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)
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)
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)
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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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.