Columbus Crew continued their sensational form in the MLS play-offs after upstaging 10-man New York City 4-1 in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
The Crew – subject of relocation talk – stunned high-flying Atlanta United in a penalty shoot-out last week to stay alive in the post-season, against all odds, and Columbus drew first blood at home to New York City on Tuesday.
Ola Kamara, Artur, Justin Meram and Harrison Afful were on target for the Crew as New York played almost 40 minutes with 10 men following a red card to Alexander Callens.
New York captain and Spain s all-time leading goalscorer David Villa pulled a goal back 12 minutes from time to keep his team s hopes alive.
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Brentford head coach Thomas Frank struggled to find the words to describe Ivan Toney after he fired Brentford to a dramatic 2-1 win at Manchester City, declaring: what a striker!
Toney was overlooked when Gareth Southgate named England s World Cup squad this week, but he responded in outstanding fashion by scoring twice in a famous win for the Bees.
Having latched onto Josh Dasilva s cross to score a dramatic winner eight minutes into stoppage time, Toney has reached double figures for Premier League goals this season, scoring two or more goals in three separate games.
Speaking to BT Sport after masterminding Brentford s victory, Frank hailed Toney s performance and praised his side for keeping City talisman Erling Haaland quiet.
He s fantastic, Frank…
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joined Roma on a permanent deal after Arsenal agreed to terminate his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
The Armenia international spent the 2019-20 campaign on loan with the Serie A side, scoring nine goals in 27 appearances across all competitions.
That deal was initially due to expire at the end of June but the clubs agreed a short-term extension to cover the end of the coronavirus-hit campaign.
Mkhitaryan moved to the Gunners from Manchester United in January 2018 as part of the deal that sent Alexis Sanchez in the opposite direction.
Thank you,
And good luck with
— Arsenal (@Arsenal)
He scored nine goals in 59 appearances across all competitions before joining Roma.
A statement on the…
Bayern Munich s Bastian Schweinsteiger says his side face a difficult task against Marseille in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Bayern avoided favourites Barcelona and Real Madrid in Friday s draw, and appear to have received a favourable tie against French club Marseille, who have been inconsistent in Ligue 1 this season.
Nevertheless, midfielder Schweinsteiger feels Didier Deschamps men are likely to prove worthy opponents as Bayern seek to reach the final at their Allianz Arena home.
It is a difficult task, but if we want to win the Champions League, we have to face up to it, he said.
The good thing is that our first match is away from home.
Schweinsteiger s team-mate Holger Badstuber acknowledged Bayern avoided some harder teams in th…
Jurgen Klopp has given Liverpool s scouts the credit for the signing of Mohamed Salah ahead of the 2017-18 season.
Salah has been a revelation for Klopp s side, scoring 19 goals in 25 matches in all competitions.
But the German insists Salah s signing for a club-record fee only came about because of the persistence of Liverpool s scouting staff.
Our scouting department did a fantastic job around Mo. They just didn t get out of our ears about him, he said.
It was 100 per cent, he is ready, he is ready. They did a great job, absolutely.
There is only a short period of the season we have played so far, but already I have been asked if I am surprised by what he is doing.
I could be surprised if I had thought about it because I didn t set …
Napoli have secured the services of Piotr Zielinski from Udinese for a fee believed to be in the region of €15 million.
The 22-year-old underwent a medical on Thursday before signing a five-year deal.
The midfielder had previously been linked with Liverpool and seemed set to continue his career at Anfield, but the Premier League side refused to meet Udinese s valuation of the player and he has now moved to the Stadio San Paolo instead.
Zielinski joined Udinese from Zaglebie Lubin at the age of 17 and made his debut for the Stadio Friuli side in November 2012. He was unable to secure regular first-team football at Udinese, though, and spent the past two seasons on loan Empoli, where he did enough to earn himself a move to Napoli.
Ufficiale: Piotr Zielin…
Manchester United defender Phil Jones has penned a new deal at Old Trafford, .
The 23 year old moved to Manchester United in the summer of 2011, and has so far racked up one hundred and twenty-eight appearances for the club, scoring six goals.
Prior to his move to Manchester, Preston-born Jones played forty times for Blackburn Rovers while he won the Premier League title in his second season with the Red Devils.
Internationally, Jones has been capped seventeen times for England, with one of those appearances coming at last summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil while he was also part of Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2012 squad but didn’t play.
The news comes in the same week United lodged a bid for Real Madrid’s Spanish international defender Sergio Ramos…
There has been plenty of fire exchanged between some European countries on one side and FIFA, represented by president Gianni Infantino, on the other.
But faced with these questions, England and Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier says he and his teammates have absolutely no influence over World Cup decisions, being, at the end of the day, just football players, not politicians.
We are footballers, we re not politicians.
Eric Dier says it s disappointing to have controversy surrounding the build up to the World Cup
— Football Daily (@footballdaily)
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Ronald Koeman says the situation with Ilaix Moriba at Barcelona is horrible , claiming the teenager and his advisors are prioritising money over his career.
Moriba broke into the Barca first team in 2020-21, making 14 appearances in LaLiga and scoring his first goal as a substitute in the 2-0 win over Osasuna in March.
Barca have been in talks with the midfielder over a new contract, with his deal expiring next year, but little progress has been made in recent weeks.
Moriba was effectively sidelined for pre-season as the impasse continued and clubs began to be linked with offers, with Premier League sides including Manchester City and Liverpool said to be interested.
According to Sport, RB Leizpig have made an approach worth €8million, although Barca wa…
Eddie Howe admitted Newcastle United s performance in the 2-0 loss at Crystal Palace on Wednesday was way off the one that saw them thump Tottenham in their previous game.
Howe s men hammered Spurs 4-0 in their last match, but they never got close to matching the attacking verve from that outing and a Jean-Philippe Mateta double condemned the Magpies to defeat at Selhurst Park.
Newcastle didn t even manage a shot on target until the 87th minute, accumulating just 0.42 xG (expected goals) as the likes of Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon struggled to make an impact.
Only against Manchester City in August (one) have Newcastle recorded fewer shots on target in a Premier League game this season than their two against Palace, and Howe was critical of his team s displa…