THE SOCCER REPORT
Ronaldo powers Juventus to SuperCoppa trophy; Dynamo's Elis to stay put
Jan 22, 2019, 9:47 am
THE SOCCER REPORT
Every goal from Matchday 23 in the Premier League | NBC Sportswww.youtube.com
The race for the top four spots continues to intensify in the Premier League with Manchester United running hot with six straight wins. Their latest win over Brighton now puts the Red Devils three points out of a Champions League spot, thanks to Arsenal's 2-0 win over London rivals Chelsea. At the top of the table, Liverpool continue to march on despite complicating themselves a bit in an eventual 4-3 win over Crystal Palace. Manchester City also picked up three points with the hope of catching up if Liverpool were to slip up.
Top six: 1. Liverpool (60), 2. Manchester City (56), 3. Tottenham (51), 4. Chelsea (47), 5. Arsenal (44), 6. Manchester United (44)
Scoring leader: 16 - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Assists leader: 10 - Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC)
Scoring leader: 18 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Assists leader: 10 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
The Bundesliga is back on after the end of the winter break. The top two dogs in the title fight- Dortmund and Bayern Munich - each picked up three points. The storyline here will be to see if Dortmund will be able to break Bayern's quest for a seventh consecutive league title. Dortmund's 1-0 win over Leipzig featured a unique matchup for American fans as U.S. men's national team players Christian Pulisic and Leipzig's Tyler Adams were on opposite ends of the sideline. Adams, who recently transferred to RB Leipzig from sister club New York Red Bulls, is still waiting to make his Bundesliga debut.
Scoring leader: 13 - Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Assists leader: 8 - Sébastien Haller (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Scoring leader: 14 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) / Duván Zapata (Atalanta) / Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria)
Assists leader: 8 - Suso (A.C. Milan)
Scoring leader: 17 - Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
Assists leader: 7 - Angel Di Maria (PSG) / Kenny Lala (Strasbourg) / Memphis Depay (Lyon) / Nicolas Pépé (Lille)
Top three: 1. PSV Eindhoven (49), 2. Ajax (47), 3. Feyenoord (36)
Scoring leader: 15 - Luuk de Jong (PSV)
Assists leader: 9 - Arbër Zeneli (Heerenveen)
Top three: 1. Genk (51), 2. Club Brugge (41), 3. Antwerp (41)
Scoring leader: 16 - Mbwana Samatta (Genk)
Assists leader: 12 - Hans Vanaken (Brugge)
Top three: 1. Porto (46), 2. Benfica (41), 3. Braga (40)
Scoring leader: 12 - Dyego Sousa (Braga)Assists leader: 7 - Pizzi (Benfica)
Top three: 1. Celtic (42), 2. Rangers (42), 3. Kilmarnock (41)
Scoring leader: 12 - Alfredo Morelos (Rangers)
Assists leader: 8 - James Tavernier (Rangers)
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Chris Duvall says winning mentality set on day onewww.youtube.com
Preseason is officially underway for all 24 teams in Major League Soccer, including the hometown Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo will host an open practice at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday. The transfer saga surrounding star Alberth Elis appears to be over as reports from Honduras state that the player has agreed to forego his transfer demand, at least until the summer transfer window.
Up the road in Austin, Major League Soccer announced Austin FC as the newest club to join the league. The team will begin play in the 2021 season. Soccer Matters host Glenn Davis spoke exclusively with MLS Commissioner Don Garber and FOX Sports Analyst Alexi Lalas on what the addition of Austin means for the league and soccer in Texas.
Scoring leader: 4 - Leonardo Ramos (Lobos BUAP)
Assists leader: 3 - Carlos Rodríguez (Monterrey)
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Tuesday, Jan. 22
1:30 p.m. - [Women's International Friendly] Spain vs. USA (ESPN2/Univision Deportes)
1:45 p.m. - [Portuguese League Cup] Benfica vs. Porto (fuboTV)
2:30 p.m. - [Copa Del Rey] Getafe vs. Valencia (beIN SPORTS)
Wednesday, Jan. 23
1:45 p.m. - [English League Cup] Burton Albion vs. Manchester City (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [Scottish Premiership] Kilmarnock vs. Rangers (B/R Live)
2:30 p.m. - [Copa Del Rey] Sevilla vs. FC Barcelona (beIN SPORTS)
7:00 p.m. - [Argentine Superliga] River Plate vs. Union Santa Fe (Fanatiz)
Thursday, Jan. 24
12:30 p.m. - [Copa del Rey] Espanyol vs. Real Betis (beIN Sports)
1:45 p.m. - [English League Cup] Chelsea vs. Tottenham (ESPN+)
2:30 p.m. - [Copa del Rey] Real Madrid vs. Girona (beIN Sports)
Friday, Jan. 25
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Hertha Berlin vs. Schalke (FS2/Univision Deportes)
1:45 p.m. - [Scottish Cup] Cowdenbeath vs. Rangers (ESPN+)
1:55 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Arsenal v Manchester United (ESPN+)
Saturday, Jan. 26
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Borussia Dortmund vs. Hannover (FS1/Univision Deportes)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Monchengladbach vs. Augsburg (FS2)
9:00 a.m. - [English FA Cup] Manchester City v Burnley (ESPN+)
9:15 a.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Getafe (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Werder Bremen vs. Frankfurt (FS2)
1:30 p.m. - [Serie A] A.C. Milan vs. Napoli (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Betis (beIN Sports)
Sunday, Jan. 27
9:15 a.m. - [La Liga] Girona vs. FC Barcelona (beIN Sports)
10:00 a.m. - [English FA Cup] Crystal Palace v Tottenham (ESPN+)
11:00 a.m. - [Serie A] Torino vs. Inter Milan (ESPN+)
12:00 p.m. - [English FA Cup] Chelsea v Sheffield Wednesday (ESPN+)
1:30 p.m. - [Serie A] Lazio vs. Juventus (ESPN+)
1:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Espanyol vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and Jeremy Peña homered and drove in four runs as the Houston Astros defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 9-1 on Wednesday.
Houston earned just its second victory in seven games to snap Milwaukee’s three-game winning streak and leave both teams with .500 records. The Brewers were attempting to sweep a series from the Astros for the first time since 2012.
The Astros led 3-1 before Peña broke the game open by delivering a three-run homer to left off reliever Elvin Rodriguez with two outs in the sixth inning.
JP3-run bomb. #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/En0XXWdlt0
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 7, 2025
Valdez (2-4) struck out seven while allowing three hits, two walks and one run to earn his first win since the Astros’ March 27 season opener. He threw a season-high 101 pitches.
The Framchise is all business.#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/J8EGGDk5gl
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 7, 2025
Milwaukee’s only run off Valdez came on Eric Haase’s fifth-inning homer, a 425-foot drive to center.
The Astros took a 1-0 lead off Quinn Priester (1-1) in the second inning as Jake Meyers hit a two-out single and scored on Zach Dezenzo’s double.
RBI double for Zach gets us on the board early! #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/AilCY27A9d
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 7, 2025
The Brewers have lost all 13 games this season in which their opponent scored first.
Five-time All-Star closer Josh Hader worked the ninth while pitching in Milwaukee for the first time since the Brewers traded him in 2022.
The Astros led 1-0 and had runners on third and second with one out in the fifth when Peña hit a bouncer to third.
Safe all day. #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/OVjcvev7cM
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 7, 2025
The throw home beat Dezenzo to the plate. Home plate umpire Chris Conroy initially ruled Dezenzo out, but the Astros challenged the call and replays showed the runner slid home ahead of Haase’s tag.
Valdez has now pitched at least seven innings an MLB-leading 57 times since 2020.
The Astros host the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. Scheduled pitchers are right-hander Hunter Brown (5-1, 1.67) for the Astros and right-hander Nick Martinez (1-3, 4.19) for the Reds.
The Brewers visit the Tampa Bay Ray on Friday. Left-hander José Quintana (4-1, 2.83) will pitch for the Brewers.