After missing four matches due to an ankle injury caused by teammate Bruno Valdez during training, 18-year-old Club America phenom Diego Lainez made his full return on Saturday by starting his first Liga MX match since Aug. 23. Matt Miazga’s BFF certainly looked back to his best in America’s 3-0 win over Tijuana, going the full 90 minutes and scoring a golazo in the 59th minute.
Minnesota United drew a record crowd for its final home match at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday, and although the 50,000+ in attendance weren’t just there to watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic play (although that’s what Zlatan would have you believe), the big Swede delivered during a rare appearance on turf — he scored the first goal in the 30th minute and delivered an inch-perfect assist for the Galaxy’s third in the 3-1 win.
The ridiculous transformation that D.C. United’s experienced since the arrival of Wayne Rooney reached a fitting conclusion today with a 3-1 victory over New York City FC and a berth in the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. Rooney scored twice for United and strike partner Luciano Acosta was also on the scoresheet before David Villa struck a late consolation goal on a celebratory day at Audi Field.
Real Madrid Castilla (the club’s reserve team) kept up its fine start to Segunda División B Group 1 play with a 1-1 away draw to Celta Vigo B on Sunday. 18-year-old Brazilian phenom Vinícius Júnior scored his fourth goal in five appearances for the team, but any hopes of being involved in next Sunday’s El Clásico at the Camp Nou were dashed when he was sent off for diving shortly after.
Sporting Kansas City took a step toward securing a top-two seed in the Western Conference playoffs last night with a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place. Sporting’s third goal was scored by 16-year-old Homegrown Player Gianluca Busio, making the versatile player the second-youngest goal scorer in MLS history at 16 years and 142 days.
The record, of course, is held by Freddy Adu and will never be broken. Adu scored for D.C. United at the preposterous age of 14 years and 320 days.
The USWNT has lifted the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship after defeating Canada 2-0 in the final, wrapping up an 18-day competition with a record of five wins, zero defeats, 26 goals scored and zero conceded. The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France awaits.
Last night in Dublin, Wales defeated the Republic of Ireland 1-0 thanks to Harry Wilson’s stunning free kick in the 58th minute. The win put the Dragons at the top of UEFA Nations League B Group 4, and a victory over Denmark in Cardiff on Nov. 16 would see the nation promoted to League A — an achievement that would make Ryan Giggs’ early tenure as boss a resounding success.