Everton manager Brian Sorensen has signed a new two-year deal with the Women’s Super League club.

Sorensen and his assistant Stephen Neligan have put pens to paper on fresh terms ahead of Friday’s trip to Brighton.

Danish coach Sorensen took over the Merseyside club in 2022 and guided Everton to a sixth-placed finish in his debut season in charge, but they have experienced a difficult current campaign after being hit with a succession of injuries.

“Yeah, really happy. I really like the club and the people here,” Sorensen told a press conference.

“I think we have a good plan in place in terms of progressing the team for the next few years.

“We have a good core group and most important of all my little girl is really happy in school, so she is also happy we stay.”

Neligan has worked with Sorensen at Nordsjaelland and Fortuna Hjorring and will remain with Everton after he also agreed a contract until the summer of 2026.

Sorensen added: “Yeah, really important. I worked with him for this is the fifth year now so we know each very well.

“He is a very skilful coach and we work well together so I’m super happy he is staying also.”

Everton will aim to toast the new contract of boss Sorensen with a win at Brighton on Friday, with the game taking place at their men’s stadium.

“I am very pleased we’re playing at the Amex because of the playing surface. I think that will suit both teams a lot and yeah, hopefully there are a lot of spectators,” Sorensen said.

“We certainly do away at big stadiums very well, we have a good track record and that’s what we will focus on.

“For Brighton, of course they will be buzzing to play at their home stadium. Will it be a different Brighton team? Only time will tell.”

Brighton are eighth in the table and three points above Everton with four WSL matches left to play this season.

The Seagulls have enjoyed an upturn in results since Mikey Harris was made interim boss, but he has not discussed his future with the club since their last game on March 31.

Harris insisted: “No, both parties are really happy carrying on how we’re going. We have four games between now and the end of the season.

“The focus is on performing as well as we can in those four games and I am sure there will be plenty of time to talk after that.”

On the prospect of playing their second match of the season at the Amex, Harris admitted: “It’s huge. It’s our home stadium, a fantastic playing surface and we were fortunate enough to train there this week.

“We’re hoping that gives us a real competitive advantage going into Friday night that the players and staff are familiar with the surroundings.

“We’re hoping to have a big crowd to come and cheer us on to hopefully a positive performance and victory.”

I saw only one team – Rodri bemoans Real Madrid’s tactics after City’s Euro exit

Rodri claims he “saw only one team” trying to win as he bemoaned Real Madrid’s tactics following Manchester City’s heartbreaking Champions League quarter-final loss.

City’s European title defence ended in agonising fashion at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday as the Spanish giants prevailed 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw on the night meant the tie ended 4-4 on aggregate.

It was a clash the holders completely dominated, racking up 33 attempts on goal to the visitors’ eight, but Real defended deep to frustrate them and ultimately ended their hopes of a second successive treble.

City midfielder Rodri said: “To be honest, I saw only one team. In terms of defending, they defended (well). They knew how to suffer and we know how tough Real Madrid are.

“But in my opinion we should go through with that amount of chances but this is the trick of this competition. They know how to play it. We congratulate them.

“We gave everything, there is nothing to regret. This is football sometimes. This shows how difficult it is to win it, as we did last season. It was very frustrating and sometimes it is difficult to explain.”

City’s exit from the competition they won with a Rodri goal in Istanbul last year, coupled with Arsenal’s loss to Bayern Munich, means there are no English semi-finalists for the first time since 2020.

City had to chase the tie after Rodrgyo pounced to put Real ahead after 12 minutes.

They created a plethora of chances in a storming response, with Erling Haaland going the closest in the first half when he headed against the bar.

Further opportunities came and went after the break and it was not until the 76th minute that Kevin De Bruyne finally broke through to net a deserved equaliser.

But De Bruyne spurned a good chance to win it when he fired over soon after and, with extra-time failing to separate the sides, it came down to spot-kicks.

Ederson saved from Luka Modric but Bernardo Silva’s attempted Panenka was too easy for Andriy Lunin, who also denied Mateo Kovavic as Real went through.

The Premier League leaders now have little time to pick themselves up before heading to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea on Saturday.

Rodri said: “We will have to digest the loss but we will have to wake up, stand up. We still have two more competitions to play for.

“We need the mentality (to be) positive, to find any ambition that right now is difficult to find. Tomorrow we will find it and go against Chelsea, try to be in another final and fight for the Premier League.”

City will need to assess key pair Haaland and De Bruyne who, along with Manuel Akanji, were substituted before the penalty shoot-out.

Haaland was removed at the end of the regulation 90 minutes with the influential De Bruyne leaving the action in the second period of extra-time.

Manager Pep Guardiola said: “Erling and Kevin asked me to go out – they could not continue, like Manu. The game we were playing, they were amazing, but they could not continue.”

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FA Cup
FA Cup to scrap replays as part of significant schedule change
The FA Cup will no longer feature replays from the first round onwards
All fixtures will now take place on weekends, rather than in midweek
Expanded UEFA competition format led to changes in domestic cup

By Tom Gott
11:42 AM GMT+1
No more replays in the FA Cup
No more replays in the FA Cup / Catherine Ivill - AMA/GettyImages
The FA have confirmed there will no longer be replays from the first round of the FA Cup onwards.

The expansion of UEFA competitions like the Champions League has forced the FA to explore changes to its own calendar to both protect players and avoid any drop-off in quality in their domestic cups.

Starting next season will be a format which will stick around for at least six years, with one of the main highlights being the removal of replays from the first round.

All fixtures will be played on weekends, rather than during the week, and the fourth and fifth rounds will both be played exclusive of Premier League fixtures to avoid any games in hand or the pile up of fixtures further down the line.

The Premier League have also increased their funding to the football pyramid by £33m annually to help clubs in both the men's and women's system to develop.

Jack Grealish
Man City beat Man Utd in last year's final / Visionhaus/GettyImages
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: "The Emirates FA Cup is our biggest asset and generates over 60% of our revenue to invest into the game, so it is critical to secure a strong format for the future.

"This new agreement between the FA and the Premier League strengthens the Emirates FA Cup and gives this very special tournament exclusive weekends in an increasingly busy calendar.

"The new schedule ensures the magic of the Cup is protected and enhanced, while working for the whole of the English game. The longer summer period also allows a much-needed player break before the start of the next season.

"We have also agreed new funding for the grassroots game, disability football and the women’s and girls’ game. All football begins at the grassroots, and this is recognised by the Premier League with very welcome additional financial support."

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