THE SOCCER REPORT

Manchester City win the Premier League, Bundesliga down to final day

Victor Araiza
May 14, 2019, 3:46 pm
Leroy Sané is a back-to-back Premier League champion with Manchester City. Credit Nike, Inc.


UEFA Champions League

FC Barcelona and Ajax were in the driver's seat after their first leg leg semi-final wins but it will be Liverpool and Tottenham who headline the final in Madrid. Liverpool, without top attacking players in Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, overcame an 0-3 deficit with a four-goal win at Anfield - shocking Lionel Messi's Barcelona who had an embarrassing night. Young Ajax, meanwhile, were up on the scoreboard at home before Tottenham fired up a comeback to take the series on away goals and advance to their first UCL final.

Semifinals - second leg results:

  • Liverpool 4-0 FC Barcelona (4-3 agg.)
  • Ajax 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur (3-3 agg., Tottenham advance on away goals)

UEFA Europa League

The Europa Legue final will also be headline by two Premier League clubs as Arsenal and Chelsea found their way to the final. Arsenal had no problem doing away with Valencia while Chelsea left it up to a dramatic penalty shootout win at home in what will likely end up being Eden Hazard's final home match for the club.

Semifinals - second leg results:

  • Valencia 2-4 Arsenal (3-7 agg.)
  • Chelsea 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt (2-2 agg., Chelsea advance 4-3 on penalties)

English Premier League

After falling 0-1 early at Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester City stopped any dramatic finish with four unanswered goals to crown themselves the 2018/19 Premier League Champions. City are the first champions to repeat in over a decade since rivals United in the 2008-09 season.

Final top six: 1. (C) Manchester City (95), 2. Liverpool (97), 3. Chelsea (72), 4. Tottenham (71), 5. Arsenal (70), 6. Manchester United (66)

Top scorer: 22 - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) / Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) / Sadio Mané (Liverpool)

Most assists: 15 - Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC)

Spain's La Liga

One day left in the Spanish league as three teams vie for the last Champions League spot.

Top six: 1. (C) - FC Barcelona (86), 2. Atlético Madrid (75), 3. Real Madrid (68), 4. Valencia (58), 5. Getafe (58), 6. Sevilla (56)

Scoring leader: 34 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

Assists leader: 13 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) / Pablo Sarabia (Sevilla)

German Bundesliga

Bayern Munich were held at Leipzig but still depend only on themselves to win the title on the last weekend. Dortmund need to win combined with a Bayern loss to finish as champions.

Top six: 1. Bayern Munich (75), 2. Dortmund (73), 3. RB Leipzig (66), 4. Monchengladbach (55), 5. Bayer Leverkusen (55), 6. Eintracht Frankfurt (54)

Scoring leader: 22 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Assists leader: 14 - Jadon Sancho (Dortumund)

Italian Serie A

Top six: 1. (C) - Juventus (89), 2. Napoli (76), 3. Inter Milan (66), 4. Atalanta (65), 5. A.C. Milan (62), 6. Roma (62)

Scoring leader: 26 - Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria)

Assists leader: 10 - Alejandro Gomez (Atalanta) / Dries Mertens (Napoli) / Suso (A.C. Milan)

French Ligue 1

Top six: 1. (C) - PSG (88), 2. Lille (72), 3. Lyon (66), 4. Saint-Étienne (62), 5. Montpellier (58), 6. Marseille (55)

Scoring leader: 30 - Kylian Mbappé (PSG)

Assists leader: 13 - Teji Savanier (Nimes)

Dutch Eredivisie

Top three: 1. Ajax (83), 2. PSV Eindhoven (80), 3. Feyenoord (62)

Belgian First Division A

Championship Round: 1. Genk (50), 2. Club Brugge (47), 3. Antwerp (39), 4. Standard Liege (36), 5. Anderlecht (31), 6. Gent (29)

Portuguese Primeira Liga

Top four: 1. Benfica (84), 2. Porto (82), 3. Sporting CP (74), 4. Braga (64)

Scottish Premier League

Championship: 1. (C) Celtic (84), 2. Rangers (78), 3. Kilmarnock (64), 4. Aberdeen (64)

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Major League Soccer

East top seven: 1. Philadelphia (23), 2. D.C. United (23), 3. Montreal (20), 4. NYCFC (18), 5. Atlanta (17), 6. Toronto (16), 7. Columbus (16)

West top seven: 1. LAFC (27), 2. LA Galaxy (22), 3. Seattle (22), 4. Houston (19), 5. FC Dallas (17), 6. Minnesota (15), 7. Real Salt Lake (13)

Scoring leader: 12 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Assists leader: 6 - Alejandro Pozuelo (Toronto FC) / Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers) / Nicolas Lodeiro (Seattle Sounders FC) / Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Liga MX

Clausura 2019 quarter-finals results:

  • (1) Leon vs. (8) Tijuana (Leon win 5-2 agg.)
  • (2) Tigres vs. (7) Pachuca (2-2 agg., Tigres advance on higher seed tiebreaker)
  • (3) Monterrey vs. (6) Necaxa (1-1 agg., Monterrey advance on higher seed tiebreaker)
  • (4) Cruz Azul vs. (5) Club America (America win 3-2 agg.)

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National Women's Soccer League

Standings: 1. Houston Dash (10), 2. Utah Royals (9), 3. Chicago Red Stars (8), 4. North Carolina Courage (8), 5. Portland Thorns (8), 6. Washington Spirit (7), 7. Seattle Reign (3), 8. Sky Blue FC (2), 9. Orlando Pride (1)

Scoring leader: 4 - Crystal Dunn (North Carolina) / Samantha Kerr (Chicago)

Assists leader: 3 - Yuki Nagasato (Chicago)

Liga MX Femenil

Tigres UANL crowned themselves champions of Mexico's top women's division after a 2-1 win at rivals Monterrey. The title marks a second for Tigres, making the northerners the club with the most championships in the four season history of the league - both wins coming against their cross-town rivals.

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Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Tuesday, May 14

2:00 p.m. - [English Championship playoffs semifinal] West Brom vs. Aston Villa (ESPN+)

7:00 p.m. - [Copa Superliga Argentina] River Plate vs. Tucuman (fanatiz)

Wednesday, May 15

12:30 p.m. - [Eredivisie] De Graafschap vs. Ajax (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [English Championship playoffs semifinal] Leeds United vs. Derby County (ESPN+)

1:45 p.m. - [Serie A] Lazio vs. Atalanta (ESPN+)

7:00 p.m. - [Club Friendly] New England Revolution vs. Chelsea FC (FS1)

7:30 p.m. - [MLS] Houston Dynamo vs. Portland Timbers (KUBE 57)

7:30 p.m. - [Liga MX Playoffs] Club America vs. Leon (Univision Deportes)

9:30 p.m. - [Liga MX Playoffs] Monterrey vs. Tigres UANL (Univision Deportes)

Thursday, May 16

7:00 p.m. - [International Friendly] U.S. Women's National Team vs. New Zealand (ESPN2)

7:30 p.m. - [Copa Superliga Argentina] Boca Juniors vs. Velez (fanatiz)

9:00 p.m. - [MLS] LAFC vs. FC Dallas (ESPN2)

Saturday, May 18

8:30 a.m. - [Budesliga] Bayern Munich vs. Frankfurt (FOX)

8:30 a.m. - [Budesliga] Monchengladbach vs. Dortmund (FS1)

11:00 a.m. - [FA Cup Final] Manchester City vs. Watford (ESPN+)

7:30 p.m. - [MLS] Houston Dynamo vs. D.C. United (KUBE 57)

Sunday, May 19

5:00 p.m. - [NWSL] Houston Dash vs. Chicago Red Stars (YahooSports.com)

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A WEEKLY REVIEW OF CRENNEL'S COACHING

Now my job: Texans loss rests squarely on this decision

Another tough loss for the Texans. Photo by Getty Images.

There are times in which you gamble and it pays off. Then there are times in which you gamble and lose badly. Today was definitely the latter. The Texans fell to the Titans 42-36 in an overtime thriller. The loss rests squarely on the head of interim head coach Romeo Crennel and his ill-timed gambling at the end of the game.

It started with the gamble to go for it on 4th&1 on the Titans' 35-yard line with 4:37 left in the game. That move said two things: A) we're on the road at 1-4 against the 4-0 division leader up by one point so let's try to end this, or B) I don't trust our kicker to make a 53-yard field goal. They converted because David Johnson is good for slamming into the backs of the offensive line for at least a yard or three. The next gamble came eight plays later. It was 4th & Goal from the 1-yard line. The play call was a pass. Deshaun Watson found Randall Cobb after scrambling to extend the play and putting the ball in a tight window on the sideline where only Cobb could catch it. Here's where I started to have a problem with the gambling.

That touchdown made it 36-29 in favor of the Texans. Up by seven with less than two minutes left in the game, the "right" call would be to kick the extra point to potentially go up by eight. That forces the opposition to have to score a touchdown and convert a two point conversion in order to tie the game. Alas...Crennel gambled by trying to force things, went for two, and came up short. Kenny Rogers once said: You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run.

The porous defense, however, gave up the game tying touchdown and extra point with four seconds left to send the game into overtime. From there, the Titans got the ball in overtime and drove down the field for the game winning score. A team that played a game on Tuesday evening bullied a team on Sunday at noon. Let that sink in. Sure, Derrick Henry is a linebacker playing running back, but the amount of yards you gave up to him was unacceptable.

Not kicking that extra point to go up by eight with less than two minutes left (1:50 to be exact) was the key coaching move that I feel cost them the game. There's no coming back from blunders like that when you're now 1-5 and would need to go at least 8-2 with tons of help down the stretch to have an outside shot at the newly created seventh spot in the playoffs. You had the division leader down and were in position to get a division win to go to 2-4. Instead, you're now in position to help the Dolphins continue to improve their franchise from the boneheaded decisions Bill O'Brien made before his exit. Crennel and staff coached a good game, until the end when it mattered most. With an extra playoff spot available, they still have an outside shot to make it, but it'll be difficult.

This city and fanbase deserve better. One day, they'll get it and get a winner. Until then unfortunately, they'll have to settle for purgatory, disappointment, and mediocrity. Hold tight. I see good things coming one day Houston football fans.

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