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GM football fans. It’s Monday, Feb. 16 - The FA Cup fifth round draw is today, Harry Kane becomes the first Englishman to reach 500 career goals, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
EFL Championship (Feb 16): Coventry City vs. Middlesbrough, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Coventry now trail Middlesbrough in the league after having gone 10 points clear at the top in November. History is on Coventry’s side, though, as they’ve won their last five league games against the leaders, and Middlesbrough have lost six of their last seven away league games against Coventry. However, Middlesbrough have won their last six league matches and could win seven in a row for the first time since May 1987 (7 in the third tier). See the Championship table here.
Results…
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TOP TALKING POINTS
FA Cup Fifth Round Draw
The FA Cup fifth round draw will take place on Monday (Feb 16) at around 18:35 GMT (13:35 ET). See the ball numbers and teams taking part here.
During the fourth round, there were 183 team changes across the 14 fourth-round ties (an average of around 13 per match), showing that heavy rotation is now common across the entire pyramid, not just among Premier League clubs. Championship sides, many in the play-off race or relegation battle, made up to 10 changes, underlining how league priorities are shaping team selection.
In terms of results, the standout upset came at Turf Moor, where League One side Mansfield came from behind to knock out Premier League Burnley. Elsewhere, it was routine for top-flight clubs against lower-league opposition, with Aston Villa and Brighton the only other Premier League sides eliminated after losing to fellow top-flight sides Newcastle and Liverpool, respectively.
Arguably the weekend’s strangest moment came when Chris Kavanagh awarded Newcastle a free-kick even though Villa’s Lucas Digne handled the ball inside the box. Wayne Rooney called it “one of the worst decisions I’ve seen”, while Alan Shearer said the absence of VAR — not in use at this FA Cup stage — showed how reliant referees have become on it. Watch the incident here.
Kane Bags 500
Harry Kane has reached 500 career goals in 743 games after scoring a brace in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 away win at Werder Bremen. He has become the first Englishman in history to reach the milestone, having surpassed Jimmy Greaves' total of 474 in December.
The England captain has netted 78 times for his national team, which makes him the Three Lions’ record goalscorer. He scored 16 goals on loan at Leyton Orient (5), Leicester City (2), and Millwall (9), before going on to score 280 for Tottenham. At Bayern Munich, Kane has scored 125 goals in 131 appearances, 26 of which came in only 22 Bundesliga matches this season. Overall, a fifth (100) of Kane’s goals have come from the penalty spot, and the vast majority of his goals have come from his right foot (318).
Kane reached 500 goals quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo, who in 2015 hit his 500th goal on his 753rd game. However, Lionel Messi was the quickest of the three to reach the landmark, having done so in April 2016 in just 632 appearances — 121 matches faster than Ronaldo and 111 games quicker than Kane.
Referees Fight Back
Serie A’s referee chief has criticised (paywall) players in the league who “try everything they can to cheat” officials following a controversial sending off of a Juventus player in their 3-2 loss to Inter Milan. Gianluca Rocchi, the league’s referee designator, also blamed the league’s coaches because “they never helped us but have made things difficult for us.”
Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu was shown a second yellow as the referee deemed that he pulled the shirt of Inter’s Alessandro Bastoni. Television replays show there was no contact by the defender, but VAR was unable to intervene because it doesn’t deal with yellow card decisions. See footage of the incident here (US link).
Inter’s 3-2 victory, secured with a last-minute winner, saw them go eight points clear of second-place AC Milan in the Serie A table, though AC have played one game fewer. However, Bastoni, his wife, and daughter have since blocked comments (in Italian) on social media after receiving abuse for his apparent simulation.
POLL
Has the FA Cup shown football is better without VAR?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Nottingham Forest have confirmed the appointment of Vitor Pereira as their new head coach on an 18-month deal (More) | Tottenham Hotspur have appointed Igor Tudor as their new head coach (More)
> Lens reclaim the top spot in Ligue 1 following their 5-0 win over Paris FC and PSG’s shock 3-1 loss at Rennes (More)
> Trent Alexander-Arnold claimed an assist on his first start in more than two months as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad to move to the top of La Liga (More) | Barcelona play Girona on Monday (Feb 16) and must win to go above Real in La Liga (More)
> Manchester City Women maintain an eight-point lead at the top of the Women’s Super League; read a full WSL round-up (More); see the table (More)
> Rangers beat Hearts 4-2 for the first time this season to move to within two points of the Scottish Premiership leaders (Match Report) | Celtic came from two goals down and scored in stoppage-time to beat Kilmarnock; see the table (More)
Americas
> US Soccer icon Eric Wynalda has criticised Timothy Weah for speaking out about ticket prices for the 2026 Fifa World Cup (More)
> USL Championship’s Monterey Bay FC has launched a strategic partnership with Bundesliga side Schalke 04 (More)
Rest of the World
> Cristiano Ronaldo made his return for Al Nassr on Saturday after missing three games, and scored his 962nd career goal (More); watch the goal from the stands (Watch)
> The number of teams playing at the Africa Cup of Nations finals could be increased to 28 from 24, CAF says (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Are Premier League clubs sacking managers too early?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 😬 Yes (76%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (21%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
😬 D.P: “If managers aren't given time to implement their own system or team, why bother having them at all? At this point, too many of them are just scapegoats for poor decision-making at the board level.”
😬 Z.A: “I am wondering how a club employs a manager who has just been sacked by another team. The managers in the Premier League are just going round like musical chairs!”
✍️ M.R: “I find it hard to believe that it's in Nottingham Forest's best interests to have four managers in a single season. However, in the case of Tottenham, it is too big a club for being sixteenth in the Premier League and facing a real threat of relegation to be acceptable. While I am sure there are many other issues at the club, such as the insane number of injuries, Frank had enough time to improve results, and a change of management seems reasonable.”
EXTRA TIME
The perfect set-piece from kick-off.
Kane reaches 500 goals: what other records could he break?
Why ACL injuries are now classified as brain injuries.
Adidas’ Bob Marley-inspired Jamaica home and away kits.
Hulk scores a Puskas-award contending free-kick.
Visiting the world’s ‘worst’ football stadium. (video)
GAME FACE ON
Question: Lionel Messi holds the record for the most World Cup appearances with 26. Which former German international did he overtake?
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
I’m more of a taxi driver than a football player now, but it’s OK.
Answer
Lothar Matthaus (25).
