Highlights

With Chelsea trailing Manchester United 1-0 on an early penalty that was earned largely against the run of play, Frank Lampard subbed on Christian Pulisic for his Premier League debut in the 58th minute to turn the tide. Nine minutes later, United’s lead stood at 3-0. 

A meeting between two Premier League sides trending in a dangerous direction proved as insipid as all that on Sunday afternoon at St James’ Park in Newcastle. A quality finish from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang following a pathetic Newcastle United turnover was the difference in a match that felt like preseason and was largely overshadowed by a foul mood permeating from the Gallowgate End of the ground.

Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt are gone, sold to Barcelona and Juventus, respectively, for a combined $183 million. 

But Ajax can still score some of the prettiest team goals in Euope. 

The Dutch champions, who came within a whisker of the Champions League final last season, routed FC Emmen VV 5-0 on Saturday at Amsterdam ArenA in the Eredivisie, with four goals resulting from the home side making the extra pass.

Last night in Lima, Peru, Honduras upset Mexico after a penalty shootout to advance to the final of the 2019 Pan American Games. It’s a largely meaningless U-22 competition with understrength youth teams, so the Mexican Football Federation won’t be overly bothered by the result, but manager Jaime Lozano will be irked that his side couldn’t hold on to a 1-0 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Especially since that 1-0 lead was built on one of the finest goals of the summer.

As Arsenal and Manchester United’s recent dominance of the FA Community Shield shows (the two clubs had combined to win the event on five of the past six occasions prior to today’s match), England’s annual curtain-raiser is a sign of very little to come in the season ahead. 

A crowd of 37,040 was on hand at the Rose Bowl in Southern California to watch the USWNT kick off its Victory Tour with a 3-0 win over the Republic of Ireland on Saturday night. First half goals from Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Carli Lloyd settled things by the 41st minute, and 17 different World Cup-winners made an appearance on the night, although star attractions Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe both missed the match while recovering from minor injuries.