Some Soccer News for Sep 19, 2016

It's Day 263 of 2016.


Americans were in a big game south of the border:
-Sat Sep 17
Pachuca 2-2 Tijuana

• Omar Gonzalez v Michael Orozco + Paul Arriola

• All 3 played, the first two going the full 90 and Arriola played 3.

• Now in 4th and 2nd respectively.

Americans clashed in the Bundesliga too:
-Sat Sep 17
Monchengladbach 4-1 Werder Bremen

• Fabian Johnson v Aron Johannsson

• Both set up goals for their teams.

• Johannsson came on as a sub at half time, but after setting up the goal in the 73rd min he was Red Carded in the 80th. He was ejected after he got in the referees face and screamed "That was a fucking handball," in English. Off you go.

• Werder who are 0-0-3 to start the season.

Christian Pulisic had an OK weekend as he went 90 in the league game for Dortmund, a 6-0 win v Darmstadt - he scored 1 goal and also got 2 assists.

• He turned 18 years old on Sunday too.

Timmy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt were leading Leverkusen 2-1 late in the game when Chandler was called for a foul in penalty box. Luckily for him and his team Chicarito (who had already scored once in the game) hit the post on his PK attempt and the score stood for a EF win.

William Yarbrough was in goal for Leon as they shut out America 2-0. -Afterward America fired head coach Ignacio Ambriz.

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Looks like DeAndre Yedlin will be given every chance to prove himself at Newcastle. By Jeff Carlisle of ESPNFC.

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Bob Bradley + Le Havre Tracker:

• Standings - 9th place, 5 points out of 1st after 7 played

• Up Next - Tue Sep 20 v Brest (1st place)

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And the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy goes to... Louie Anderson, “Baskets.” (Loud rawkus cheering!)

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November the 6th of next year (2017) has been set for trials in the FIFA/CONCACAF/CONMEBOL bribery cases. Aaron Davidson is a part of this. By Nate Raymond of Reuters.

• 18 people have already pleaded guilty in this case.

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NASL Week 22 schedule:
-Sat Sep 17
New York 0-0 Edmonton
Puerto Rico 3-3 Jacksonville
Indy 2-1 Miami
Tampa 1-0 Carolina
Minnesota 2-3 Ottawa
-Sun Sep 18
OKC 1-1 Fort Lauderdale

My Minnesota United Notes:

• Game Highlights [VIDEO]

• The Loons took a 2-1 lead into halftime, then gave up goals to the Fury in the 84th and 88th to throw away 3 points.

• Jamie Watson put in a huge effort on the first goal which at initially appreared to be his 1st goal of the season, but on replay was shown to be an own goal. Never the less he beat the keeper and 2 defenders to force the goal. Impressive play.

• Once the 2nd half started Ottawa were unrelenting, running very very hard after each and every ball.

• One time very late the Loon pressed up very high and wreaked havoc on the Fury. As the play fizzled out a loud chant of More Of That came from the from the supporters. There would be NO more of that from the Loons though.

• Minn defensive midfield of Brovsky and Pitchkolan (who moved to centerback) had a bad game.

• This is the 3rd time this season that Minn has lost 2 in a row.

• Damien Lowe was not in uniform for Minn due to a hamstring strain. It is said to be not serious.

NASL Playoff Standings:
49 NYC
43 Edm
42 IE
36 MU
----
32 Mia
32 TBR
32 FLS

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Biggest games of MLS Week 28:
-Sat Sep 17
Seattle 1-0 Vancouver
New York City 2-2 Dallas
-Sun Sep 18
Kansas City 2-2 LA
Toronto 3-3 Red Bulls

My MLS Notes:

• Another big collapse for the Red Bulls - this time they lead 0-2 and then 1-3 and gave up the tying goal in the 86th minute. At this point its like watching Charles Barkley golf. [VIDEO]

• Dallas is the first team in the Western Conference playoffs this season.

• Jozy Altidore has scored 8 goals since Aug 1. Toronto will really need him to be hot 6 weeks from now in the playoffs.

• Landon Donovan came on as a sub in the 74th min and less than 2 minutes later tied the game in KC with his first goal since un-retiring. [VIDEO]

• Bradley Wright-Phillips became the 1t player in league history to score 20 goals or more in back to back seasons. As a matter of fact, I don't think any single player has scored 20 or more goals twice, ever, period, much less back to back.

• Nic Lodeiro and Jordan Morris teamed up for a tasty goal to give Seattle a desperate win. [VIDEO]

• New England finally started Juan Agudelo, Diego Fagundez, Kei Kamara, Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe all on the field at the same time. It produced a big road win in Montreal.

• Montreal has just 1 win in 7 games and is falling falling falling down the Eastern standings, getting ever so close to the crashing out of the playoffs.

• Orlando has to be one of more baffling teams this season. After getting a new head coach they still keep making the same dumb mistakes - and now losing at home 1-4 to Columbus one of the worst teams in the league.

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The best MLS weekly recap - Essential reading. By Matthew Doyle of MLSsoccer.

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Statement:

Landon Donovan has more MLS goals than Nelson Valdez this season.

— Total MLS (@TotalMLS) September 18, 2016

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Playoffs - 6th place cut off line:

• East

36 New England
-----
34 DC
34 Orlando

• West

40 Kansas City
-----
35 Seattle
34 Vancouver
34 San Jose

Chase for the MLS Supporters Shield - the 4 leaders (all tied this weekend):
52 Dallas (30 Played) (1.73 points per game) - Next: at RSL
48 LA (30 Played) (1.60 points per game) - Next: v SS
47 Colorado (28 Played) (1.68 points per game) - Next: at VW
47 Toronto (29 Played) (1.62 points per game) - Next: v PU

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In Italy's biggest derby Juventus took the lead at Inter Milan in the 2nd half, but the home team stormed back with 2 late goals and handed Juve a rare league loss. (Only 5 losses in all of last season.)

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Perfect starts to the season in the Big Euro Leagues:
(how many games with no losses, no ties)
6 Feyenoord
5 Man City
4 Real Madrid
4 Istanbul Basaksehir
3 Bayern Munich
3 Hertha Berlin

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action. From the Guardian.

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Bundesliga Matchday 3: Top five talking points. From Deutsche Welle.



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