USA

Landon Donovan and his club’s vow to fight discrimination in soccer captured a small victory as the USL announced a ban against the Phoenix Rising player that used a homophobic slur during a game in September. The hateful language was directed at San Diego Loyal’s Collin Martin, who is openly gay. Donovan and the club chose to forfeit the match in response.

The 2020 MLS regular season is in full swing again following the completion of the MLS is Back Tournament at the Walt Disney World Resort. Everything will look a little different this year with the season cut short and the playoffs expected to begin Nov. 20, so don’t expect the MLS top scorers 2020 and eventual Golden Boot winner to come close to Carlos Vela’s 2019 total of 34 goals or Josef Martínez’s 2018 haul of 31.

FIFA 21 officially releases worldwide on Friday, Oct. 9, but anyone who ordered the Ultimate or Champions editions, as well as those provided early access codes by EA Sports, are now free to play the game. With the early reviews arriving, is FIFA 21 worth it?  

The elephant in the room is the situation faced by video game developers over the course of the ongoing pandemic. I’ve got huge respect for Pro Evolution Soccer’s decision to admit that PES 2021 is nothing more than a “season update” with the latest lineups, kits, etc. and a reduced retail price of $29.99. 

New Netherlands manager Frank de Boer will have a tough job over the next fortnight trying to convince the doubters he is the right man to lead the national team after Ronald Koeman.

De Boer, 50, took over last month from Koeman, who left to join Barcelona, and will make his debut on Wednesday when the Dutch host Mexico in a friendly followed by two Nations League games away to Bosnia on Sunday and Italy three days later.

Arsenal climbed back to the top of the FA Women's Super League with a hard-fought 3-1 win over bottom side Bristol City, while Fran Kirby's early headed goal gave champions Chelsea a narrow 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Sunday.

Arsenal went behind to an Abi Harrison effort after six minutes, but goals either side of halftime by Jordan Nobbs and Caitlin Foord put them back in the driving seat, with Dutch ace Vivianne Miedema adding a third five minutes from full time.

A perfectly balanced contest between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Camp Nou on Sunday ended in a 1-1 draw with Luuk de Jong’s early strike being promptly cancelled out by Philippe Coutinho’s first goal for the club since May of 2019.

The meeting between second (Barça) and fourth (Sevilla) in last season’s table figured to be the sternest test of Ronaldo Koeman’s early reign despite the fact that Julen Lopetegui wasn’t on Sevilla’s bench after being sent off in Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Levante.

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski scored four goals including a stoppage-time penalty to give the German champions a 4-3 home win over Hertha Berlin in a pulsating Bundesliga clash at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.

The result left Bayern fourth in the standings on six points from three games, one behind the top three led by Leipzig on goal difference, while Hertha slipped to 13th on four points.

Lewandowski fired Bayern into a 2-0 lead with two trademark goals before the visitors hit back through Jhon Cordoba and Matheus Cunha to set up a frantic climax.