THE SOCCER REPORT
Soccer Recap: Messi, Rapinoe named Ballon d'Or winners, Liga MX playoffs down to four
Dec 3, 2019, 7:01 am
Lionel Messi is the only player to win six Ballon d'Or trophies. Credit: Getty Images
Messi wins record 6th Ballon d'Or, Rapinoe wins first
Lionel Messi is back on top of the men's soccer pyramid as the "best in the world" after winning the famed Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) award for the first time since 2015 - breaking a tie with Cristiano Ronaldo for most all-time with six. Ronaldo finished third in the 2019 voting with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk finishing second.
In the women's category, USA forward Megan Rapinoe was named the winner ahead of England's Lucy Bronze and fellow USA teammate Alex Morgan. It is only the second year that a Women's Ballon d'Or is awarded.
The Ballon d'Or has been awarded since 1956 by France Football magazine and is considered the standard for recognizing the world's best player, even over FIFA's annual Player of the Year award.
English Premier League
Top six: 1. Liverpool (40), 2. Leicester City (32), 3. Man City (29), 4. Chelsea (26), 5. Tottenham (20), 6. Wolves (20)
Bottom three (relegation): 18. Southampton (12), 19. Norwich City (11), 20. Watford (8)
Scoring leader: 13 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Assists leader: 9 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Spanish La Liga
Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (31), 2. Real Madrid (31), 3. Sevilla (30), 4. Real Sociedad (26), 5. Athletic Bilbao (26), 6. Atletico Madrid (25)
Bottom three: 18. Celta Vigo (13), 19. Espanyol (9), 20. Leganes (6)
Scoring leader: 10 - Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Assists leader: 5 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
German Bundesliga
Top six: 1. Monchengladbach (28), 2. RB Leipzig (27), 3. Schalke 04 (25), 4. Bayern Munich (24), 5. Dortmund (23), 6. Freiburg (22)
Bottom three: 16. Hertha Berlin (11), 17. Cologne (8), 18. Paderborn (5)
Scoring leader: 16 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Assists leader: 8 - Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)Italian Serie A
Top six: 1. Inter Milan (37), 2. Juventus (36), 3. Lazio (30), 4. Cagliari (28), 5. Roma (28), 6. Atalanta (25)
Bottom three: 18. Genoa (10), 19. SPAL (9), 20. Brescia (7)
Scoring leader: 17 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Assists leader: 9 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)French Ligue 1
Top four: 1. PSG (33), 2. Marseille (28), 3. Angers (24), 4. Bordeaux (23)
Bottom three: 18. Dijon (15), 19. Nimes (12), 20. Tolouse (12)
Scoring leader: 10 - Moussa Dembele (Lyon)
Liga MX Playoffs
The playoffs stage in Mexican football kicked off with the quarter-finals, a round in which all top four seeds feel over the two-leg series.
Quarterfinal results:
- Club Leon 4-5 agg. Monarcas Morelia
- Queretaro 2-6 agg. Necaxa
- Santos Laguna 3-6 agg. Monterrey
- Club America 2-4 agg. Tigres UANL
Liga MX Femenil Playoffs
The final of the female Liga MX division kicked off it's two leg series with a 1-1 draw between Monterrey rivals Tigres UANL and Rayadas in front of a league-record 41,615 attendance. The return leg is scheduled for Saturday, December 7 at Estadio BBVA.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.