C.F. Monterrey are cruising at the top of the Liga MX table with the playoffs looming, and they have the league’s stingiest defense to thank for that. Los Rayados have conceded only nine goals in 14 matches, and 18-year-old defensive midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez has played a large role in accomplishing that mean feat.
Bobby Wood spent an anonymous 56 minutes on the pitch last weekend in Hamburg’s 2-1 defeat to Hertha Berlin, consigning the club to 16th in the 18-team Bundesliga and opening Wood to fierce criticism from manager Markus Gisdol. Wood has started nine league matches for Hamburg this term, but he’s only managed a single goal. That was back in August.
The Columbus Crew did it again. Five days after shocking MLS darlings Atlanta United on penalties in front of over 67,000 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Crew returned home and put the beatdown on the highly marketable New York City FC in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Black & Gold put four past 10-man NYCFC in a resounding 4-1 victory, David Villa registering the lone goal for NYCFC.
Monday night’s playoff encounter between the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC saw the continuation of a narrative that’ll likely follow TFC for years to come: wherever the club goes, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are not going to be given a warm reception. It began on October 22 with Toronto’s visit to Atlanta, TFC’s first road match since that unspeakable encounter between the United States and Trinidad & Tobago. It continued on Monday night at Red Bull Arena.
That was one heck of a home-field advantage for the Houston Dynamo. Playing the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals Monday at BBVA Compass Stadium, the Portland Timbers lost three players to injury in the opening 60 minutes on a playing surface that wasn’t in playoff condition.
Sebastian Giovinco is extremely good at free kicks. The little Italian is as good as just about anybody in Europe, barring the truly world-class free kick-takers. He's certainly the best free kick-taker in MLS.
Giovinco displayed his exceptional talents in the 72nd minute with Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls knotted at 1-1 Monday.
Bang.
Mexican midfielder Gerardo Torrado played his final match on Sunday, ending a legendary career that spanned 20 years. He played for more than a decade with Cruz Azul, amassing 325 appearances. He played 146 times for the Mexican national team, trailing only Claudio Suarez for most all-time El Tri appearances.
Back in May of 2015, the United Soccer League (the second division of the American soccer pyramid) announced its ambitious plan to have all its clubs playing in soccer-specific stadiums by 2020.
While playing for a big team like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United or Chelsea is definitely the most common dream for young players, some analysis shows that moving to Spain or England may not be the best choice for CONCACAF players in Europe, at least not early on in their careers.
In this article, we will analyze what the best options are for CONCACAF players dreaming of having successful careers across the pond.
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.