Game Recaps

Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League table after an incredible 2-1 victory over third place Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday. Lucas Moura’s 70th minute goal had canceled out Roberto Firmino’s 16th minute opener, but all three points would belong to Liverpool after Hugo Lloris could only parry Mohamed Salah’s header straight into the unfortunate Toby Alderweireld. The ball deflected off the defender and back into the net to send Anfield into raptures.

The UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinal second legs were held across Europe today, and the field has now been trimmed to four after some truly captivating matches between the continent’s biggest clubs.

After defeating Norwegian side LSK Kvinner 3-0 in the first leg, Barcelona took care of business in Lillestrøm by opening the scoring in the seventh minute to doom any hopes of a Kvinner comeback. Barca has advanced to the semis in two of the last three seasons, but the club has never made it to the final. 

Last night, a crowd of 50,000 watched Mexico defeat Paraguay 4-2 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, to make it two wins in two matches for new manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino. 

During a space of 18 first half minutes, El Tri posted three on the South American side to effectively put the game to bed. LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos scored his first international goal in his 40th appearance, Gustavo Gomez put one into his own net and then Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez slotted home the third with only 24 minutes on the clock.

France turned on the style in the second half to thump Iceland 4-0 in Paris, making it two wins from two matches in Euro 2020 qualifying for the world champion. Three days ago, it was Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Raphael Varane on the scoresheet in France’s 4-1 victory over Moldova, and it was the same three attackers that again scored today, but instead of Varane, it was defensive partner Samuel Umtiti amongst the goals.

For those of us that are old, we see a meeting between the Netherlands and Germany sans Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller and even more of our already decrepit existence goes to die.

Still, a meeting between Holland and Germany in Amsterdam remains on of the few fixtures on the international calendar that you’re innately drawn to, and today's exercise showed exactly why.

Scottish football has been the butt of the joke in the British Isles for quite some time now. The Scottish Premier League, or SPL, has been trying to fight the stereotype that Scottish football is terrible via an active YouTube page. The Scottish national team has been including new and talented young players that ply their trade in a diverse number of high level leagues across Europe in order to show that Scottish football is indeed quality.

Everybody knew the atmosphere inside Nippert Stadium for FC Cincinnati’s home debut in MLS would be special, but a 3-0 victory over 2018 MLS Cup finalists Portland Timbers made it an unforgettable afternoon for a capacity crowd of 32,500. 

Should we mention that over in Columbus on Saturday, the Crew drew 9,687 fans for a match against FC Dallas, a difference of 22,813? Don’t shoot the messenger.

Having won Italy’s Serie A title for seven consecutive seasons now, it’s obvious that Juventus did not buy Cristiano Ronaldo last summer in a bid to establish domestic dominance. The Old Lady spent nearly $130 million on the 34-year-old to finally land the prize that’s eluded them since 1996, the UEFA Champions League.

Atlético and Barcelona drew 60,739 to the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid for a Primera División match Sunday, a world record attendance for a women’s match between two club sides. Atlético was looking to put one hand on the Spanish league title with a positive result, but Barcelona would record a 2-0 victory to cut the host’s lead at the top of the table to just three points with six matches remaining.

D.C. United dropped five goals on Real Salt Lake to continue its undefeated start to the 2019 season, and the match was highlighted by Wayne Rooney’s first-ever hat-trick in MLS play. 

The 33-year-old Englishman opened the scoring from the spot in the 34th minute, applied a delicate chip in the 41st for the second and then guaranteed D.C. all three points in the 65th when sliding in to provide a close-range finish.