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• Silva delighted with Jimenez form as Fulham's good run continues

  Fulham boss Marco Silva is delighted to see Raul Jimenez back to his best, after his 50th Premier League goal gave them all three points against Nottingham Forest.

  The Mexican has struggled for regular goals since a serious head injury he suffered playing for Wolves against Arsenal in November 2020.

  But Jimenez, who joined Fulham in July 2023, has started this season superbly and has now scored three goals in three successive matches, and he proved the difference against Forest with a well-dispatched penalty.

  Silva told BBC Sport: “It's great to see him back at that level again after that bad incident when he was at Wolves. It was tough for him to come back.

  "In an important moment of his career, when he was struggling for goals, we showed trust in him, and believed in him. He got used to scoring before the incident but we trusted him.

  “From the first moment at this club he showed his hard work and his quality. It's nice to see him score and be decisive for us."

  Silva also revealed that Jimenez had apologised for taking the ball off designated penalty taker Andreas Pereira prior to scoring from the spot.

  He told Premier League Productions: “Pereira was the penalty taker for the moment. It is not Andreas' fault but it is clearly the fault of Raul.

  "It is already decided. It is already sorted. It is not going to happen again. Has Raul apologised? Yes. He had to because he knows the rules and how important discipline is in our squad."

  Jimenez is now just four goals away from Javier Hernandez's record as the most prolific Mexican player in Premier League history.

  He said: "Yes, why not break records and set new ones. He [Hernandez] was a very good player in English football and now it's my time and I want to keep scoring.

  “The most important thing is the three points. It's early in the season, and we have a long way to go, but being there is good for us. We want to make history for Fulham and know we can achieve more."

  Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo admitted his side were not at their best, though they still had chances to get back into the match, as they fell to their first defeat of the season.

  “Not the best game from us,” Nuno said to BBC Sport. “But we still created near the end and had opportunities to score, we have to bounce back in the next one.

  “I’m disappointed for the fans – we are sad, but we have to go again.”

  Nuno refused to be drawn on the penalty decision, with VAR intervening after an infringement between Murillo and Pereira, replays showing the defender scraped his studs along the latter’s calf.

  He said: “If we start speaking about the referees, I don’t know if it’s the best thing. I hope they improve. I don’t want to go much further than that.”

• International record goalscorer Sinclair to retire after NWSL season

  Christine Sinclair, the all-time record goalscorer in international football, will retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League in November.

  Sinclair, 41, has 190 goals in 331 appearances for Canada, making her the top scorer across both men's and women's football.

  She has played for the NWSL's Portland Thorns since 2013, helping them to win the inaugural title that year. She added further league crowns to her collection in 2017 and 2022.

  The Canadian great has had similar success with her national team, winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is also one of three players to score at five World Cups, alongside Brazil's Marta and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.

  Sinclair retired from international football in December 2023, and will now call time on her club career.

  "Portland, thank you will never be enough. Soccer has been my passion since I was four years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined," Sinclair wrote on Instagram.

  "As I finish out this last ride, I want to say what a privilege it has been to represent this unique, beautiful, and passionate city that I will always call home."

• St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth

  John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.

  The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.

  St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.

  They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.

  "We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.

  "We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.

  "This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."

  Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.

  Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.

  "I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.

  "It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert

  Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.

  Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).

  Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia

  Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.

  Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.

  MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN

  St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.

  Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).

  However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  St. Louis City – 43.4%

  Draw – 26.7%

  Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%