The Houston Dynamo had a dream start in the U.S. Open Cup final thanks to Mauro Manotas. They had a dream finish thanks to the Philadelphia Union's Auston Trusty.
Manotas scored two goals in the first half and Trusty shockingly smashed the ball into the back of his own net as the Dynamo won their first U.S. Open Cup 3-0 on Wednesday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.
Twenty-year-old American midfielder Luca de la Torre — a native of San Diego, California — scored his first competitive goal for Fulham on Tuesday in the Cottagers' 3-1 win over Millwall in the League Cup. Not only did De La Torre bag Fulham’s second of the day, he also assisted Joe Bryan on the first and Cyrus Christie (#COYBIG) on the third.
Here’s his first for the club.
Earnie Stewart’s search for the next USMNT manager hit the news wires this week after the U.S. General Manager was spotted at MAPFRE Stadium to watch Gregg Berhalter’s Columbus Crew defeat Colorado 2-1, and the flames of the fire were further fanned with the rumor that Stewart had held talks with FC Dallas coach Oscar Pareja — a rumor that was later quashed by Yahoo! Sports.
Over the last fear years, the United Soccer League has asserted itself as the clear No. 2 soccer league in the United States. The league is hoping to further cement that status with a recent rebranding, including a new USL structure featuring three full leagues and the possibility of promotion/relegation amongst them.
If the Daily Mirror is to be believed, former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has already held preliminary talks with Inter Miami owner David Beckham over potentially being instilled as the club’s first-ever manager for its maiden MLS season in 2020.
The LA Galaxy kept their playoff hopes alive by defeating Western Conference rivals Seattle Sounders 3-0 at StubHub Center in California Sunday night, but the true MVP of the game (according to Zlatan Ibrahimovic) was seven-year-old national anthem performer Malea Emma.
Emma belted out “The Star-Spangled Banner” in truly memorable style. This’ll give you the chills.
It’s official: The 2018 North Carolina Courage will go down as the finest side in NWSL history after dominating the Portland Thorns 3-0 in front of a sellout (and hugely pro-Thorns) crowd at Providence Park. Jessica McDonald was voted the game’s MVP after scoring a brace either side of halftime, but the Courage never looked back from Debinha’s opening goal in the 13th minute, dominating the entirety of the match much like they did the NWSL season.
It’s easy to imagine that when Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined the LA Galaxy back in March, he saw the distinct similarities between joining the MLS side and his previous move to Manchester United. Just like United’s malaise following the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, the Galaxy were struggling despite its standing as the most decorated club in the history of the league.
After scoring a fluky goal against Club Bruges in the Champions League Tuesday (although a hugely important one that secured all three points for Borussia Dortmund), Christian Pulisic made it two goals in two games after salvaging a point for BVB against Hoffenheim Saturday.
Perhaps most importantly from an individual perspective, the 20-year-old went the full 90 minutes for the first time this season after being sidelined at the start of the campaign with a muscular injury.
Lindsey Horan scored the match winner in the 2017 NWSL final. Her 2018 season is shaping up to be even better. On Friday, the day before she leads the Portland Thorns against the North Carolina Courage in a repeat NWSL Championship, Horan was named 2018 NWSL MVP.