The U.S. women’s national team opened World Cup qualifying with a goal in the second minute against Mexico. The USWNT absolutely dominated the rest of the half without finding another goal.
The second half, though, was another story.
PSV Eindhoven’s hopes of making it through to the Champions League Round of 16 took a massive blow Wednesday after Pablo Rosario’s smashing opener (assisted by Hirving “Chucky” Lozano) was canceled out by a whistling, 18-yard Radja Nainggolan half-volley and ultimately made meaningless by Mauro Icardi’s comedic winner in the 60th minute.
Déjà vu approached the viewer of CSKA Moscow vs. Real Madrid on Tuesday and punched him or her in the teeth. Whether it was the sight of Russian internationals Igor Akinfeev and Mario Fernandes doing brave defending, Marco Asensio never making the right decision in the final third or Toni Kroos not enjoying himself on Russian soil, Tuesday showed that Julen Lopetegui could only run from the demons he’d managed to avoid by getting sacked before the World Cup for so long.
In all the noise surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus, much was lost regarding the return of prodigal son Leonardo Bonucci. For many, AC Milan had gotten the better of a transfer that saw promising 24-year-old defender Mattia Caldara and Gonzalo Higuain land at the San Siro while the 31-year-old Bonucci — hot off his worst season as a professional — performed a sort of walk of shame back to Allianz Stadium.
When the time comes, the 2018 MLS MVP award will almost certainly go to Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez. However, it says everything about the impact Wayne Rooney has had since arriving at D.C. United back in July that he’s even being mentioned in the conversation.
Before Rooney arrived, United had played 14 matches while totaling only 11 points. After United crushed the Montreal Impact 5-0 at Audi Field Saturday, the club has now played 15 matches with Rooney and recorded 27 points.
The Los Angeles Galaxy’s playoff hopes — and perhaps Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s future in LA — received a much-needed boost last night in the form of a 3-0 win over the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic LA Galaxy stats improved to a tally of 20 goals and nine assists in 24 MLS matches.
When Atletico and Real Madrid last met, Atletico scored a wild 4-2 win in extra time in the UEFA Super Cup in August in Tallinn, Estonia. On Saturday at the Bernabeu, no one won the Madrid Derby — except maybe Barcelona.
In a fairly tame Madrid Derby, neither side could find a way to score in a 0-0 draw. Atletico will take the road point (it hasn't lost in the Bernabeu in six years), but Real will rue the chance to go atop the LaLiga table.
The enthralling Chelsea-Liverpool match was nearing an end with the home side inching closer to an impressive win on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. Then the Daniel Sturridge goal vs. Chelsea happened and the world exploded. Or, at the very least, the internet exploded.
We saw a Cristiano Ronaldo vs Napoli who looked like a younger version of himself on Saturday.
In a matchup of the top two teams in Serie A (both at the end of last season and early in the current campaign), Juventus edged Napoli 3-1 at Allianz Stadium in Turin. And much of what the Old Lady did well on Saturday came down to Ronaldo playing like a winger.
Bayern Munich suffered a surprise setback in a 1-1 draw with Augsburg on Tuesday. Then the German giants were handed their first loss of the season with a 2-0 defeat to Hertha Berlin on Friday. But all the Hertha Berlin vs Bayern Munich highlights were upstaged by one wild moment involving three players and center referee Marco Fritz.