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England forward Fran Kirby has extended her Chelsea contract by another year. Kirby, who signed a two-year deal in 2021 that included the option of a further 12 months, joined the Blues from Reading in 2015 and has gone on to become the Women’s Super League club’s leading scorer with 110 goals in 175 appearances. During her time with Chelsea, Kirby has won 13 trophies, including five WSL titles as well as the FA Cup on four occasions. Kirby was also part of the England side which won the European Championship on home soil last summer, but has been ruled out of this year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after needing knee surgery. The 29-year-old suffered the injury during Chelsea’s Continental League Cup semi-final against West Ham in February. A club statement read: “Chelsea is delighted to announce that an option to extend the contract of forward Fran Kirby by a further year has been exercised. “We look forward to seeing Fran back in blue next season.” PA Read More England’s World Cup squad: Who’s on the plane, and who’s got work to do? Ella Toone upbeat on England’s World Cup chances despite ‘difficult’ injury setbacks ‘Everyone wants to see us fail’: How Erin Cuthbert drives Chelsea to stay on top

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Perhaps there was a nod to Peter Schmeichel, to Edwin van der Sar, to Alex Stepney, to Manchester United’s three European Cup-winning goalkeepers. Erik ten Hag had just bought a successor, fresh from playing in a Champions League final in Istanbul and Andre Onana arrived at Old Trafford seemingly equipped with a knowledge of his new club’s history. “Manchester United has a long history of incredible goalkeepers, and I will now give everything to create my own legacy in the coming years,” the Cameroonian said. Four months later, after his second Champions League tie in Istanbul in 2023, Onana’s legacy may include torching United’s continental campaign. They are not mathematically out of the Champions League but they are reliant on favours, on two results going their way, on Bayern Munich performing sufficiently poorly to lose at Old Trafford while FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray draw with each other. If a 3-3 draw with Galatasaray was a microcosm of United’s group stage – the capacity to lose leads, to score three goals away from home without winning, the self-destructive streak and the chaotic midfield are all recurring themes – then Onana looks like being the face of failure, the major reason for a probable inability to get through a seemingly friendly pool. Galatasaray, after all, arrived at Old Trafford with two victories in their previous 25 Champions League group-stage games and won. FC Copenhagen had three victories in 21 Champions League group-stage matches before they beat United. And if Onana’s ever-decreasing band of advocates – principally a Dutchman in his fifties – can argue that half of United’s meagre tally of four points stem from his injury-time penalty save from Copenhagen’s Jordan Larsson at Old Trafford, his campaign has featured four major mistakes. There was, after United had started well in Munich, the way he let Leroy Sane’s tame shot squirm under him to set Bayern on their way to a 4-3 win. There was, with United drawing 2-2, the awful, misplaced pass that led to Casemiro’s red card and a penalty in the 3-2 loss to Galatasaray. There were the two Hakim Ziyech free kicks that Onana ought to have held comfortably but which still brought goals on Wednesday. While Ten Hag said he took responsibility for United’s European struggles, Onana should share the blame. Yet if the manager’s transfer policy, and his seeming belief anyone who has played in the Netherlands can excel for United, is backfiring, it is worth noting Ziyech, Onana’s midweek nemesis and a player who scored in the 2019 Champions League semi-finals for Ten Hag’s Ajax, was on the shortlist at Old Trafford in the summer of 2022; instead they spent £86m on the ineffective Antony from – predictably – Ajax. If Onana’s time in Amsterdam felt a huge factor in his move to Manchester, one inexplicable element is that he was available on a free transfer the previous summer. United’s rationale for overlooking him then, that Ten Hag wanted to assess David de Gea, does not fully stack up but allowed Internazionale to make a £43m profit in a year. It also means his troubles are more costly. And in his defence, Onana has the joint most clean sheets in the Premier League, the second-best save percentage; according to post-shot expected goal statistics, only Luton’s Thomas Kaminski has prevented more goals in the division. Yet no one has conceded more in the Champions League. Indeed, Onana has had to retrieve the ball from the back of his net five more times in five Champions League games for United than he did in 13 for Inter. The glaring errors are part of the problem, along with their capacity to prove decisive. Yet so is the sense that shots don’t need to go in the corner of the net to beat Onana: among some agile saves – and a terrific reflex stop early in Turkey was not his first fine intervention in a United shirt – have come a series of goals that another keeper may have prevented. It will be instructive if Ten Hag, whose stubbornness is part of his armoury, decides Altay Bayindir is that other goalkeeper. Another summer signing is yet to make his debut while Onana has played all 20 games this season. But the former Fenerbahce goalkeeper has been on United’s radar for years and is a player they believe they scouted rigorously; he acquitted himself well for Turkey last week against Wales. He may be the pragmatic choice: certainly there are questions if Onana has the conviction or presence required to reassure defenders. But Onana has a symbolic status; he is a flagship Ten Hag signing. Yet, seven years ago, a manager in Manchester brought in a goalkeeper with passing principles from his old club. He proved a liability and Pep Guardiola had to jettison Claudio Bravo. And rather than proving United’s second Schmeichel, the danger is Onana’s legacy is to be remembered as their answer to Bravo. Read More Ten Hag dismisses criticism with insistence that Man Utd team ‘in development’ Manchester United show they have two sides after European stumble – and neither is working Andre Onana – Do the numbers back up the criticism?

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Pape Matar Sarr scored early in the second half and Lisandro Martinez added an own goal to give Tottenham a 2-0 win over Manchester United in the English Premier League

Micky van de Ven has predicted Tottenham can achieve “beautiful things” under attack-minded Ange Postecoglou. The Dutch defender was thrown into the deep end in Sunday’s Premier League opener at Brentford after only three training sessions with his new team-mates, but impressed in the 2-2 draw. It had been a whirlwind week for Spurs with growing speculation over record goal-scorer Harry Kane eventually resulting in his departure for Bayern Munich on Saturday. A degree of optimism remains rife amongst supporters following a busy summer of transfer activity and with a new bold, front-foot approach set to be adopted by Postecoglou. “It’s an amazing club,” Van de Ven reflected after his debut. “I had a good meeting with the trainer and it was a really good meeting. “He’s a really good trainer. I love the club, I love the players and I think there is so much potential under this trainer so we will see where this season heads. “He has a good view on football, that’s what I think. Attacking football is what I love, playing with a lot of space in the back doesn’t matter for me. “Offensive football is what I like and I think if we play a lot of offensive football and we train, we train, we train then I think we can do some beautiful things.” Spurs had chased Netherlands Under-21 captain Van de Ven all summer and eventually secured his services on August 8 for an initial £34.5million fee, which could rise to £43.1million in add-ons. Despite featuring for Wolfsburg during pre-season, the 22-year-old had not completed 90 minutes all summer, but Postecoglou’s decision to include him in the starting XI was vindicated. Van de Ven admitted: “Everything is harder, it’s going quicker and it’s going up and down, up and down. There is no moment in the game where you feel you can rest a bit, you always have to be sharp and 100 per cent focused. “It is my first game with the team, so of course at the beginning we have to watch a bit how everything is going and afterwards you feel more comfortable. The guys are talking positive to you so that is also helping. “I trained three days with the team but they gave me some confidence and the trainer was talking to me and also gave me some confidence. I didn’t stress at all that I can’t do it. “All the trainers were positive, all the players were positive saying ‘do your job, do what you can do and we will help you’ and I think it went well.” Comparisons to Jan Vertonghen, another left-footed centre-back who started out in Eredivisie, occurred before Van de Ven had even signed his contract at Tottenham. He has a good view on football, that's what I think. Attacking football is what I love, playing with a lot of space in the back doesn't matter for me. Micky van de Ven on Ange Postecoglou The ex-Volendam defender revealed he used to study Vertonghen before the Belgian moved to Spurs, where he went on to make 315 appearances and become a hugely popular figure with the club’s fanbase. “I was always in the stadium when Jan Vertonghen was playing for Ajax so I always saw him play and always said he was a good left-footed, centre-back. I learned some from him as I watched videos of him,” Van de Ven added. “I watched a lot of times Spurs because a lot of players from Ajax also went to Spurs and also players from Holland. “Always when you see a player go to Spurs it is an amazing step if you went from Ajax, AZ, PSV to Spurs. “Of course with the history they didn’t win a prize for a long time but you never know what is going to happen.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Millie Bright confident England can cope with hostile atmosphere in Sydney Ben Stokes tipped to make U-turn and feature for England at World Cup Football rumours: West Ham growing frustrated with Harry Maguire delays