Thursday night’s MLS playoff action provided us with the perfect examples of an exhilarating 0-0 stalemate (Atlanta vs. Columbus earlier in the day) and an entirely forgettable one. The opening 90 minutes between the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City was highlighted by a relatively subdued BBVA Compass Stadium (the Astros might just be the talk of the town at the moment) booing Graham Zusi’s every touch.
Zack Steffen had himself a game on Thursday night. The young Columbus Crew goalkeeper saved everything kicked, headed and scuffed his way against this season’s darlings Atlanta United in an MLS Knockout Round playoff.
Gremio goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe pulled off one of the finest saves you’ll ever see on Wednesday during his side’s Copa Libertadores semifinal against Ecuador’s Barcelona. Gremio, the traveling side in the first leg, took a 2-0 advantage through Luan and Edilson, but Barcelona had an excellent chance to pull a goal back shortly after halftime and electrify the cauldron of yellow in El Monumental.
Look, I don't want to talk about how short Cristian Techera is for a long time, because it really doesn't matter. If you must know, he's 5'2".
The important thing about Techera, though, is how freakishly good he is at kicking a soccer ball. The Vancouver Whitecaps, Techera's team, demolished the San Jose Earthquakes, who admittedly aren't very good, 5-0. The moment of the match belonged to Techera and Techera only.
Y'all, the Chicago Fire's back line is just awful. That was the main takeaway as the New York Red Bulls unceremoniously dumped the Fire out of the MLS playoffs, 4-0.
In (near) Chicago, no less.
New York's omnipresent Brit opened the scoring seven minutes in.
Make it back-to-back hat-tricks for 17-year-old Liverpool talent Rhian Brewster at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India. After hitting the United States for three in England’s 4-1 victory in the quarterfinals, the London-born striker again found the back of the net thrice, this time in the Three Lions’ 3-1 victory over Brazil in the semifinals.
Brewster, who scored on his Liverpool U-23 debut back in January, now leads the tournament’s Golden Boot race with seven goals. He also bravely struck the first penalty in England’s Round of 16 shootout triumph over Japan.
In UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifying there are a lot of routs. Half of the 10 matches played Tuesday involved scorelines of 3-0 or worse (most were worse, much worse), including Germany’s 11-0 thrashing of Faroe Islands. Scotland’s match against Albania was no different but for one feature: none of those other lopsided affairs had a goal this pretty.
FC Porto manager Sergio Conceicao’s search for the right formation and personnel in both the Primeira Liga and Champions League has led to Mexican international Jesus “Tecatito” Corona being handed less minutes than he’d probably like, but the 24-year-old winger was handed a start against Pacos de Ferreira on Saturday and certainly gave his manager something to think about with a flawless 75-minute display that included a goal and an assist.
The largest Premier League attendance of all-time — 80,827 spectators inside Tottenham’s temporary Wembley Stadium home — witnessed a hugely absorbing encounter between Spurs and Liverpool on Sunday with the home side ultimately registering a comprehensive 4-1 victory. Liverpool’s defense, particularly center half Dejan Lovren, was an absolute shambles, and Tottenham were cruising at 4-1 by the match’s 56th minute thanks to a brace from Harry Kane and additional goals from Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli.
Based on the evidence here, Sofiane Boufal’s Southampton career is something of a slow burn. The Moroccan attacker arrived last season for a club-record fee of over $21 million. He then scored one Premier League goal in 24 matches for the Saints. But Boufal has already matched that total this season thanks to a match-winner against West Brom that could ultimately stand as the EPL Goal of the Season.