Manchester City
Cavan Sullivan keeps breaking records as Manchester City move edges closer
Cavan Sullivan keeps setting records in MLS, and Manchester City remain his next step.
Cavan Sullivan’s rise through Major League Soccer has become impossible to ignore. The teenager first made history in 2024, when he debuted at 14 years and 293 days old, taking the record as the league’s youngest ever player from Freddy Adu. He has now added another landmark to that resume.
Sullivan produced his fifth goal contribution in as many games on Saturday, pushing his season total to 11 in league play, with four goals and seven assists. That number overtook Adu’s long-standing mark for the most goal contributions by a player aged 16 or younger in a single season. Adu had set the previous benchmark with 10 in 2005.
After the match, Sullivan spoke about the finish and the celebration. “I was in the box, that’s where things happen,” Sullivan told reporters post-game. “I followed it up … it was at that awkward height where it just slid right in. No, I’m really happy.
“And the celly, I was waiting to do that for a while. I had Kim, our photographer, holding the chalk for multiple games. I just kept missing out on it, or I was away. But tonight, great crowd, and it was the perfect time.”
His form has not been limited to league matches. Across all competitions this season, Sullivan has 14 goal contributions, made up of seven goals and seven assists in 27 appearances. Half of those contributions have come in the last month, across only six outings. He has credited interim manager Ryan Richter for giving him more consistent starts and greater trust on the pitch.
Richter was equally direct after the game. “He is finishing plays off,” Richter said post-match. “Getting himself into positions to score goals that don’t all need to be like his goal against Red Bull [New York on Aug. 29], when he makes an incredible individual play.
“You can contribute to the game and get your goals and assists, be decisive and productive in the game by being in the right place at the right time. And that’s where he was tonight, and he finished the play well.”
Sullivan’s output has helped drive the Union’s recovery. They are unbeaten in their last eight league matches, moving from last place to ninth in the Eastern Conference and into a playoff position for the first time this season.
His contract includes a clause that will send him to Manchester City when he turns 18. For now, he remains focused on MLS, though he is still in contact with the club. “We keep in touch,” Sullivan tells Sports Illustrated about the blue side of Manchester. “But mainly I’m just focused on doing my thing here.”
Manchester City
How Manchester City Could Face Immediate Expulsion Before Appeal Is Decided
Manchester City face pressure over expulsion rules as executives weigh action before the appeal verdict.
Manchester City’s weekend victory over Liverpool ensured there was no immediate fallout from the guilty verdict, at least on the pitch. But off it, the situation remains unresolved, with the club still appealing and maintaining that its innocence will be established.
For now, no sanction has been imposed. That leaves the Premier League in a holding pattern, even though its own rules do provide a route for the most severe outcome of all: expulsion.
Under Rule B6 of the league’s regulations, members can vote to remove a club from the competition. The rule states: “The League may expel a Club from membership upon a special Resolution to that effect being passed by a majority of not less than three-quarters of such members as (being entitled to do so) vote by their representatives or by proxy at a General Meeting of which notice specifying the intention to propose the Resolution has been duly given.”
In practical terms, that means 15 clubs could join forces to force City out immediately. The Independent has reported that discussions of that possibility have already taken place among several club executives.
One executive was quoted as saying: “This is a farce that will lead to protest, damage to the integrity and reputation of the competition, and possibly even violence,” one is quoted as saying. “The board has a duty at law to its shareholders to protect, enhance and promote the interests of the Premier League.”
The rule exists for a reason, and in theory it gives clubs the power to act if they believe expulsion serves the competition’s interests. Even so, that prospect is widely viewed as unlikely in the present climate.
Any attempt to remove City would almost certainly face a successful legal challenge, which would only deepen the uncertainty already surrounding the case.
Despite that, pressure for action is not easing. Club executives are still pushing for an immediate response, with growing concern that the season cannot continue along its current course.
Analytics & Stats
Premier League Gameweek 6: the standout performers by FotMob rating
FotMob ratings highlighted the top performers from a strong Premier League Gameweek 6 return.
After a three-week international pause, the Premier League resumed with a sixth round that produced a strong spread of individual displays. Using FotMob’s player ratings, here is a rewritten look at the weekend’s top 10 performers.
Declan Rice earned an 8.3 in Arsenal’s 2-1 comeback win over Leeds United. The midfielder was central to the result, posting a match-high 89 touches, adding 10 defensive contributions and producing the kind of subtle quality that made Bruno Guimarães’s winning goal possible.
Chelsea also featured heavily. Morgan Rogers, rated 8.3, scored the Blues’ second in their 5-1 win over Bournemouth and continued to settle quickly at Stamford Bridge. His dribbling stood out, while a cross-cum-shot helped take him to four Premier League goals in six games. He also recorded a match-high 13 defensive contributions.
Crystal Palace’s 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest included strong showings from Yéremy Pino and Adam Wharton, both on 8.3. Pino got on the scoresheet and created the most chances in the match with three, while Wharton supplied an assist from a corner and combined control with discipline, winning 75% of his ground duels and 100% of his aerial battles without conceding a foul.
Jérémy Doku changed Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Liverpool from the bench, yet still led the match in dribbles with five and chances created with three before finishing with a superb strike. Elliot Anderson, rated 8.5, provided relentless energy and creativity, capped by the assist for Doku’s goal.
Rayan Cherki was the top-rated City player against Liverpool at 8.6, ending the scoring with a goal that summed up his flair and confidence. João Pedro led the weekend with an 8.8 after two goals for Chelsea against Bournemouth, doing his job in the physical contest and still making a decisive attacking impact from 25 touches.
Liverpool
Iraola questions Gravenberch booking after Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester City
Iraola hit out at Gravenberch’s first yellow after Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester City.
Andoni Iraola was left frustrated after Liverpool’s 3-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City, focusing his anger on Ryan Gravenberch’s red card and what he felt were soft decisions from referee Chris Kavanagh.
Liverpool were already under pressure when they conceded three times in a 13-minute spell after going down to a numerical disadvantage, and Iraola argued that Gravenberch’s first yellow was far too harsh. He also suggested the standard applied in the match should be carried through the rest of the season.
“I think the first foul of Ryan is never a yellow card, never,” said the Spaniard. “These kinds of games, just a stomp on the big toe, or something minor. He doesn’t even call the foul straight away. He lets bit go, I think Elliot Anderson does a couple of steps. He decides to go down. I don’t know why after he shows the yellow card, because it’s not a situation where it leaves advantage.
“We had nine players behind the ball. It’s like they had a lot of, you know, it was in the middle of the pitch, no danger there. And then you put, as a referee, yourself in trouble, and also you put us in trouble.”
His irritation was not confined to that incident. He added: “Also, at the beginning of the game, yellow card of Ronald [Araújo], I know he complains, he does this. But in these kinds of games, if you are going to start after a handball of [Marc] Guéhi, the punishment is for Ronald complaining.
“You put it straight away at the beginning of the game, the right back with a yellow card. I think you are in the textbooks, yes, perfect. He complains, you can show a yellow card, but then I will be very careful all the season. Every time someone complains, it has to be a yellow card.”
Gravenberch’s second booking, for pulling down Doku in the 62nd minute, was described as a clear yellow. But the first caution remained contentious, with the Dutchman booked in the 47th minute for contact that appeared minimal after he tried to pull out of the challenge. Speaking with Sky Sports, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher also disagreed with Kavanagh’s first booking decision.
