THE SOCCER REPORT
Soccer Recap: Houston Dynamo send off U.S. legend Beasley with win; four unbeaten in Europe's top leagues
Oct 8, 2019, 6:51 am
Houston Dynamo supporters bid farewell to DaMarcus Beasley with a tifo comemorating his career. Courtesy: Houston Dynamo
The 2019 Major League Soccer season has come to an end and will commence after the upcoming FIFA International break. In Europe, four teams in the top five leagues have reached the break with an unbeaten record in league play. Here are the top stories from the week:
Major League Soccer
All 14 playoff spots are accounted for in the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs (see standings below). With every match played simultaneously on Sunday, there was also plenty of drama in the golden boot race - won by LAFC's Carlos Vela with an MLS record 34 goals.
The Houston Dynamo sent off U.S. Men's National Team Legend DaMarcus Beasley with a 4-2 win over Zlatan Ibrahimovic's LA Galaxy. Beasley is the only player to have featured in four FIFA World Cup tournaments for the USA and also enjoyed time at historic European clubs like PSV, Rangers and Manchester City.
Final Standings
East: 1. y - NYCFC (64), 2. x - Atlanta (58), 3. x - Philadelphia (55), 4. x - Toronto (50), 5. x - D.C. United (50), 6. x - NY Red Bulls (48), 7. x - New England (45), 8. Chicago (42), 9. Montreal (41), 10. Columbus (38), 11. Orlando (37), 12. Cincinnati (24)
West: 1. s - LAFC (72), 2. x - Seattle (56), 3. x - Real Salt Lake (53), 4. x - Minnesota (53), 5. x - LA Galaxy (51), 6. x - Portland (49), 7. x - Dallas (48), 8. San Jose (44), 9. Colorado (42), 10. Houston (40), 11. Kansas City (38), 12. Vancouver (34)
Golden Boot: 34 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)
Most Assists: 20 - Maxi Morales (NYCFC)
National Women's Soccer League
Only one match took place in league play due to the FIFA International window in the women's game - the Washington Spirit won 3-0 over last place Orlando. The Houston Dash, meanwhile, took their "off" week to travel down to Monterrey, Mexico to take on Liga MX Femenil side Tigres. Kealia Ohai scored in the opening minutes but, after many Dash changes at halftime, the Mexican champions would end up winning 2-1 after two second half goals.
Standings: 1. s - North Carolina Courage (46), 2. x - Chicago Red Stars (44), 3. x - Portland Thorns (39), 4. x - Reign FC (37), 5. Washington Spirit (33), 6. Utah Royals (31), 67. Houston Dash (26), 8. Sky Blue FC (20), 9. Orlando Pride (15)
Scoring leader: 18 - Sam Kerr (Chicago)
Assists leader: 8 - Yuki Nagasato (Chicago)
English Premier League
Matchday 8 Results
- Brighton 3-0 Tottenham
- Norwich 1-5 Aston Villa
- Watford 0-0 Sheffield Utd
- Burnley 1-0 Everton
- Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City
- West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace
- Southampton 1-4 Chelsea
- Manchester City 0-2 Wolves
- Arsenal 1-0 Bournemouth
- Newcastle 1-0 Manchester United
Top six: Liverpool (24), Man City (16), Arsenal (15), Leicester City (14),Chelsea (14), Crystal Palace (14)
Scoring leader: 8 - Sergio Aguero (Man City) / Tammy Abraham (Chelsea)
Assists leader: 8 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Spanish La Liga
Top six: Real Madrid (18), FC Barcelona (16), Atletico Madrid (15), Granada (14), Real Sociedad (13), Sevilla (13)
Scoring leader: 6 - Gerard Moreno (Villareal) / Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) / Lorenzo Garica (Real Betis)
Assists leader: 3 - Several players tied
German Bundesliga
Top six: Monchengladbach (16), Wolfburg (15), Bayern Munich (14), Freiburg (14), RB Leipzig (14), Schalke 04 (14)
Scoring leader: 11 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Italian Serie A
Top six: Juventus (19), Inter Milan (18), Atalanta (16), Napoli (13), Roma (12), Lazio (11)
Scoring leader: 7 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Assists leader: 5 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)French Ligue 1
Top six: PSG (21), Nantes (19), Angers (16), Bordeaux (15), Lille (15), Reims (14)
Scoring leader: 7 - Victor Osimhen (Lille)
Netherlands Eredivisie
Top four: Ajax (23), PSV (23), AZ Alkmaar (20), Vitesse (20)
Scoring leader: 10 - Donyell Malen (PSV Eindhoven)
Assists leader: 8 - Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
Mexican Liga MX
Top Eight: 1. Necaxa (24), 2. Santos Laguna (23), 3. Queretaro (21), 4. Club America (21), 5. Leon (20), 6. Tigres UANL (20), 7. Pachuca (18), 8. Pumas (18)
Scoring leader: 8 - Julio Furch (Santos) / Mauro Quiroga (Necaxa)
Assists leader: 8 - Miller Bolanos (Tijuana)
Liga MX clubs Tigres UANL and Santos will face off in a club friendly in Houston during the October FIFA International window. Tickets on sale at BBVAStadium.com
Argentina Superliga
Top four: Boca (18), San Lorenzo (16), Talleres Cordoba (16), Arsenal Sarandi (15)
Scoring leader: 4 - Bruno Pitton (San Lorenzo) / Nicolas Dominguez (Velez)
Assists leader: 3 - Mathias Abero Villan (Patronato)
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José Soriano pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Logan O'Hoppe hit a pair of two-run shots to end a long home run drought and help the Los Angeles Angels beat the Houston Astros 9-1 on Saturday night.
Soriano (5-5) struck out 10 and allowed one run on three hits and three walks. He has allowed just two runs in his last three starts covering 20 2/3 innings with 28 strikeouts. He hasn't allowed a home run since April 22 — a span of 11 starts.
O’Hoppe hit his 15th homer and first since May 22 in the third inning to give the Angels a 6-0 lead. The catcher capped the scoring with his second of the game in the seventh.
Jo Adell reached with a one-out infield single off Astros rookie Brandon Walter (0-1) in the second and Luis Rengifo followed with his fourth home run for a 2-0 lead.
Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch and Mike Trout singled and scored from first on a double by Taylor Ward for a 4-0 lead.
Jose Altuve walked and scored on a two-out single by Christian Walker in the fourth for the Astros, but the Angels answered in their half when Zach Neto doubled with two outs and scored on Schanuel's single for a 7-1 lead.
Walter allowed seven runs on nine hits in six innings in his fourth career start.
Key moment
The Angels never looked back after Rengifo homered in the second.
Key stat
Houston is 3-2 against the Angels this season and leads the overall series 133-85. That includes a 65-45 record at Angel Stadium.
Up next
Astros rookie RHP Ryan Gusto (4-3, 4.31 ERA) will start Sunday's rubber game against Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 4.79).