Goals

Arsenal finally dispensed with a long-running narrative of despair by defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the game’s only goal from the spot in the 69th minute after Paul Pogba had needlessly fouled Héctor Bellerín in the area.

The Red Devils have twice now displayed a massive European hangover after achieving impressive results in the Champions League. After defeating PSG 2-1 on Oct. 20, United and Chelsea played out a forgettable 0-0 draw last Saturday. 

That’s a hellish Sunday afternoon for supporters of Everton Football Club.

On the women’s side, the 2020 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium was lost after a dramatic 3-1 extra time defeat to Manchester City. City’s Sam Mewis opened the scoring with an unmarked header off a corner kick in the 40th minute.

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored three minutes into his return following a COVID-19 infection and then added a penalty to help the Serie A champions to get a 4-1 win at Spezia on Sunday.

The 35-year-old, out of action for nearly three weeks after testing positive for the virus, came on in the 56th minute and almost immediately put Juventus 2-1 ahead. Adrien Rabiot added a third before Ronaldo scored with a Panenka-style penalty in the 76th minute to complete their win.

"SIIIIIIIUUUU"

A pair of sublime free kicks by midfielder James Ward-Prowse, between a Jannik Vestergaard header and a Danny Ings pile-driver, gave Southampton an entertaining 4-3 Premier League win at Aston Villa on Sunday. It was Villa's second successive home defeat as they were beaten by Leeds United 3-0 in the previous round of matches after winning their opening four league games, including a 7-2 drubbing of champions Liverpool.

The irrepressible Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored an acrobatic late goal, taking his league tally to seven this season, to give Serie A leaders AC Milan a hard-fought 2-1 win at Udinese on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic, with his back to goal, hooked the ball into the net with an overhead kick in the 83rd minute despite not making proper contact after Sebastien De Maio had sliced an attempted clearance high into the air from Ante Rebic's cross.

Those of us waking up Saturday morning hoping to see some more rampaging action from Christian Pulisic were disappointed when the American was pulled out of the Chelsea lineup late with an injury suffered during warmups. Fortunately, Josh Sargent filled the void admirably, scoring his first Bundesliga goal of the season with a well-taken strike.

The scouting department at Brentford looks to have secured another gem in striker Ivan Toney. 

Brentford has become well-known in recent years for its use of football analytics to scout and sign high-potential players, who the club then sells on for a large profit after a time. This summer's transfer window proved no exception as the Bees sold forwards Ollie Watkins, a $2.2 million arrival in 2017, to Aston Villa for $33.8 million and Saïd Benrahma, who cost the club $1.8 million in 2018, to West Ham for $25.4 million. 

It would be fair to say that Martyn Waghorn has waited a long time to become Derby County's primary free kick taker. Waghorn joined from Ipswich in 2018 but has had nary a sniff of a free kick during his three years in Derbyshire.

Move aside, Kemar Roofe. Make way for Jordi Gómez’s free kick goal from own half in the Europa League on Thursday.

Last week we marveled at Roofe’s stunning effort for Rangers against Standard Liége, struck from just inside his own half. We said it was the goal of the season in the Europa League.

AN ABSOLUTE SCREAMER  pic.twitter.com/t8McXmmRo3

Jaroslaw Niezgoda scored twice and added an assist as the Portland Timbers clinched a Major League Soccer playoff berth with a 5-2 victory against the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday night.

Diego Valeri, Eryk Williamson and Andy Polo also tallied and Yimmi Chara had three assists for the Timbers (10-5-5, 35 points). Portland moved into a second-place tie with the rival Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference, one point behind Sporting Kansas City.