While the Premier League overseas actually has an exciting title race for once, the best race of 2019 might be across the pond in Major League Soccer. We’re less than 10 games into the season, but the 2019 MLS Golden Boot race is shaping up to be something special.
Case in point: Wayne Rooney’s free kick against Columbus on Wednesday night.
The opening seven seconds of today’s Premier League fixture between Europa League hopefuls Watford and relegation-threatened Southampton DID NOT DISAPPOINT. A lot of supporters inside Vicarage Road hadn’t even made it to their seats by the time Shane Long opened the scoring for the Saints. Clocked at just seven seconds, it’s the fastest goal in Premier League history.
The previous mark was held by Tottenham’s Ledley King, who scored with a deflected effort against Bradford back in 2000 inside 9.7 seconds.
This past Sunday night the Orlando Pride faced the Seattle Reign in Tacoma, Washington, where the Pride picked up its first point of the 2019 NWSL season after drawing 1-1 at Cheney Stadium.
Orlando took an early lead after being rewarded a free kick outside the box in the sixth minute. Australian defender Alanna Kennedy gave the Pride the upper hand when she casually hit a perfect bicycle kick inside the box. Although the Pride didn't ultimately get all three points, if there were points awarded for style they definitely would have won by a landslide.
After two consecutive defeats turned the narrative surrounding PSG into the sort of existential crisis that could only be penned by compatriot Jean-Paul Sartre, Kylian Mbappé’s 55-minute hat trick — taking him to 30 goals on the year and just three behind Lionel Messi in the race for the European Golden Shoe — propelled the club to a sixth Ligue 1 title in seven seasons.
Manchester United started brightly against Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday. Marcus Rashford was in on goal and nearly scored seconds into the match.
And the Red Devils had a bit of fortune when the VAR overturned a penalty decision to keep the scores level.
Then Lionel Messi broke loose with two goals in four minutes, quickly making up for a quiet first leg in Manchester (after being bloodied by Chris Smalling).
Sometimes a miss can be just as beautiful as a goal. I once compiled a list of my favorite almost goals (which you can find here), but a lot of them include the football cracking off the post in a totally satisfactory way (large ping included) or Zinedine Zidane “Zidane Turning” his way beyond defenders before languidly spooning a shot into the heavens.
Without having ever made the jump to MLS, 31-year-old Colombian striker José Angulo has been a constant source of goals in the USL Championship over the years, including a league MVP and Golden Boot-winning campaign back in 2013.
Angulo has bounced around the American lower divisions for 10 years now, but he’s currently on the books at Hartford Athletic, a club enjoyed its inaugural season in the USL.
Hartford has suffered six defeats in its first six matches, but Angulo registered his first goal for the club yesterday during a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburg Riverhounds.
Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League table on Sunday morning with a convincing 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace, heaping the pressure on Liverpool ahead of its colossal clash against Chelsea at Anfield later in the day.
That pressure built after Chelsea kept Liverpool off the scoresheet in the first half despite decent opportunities for the misfiring Mohamed Salah and the in-form Sadio Mané, and the Blues posed their own menace on the counter through Eden Hazard and Willian.
Nicolas Belvito is the definition of a journeyman.
The 32-year-old striker has played for 12 different clubs over his 14-plus year career, all in France.
Now playing for Grenoble in Ligue 2, he may have scored the best goal of his career on Friday.
The match was tied at a goal apiece when Belvito decided to take matters into his own hands (feet).
Late work in the visual arts, like those of Rembrandt, can often showcase an artist at their most profound. What’s revealed is the certainty of a master — the piece stands apart from the contemporary and proclaims its own thingness. With that being said, have a look at what Xavi’s aging right foot is up to.
It painted a stunning work in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday during Al Sadd’s Asian Champions League group stage match against Pakhtakor.
In the sixth minute of the match, here’s the 39-year-old going top bins after ambling his way to the top of the box.