THE SOCCER REPORT
Dynamo tie LA Galaxy in sold out opener; Real Madrid take El Clasico and La Liga lead
Mar 3, 2020, 6:33 am
Mauro Manotas' goal earned the Dynamo their first point of the season. Photo: Manuel Gonzalez / Deporte Total USA
MLS is back with its 25th season and the opening weekend had plenty of big goals and special moments. Over in Europe, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona met in the sport's most talked about rivalry worldwide.
Here is a recap of last week's top action:
International Club competitions
UEFA Champions League
Round of 16 - First Leg
- Chelsea 0-3 Bayern Munich
- Napoli 1-1 FC Barcelona
- Lyon 1-0 Juventus
- Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City
Concacaf Champions League
Round of 16 - Second Leg
- Atlanta United 3-0 Motagua (ATL advances 4-1)
- Cruz Azul 4-0 Portmore United (CAZ advances 6-1)
- New York City FC 1-0 AD San Carlos (NYC advances 6-3)
- Montreal Impact 0-0 Saprissa (MTL advances, 2-2 agg, on away goals)
- Tigres UANL 4-2 Alianza FC (TIG advances 5-4)
- Club America 1-1 Comunicaciones (2-2 agg., AME advances 5-3 on pens.)
- Seattle Sounders FC 2-2 Olimpia (4-4 agg., OLI advances 4-2 on pens.)
- LAFC 3-0 Club Leon (LAFC advances 3-2)
Quarterfinals take place March 10-18
English Premier League
Liverpool FC's bid for an undefeated season ended at the hands of Watford, who jump out of the relegation zone with a 3-0 victory.
Top six: 1. Liverpool (79), 2. Man City (57), 3. Leicester City (50), 4. Chelsea (45), 5. Manchester United (42), 6. Wolves (42)
Bottom three (relegation): 18. Bournemouth (27), 19. Aston Villa (25), 20. Norwich City (21)
Scoring leader: 17 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) / Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Assists leader: 16 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Spanish La Liga
With goals from Vinicius and Mariano, Real Madrid took a 2-0 win in El Clasico and the lead at the top of the table in La Liga.
Top six: 1. Real Madrid (56), 2. FC Barcelona (55), 3. Sevilla (46), 4. Getafe (45), 5. Atletico Madrid (44), 6. Real Sociedad (43)
Bottom three: 18. Mallorca (22), 19. Leganes (20), 20. Espanyol (20)
Scoring leader: 18 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Assists leader: 12 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
German Bundesliga
Top six: 1. Bayern Munich (52), 2. RB Leipzig (49), 3. Dortmund (48), 4. Monchengladbach (46), 5. Bayer Leverkusen (44), 6. Schalke 04 (36)
Bottom three: 16. Fortuna (21), 17. Werder Bremen (17), 18. Paderborn (16)
Scoring leader: 25 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Assists leader: 16 - Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
Italian Serie A
Top six: 1. Lazio (62), 2. Juventus (60), 3. Inter Milan (54), 4. Atalanta (48), 5. Roma (45), 6. Napoli (39)
Bottom three: 18. Genoa (22), 19. Brescia (16), 20. SPAL (15)
Scoring leader: 27 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Assists leader: 12 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)
French Ligue 1
Top four: 1. PSG (68), 2. Marseille (55), 3. Rennes (47), 4. Lille (46)
Bottom three: 18. Nimes (27), 19. Amiens (22), 20. Toulouse (13)
Scoring leader: 18 - Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Assists leader: 14 - Angel Di Maria (PSG)
Major League Soccer
The 25th season of MLS got underway with a soccer game with American football lines... just like the good old days (thanks to XFL at D.C. United's Audi Field).
The Houston Dynamo hosted LA Galaxy and the signing of the offseason in Mexican superstar Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward stole the spotlight but it would be the South American goalscorers who would get on the scoresheet. Cristian Pavon opened the scoring for LA while Mauro Manotas earned the point for the Dynamo - match ended in a 1-1 tie. Alberth Elis and offseason signing Darwin Quintero were among the players who missed the sold out home opener due to injury.
Over 59,000 packed Nissan Stadium in Nashville for the expansion side's opening match against Atlanta United, with the visitors taking a 2-1 victory. David Beckham's Inter Miami, the other expansion team this year, lost 1-0 at LAFC on Sunday.
Liga MX
¡PERO QUÉ 🐕 GOLAZO DE GIGNAC! La chilena que nos acaba de regalar el francés es de otro planeta. SIN PALABRAS 🤩 🐯… https://t.co/NAgUPke49d— TUDN USA (@TUDN USA) 1583036937.0
Clausura 2020
Top eight: 1. Cruz Azul (16), 2. Club America (16), 3. Leon (15), 4. Juarez (14), 5. Pumas UNAM (14), 6. Santos Laguna (14), 7. Queretaro (13), 8. CD Guadalajara (12)
Scoring leader: 7 - Jonathan Rodriguez (Cruz Azul) / Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres UANL)
TV listings (All Times CT):
For full info on soccer TV listings and streaming services in the United States, visit worldsoccertalk.com
Tuesday, March 3
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Chelsea vs. Liverpool (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [German Cup] Schalke 04 vs. Bayern Munich (ESPNU, ESPN Deportes)
4:15 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Defensa y Justicia vs. Santos (beIN Sports)
6:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] America de Cali vs. Gremio (beIN Sports Connect)
Wednesday, March 4
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Sheffield Wednesday vs. Man City (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Spurs vs. Norwich (ESPN+)
Thursday, March 5
1:45 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Derby vs. Man United (ESPN+)
6:00 p.m. - [SheBelieves Cup] USWNT vs. England (ESPN2, TUDN)
Friday, March 6
8:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Pumas UNAM vs. Club América (TUDN)
Saturday, March 7
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Bournemouth (NBC Sports)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Wolfsburg vs. RB Leipzig (FS1, FOX Deportes)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. West Ham (NBC Sports)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Wolves vs. Brighton (CNBC)
9:00 a.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Sevilla (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Burnley vs. Spurs (NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [La Liga] FC Barcelona vs. Real Sociedad (beIN Sports)
7:30 p.m. - [MLS] Houston Dynamo at Sporting KC (KUBE57)
9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Atlas vs. Chivas (Univision)
Sunday, March 8
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Chelsea vs. Everton(NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Man United vs. Man City (NBC)
3:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Real Betis vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
Monday, March 9
3:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Leicester City vs. Aston Villa (NBC Sports)
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Jacob deGrom went eight innings to win his fourth consecutive start for the Texas Rangers, who got Jake Burger's solo home run off Hunter Brown in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night in an anticipated pitchers' duel that certainly lived up to expectations.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom (4-1) is having quite a comeback after missing most of the last two seasons following Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old right-hander struck out seven, two of those to end innings with two runners on base, while walking one and giving up five hits.
Brown (6-2), who is 10 years younger that deGrom, struck out nine without a walk while scattering three hits in his first career complete game. The righty was tied for the major league lead in wins and retired the first 12 batters he faced before Adolis García lined a double to left to start the fifth.
Shawn Armstrong worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his second save.
Burger went deep leading off the sixth, a 394-foot drive into the Texas bullpen in right-center for his fourth homer of the season.
Key moment
Rangers right fielder García made a sliding catch of a sinking liner by Mauricio Dubón for the final out of the seventh when Houston had a runner at second base. García had several nice plays, including a sliding catch near the line after running a long way to open the fourth.
Key stat
Bruce Bochy got his 2,195th career win to break a tie with Sparky Anderson for the sixth-most by an MLB manager. Bochy, who turned 70 last month, is in his 28th season as a manager, his third in Texas.
Up next
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 1.78 ERA) goes into Friday night having allowed only two earned runs over 25 innings in his last four starts (3-0). Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 15.75) makes only his third start for Houston since the 2022 World Series.