THE SOCCER REPORT
Soccer Recap: Suarez back-heel goal steals the show; Arsenal win first under Ljungberg
Dec 10, 2019, 4:10 am
Arsenal are back in good spirits after first win in 10 matches. Credit: Adidas
Action rolls in Europe after a weekend that featured the Manchester Derby, only to be followed by the end of the UEFA Champions League group stage and a pre-El Clasico La Liga weekend. This week also features the start of the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.
Off the field, the draw to determine the quarterfinal matchups of the 2020 Concacaf Champions League took place in Mexico CIty on Monday night. The tournament will kick off in February and crown a new champion in May to determine the region's representative in the 2020 Club World Cup.
Where Champions Are Crowned 🏆 #SCCL2020 https://t.co/kJN4F4Q7r4— Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (@Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League) 1575947474.0
Major League Soccer clubs in the CCL will begin their preseason on January 11, one week before the rest of the league.
English Premier League
Top six: 1. Liverpool (46), 2. Leicester City (38), 3. Man City (32), 4. Chelsea (29), 5. Man Utd (24), 6. Wolves (24)
Bottom three (relegation): 18. Southampton (15), 19. Norwich City (11), 20. Watford (9)
Scoring leader: 16 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Assists leader: 9 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Spanish La Liga
Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (34), 2. Real Madrid (34), 3. Sevilla (31), 4. Real Sociedad (27), 5. Getafe (27), 6. Athletic Bilbao (26)
Bottom three: 18. Celta Vigo (13), 19. Leganes (9), 20. Espanyol (9)
Scoring leader: 12 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Assists leader: 6 - Rodrigo (Valencia)
German Bundesliga
Top six: 1. Monchengladbach (31), 2. RB Leipzig (30), 3. Dortmund (26), 4. Schalke 04 (25), 5. Freiburg (25), 6. Bayer Leverkusen (25)
Bottom three: 16. Fortuna (12), 17. Paderborn (8), 18. Cologne (8)
Scoring leader: 16 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Assists leader: 9 - Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)Italian Serie A
Top six: 1. Inter Milan (38), 2. Juventus (36), 3. Lazio (33), 4. Cagliari (29), 5. Roma (29), 6. Atalanta (28)
Bottom three: 18. Genoa (10), 19. SPAL (9), 20. Brescia (7)
Scoring leader: 17 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Assists leader: 11 - Luis Alberto (Lazio)French Ligue 1
Top four: 1. PSG (39), 2. Marseille (34), 3. Lille (28), 4. Rennes (27)
Bottom three: 18. Metz (15), 19. Tolouse (12), 20. Nimes (12)
Scoring leader: 11 - Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco)
Liga MX Playoffs
Monterrey and Club America each punched their ticket to the Liga MX Apertura 2019 final over the weekend. The two will have to wait until Monterrey are done with the FIFA Club World Cup participation to resume the playoffs on Dec. 26.
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
Semifinal results:
- Necaxa 1-3 agg. Monterrey
- Club America 2-2 agg. Monarcas Morelia, America advance on higher seed tiebreaker
Final schedule:
- First leg: Dec. 26 at Estadio BBVA, Monterrey
- Second leg: Dec. 29 at Estadio Azteca, Mexico
Liga MX Femenil Final
Monterrey's female team, "Rayadas," lifted their first Liga MX Femenil title after a 1-0 win over rivals Tigres UANL in the second leg of the final, 2-1 on aggregate. The series drew an attendance of 41,615 in the first leg on Nov. 29 and 38,251 in Sunday's second leg.
TV listings (All Times CT):
Tuesday, December 10
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] RB Salzburg vs. Liverpool (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Napoli vs. Genk (Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Inter Milan vs. FC Barcelona (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Ajax vs. Valencia (Galavision)
Wednesday, December 11
11:30 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup / Playoff] Al Sadd vs. Hienghène (FS2, FOX Deportes)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Dinamo Zagreb vs. Man City (TNT, UniMas, TUDN)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Atalanta (Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Brugge vs. Real Madrid (UniMas, TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Bayer Leverkusen vs. Juventus (TNT, Galavision)
Thursday, December 12
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Standard Liege vs. Arsenal (UniMas)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] APOEL vs. Sevilla (TUDN)
11:55 a.m. - [UEFA Europa League] LASK vs. Sporting CP (Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Manchester United vs. AZ Alkmaar (UniMas)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Wolves vs. Besiktas (TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Porto vs. Feyenoord (Galavision)
Friday, December 13
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Hoffenheim vs. FC Augsburg (FS2, TUDN)
2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Alaves vs. Leganes (beIN SPORTS en Español)
Saturday, December 14
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Watford (NBC Sports)
8:00 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup / Quarterfinal] Al-Hilal vs. ES Tunis (FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. SV Werder Bremen (FS1)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund (FS2, TUDN)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Chelsea vs. Bournemouth (NBC Sports)
9:00 a.m. - [La Liga] Real Sociedad vs. FC Barcelona (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [FIFA Club World Cup / Quarterfinal] Monterrey vs. Al Sadd or Hienghène (FS2)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Southampton vs. West Ham (NBC)
1:30 p.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Osasuna (beIN SPORTS)
Sunday, December 15
8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Wolves vs. Spurs (NBC Sports)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Wolfsburg vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (FS1)
10:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. Manchester City (NBC Sports)
11:00 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Schalke 04 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (FS1)
2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Valencia vs. Real Madrid (beIN SPORTS)
Monday, December 16
6:00 a.m. - Draw for UEFA Champions League and Europa League knockout stage (UEFA.com, B/R Live)
2:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Crystal Palace vs. Brighton (NBC Sports)
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Jose Altuve and rookie Jacob Melton drove in three runs each as the Houston Astros jumped on Chris Paddack early and cruised to a 10-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
Paddack (2-6) tied career highs by allowing 12 hits and nine runs — eight earned — in just four innings for his third straight loss.
Houston rookie starter Colton Gordon (2-1) gave up six hits and two runs with five strikeouts in a career-high six innings.
Jeremy Peña tied a season-high with four hits and rookie Cam Smith had two hits and two RBIs as the AL West-leading Astros won their third straight.
Willi Castro, Royce Lewis and Ty France all hit solo homers for the Twins, who were blown out for the third time in four games after losing to Texas 16-4 Tuesday and 16-3 Thursday.
Lewis, who missed the start of the season with a hamstring strain, pulled up as he was running to first base on a single in the ninth inning and was replaced by a pinch-runner. There was no immediate word on his injury.
The Astros got to work early in this one. The bases were loaded with two outs in the first when Smith hit a two-run single to center field to make it 2-0. Melton followed with a single to right field to drive in another run.
There were runners on first and third with one out in the second when Altuve’s double scored two to make it 5-0.
The Twins loaded the bases with two outs in the third but Carlos Correa grounded out to end the threat.
Melton hit a two-run triple with no outs in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 7-0. A sacrifice fly by Mauricio DubĂłn made it 8-0.
The Twins got on the board with Castro’s two-out homer in the fourth inning.
Altuve homered to left-center to start the bottom of the inning and make it 9-1.
Key moment
Smith’s two-RBI single in the first that gave Houston the lead for good.
Key stat
The Astros had four doubles to give them 15 in their last three games.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.82 ERA) opposes Twins RHP Joe Ryan (7-2, 2.96) on Saturday.