MATCH INFO:

Manchester City 3, Everton 0

GOALS: Ellen White, 25’; Gemma Banner, 26’; Janine Beckie, 45+2’

A long-awaited rematch of the FA Women’s Cup Final was at hand as Manchester City and Everton faced off on Sunday morning at Walton Hall Park in Liverpool. Ahead of the match, each team had something to prove — for Manchester City, it was cementing their status as a “Big Three” squad, and for Everton, it was holding onto their position at fourth place in the table, with only one game giving them an edge over City. Manchester City would put on one of their most dominant performances of the year to run away with a 3-0 victory over Everton, improving to 4-3-1 on the 2020/2021 season.

Interestingly, City manager Gareth Taylor elected to leave the key players of his team’s recent FA Cup Final victory over Everton on the bench to begin the match — among those names being Sam Mewis, Georgia Stanway, Chloe Kelly, and Alex Greenwood. Though the exclusion of these players from the starting lineup is unfortunate, it seems that Taylor at least took notice of Rose Lavelle’s performance in the recent USWNT friendly, as she was granted a start in Sunday’s contest.

The team taking on the Toffee's ????

XI | Roebuck, Bronze, Houghton (C), Bonner, Stokes, Walsh, Scott, Weir, Beckie, Lavelle, White

SUBS | Bardsley, Kelly, Morgan,
Stanway, Greenwood, Hemp, Mewis, Park

???? #ManCity | https://t.co/HkTzfLv0HJ pic.twitter.com/Y9JMlgcOah

— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) December 6, 2020

Here’s how it all went down: 

From the opening whistle, Manchester City maintained possession in their attacking third, creating a scoring chance only two minutes into the match. To begin the attack, Janine Beckie slipped a pass to defender Demi Stokes, who had broken away from the Everton player marking her on the left wing. Stokes took a touch, attempting a shot but instead slotting a ball across the face of the net. Nearly getting a foot on the attempt was Ellen White, but no dice as she collided with Everton goalkeeper Alexandra MacIver and the ball exited out of bounds.

White would go on to redeem the missed chance midway through the first half, as Caroline Weir lofted a cross into the Everton box, meeting the head of the forward. Redirecting a looping ball just over the fingertips of MacIver, White scored her fourth goal of the season to grant City a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute of the match.

What a header!! @ellsbells89 gives @ManCityWomen the lead ???? pic.twitter.com/PJragXv6Wn

— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) December 6, 2020

Only a minute later, City was awarded a corner kick, with Weir on the ball again. This time, the cross found Gemma Banner, who headed home another for City to extend their lead to 2-0 in the 26th minute. In a quick series of events, Everton found themselves down two goals and yet to create a promising attack, now scrambling to cut City’s lead going into the half.

Two headers in two minutes for @ManCityWomen ! ????@gembon23 is on the scoresheet! #BarclaysFAWSL pic.twitter.com/ugdqGVe2WH

— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) December 6, 2020

Later, in what seemed to be an opportunity for City’s third goal of the game, Janine Beckie received a pass into space, beating the defender on her back in a show of her speed and skill on the ball. Unfortunately for Beckie, her shot was buried into the side netting, bringing to demise a near-chance for her squad.

30. CHANCE! City running riot after those to quickfire goals, @janinebeckie is put through on goal but her strike hits the side netting - could be any score at the moment!

???? 0-2 ⚫️ #ManCity | https://t.co/HkTzfLv0HJ

— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) December 6, 2020

In the final minute of the first half, Weir played yet another cross into the Everton box. Finally, Janine Beckie was rewarded for her efforts on offense, meeting the ball in the air and knocking in City’s third goal to end the half. Weir ended the first half with two assists, and was an integral part of her squad’s dazzling performance.

Unfortunately for City, what was otherwise a flawless half ended with Rose Lavelle going down with an apparent knee injury. After the game, manager Gareth Taylor said it was still too soon to know the severity of the injury. (We’re keeping our fingers crossed.)

Triple header for @ManCityWomen! This time, it's @janinebeckie ????

And ANOTHER assist for @itscarolineweir! ????#BarclaysFAWSL pic.twitter.com/sR7KkHK0jb

— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) December 6, 2020

Everton needed to enter the second half with guns blazing, however, the better part of the second half was purely defensive for both sides. Through nearly 70 minutes of play, neither team was able to find the net, with any chance at marking the scoresheet either cleared out by a defender or swept up by the goalkeeper.

In the 80th minute, Everton forward Nicoline SØrensen played a cross into the Manchester City box, intended for Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah. Boye-Hlorkah redirected the cross towards the goal, but the header fell directly into the hands of City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck. Though certainly a near-chance for the Blues, it would not be enough to get them on the board.

As the final minutes of stoppage time ticked away, Everton worked desperately to cut into City’s lead, but to no avail.

Everton remains unable to defeat City this year, losing every match against their opponent since January 11th. With Sunday’s loss, Everton falls to fifth place in the table. As the season continues to take shape, the squad will have to solve their struggles with finding the net if they are to secure any wins in upcoming matches.

City, on the other hand, secured three points to move into fourth place. They’ll now have a chance to edge into the top three when they take on Arsenal next weekend. After battling inconsistency earlier in the season, it seems that the powerhouse we once knew City to be is beginning to resurface. Today’s stellar performance leaves no question as to whether they belong in the “Big Three” — now they just need to prove it in the table.

3️⃣ goals, 3️⃣ points ????

???? #ManCity | https://t.co/HkTzfLv0HJ pic.twitter.com/iyO1dOzgPk

— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) December 6, 2020

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE FAWSL:

December 9th:

Bristol City vs. Aston Villa @ 2:30 p.m. EST

December 13th:

Reading FC vs. Manchester United @ 7:30 a.m. EST

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Chelsea @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Birmingham City vs. Everton @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Tottenham vs. Aston Villa @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Bristol City vs. West Ham United @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Manchester City vs. Arsenal @ 9:30 a.m. EST

Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of the 2026 Australian Open with a three-set victory over Sorana Cirstea on Thursday.

But the hard-fought win was overshadowed by a heated exchange at the net and a subsequent public apology from the former Japanese fan favorite.

After Osaka defeated the unseeded 35-year-old 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena, the two shared a tense handshake before Cirstea reportedly called Osaka out for her on-court conduct. The issue apparently centered on Osaka’s habit of shouting "Come on!" to celebrate points, specifically between Cirstea’s first and second serves — a move the Romanian considered both a distraction and a breach of sportsmanship.

In her immediate postmatch interview, Osaka dismissed Cirstea's complaints.

"Apparently a lot of 'come-ons' that she was angry about, but whatever," Osaka said. "I think this was her last Australian Open, so, okay, sorry she was mad about it."

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However, during her subsequent press conference, Osaka apologized for her dismissive tone.

"I'm a little confused. I guess that emotions were very high for her," Osaka said. " I also want to apologize. I think the first couple of things that I said on the court were disrespectful. I don't like disrespecting people. That's not what I do."

Osaka went on to clarify that her vocal outbursts are self-motivating and not an attempt to rattle her opponent.

Cirstea, who recently announced that the 2026 season will be her last on the WTA Tour, later downplayed the incident. She called it a "five-second exchange between two players," insisting that "there was no drama."

Osaka, the No. 16 seed, will next face unseeded Australian Maddison Inglis in the third round on Friday.

How to watch Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open this week

No. 16 Naomi Osaka takes the court against Australia's Maddison Inglis this Friday (time TBA), live on ESPN.

While competing at the 2026 Australian Open this week, US tennis star Coco Gauff is giving back to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with the world No. 3 WTA player announcing a $150,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to fund HBCU tennis scholarships on Tuesday.

"Education has the power to change lives, and I hope this gift will help students achieve their dreams," said Gauff in a Tuesday statement.

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Even more, this week's donation marks the two-time Grand Slam champion's second UNCF contribution in as many years, with her $100,000 pledge in 2025 bringing Gauff's total gift to $250,000.

"I feel like HBCU tennis a lot of times doesn't get the funding that they need," Gauff said after advancing to Thursday night's Australian Open third round. "I would always try to uplift marginalized communities and support where I can."

One of the youngest major donors in organization's 80-year history, the 21-year-old star's Coco Gauff Scholarship Program has already sponsored multiple HBCU tennis athletes.

"My family has a deep-rooted history with HBCUs," Gauff wrote in a 2025 press release. "As a young Black athlete, I understand how impactful it is to see people who look like me thriving in both sports and education…. My hope is that this scholarship gives more young Black players the confidence to chase their dreams, knowing they have a strong community behind them and a bright future ahead."

PWHL players made their voices heard this week, as The Athletic published the results of the third-year league's first-ever anonymous player poll on Wednesday, surveying athletes on everything from the best trash-talkers to which nation's team will win Olympic gold at next month's 2026 Winter Games.

Leading the poll's individual accolades is 34-year-old Team Canada and Montréal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin, dubbed the PWHL's best player by 80% of respondents.

Poulin's Team USA counterpart, Seattle Torrent forward Hilary Knight, snagged second as each standout prepares for a fifth career Olympic run.

As for who will win gold in Italy, all but one player predicted a Canada vs. USA Olympic Final, with a 50/50 split on the eventual victor.

Athletes also answered overarching questions about the growing league in the player poll, with Detroit earning the most nods as a PWHL expansion city — though Denver and Chicago also scored double-digit votes.

As for the future face of the league, current New York Sirens forward and 2024 PWHL No. 1 draftee Sarah Fillier narrowly edged out current University of Wisconsin senior and Team USA Olympic defender Caroline Harvey in the players' poll.

Toronto Sceptres forward Emma Maltais beat out Montréal's Abby Roque by one vote for the title of top PWHL trash-talker, though most players tapped her for quantity over quality — an assessment Maltais herself agrees with.

"I'm not trash-talking," clarified the 26-year-old Canadian. "I'm just yapping."

WNBA star Angel Reese is lighting up the silver screen, with the Chicago Sky forward racking up multiple film and TV credits during the league's offseason.

On Tuesday, Netflix revealed that Reese will play a character called "Trainer Barbie" in the second season of the streamer's hit show, The Hunting Wives.

Already a fan of the series, Reese's told Hunting Wives creator Rebecca Cutter to "just let me know if you need me for season 2" on X last summer — a conversation that helped spark the basketball star's casting.

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Tuesday's news follows last week's announcement that Reese and Las Vegas Aces star center A'ja Wilson will each voice a role in the upcoming animated film GOAT, produced by the NBA's Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry.

When the film hits theaters on February 13th, fans will see Reese as Propp, a polar bear, while Wilson plays a reptile called Kouyate.

Reese first opened her acting portfolio by playing herself in a cameo in the October 2025 Netflix film A House of Dynamite, with Hunting Wives marking the 23-year-old's first foray into a scripted series.

The eight-episode second season of the Netflix show is currently in production, though a premiere date is still unknown.