The Soccer Report

Man City gets first PL loss since January; Houston Dash to play Tigres Femenil in Mexico

Sep 17, 2019, 6:39 am

The Houston Dash are headed to Mexico to face the Liga MX Femenil Champions. Credit: Houston Dash

With the FIFA international break over, leagues around the world resumed their calendar and with it many interesting results. Major League Soccer didn't have a big pause during the international fixtures so the league just resumed business as usual (although Zlatan was one of the many who disapproved).

“It’s a joke.” - Zlatan Ibrahimovic on MLS teams playing during the international break.
— Adam Serrano (@Adam Serrano) 1568310340.0

Here are the top stories from around the globe:

English Premier League

Matchday 5 Results

Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle
Manchester United 1-0 Leicester City
Sheffield Utd 0-1 Southampton
Brighton 1-1 Burnley
Wolves 2-5 Chelsea
Tottenham 4-0 Crystal Palace
Norwich City 3-2 Manchester City
Bournemouth 3-1 Everton
Watford 2-2 Arsenal
Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham

Top six: Liverpool (15), Man City (10), Tottenham (8), Man Utd (8), Leicester City (8), Chelsea (8)

Scoring leader: 7 - Sergio Aguero (Man City) / Tammy Abraham (Chelsea)

Assists leader: 5 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

Spanish La Liga

Matchday 4 Results

Mallorca 0-0 Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid 3-2 Levante
Leganes 0-3 Villareal
Real Sociedad 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Barcelona 5-2 Valencia
Eibar 1-2 RCD Espanyol
Alaves 0-1 Sevilla
Celta Vigo 0-2 Granada
Valladolid 1-1 Osasuna
Real Betis 1-1 Getafe

Top six: Sevilla (10), Atletico Madrid (9), Real Madrid (8), Athletic Bilbao (8), Barcelona (7), Granada (7)

Scoring leader: 5 - Gerard Moreno (Villareal)

Assists leader: 3 - Ander Capa (Bilbao) / Angel Montoro Sanchez (Granada)

German Bundesliga

Matchday 4 Results

Fortuna 1-1 Wolfsburg
Cologne 0-1 Monchengladbach
Dortmund 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Mainz 2-1 Hertha Berlin
Union Berlin 1-2 Werder Bremen
Augsburg 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
RB Leipzig 1-1 Bayern Munich
Hoffenheim 0-3 Freiburg
Paderborn 1-5 Schalke 04

Top six: RB Leipzig (10), Dortmund (9), Freiburg (9), Bayern Munich (8), Wolfburg (8), Schalke 04 (7)

Scoring leader: 7 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Assists leader: 4 - Jadon Sancho (Dortmund)

Italian Serie A

Matchday 3 Results

Fiorentina 0-0 Juventus
Napoli 2-0 Sampdoria
Inter Milan 1-0 Udinese
Genoa 1-2 Atalanta
SPAL 1-0 Lazio
Brescia 3-4 Bologna
Parma 1-3 Cagliari
Roma 4-2 Sassuolo
Hellas Verona 0-1 AC Milan
Torino 1-0 Lecce

Top six: Inter Milan (9), Bologna (7), Juventus (7), Napoli (6), Atalanta (6), Torino (6)

Scoring leader: 5 - Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo)

Assists leader: 3 - Alfred Duncan (Sassuolo) / Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma)

French Ligue 1

Matchday 5 Results

Lille 2-1 Angers
Amiens 2-2 Lyon
PSG 1-0 Strasbourg
Montpellier 2-1 Nice
Dijon 0-0 Nimes
Bordeaux 2-0 Nice
Brest 0-0 Rennes
Nantes 1-0 Reims
St-Etienne 2-2 Toulouse
Monaco 3-4 Marseille

Top six: PSG (12), Rennes (10), Nantes (10), Marseille (10), Lille (9), Nice (9)

Scoring leader: 5 - Moussa Dembele (Lyon) / Victor Osimhen (Lille)

Assists leader: 3 - Thiago Mendes (Lyon)

Portuguese Liga Nos

Matchday 5 - Top Results

Setubal 1-0 Braga
Benfica 2-0 Gil Vicente
Portimonense 2-3 Porto
Boavista 1-1 Sporting

Top four: Familicao (13), Benfica (12), Porto (12), Boavista (9)

Scoring leader: 6 - Pizzi (Benfica)

Assists leader: 4 - Bruno Fernandes (Sporting)

Netherlands Eredivisie

Matchday 6 - Top Results

Ajax 4-1 Herenveen
AZ Alkmaar 5-1 Sparta
PSV 5-0 Vitesse
Feyenoord 3-2 Den Haag

Top four: Ajax (13), PSV (13), Twente (12), Vitesse (11)

Scoring leader: 6 - Donyell Malen (PSV Eindhoven)

Assists leader: 5 - Bryan Smeets (Sparta) / Dusan Tadic (Ajax)

Scottish Premiership

Matchday 5 - Top Results

Hamilton 0-1 Celtic
Hearts 2-3 Motherwell
Rangers 3-1 Livingston

Top four: Celtic (15), Rangers (12), Motherwell (10), Aberdeen (8)

Scoring leader: 4 - Liam Donelly (Motherwell) / Ryan Christie (Celtic)

Assists leader: 3 - James Forrest (Celtic)

Major League Soccer

East top seven: 1. NYCFC (57), 2. Philadelphia (52), 3. Atlanta (48), 4. Toronto (45), 5. D.C. United (45), 6. New York Red Bulls (41), 7. New England (40)

West top seven: 1. x - LAFC (64), 2. Seattle (49), 3. Minnesota (48), 4. Real Salt Lake (46), 5. LA Galaxy (45), 6. San Jose (44), 7. Portland (43)

Scoring leader: 28 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Assists leader: 18 - Maxi Morales (NYCFC)

Mexican Liga MX

Matchday 9 Results

Puebla 1-3 Atletico San Luis
Veracruz 0-0 Cruz Azul
Xolos 1-1 Tigres UANL
Monterrey 0-2 Necaxa
Guadalajara 1-0 Atlas
Leon 3-1 Juarez
Club America 1-1 Pumas UNAM
Toluca 0-2 Morelia
Santos 0-0 Pachuca

Top Eight: 1. Necaxa (17), 2. Queretaro (17), 3. Santos Lagua (17), 4. Club America (16), 5. Leon (15), 6. Tigres UANL (14), 7. Atleti San Luis (14), 8. Monarcas (13)

Scoring leader: 7 - Julio Furch (Santos)

Assists leader: 4 - Luis Quinones (Tigres) / Osvaldo Martinez (Atlas)

Argentina Superliga

Matchday 6 Results

Arsenal 4-1 Union
Cordoba 1-2 Defensa y Justicia
Godoy Cruz 0-1 Argentinos Juniors
Colon 2-1 San Lorenzo
Huracan 0-4 River Plate
Gimnasia 1-2 Racing Club
Banfield 0-1 Talleres Cordoba
Rosario Central 1-1 Newell's
Independiente 2-2 Lanus
Boca Juniors 1-0 Estudiantes
Aldosivi 1-1 Patronato
Velez 1-0 Atletico Tucuman

Top four: Boca (10), San Lorenzo (10), Arsenal Sarandi (9), Rosario Central (8)

National Women's Soccer League

The Houston Dash pulled themselves six points behind the fourth and final playoff spot with a 2-1 win over Utah Royals on Friday night at BBVA Stadium. The Dash play Tuesday night with an opportunity to continue to close the gap in a tough test against defending champion NC Courage.

The Dash will also become the first NWSL side to play a friendly in Mexico after announcing an October 5 friendly at Liga MX Femenil Champion Tigres UANL.

Standings: 1. North Carolina Courage (40), 2. Chicago Red Stars (38), 3. Portland Thorns (36), 4. Utah Royals (31), 5. Reign FC (31), 6. Washington Spirit (26), 7. Houston Dash (25), 8. Sky Blue FC (16), 9. Orlando Pride (14)

Scoring leader: 16 - Sam Kerr (Chicago)

Assists leader: 7 - Yuki Nagasato (Chicago)

Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Tuesday, September 17

11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Inter Milan vs. Slavia Prague (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Dortmund vs. Barcelona (UniMas, TUDN)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Napoli vs. Liverpool (TNT, Galavision)

7:30 p.m. - [NWSL] NC Courage vs. Houston Dash (ESPNews)

Wednesday, September 18

11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Brugge vs. Galatasaray (Galavision)

11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Olympiacos vs. Spurs (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus (Galavision)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] PSG vs. Real Madrid (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)

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HERE WE GO AGAIN...

How Houston Texans latest comments are NFL equivalents of a participation trophy

It more of the same from the Houston Texans. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.

Sunday afternoon provided a high-res snapshot of the state of Houston sports. The Astros, already assured of the best record in the American League, played a game they didn’t need to win. The Astros won, ho-hum, their 104^th win of the season.

Meanwhile, eight miles away, the Texans, mired in last place with fan support dwindling, played a game they really needed to win. The Texans lost 34-24 to the Los Angeles Chargers in front of (giggle) 69,071 fans at NRG Stadium. The Texans really ought to stop saying the stands are packed. Every time a team punts, and cameras follow the ball skyward, there are thousands of empty seats on display. I know the NFL methodology for determining attendance, (total tickets sold, no-shows don’t count) but it just looks silly when the Texans announce 69,000 fans.

The Texans came close as usual before sputtering to another defeat. The Texans now stand at 0-3-1, the only winless team in the NFL. It’s the second time in three years they’ve started a season without a victory after four games. It’s telling to note that not one of the Texans opponents has a winning record for 2022.

In other words, the Texans have played four games they shoulda/coulda won. Shouda against the Colts, Broncos and Bears, and coulda against the Chargers.

Should/coulda four wins. Instead, none.

That’s the Texans. They’re in every game but can’t close the deal. Yeah, yeah, on Monday we hear, “the Texans are playing hard for coach Lovie Smith” and “they’re competitive” and “they’re a young team.” These are NFL equivalents of a participation trophy.

Sunday’s loss to the Chargers at NRG Stadium was straight out of the Texans playbook. Fall behind, make it interesting, lose. The Texans stuck to their script, timid play calling, momentum-crushing penalties (nine for 67 yards), self-inflicted drops, lackluster quarterbacking and Rex Burkhead on the field for crunch time. After one play where a Texan player was called for holding, the announcer said, “and he did a poor job of holding.”

Statuesque quarterback David Mills keeps saying “we’re in a good spot” and “we’re improving.” Statuesque as in he doesn’t move – or barely moves to avoid sacks. Sunday saw his first touchdown pass to a wide receiver. He’s now thrown four interceptions in the past two games. Let’s go to the tote board: 5 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 4 fumbles, 11 sacks, qbr rating 28.5 – good for 28^th in the league.

A bright spot, sort of. This was the first week the Texans didn’t cover the spread. They’re now 1-2-1 against Vegas oddsmakers, meaning you’ve won money if you took the Texans all four weeks. They head to Jacksonville next as early 6.5-point underdogs.

Meanwhile, Alabama’s brilliant quarterback Bryce Young, who will be available for the Texans when they draft first in 2023 (as Paul Heyman says, that’s not a prediction, that’s a spoiler), suffered a shoulder injury last Saturday. The Texans need to take out a Lloyds of London insurance policy on Young.

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