Steven Schumacher claimed “it’s not done yet” despite a 3-0 victory against his former club Plymouth all-but securing Stoke’s Sky Bet Championship status.
The Potters boss enjoyed the bragging rights as goals from Dutch trio Ki-Jana Hoever, Million Manhoef and Wouter Burger secured a win which saw his side move up to 17th in the table – six points clear of the drop zone with two fixtures remaining.
“It was a big day; I had my eye on this game since I came here,” said Schumacher, who left Home Park in December having led Argyle to the League One title last season.
“I would have hoped both teams would have been safe by now, so there could have been a bit less pressure.
“It’s weird when you come up against people who you are friends with and you have a feeling in your belly all week that’s not nice.
“I’ve got a lot of affection for Argyle and always want them to do well, but today was about Stoke and trying to get three points that we needed.
“It was probably the best home performance from us; it was really good all-round.
“We knew how difficult the game would be and if our performance wasn’t right we would have got hurt by Argyle today.
“But credit to the players, they were brilliant from the first minute and, in the big moments, we showed some composure and quality.
“We stressed all week that there was going to be a bit of noise around the game and everybody understood how important it was.
“It’s not done yet; it’s important that we get in on Monday and have another good week and focus on Southampton.
“You never know in this league, and you have to keep going until it’s mathematically secure and at the moment it’s not.”
Plymouth’s three-match unbeaten start under interim boss Neil Dewsnip ended in disappointing style.
The Pilgrims could muster only one attempt on target as they slipped to four points above the relegation zone.
“We’re really disappointed to lose – we knew how important the game was for us,” said interim boss Dewsnip.
“Stoke were by far the better team on the day and credit to them.
“After the first 35 minutes, the crowd seemed to get really involved and Stoke got a big lift from that.
“We didn’t handle that emotion particularly well and I was disappointed with our performance in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
“We showed immaturity, which is something we’ll address and look to do better in the future.
“We’ll take the lessons; Millwall’s going to be a tough place to play and we need to be ready for that.
“We need to handle moments in the game much better.
“The commitment is definitely there (from us); sometimes in football you have to hold your hands up and say your opponents were better.
“Last Friday night, the same group of players gave everything physically and emotionally, and that might have taken it out of us more than we realised.
“Our goal is to stay in the Championship and we’re two games out from doing that.
“If you’d have given us that at the start of the season, we’d have grabbed that opportunity, so we’re in a positive mental state.”
Khadija Shaw’s late heroics lead Manchester City Women to 2-1 comeback win over Liverpool
Khadija Shaw continued her impressive form, scoring twice, including a dramatic 92nd-minute winner, to lead Manchester City Women to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the Women’s Super League on Sunday. The victory moved City to the top of the league table with 10 points from four matches.
Shaw, who has been instrumental for City this season, was the difference-maker once again as her late header sealed all three points for her team in a hard-fought contest at Anfield. City came into the game on a high, following up their recent win over Barcelona with another statement performance.
Liverpool opened the scoring with Olivia Smith's long-range effort, a right-footed strike from outside the box that gave the hosts the lead. City responded through Shaw, who leveled the match with a right-footed shot from the center of the box, finishing expertly in the top right corner after a precise through ball from Laia Aleixandri.
Shaw nearly put City ahead earlier when her left-footed shot struck the post, following another assist from Aleixandri. However, it wasn’t until injury time that Shaw finally completed the comeback. In the 92nd minute, Lauren Hemp delivered a perfect cross from the wing, and Shaw rose highest to head the ball into the bottom left corner, sealing a dramatic victory for City.
The win propels Manchester City to the top of the table with 10 points, though they have played one more game than Chelsea, Manchester United, and Brighton and Hove Albion, all of whom are on nine points after three games.
With Shaw continuing her red-hot form, City look well-positioned for a strong title challenge this season.
Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham: Skinner's side stay perfect in WSL
Manchester United made light work of Tottenham as Marc Skinner's side continued their perfect start to the 2024-25 campaign with a 3-0 win.
Skinner's team moved level on points with Chelsea at the top of the Women's Super League thanks to goals from Elisabeth Terland and Maya Le Tissier on Sunday.
Terland, a summer signing from Brighton, opened her account for United with a quickfire double at the end of the first half at Leigh Sports Village.
The Norway international drilled in after Celin Bizet hit the crossbar, and the latter subsequently teed up Terland's second five minutes later.
United captain Le Tissier settled the contest from the penalty spot following Ashleigh Neville's handball just before the hour mark.
The Red Devils thrashed Spurs 4-0 in their last competitive meeting - the FA Cup final in May - and are now unbeaten in 11 WSL matches against them.
Indeed, this was their ninth win over Spurs in the competition, with United having only beaten Everton on as many occasions.
Data Debrief: United's pristine record
As well as picking up three wins from as many WSL matches, United are yet to concede a goal this season - the only team to have shut all of their opponents out so far.
Skinner continued his impressive record against Spurs, and is now unbeaten in his last eight meetings with them.
It has been a poor start for Spurs, meanwhile. After beating Crystal Palace 4-0 in their opener, they are now winless in three (D1 L2). Only in 2020-21 (0) have Tottenham had one or fewer wins across their opening four top-flight matches of a campaign.
Cafu and Dida back Vinicius for Ballon d'Or
Vinicius Junior deserves to win this year's Ballon d'Or, in the opinion of two Brazil greats.
Cafu and Dida were part of the Brazil squad that won the World Cup in 2002.
Vinicius was unable to inspire Brazil to glory at this year's Copa America, missing their quarter-final tie against Uruguay due to suspension, but has been in fine form for Real Madrid over the past 12 months.
And with neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo involved in the voting, there will be a new winner of the Ballon d'Or for the first time since Luka Modric collected the 2018 award.
Vinicius is among the favourites, and Cafu feels the award should go to the Madrid star.
"Yes, he deserves to win it, he’s had a great season," Cafu told Stats Perform at Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy.
"The numbers he had last season were incredible. He deserves it for what he's done and what he will do in the future."
It was a sentiment echoed by Cafu's former national team-mate Dida.
He told Stats Perform: "Vinicius is a great kid, a great player, a top player. He did very well last year, he scored goals, he gave assists, that's why.
"If he wins, it's because he deserves to win it because he did very well, we hope he manages to win this Ballon d'Or."
Vinicius has directly contributed to 42 goals for Madrid in all competitions since the start of the 2023-24 season, scoring 28 times and laying on 14 assists.
Robert Lewandowski is the only player to have played for a Spanish club across all of that time to have registered more direct goal contributions (49 - 31 goals, 18 assists).
No player in Europe's top five leagues comes close to matching Vinicius for attempted dribbles (366), though the 24-year-old ranks seventh for dribbles completed (141).
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