Amazing Goals

With just over two weeks to go until Juventus travels to Amsterdam to play Ajax in the first leg of its Champions League quarterfinal matchup, Cristiano Ronaldo has been forced off injured with an apparent hamstring injury while on international duty.

In the 31st minute of today’s Euro 2020 qualifier between Portugal and Serbia at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, Ronaldo went sprinting after a ball on the left wing before pulling up and immediately signaling for a substitution. 

Canada, winner of gold at the 1904 Summer Games, is back on track. With a 4-1 victory over French Guiana on Sunday, the Canucks secured qualification to this summer’s Gold Cup and a spot in League A at the inaugural 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League. Yes, Canada was expected to blast nations like the U.S. Virgin Islands and Dominica, but John Herdman’s side took care of business, and that’s not something Canada has done since the 2000 Gold Cup.

This is why they paid the man. After agreeing to a new four-year contract with Los Angeles FC back in January — one that’ll pay Walker Zimmerman more than the MLS max budget charge of $530,000 — the center back produced to goods for his side last night in a dramatic 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at Banc of California Stadium.

When Denmark convenes for a friendly against Kosovo (March 21) and a massive Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland in Basel (March 26), it’ll do so without an attacker that many are desperate to finally see at the senior level — 22-year-old FC Copenhagen winger Robert Skov.

Yesterday, Barcelona opened a ten-point gap at the top of LaLiga with only ten matches remaining, all but guaranteeing the club’s fourth league title in five years. The performance that earned the cushion was a 4-1 away victory over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín, and all four Barca goals were of the highest order.

Barcelona looked to take advantage of Atletico Madrid’s defeat to Athletic Bilbao yesterday by defeating Real Betis and opening up a 10-point gap at the top of LaLiga, and the first half of the match at the Benito Villamarín couldn’t have gone better from a Blaugrana perspective.

In the 18th minute, Lionel Messi opened the scoring with an exquisite free kick that flew beyond Pau Lopez in goal. This was Messi’s 27th league goal in 26 games.  

D.C. United dropped five goals on Real Salt Lake to continue its undefeated start to the 2019 season, and the match was highlighted by Wayne Rooney’s first-ever hat-trick in MLS play. 

The 33-year-old Englishman opened the scoring from the spot in the 34th minute, applied a delicate chip in the 41st for the second and then guaranteed D.C. all three points in the 65th when sliding in to provide a close-range finish. 

PSV Eindhoven recorded a massive 1-0 victory over VVV-Venlo at De Koel on Sunday, and the game’s lone goal was an impressive solo strike from Hirving “Chucky” Lozano in the 86th minute.

The victory takes PSV five points above Ajax at the top of the Eredivisie table following the Champions League quarterfinalists' defeat against AZ Alkmaar later in the day. 

The goal was Chucky’s 15th in 24 league games this season (to go along with six assists), and 19th in 34 appearances across all competitions. But this was perhaps the 23-year-old’s finest for the club.