THE SOCCER REPORT

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid rock Houston, James Harden invests in Dynamo/Dash

Victor Araiza
Jul 23, 2019, 7:10 am
FC Bayern Munich picked up a 3-1 win over Real Madrid in front of 60,314 at NRG Stadium. Credit: Deporte Total USA

There were plenty of great goals scored over the weekend and plenty of sellouts too as European club friendlies continue. In MLS, the playoff race begins to take shape with urgency setting in on recent results.

African Cup of Nations

Senegal v Algeria Highlights - Total AFCON 2019 - FINAL www.youtube.com

The final international cup of the summer concluded as Algeria defeated Senegal 1-0 to crown themselves the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Champions. Nigeria defeated Tunisia by the same margin earlier in the week to take 3rd place.

International Champions Cup

Full Match | FC Bayern vs. Real Madrid 3-1 | International Champions Cup 2019 www.youtube.com

Houston was in worldwide spotlight as two European giants faced off in front of 60,314 attendees at NRG Stadium on Saturday night. FC Bayern Munich fans left with the bragging rights as their team picked up a 3-1 victory of Real Madrid. Madrid fans did leave with joy after seeing the debut of the club's major summer signing Eden Hazard.

Major League Soccer

LA Galaxy vs. Los Angeles Football Club | HIGHLIGHTS - July 19, 2019 www.youtube.com

Zlatan Ibrahimovic took the spotlight and the glory this week in Major League Soccer with a hat-trick performance in LA Galaxy's 3-2 win over rivals, and league leaders, LAFC. Brian Fernandez, arguably the best signing of the year, also showcased himself with two goals in the 2-1 Portland Timbers win over rivals Seattle.

Toronto FC vs. Houston Dynamo | HIGHLIGHTS - July 20, 2019 www.youtube.com

The Houston Dynamo had a roller coaster week after losing 0-5 at Atlanta United on Wednesday before picking up a rare road win with a 3-1 result at Toronto FC. Forward Mauro Manotas was a topic of conversation after taking on five TFC defenders in the win.

Off the field, the Dynamo made noise with the announcement of James Harden as a 5% owner of the Dynamo, Dash organization. The Rockets star is an active soccer fan and was part of adidas uniform unveiling of Premier League side Arsenal just last week.

James Harden now an owner of Houston Dynamo and Dash www.youtube.com

East top seven: 1. Philadelphia (39), 2. Atlanta (36), 3. D.C. United (35), 4. NY Red Bulls (34), 5. NYCFC (32), 6. Montreal (30), 7. New England (30)

West top seven: 1. LAFC (46), 2. LA Galaxy (37), 3. Seattle (35), 4. Minnesota (34), 5. San Jose (34), 6. Dallas (32), 7. Real Salt Lake (30)

Scoring leader: 21 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Assists leader: 13 - Maxi Moralez (NYCFC)

Liga MX

Goles Jornada 1 | Liga BBVA MX www.youtube.com

The Apertura 2019 season kicked off in Mexico over the weekend with some of the usual suspects going straight to the top of the standings in week 1.

Top eight: 1. Santos Laguna (3), 2. Tigres UANL (3), 3. Club America (3), 4. Leon (3), 5. Tijuana (3), 6. Pumas UNAM (3), 7. Queretaro (3), 8. Atlas (3)

Scoring leader: 2 - Javier Aquino (Tigres UANL), Nicolas Castillo (Club America)

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National Women's Soccer League

The post FIFA Women's World Cup tour begins in the NWSL as many of the U.S. women return to their clubs. The Houston Dash picked up their first win since May with a road win at Washington.

Houston Dash 2-1 Washington Spirit | Highlights www.youtube.com

Standings: 1. Portland Thorns (23), 2. North Carolina Courage (22), 3. Chicago Red Stars (20), 4. Reign FC (20), 5. Washington Spirit (18), 6. Utah Royals (18), 7. Houston Dash (16), 8. Orlando Pride (11), 9. Sky Blue FC (8)

Scoring leader: 10 - Sam Kerr (Chicago)

Assists leader: 4 - 5 players tied

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Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Tuesday, July 23

4:00 a.m. - [Friendly] - FC Barcelona vs. Chelsea (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)

5:15 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] River Plate vs. Cruzeiro (beIN SPORTS)

6:00 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] Real Madrid vs. Arsenal (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

7:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Penarol vs. Fluminense (beIN SPORTS Connect)

7:30 p.m. - [Leagues Cup] Chicago Fire vs. Cruz Azul (ESPN+)

8:00 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] Chivas vs. Atletico Madrid (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

8:00 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] FC Bayern Munich vs. AC Milan (ESPN+)

10:00 p.m. - [Leagues Cup] LA Galaxy vs. Tijuana (ESPN, TUDN)

Wednesday, July 24

6:30 a.m. - [International Champions Cup] - Juventus vs. Inter Milan (ESPN+)

7:00 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] - Fiorentina vs. Benfica (ESPN+)

7:00 p.m. - [Friendly] Liverpool vs. Sporting CP (TNT)

7:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Atletico PR vs. Boca Juniors (beIN SPORTS en Español)

7:30 p.m. - [Leagues Cup] Houston Dynamo vs. Club America (ESPN+, TUDN)

9:30 p.m. - [Leagues Cup] Real Salt Lake vs. Tigres UANL (ESPN+, TUDN)

Thursday, July 25

6:30 a.m. - [International Champions Cup] - Manchester United vs. Tottenham (ESPN+)

7:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Gremio vs. Libertad (beIN SPORTS)

Friday, July 26

6:30 p.m. - [MLS] NYCFC vs. Sporting KC (ESPN+)

7:30 p.m. - [International Champions Cup] Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

9:00 p.m. - [MLS] LAFC vs. Atlanta United (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Saturday, July 27

7:00 p.m. - [MLS] Houston Dynamo vs. Seattle Sounders FC (KUBE57)

9:30 p.m. - [MLS] Portland Timbers vs. LA Galaxy (FS1)

football bayern vs real madrid bayern munich soccer major league soccer los angeles football club mls la galaxy toronto fc houston dynamo houston dash james harden dynamo abc13 houston oscar de la hoya liga mx

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THE LEFT TURN

NASCAR: Quaker State 400 preview

Photo via: WikiCommons.

This week, the NASCAR cup series heads to Kentucky Motor Speedway for the Quaker State 400. Built in 2001, this track is a 1.5 mile tri-oval with a dog-leg on the front stretch. The most dangerous part of the track has to be turn three as the corner is flat compared to the other three corners that are banked. This has been a major point of contingency for these drivers as most of the cautions end up being there. Look for turn three to be a hot spot come Sunday. Last year, both the Busch brothers finished 1-2 in one of the most exciting finishes of the season so there will be a lot of hype for this race to live up to.

Last week at Indy, as we all expected the race was a crazy one. Over the course of the race's 160 laps, we saw many horrific accidents including a scary pit road accident involving Corey Lajoe, Ryan Blaney, Justin Allgier, Ryan Preece and others. The wreck started when everyone got stacked up entering the pits and the calamity was on from there. During the wreck Brennan Poole struck Rear Tire Changer Zach Price as he was trying to avoid the wrecking cars in front of him. After the incident fans and media alike all held their breath as they awaited news on his condition. But when the camera panned to him being loaded into the ambulance, there was a huge sigh of relief as he gave everyone a thumbs up signifying he was okay. Another scary moment was both Erik Jones and Alex Bowman's vicious crashes. Both cars had tire failures that sent their cars directly into the wall. Fortunately both drivers were okay but their days were over.

In the end, tire wear would end up claiming one more victim as it took out Denny Hamlin as well. With seven laps to go, the four-time winner this season was in prime position to get his fifth victory until his right front tire blew out, sending him hard into the turn 2 wall. This mishap handed the win to his main rival in the championship, Kevin Harvick, as he went on to claim his third Brickyard 400 victory and fourth win of the year. When it was all over, many questioned why there were so many tire failures and if new owner Roger Penske would make an effort to possibly widen the pit-road after the massive accident on Sunday.

Needless to say, there are a lot of questions on what will be different at Indy in 2021. When I talked to spotter Freddie Kraft on Tuesday, he gave a lot of good insights on both topics. When it came to the tire failures, he talked about how the increasing corner speeds at the racetrack has put a lot of pressure on these Goodyear tires which eventually led to them coming apart. As far as Pit-Road and what they can do to fix that, he talked about how it is difficult to make changes to a track that is so historical. Which makes sense, but he followed this up by saying that maybe it would be wise to give up a little history and move the wall over and make it wider. It will be interesting to see what NASCAR does in the coming months.

On Friday, Associated Press journalist Jenna Fryer revealed a bombshell announcement that 7-time champion and NASCAR's biggest name Jimmie Johnson, had tested positive for coronavirus. As everyone knows, the world is going through the worst pandemic it's ever faced in this lifetime. With the sport coming back and racing again, it was only a matter of time until one of the drivers came down with it. Unfortunately it had to be NASCAR's most recognizable driver. Thankfully, Jimmie made a full recovery and was cleared to return this weekend at Kentucky. This was a big scare for everyone in the NASCAR world, but I have to give a lot of credit to Johnson for being as forthright as he was about his diagnosis with everyone who he works with. It will be good to have Jimmie back on Sunday.

The driver that I have winning this weekend is Kyle Busch. While this season has been a disappointment for the defending champion, Kentucky would be a great place for him to turn it around. Ever since the cup series has started going there, Kyle has always been in contention to win. In fact, he won the first cup series race that was run at this track back in 2011. In his nine starts there, Kyle has finished outside the top ten only once and even then he finished 12th, back in 2016. Last season it appeared that Kyle was on his way to a third victory at this track, but he came up one spot short to his brother Kurt in a fantastic last lap duel. After a late race restart this weekend though, I see Kyle redeeming himself and capturing his first victory of 2020. Look for Kyle to get back on track come Sunday.


All stats and information used in this article are brought to you by the good folks at driveraverages.com and Racing-Reference.com, the best websites for all NASCAR stats.
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