two players because they are very different.

  "But with Hojlund, I think we had the biggest potential in the striker position last summer, and we are very happy with him. But he also needs time to adapt, and we are very pleased he showed his assets in scoring goals.

  "He had a very good period where he scored many games after he showed it, but before and after, he had some physical issues, which is normal for a young player coming up. But it has a negative impact on the team result and that's what you have to accept."

• Charlotte FC v Portland Timbers: Hosts target 90-minute display as Neville rues slow starts

  Adilson Malanda says Charlotte FC are working to deliver a full 90-minute performance against the Portland Timbers on Saturday, having seen plenty of points slip away from them late on this year.

  Dean Smith's team have slipped to 11th in the Eastern Conference by winning just one of their last five games, drawing one and losing three.

  They conceded a 90th-minute winner in last week's 2-1 loss to New York City FC, and late concessions also cost them in a 1-1 draw with FC Cincinnati and a 1-0 defeat at Toronto FC in March.

  Defender Malanda says they have focused on setting that right in training this week, explaining: "We know that's one of our problems right now, which we need to fix. 

  "We cannot keep giving up goals like that at the end of games. It can kill all the effort we make throughout the whole week. It's tough to accept, but it's part of the game and it happens.

  "If you cannot win a game, you have to learn not to lose it, because that has now taken a lot of points away from us."

  The Portland Timbers are suffering from almost the opposite problem, giving themselves a mountain to climb in too many games under Phil Neville.

  Portland sit 11th in the West amid a seven-game winless streak, last week's 3-2 loss to Los Angeles FC seeing them enter half-time at least two goals down for the third time in five matches.

  "We just can't keep giving teams 2-0 starts and expect to win games of football, that's unacceptable and it's on me," Neville said.

  "We've got to fix it and we've got to fix it quick. We will do, because we're so close to being a very good team, and if we learn that bit, we'll be a better team."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH 

  Charlotte FC – Kerwin Vargas 

  Vargas opened the scoring for Charlotte in the third minute against New York last week, the 13th time Charlotte had scored in the opening 10 minutes of a regular-season match, tied for the most of any team since they joined the league in 2022 (with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Houston Dynamo).

  The Colombian is one of only two Charlotte players with more than one MLS goal to his name this year alongside Patrick Agyemang, while he has also laid on 11 chances for team-mates. 

  Portland Timbers – Felipe Mora

  With four goals, Mora sits joint-top of Portland's scoring charts for this season, alongside Evander. 

  As doubts persist over the Brazilian's fitness, Mora – whose four strikes have come from seven shots worth 2.03 expected goals (xG) for a 57.14 per cent conversion rate – will carry the Timbers' hopes. 

  MATCH PREDICTION – CHARLOTTE FC WIN

  Saturday's match will be the first ever between Charlotte and Portland, in what will be the Crown's 91st competitive game since joining MLS.

  Charlotte saw their 14-game unbeaten home run halted by a 3-0 defeat to Minnesota United on April 21, but they have not lost back-to-back matches on their own turf since March 2023, when they went down to the New England Revolution and Atlanta United.

  They will fancy their chances of getting back on track on front of their own fans, with the Timbers' current seven-match winless run their longest in a single season since 2014, when they went eight without victory between March and April.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Charlotte FC – 43.9%

  Portland Timbers – 28.5% 

  Draw – 27.6%