Mexico

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.

Javier Hernandez may be over the hill in footballing terms at 30 years of age, but the little pea still has big goals in him.

While half of the Premier League is off this weekend for FA Cup action (hidden away behind an ESPN+ subscription here in the U.S.), there were a few matches to watch on Saturday, and they were all fucking bonkers. 

Newcastle United earned a point at Bournemouth when Matt Ritchie smashed a volley into the back of the net in the 94th minute for a 2-2 draw.

Major League Soccer was feeling pretty good about itself after the 2019 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. Although Toronto FC crashed out to Panama’s Independiente, four U.S.-based MLS clubs advanced to the quarterfinals. 

Then reality struck this week and last, yet another case of MLS failing to stack up to Liga MX.

One half of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League semifinal bracket is filled, and it’s an all Liga MX affair pitting Tigres against Santos Laguna. Tigres took care of the Houston Dynamo 3-0 on aggregate despite the absence of injured star Andre-Pierre Gignac. Santos defeated the New York Red Bulls 6-2 on aggregate, but not without receiving something of a scare at Estadio Corona on Tuesday night.

According to Portuguese media outlet Record, Wolverhampton has agreed to a deal with Benfica and Raúl Jiménez to sign the on-loan striker permanently in the summer.

There’s always going to be an emphasis on how Designated Players perform in MLS, that comes with the territory of earning 20 times more than your teammates. And there’s always going to be an extra emphasis on Mexico’s internationals in the league, especially when they’re just 29 and stepping away from three years in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt.

A big storyline from Major League Soccer’s opening weekend was the debut of 16-year-old LA Galaxy phenom Efrain Alvarez. The Los Angeles native was an academy product before becoming a revelation in the USL last year, scoring 12 goals and adding three assists in 17 appearances for the club’s reserve team, LA Galaxy II. 

Monterrey kept pace with Tigres at the top of the Liga MX Clausura table with a 2-0 victory over Guadalajara at Akron Stadium on Saturday, and both Rayados goals were of the highest order.

Also, they were both scored by Colombian attacker Dorlan Pabón, who ripped a long-range golazo in the second minute and then did it again in the 89th.

Here’s the first.

Here’s the second. Déjà vu.

The Galaxy had a Designated Player problem. With four LA Galaxy DPs — and only three allowed by MLS rules — the league’s flagship club had to do something before the start of the 2019 season. 

Last year when Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed with the Galaxy, he signed a smaller contract to keep him under DP status because the club already had three DPs: Giovani dos Santos, Jonathan dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini. But Zlatan re-upped his contract in the offseason, putting him in DP money despite the fact the three others remained under contract.