MLS

For more almost a decade now, Bill Hamid has been a stalwart goalkeeper in Major League Soccer. At 19, he became the youngest goalkeeper to win a regular-season MLS match, beating Tim Howard’s record by four days. 

Hamid has now made 200 appearances for D.C. United — and Wednesday night’s was arguably his best performance yet. 

The question is: Will it get him some playing time with the USMNT?

Bruce Arena, the magnificently arrogant New Yorker who was at the helm of the biggest disaster in U.S. soccer history, is back in the coaching ranks.

The New England Revolution hired Arena as its head coach and sporting director on Tuesday morning.

This is Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dark period. Like Francisco Goya before him, he’s probably living in near-solitude outside Lose Angeles in a farmhouse, painting haunting themes concerning his bleak outlook on VAR and retrospective fines from Major League Soccer.

It’s been 227 minutes since his last goal in MLS, a stretch that’s included three straight defeats for the LA Galaxy. When considering his exploits so far this season — nine goals and two assists in 10 games — this current run of form is apocalyptic. 

Despite a 3-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor today, Arsenal finished outside the Premier League top four for the third consecutive campaign. A damning run of late-season form saw the Gunners ultimately stumble to fifth.

Following a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United back on match week 31, Arsenal sat third in the table, but over the final seven matches of the season, the Gunners won only two, drew one and lost four to finish one point behind fourth-place Tottenham.

Alejandro Pozuelo wasn’t a splashy signing like many in the recent years from Toronto FC. The former Real Betis, Swansea and Genk midfielder didn’t have the name recognition of a Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore or Sebastian Giovinco, the man he was brought in to replace after Seba was sold to Saudi Arabia.

But Toronto FC’s new No. 10 is quickly winning over fans north of the border. 

Major League Soccer has fined Zlatan Ibrahimovic an undisclosed amount for diving in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat to the Columbus Crew.

Ibrahimovic was found guilty of simulation in the 23rd minute when going for a loose ball in the box. The hulking Swede threw his body over Crew keeper Zack Steffen, who didn’t make any real contact with the Galaxy striker. 

The referee waved play on with no foul called nor was Zlatan booked for the offense. 

Last night, D.C. United defeated the Columbus Crew 3-1 at Audi Field thanks to goals from Luciano Acosta, Wayne Rooney and Paul Arriola, but the complexion of the match would’ve been wildly different had the Crew’s 22nd-minute opener been allowed to stand.

With the score level at 0-0, referee Ted Unkel got mixed up in the play with United in possession. A pass intended for Acosta never reached its mark because of the ref’s interference, and Wil Trapp immediately released Pedro Santos going the other way. Santos hammered home his finish, 1-0 to the Crew.  

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.