Manchester United provided some blessed relief to under-fire manager Louis van Gaal by powering into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 romp at League One (third-tier) Shrewsbury Town.
They cheered him to the Old Trafford rafters just for warming up on the touchline, then roared their approval when he finally made it onto the pitch as a Manchester United player in the 67th minute of Sunday's 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.
These and many more stunning photographs are encapsulated in this weekly, striking photo feature put together by Rediiff.com.
Robin van Persie's hat-trick lifted the gloom surrounding Manchester United and manager David Moyes as the English side beat Olympiakos Piraeus 3-0 to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit and reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Jose Mourinho's reshaped Manchester United destroyed Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1 with a performance that thrilled Old Trafford on Saturday and justified his decision to leave out Wayne Rooney. The shake-up seemed to liberate Paul Pogba who led the way with a polished display, heading his first goal for the club on 42 minutes and starting the clever move that led to Juan Mata firing home United's second after 37 minutes.
'Yes, I was sure this was the right decision. We brought Roberto Firmino on for Mo Salah. We could have scored before, we could have scored afterwards, we could have scored all the time. We lived more or less in their box'
'It gives a strong answer to all the questions that were raised during the week'
West Bromwich Albion inflicted further misery on Manchester United, winning 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday to condemn the champions to their worst start to a Premier League season and leave them in the bottom half of the table after six games.
Southampton striker Rickie Lambert will lead England's attack in the World Cup qualifier against Moldova on Friday after Daniel Sturridge was ruled out through injury.
Danny Welbeck and Jesse Lingard both scored twice as English champions Manchester United got their first win of the David Moyes era with a 5-1 victory over an A-League All Stars team at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
Manchester United expect profits to fall back from last season's record levels after the club splashed out on new players to try to regain its place in Europe's soccer elite.
England's prospects of ever winning another World Cup will suffer unless reforms are introduced to give home-grown players more chances to shine.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was frustrated his side "forgot to score" against Swansea City but believes they were unlucky to lose 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho, unveiled as Manchester United's new manager on Tuesday, declared he is a winner who aims to return the club to its traditional position of dominance.
England manager Roy Hodgson gave few clues on Sunday when asked about his attack for the final Group B game against Slovakia from which they need a point to qualify for the knockout stage of Euro 2016. Harry Kane started to disappointing effect in the 1-1 draw against Russia and was then substituted at halftime against Wales with England trailing 1-0. Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy came on to change the game, each scoring in a 2-1 win and both have been tipped to play against Slovakia on Monday.
A rivalry dating back 137 years will reach a new level of intensity in Lens on Thursday when England and Wales meet at a major tournament for the first time.
Everton's Abdoulaye Doucoure scored an extra-time winner as they edged Rotherham United 2-1 in an absorbing FA Cup
Manchester United are finally beginning to look like their old selves.
England defender Chris Smalling headed the only goal with five minutes left as they beat 10-man Portugal 1-0 in a turgid Euro 2016 warm-up match at Wembley in London, on Thursday.
Strikers Marcus Rashford and Daniel Sturridge made Roy Hodgson's final 23-man England squad for Euro 2016 on Tuesday but winger Andros Townsend and midfielders Danny Drinkwater and Fabian Delph were left out. England are taking five forwards to the 24-team tournament in France, which starts on June 10, with Sturridge selected despite doubts over a calf problem. The injury had forced the Liverpool striker to miss England's last two friendly matches, including Friday's win over Australia in Sunderland. The 18-year-old Rashford, who signed a new long-term deal with Manchester United on Monday, became the youngest player to score on his England debut in the 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light. He scored that goal 138 seconds into what was only his 19th professional match, marking him out as one of the brightest emerging prospects and winning plaudits from Hodgson.
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is the sole sportsperson from the country to feature among the world's 100 highest paid athletes in the latest Forbes list topped by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
After losing 1-0 at fierce rivals Manchester City last weekend, United are 10th in the English Premier League following their worst start to a campaign since 1986.
Manchester United's insistence on playing possession football under manager Louis van Gaal means they take far more passes for every shot than any other Premier League team, statistics released on Monday showed.
England created numerous chances but Calvert-Lewin's penalty was the only addition to the score as the hosts impressed ahead of Nations League clashes against Belgium and Iceland.
Manchester United turned frustration into jubilation as they planted one foot in the League Cup final after a late Marouane Fellaini header gave them a 2-0 win over Hull City in the first leg of their last four clash.
'This team is really good and we have invested a lot in it. Now we have to work with that'
Manchester United found a home grown solution to their goalscoring problems in the shape of Jesse Lingard as the 22-year-old celebrated his first Premier League start by breaking an Old Trafford stalemate on Saturday.
Philippe Coutinho scored twice as Liverpool recovered from an early deficit to beat struggling Premier League champions Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and pile more pressure on Blues manager Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United would settle for a point away to CSKA Moscow in their Champions League Group B clash on Wednesday, according to manager Louis van Gaal.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is targeting the second half of the season to build on the team's recent improvement and launch a serious Premier League challenge.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday night.
Rediff.com recaptures these and other exciting sporting moments from the week gone by....
Images from the English Premier League matches on Saturday.
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once said he would not sell Real Madrid "a virus" let alone Cristiano Ronaldo but, as even he found out, when the Spanish giants come knocking they usually get what they want.
Sterling says that money is not a determining factor and ruled out discussing a new contract until at least the end of the season.
Juan Mata struck twice, including a sublime volley, for Manchester United in a 2-1 Premier League victory over Liverpool who had Steven Gerrard sent off for a stamp at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard apologised after he was sent off for a rash stamp.
If England coach Roy Hodgson's two halftime substitutions proved decisive in turning the tide in their 2-1 victory over Wales on Thursday, he still risked a charge of not having made them before the game rather than midway through. As usual, however, the result was all and a win enabled the normally conservative Hodgson to claim justification for his strategy. Others will question whether his loyalty to Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane, both poor for the second successive match, might have been costly in terms of both England's qualification and, after that, his own job prospects.
England and Russia are the big beasts of Group B and, though each would love a winning start when they meet on Saturday, the fear of losing could well become all-pervading and lead to a cagey encounter. With games against Wales and Slovakia to come, and the potential for three teams to qualify with two guaranteed, a point at the Velodrome might look a very useful result in a couple of weeks. England, on the back of winning all 10 qualifiers, not to mention a rare victory in Germany in a friendly, start favourites and will expect to make the running in front of a 60,000 crowd that will be predominantly behind them.
Manchester United emerged from the transfer window with a rich icing and the brightest of cherries to decorate their cake but the suspicion remains that the team's base may crumble under pressure.
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