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• Rooney lauds 'excellent' Plymouth defence in Luton victory

  Wayne Rooney credited Plymouth Argyle's defensive showing as crucial in their 3-1 triumph over Luton Town at Home Park on Friday. 

  Plymouth took the lead in the eighth minute courtesy of Rami Al Hajj, with the Swede notching his first Pilgrims goal with a curled finish beyond Thomas Kaminski. 

  The hosts found themselves two goals in front 20 minutes from time after substitute Ibrahim Cissoko shifted the ball onto his left foot before firing a stunning effort into the far corner. 

  Plymouth's joy was short-lived, though, as Victor Moses chested down Alfie Doughty's cross to the back post before striking the ball beyond Daniel Grimshaw less than two minutes later. 

  The Hatters continued to pile on the pressure in search of an equaliser but were undone by a moment of individual brilliance from Cissoko, who danced his way into the area and saw his first effort blocked, but finished the rebound to move Plymouth up to 13th in the Championship. 

  Rooney has now guided his side to back-to-back home victories for the first time this season, and said his side had to adapt to Luton's relentless attacking to emerge victorious. 

  "I thought it was a good performance for different reasons," Rooney said. 

  "I thought first half we were good at times, controlled the tempo of the game and Luton tried to press us, and I think when we showed composure and played through the press we caused them problems.

  "Second half we were a little bit sloppy with the ball and gave it away in dangerous areas at times, but I thought defensively our back four, and in particular the two centre-backs, were excellent.

  "Luton are very good at set-pieces and I thought we were brilliant defending them and showed great character and desire to go and head the ball, and then the attacking players get all the praise when they score the goals."

  For Rob Edwards, a run of back-to-back victories ended on the South Coast, with his side lacking a clinical edge in front of goal. 

  The Hatters registered 16 shots during the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.07, but only two of his side's efforts were on target. 

  "Credit to the opposition, at both ends of the pitch they were better - they were more ruthless at one end and defended better at the other," Edwards said. 

  "I think we got into their final third 40-odd times, twice as often as they did, but we didn't make their goalkeeper work enough.

  "We weren't clinical enough at one and end then didn't defend well enough at the other -it's not a good recipe to win a football match.

  "It's really frustrating to come away losing a game talking about both ends of the pitch."

• Crystal Palace 0-7 Chelsea: Blues run riot to keep Bompastor perfect

  Sonia Bompastor maintained her perfect start to life as Chelsea head coach as her side turned on the style in the second half to beat Crystal Palace 7-0 on Friday. 

  After Lauren James saw a goal ruled out, the Blues found their breakthrough in the 38th minute as Agnes Beever-Jones turned home Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's delivery. 

  Lucy Bronze handed the visitors the perfect start to the second half, guiding a strike into the far corner for her first Chelsea goal since her move from Barcelona. 

  The result was put beyond doubt just before the hour-mark as James finally got her name on the scoresheet, opening her account for the season from close range. 

  But the Blues were not done there. Guro Reiten struck beyond Shae Yanez for Chelsea's fourth, with Catarina Macario's corner then finished by Nathalie Bjorn. 

  Reiten notched her second in the 90th minute, with Macario adding gloss to an impressive showing from the defending champions as she capitalised on Yanez's parry to compound the newly-promoted Eagles to a second defeat of the season. 

  Data Debrief: Ruthless Blues clip Eagles' wings

  After a battling display against Aston Villa on the opening day, Bompastor's side showcased the attacking ruthlessness that was missing a week ago. 

  James was a particular standout for the Blues, registering a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.95 to Chelsea's 2.47 total from her four shots during the encounter. 

  Chelsea ended the contest with 24 shots, 11 of which were on target, completing 56 touches inside the opposition's box compared to Palace's 12. 

  But for all of their attacking brilliance, Chelsea have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last five games in the Women's Super League. Their last longer run of games without conceding a goal in the competition was a run of six matches between February and April in 2021.

• Philadelphia Union v Atlanta United: No margin for error with playoffs in sight, says Curtin

  Jim Curtin knows Philadelphia Union have no margin for error as they chase a playoff spot, with Atlanta United next up for them in MLS.

  The Union are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference, having put together big back-to-back wins against New York City FC (5-1) and D.C. United (4-0) in their last two matches.

  They have now won three of their last four matches in the league, but Curtin warned his players that they cannot ease off the pressure until their playoff spot is secured.

  "Every game is must win now. There's no margin for error for any team that isn't above the red line comfortably," Curtin said.

  "The home games always become really critical. We've had a tough schedule, but all these points matter because anything could be the difference.

  "There'll be a lot of highs and lows, and everybody still has hope and it's going to be a sprint to the finish. We recognise the challenge, but you have to say must-win until you're mathematically eliminated."

  Meanwhile, Atlanta sit two places and three points below their opponents in the table after failing to win any of their last three matches.

  They have drawn their last two outings 2-2 though, and interim head coach Rob Valentino is hoping they can take a more direct approach in an attempt to find a cutting edge.

  "Do we really think we can play through? Then great, let's do it," Valentino said. "But if I think that we can be more direct and expose their centrebacks or expose a certain area of the pitch, let's go and do it.

  "Let's not waste time with the ball. The intentional possession of what we're doing with it. I just want to make sure that we're intentional about what we're doing with the ball."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Philadelphia Union – Mikael Uhre

  Mikael Uhre scored the opening goal in the Union's win over D.C. United on Sunday, his fourth straight match with a goal.

  Uhre is the fifth player in Union history to score in four straight regular-season matches, though only one, Daniel Gazdag, has scored in five straight (August-September 2022).

  Atlanta United – Edwin Mosquera

  Edwin Mosquera's goal at 90+2' for Atlanta United on Saturday was the club's 11th goal from outside the box this season.

  Only Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake (12 each) have more in 2024.

  MATCH PREDICTION: PHILADELPHIA UNION WIN

  The Union have won each of their last four regular-season home matches against Atlanta United. Atlanta's lone win at Subaru Park was a 2-0 victory in July 2018.

  The Union have won two straight matches, winning each by a four-goal margin. This is the 15th time in MLS history a team has recorded back-to-back four-goal wins, including the second by the Union (August 2022), but no team has ever won three straight matches by four or more goals.

  Meanwhile, Atlanta have won only two of their last 10 regular season matches (D3 L5) dating back to the beginning of July. Each of Atlanta's last two matches ended in 2-2 draws.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Philadelphia Union – 56.9%

  Draw – 22.3%

  Atlanta United – 20.8%