Wilfried Nancy has insisted that his full focus remains with Columbus Crew amid links to the vacant United States managerial position ahead of their meeting with Atlanta United this weekend.
The Crew extended their unbeaten run to six matches in the MLS following their 1-1 draw with Charlotte FC in midweek as they aim to keep pace with the top two in the Eastern Conference.
Nancy’s side sit third in the standings, five points behind FC Cincinnati following their defeat to Chicago Fire last time out, with Inter Miami now at the summit of the table.
Despite their recent form, Nancy is hungry for more success with Columbus, going on to rubbish the rumours linking him with a move to the international stage following Gregg Berhalter’s dismissal last week.
"I don't talk about rumours, simple as that,” Nancy said.
“Like I said, I am limitless. I want to be limitless, so the idea is to push myself, to challenge myself, but at the moment I'm here. I'm happy here. We'll see in the future."
“I’m really happy because the task that we had was very difficult, knowing the context, knowing the situations.
"But my players found a way to be ourselves and to play the way we wanted to play and to play really good sequences, but also to be disgusting to play against."
Meanwhile, Atlanta halted their three-game pointless run in the league with a draw against New York City FC, despite squandering their two-goal advantage in the second half.
The Five Stripes sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference table and are among a cluster of teams tightly packed at the wrong end of the division.
Interim head coach Rob Valentino is looking for a much-improved performance from his players, picking out his side’s individual errors that have cost them in recent weeks.
"We were under some pressure, and we tried to make adjustments at half-time about being better and just more brave," said Valentino.
"There were individual errors. So, it is about eliminating those moments."
"We were braver, more direct and playing in there. The goal came right away. The big thing is that we have to find out why we dropped off."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Atlanta United – Daniel Rios
While the Five Stripes may have forgotten how to win in the MLS, Daniel Rios has had no such trouble in finding the back of the net, scoring his third goal in his last four matches.
Rios’ strike against NYCFC was clocked at just 21 seconds, the fastest goal in Atlanta’s history, and they will be hoping for another quick start at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez
Cucho Hernandez continues to be the attacking spark for the Crew, with his strike against Charlotte FC his 13th of the season, scoring in each of his last three appearances.
Hernandez's goals saw him become the first player in the club's history to record 60 goal contributions over a three-year span, notching 38 goals and 22 assists in that time.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN
Columbus come into the contest as the hot favourites following their impressive recent run, with their draw against Charlotte meaning they are undefeated in their last six games in the MLS. Their last longer unbeaten streak was from 13th November 2023 to 16th March 2024, a run of eight games.
Hernandez's strike for the Crew was also the 12th consecutive time they have found the back of the net, scoring 34 times during that run.
Atlanta have failed to win in their last two games against Columbus Crew, but their last triumph against them came back in November 2023, last losing at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the Crew in May 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Atlanta United – 23.7%
Draw – 22.6%
Columbus Crew – 53.7%
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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