Game Recaps

LONDON — Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk powered home a header in extra time as his side beat Chelsea 1-0 in the League Cup final on Sunday to clinch a record-extending 10th title in the competition and crown Jürgen Klopp's final season in charge with silverware.

Van Dijk rose high above his marker to head a corner back across goal and into the far corner in the 118th minute, sparking wild celebrations among the Liverpool supporters massed at that end of Wembley stadium.

Van Dijk goal vs Chelsea Carabao Cup final

Lionel Messi bagged an assist as Inter Miami kicked off the 2024 MLS Season with a 2-0 victory vs. Real Salt Lake on Wednesday. What everyone is talking about is a Messi injured player trick we have never seen before.

Messi is one of the most creative players on the ball in the sport’s history. On Wednesday he did something this writer has personally never witnessed a player try before. He used an injured player on the ground and dribbled over him.

Messi injured player trick

Soccer fans in Los Angeles did not show out for the United States women’s national team’s 5-0 victory vs. Dominican Republic in the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup on Tuesday.

The USWNT will play all three of their group stage games at Dignity Health Sports Park, the home of the LA Galaxy. The players will be hoping the attendance improves as the tournament progresses.

On Tuesday just 3,242 fans filled the 27,000-seat stadium.

Why was the USWNT attendance so low?

MANCHESTER — Erling Haaland pushed aside a television camera after the final whistle on Saturday, his frustration spilling over after he took nine shots but scored no goals for the first time in his Manchester City career.

Rodri netted a late equalizer to salvage a 1-1 Premier League home draw for the champions against Chelsea as they avoided their first loss at the Etihad in 15 months.

Arsenal netted three first-half goals in a 3-1 victory over Manchester United in front of a record Women's Super League crowd of 60,160 on Saturday that keeps them in the race for the title after Chelsea's 1-0 loss to Manchester City.

Chelsea remain top of the table, level on 34 points with Manchester City following their loss to them on Friday night, and a sold-out Emirates Stadium saw the Gunners close the gap to the top two to three points after an easy win over United.

FA WSL attendance record

COPENHAGEN — Manchester City survived a scare to beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Parken Stadium on Tuesday, with Phil Foden scoring late to ensure a two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg.

With the Danes still on their winter break, City dominated the opening exchanges and they took the lead in the 10th minute when Kevin De Bruyne scored with a brilliant first-time finish across the keeper and in at the far post.

LEVERKUSEN — Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen outplayed champions Bayern Munich for a 3-0 victory on Saturday that sent them five points clear at the top of the league and put them firmly in charge of the title race.

Goals from Josip Stanisic, Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong made sure of the three points as Leverkusen, who have never won a Bundesliga title, and stretched their unbeaten run to 31 matches across all competitions this season.

AL RAYYAN — Jordan upset South Korea 2-0 in their Asian Cup semi-final on Tuesday at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium where Yazan Al-Naimat and Musa Al-Taamari scored second-half goals to guide them into the final for the first time.

The result was a stunning upset for Jordan, who are ranked 87th in the world but played with nothing to lose against South Korea who are the third-best team in Asia, 64 places above them.

BOUAKE — Hosts Ivory Coast kept up their incredible escape act at the Africa Cup of Nations as they came from behind to beat Mali 2-1 in Saturday’s quarterfinal, scoring a last-gasp goal in extra time to book a semifinal with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Oumar Diakite got a touch to Seko Fofana’s strike to win the game for the Ivorians, who played with 10 men for most of the match after Odilon Kossounou was sent off shortly before halftime.

IVORY COAST ADVANCES

NEWCASTLE — Newcastle United fought back from two goals down in a rollercoaster 4-4 draw against Luton Town, who stayed just outside the Premier League drop zone, at St James' Park on Saturday.

Newcastle vs Luton highlights

Newcastle looked set for a comfortable home win when Sean Longstaff put them ahead after seven minutes but Luton, who thrashed Brighton 4-0 on Tuesday, equalized twice to go in 2-2 at the break.

What a move by Newcastle