Underdogs

LEEDS — Defender Rasmus Kristensen scored a late equalizer to give Leeds United a share of the points in a thrilling Premier League 2-2 draw with Newcastle United that saw Leeds miss one spot kick, concede two more and have a man sent off in stoppage time.

Leeds are still in the relegation zone but move up one spot to 18th on 31 points, one point behind Everton in 17th, while Newcastle remain third in the table on 66 points, three ahead of Manchester United and four ahead of Liverpool.

FC Basel stunned Fiorentina on Thursday with a 2-1 victory away at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in the Europa Conference League. If they can hold on to their aggregate lead at home, then Basel will be headed to the final. This begs the question, has a Swiss club ever made a European final?

Has a Swiss club ever made a European final?

No.

A Swiss team has yet to win a major European trophy or even appear in a final. The semifinal is the closest one has ever come.

The culmination of this week’s midweek U.S. Open Cup matches ensured that 14 of the teams in the tournament’s Round of 16 will be from Major League Soccer, equalling a record set in 2015, 2016 and 2019 for the most MLS representatives at this stage of the competition. The two non-MLS representatives are USL Championship sides Birmingham Legion FC, who beat fellow USLC side Memphis 901 FC 3-0, and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, who pulled off the round’s only “cupset” as they knocked off Bruce Arena’s New England Revolution 1-0.

Given the limelight on Sunday afternoon to show viewers why they'd gone winless through the opening 10 matches of the MLS season, Sporting Kansas City disappointed everyone who was looking for more of the same by beating the Seattle Sounders 2-1 at Lumen Field.

There were a few bright spots for Major Leeds Soccer as they only lost 2-1 to Manchester City on Saturday and gave the league leaders a late scare. One of the rare positive moments from the game was the Weston McKennie long throw strategy.

If you support the United States men’s national team then you know all about McKennie’s throw-in abilities. For some reason Leeds have rarely asked the American to utilize his skills.

New Leeds manager Sam Allardyce was all over it and asked McKennie to huck a ball into City’s box in the 10th minute.

Relegation-threatened Leeds United have sacked manager Javi Gracia and appointed veteran coach Sam Allardyce until the end of the season, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.

With four games left, only a superior goal difference is keeping 17th-placed Leeds out of the relegation zone after taking only one point from their last five games.

Allardyce will be the club's third coach this season after American Jesse Marsch was sacked in February.

LONDON — Brentford condemned Chelsea to a fifth defeat in five games in all competitions under interim coach Frank Lampard on Wednesday as an own goal by Blues' captain Cesar Azpilicueta and a strike by Bryan Mbeumo handed the Bees a 2-0 win in the Premier League.

The loss left toothless Chelsea 11th in the Premier League table, stumbling towards possibly their worst campaign since the 1993/94 season - when they finished 14th under Glenn Hoddle - despite their new U.S. owners' huge outlay on players.

St James' Park was reveling in a glorious attacking display with the atmosphere inside the ground turning into a carnival — every completed pass was greeted with an "olé" while the crowd bellowed "shoot" at goalkeeper Nick Pope whenever he took possession.

We still had 60 minutes to play.  

MAINZ — League leaders Bayern Munich slumped to a 3-1 loss at Mainz 05 on Saturday, conceding all three goals in a span of 14 minutes in their latest slip-up which could prove costly in the race for the Bundesliga title with five games remaining.

The Bavarians, eliminated by Manchester City in the Champions League last eight on Wednesday, could not have imagined a worse afternoon after going 1-0 up courtesy of Sadio Mane's 29th minute header at the far post.