With Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé all sidelined through injury, new signing Antoine Griezmann took center stage in Barcelona’s 5-2 victory over Real Betis at the Camp Nou on Sunday night.
After losing their season opener last Friday against Athletic Bilbao, Barça’s nightmarish start continued when Nabil Fekir opened the scoring for Betis in the 15th minute.
Given a much more normal pathway to his footballing career, Martin Ødegaard is thriving. After establishing himself as one of the best playmakers in the Eredivisie last season while on loan at Vitesse (the former wunderkind scored eight goals and provided 11 assists in 31 appearances), the 20-year-old Norwegian is finally getting his chance in LaLiga, although he’s now on loan at Real Sociedad.
Liverpool defeated Arsenal 3-1 in an early first-vs.-second Premier League battle on Saturday at Anfield. The final result wasn’t really a surprise for anyone who has paid attention to the Premier League the last few years, even if the Gunners had looked improved in their first two matches of the season.
But Arsenal did manage to end one of the most impressive stats in the Premier League.
Manchester United had, perhaps, the most impressive opening weekend of any Premier League club, routing Chelsea 4-0. Since then, it’s been one frustration after another.
The Red Devils were held to a draw on Monday after Paul Pogba missed a penalty kick. On Saturday, United again missed a penalty and David De Gea made another baffling mistake as Crystal Palace beat Manchester United in the top flight for the first time since 1991.
Scoring a goal is a beautiful thing, as is clearing one off the goal-line from a defensive perspective. But scoring a goal 13 seconds into a match without even touching it? Well it doesn’t get much better than that. It sounds like some serious witchcraft was at play in the early moments of this game. The league should look into that.
As an American, it’s only natural that you’ll go through life encountering people that aren’t soccer fans. I’ve found — time after time — that the greatest bridge over that divide is Zlatan Ibrahimović. Introducing the big Swede’s personality to the uninitiated turns ambivalence into interest, and showing the Galaxy striker’s most famous goals turns interest into “holy shit, that’s incredible!”
LAFC moved one step closer to securing the top seed in the Western Conference — and the MLS Supporters’ Shield — following a 4-0 beatdown of rivals San Jose on Wednesday night at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. Diego Rossi opened the scoring in the sixth minute, Carlos Vela registered a brace by the 41st and Joshua Pérez put the finishing touches on an emphatic victory.
Vela’s first arrived from the penalty spot in the 17th, but it’s his outrageous solo goal in the 41st-minute that could have a shout at the MLS Goal of the Year Award.
With last night’s 2-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls at Audi Field, D.C. United’s chances of hosting a Conference Quarterfinal playoff game took a massive blow. The Red Bulls leapfrogged United in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with the victory, and any chance of a United win was effectively damned by Wayne Rooney’s straight red card in the 24th minute.
Wayne Rooney Red Card Vs. NYRB
Following Video Review, Wayne Rooney is issued a red card.
No club has won the Brasileirão more than Palmeiras, which makes it odd that five Brazilian clubs — São Paulo, Grêmio, Santos, Cruzeiro and Internacional — have all achieved more success in South America’s premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores. Palmeiras has only won the title once, and that happened all the way back in 1999.
24-year-old USMNT goalkeeper Zack Steffen is two matches into his Fortuna Düsseldorf career, and so far he’s helped his club into the second round of the DFB-Pokal and collected Bundesliga Player of the Week honors after recording 10 saves in Düsseldorf’s league-opening victory over Werder Bremen on Saturday.
That’s one helluva start for a man who’s just beginning a year-long loan move from Manchester City, the club he officially joined from the Columbus Crew back in July for a transfer fee of $9.12 million. He’s already surpassed Landon Donovan’s achievements in Germany.