Breakfast Links - March 6, 2023
(image via Houston Dash/Twitter)
It was another disappointing week, sadly. Let’s keep our heads high and look forward to the rest of the season, it is nowhere near over yet. Here is your links to start off the week.
Houston
The Dynamo played an extremely disappointing match, losing 3-0 to the New England Revolution. There were not many great performances on the Dynamo end but we have to give New England credit, they played an incredible game. They shut down the Houston midfield with their diamond and the Dynamo had no answer. The goals came from their two forwards Dylan Borrero and Bobby Wood with the third from right back Brandon Bye. Thankfully the Dynamo have a bye week coming up so it is time to figure out the issues and get guys healthy. There is lots of season left, so no need to overreact at this moment.
The Dash flew into San Diego to continue their preseason. They played the San Diego Wave in a friendly on Sunday. Neither team have posted the score unfortunately. The team will continue to train in San Diego in preparation for a friendly against the Kansas City Current. Only 20 days out from the season, let’s hope for a better opening then the Dynamo!
Houston Dynamo 2 played a friendly with San Antonio FC on Saturday. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with no information on who the scorer was at this time. They will play their next preseason game on Wednesday against York United FC from the Canadian Premier League.
Major League Soccer
It was not the greatest week in MLS. There were loads of low scoring games and draws, but it is to be expected in week two. One of the more exciting games was the early game, LAFC vs Portland Timbers. The game ended 3-2 when at a point it seemed like LAFC were running away with it. Carlos Vela and Kwadwo Opoku put on incredible showings to have a 3-0 lead within 50 minutes. Portland then struck back through Evander and then again from Cristhian Paredes to nearly complete the comeback.
Former Dynamo homegrown Memo Rodriguez started in the opening game for the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy lost 3-1 away to FC Dallas. Dallas’s two young forwards Jesus Ferreira and Alan Velasco continue to impress, scoring the three goals to get their first win of the season.
St Louis City have now joined Chicago, Seattle, and LAFC as the only expansion teams to win their first two games. They had an impressive win in their first ever home game beating Charlotte 3-1. Two goals were scored by their DPs Eduard Lowen and Joao Klauss. The third goal came from a Bill Tuiloma own goal. The team travels to Portland next week to try and join Seattle as the only team to win their first three games.
Around the World
The Premier League had two of the wildest games of the weekend around the world. The first came on Saturday when Arsenal hosted Bournemouth and came away with a 3-2 dramatic win. Arsenal conceded within the first ten seconds of the match then eventually found themselves down by two goals, looking like a massive slip in the title race. Arsenal clawed back two goals in eight minutes from Partey and White. In the last minute of stoppage time Reiss Nelson scored an unbelievable volley to win the game and keep the title hopes alive.
Liverpool pulled off the most shocking result of the season on Sunday against Manchester United. The game started off like a usual intense game between the two rivals with chances for both teams. Cody Gakpo opened the scoring right before half time to cap off a great half of soccer. Gakpo scored again right away to open the second half and the flood gates were opened. Two goals from Darwin Nunez and two goals from Mo Salah eventually made the score 6-0. Then to add to United’s misery Roberto Firmino scored another late goal to make it seven. An absolutely embarrassing performance from United, and it was their worst loss since the 1930s. At least Brazil was able to score a goal.
In Italy we finally saw Napoli drop points for the first time since early January losing 1-0 to Lazio on Friday. Lazio was able to score through midfielder Matias Vecino to end Napoli’s eight game winning streak and keep them in a Champions League place. AC Milan, who are also fighting for a Champions League place, lost 2-1 on the road to Fiorentina with Luka Jovic bagging the winner. Roma also won this weekend, beating Juventus through a Gianluca Mancini winner. The race for the Champions League spots is heating up in Italy.
