Breakfast Links - May 8, 2023
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
Good morning, everyone! How was everyone’s weekend? Here are your links to kick off the new week.
Houston
It just was not our weekend for Houston soccer, unfortunately. The Dynamo began the weekend with a 0-0 draw at home to Real Salt Lake. Houston kept the home shut out streak alive, but the win streak has sadly ended. There were not a ton of big chances for either team as it was a fairly boring game. The Dynamo have a chance on Wednesday to improve, hosting Sporting Kansas City in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
The Dash traveled to Seattle to play OL Reign Saturday night. OL Reign are in top form, so it was always going to be a challenge. The Dash ended up losing 2-0. The goals came from former Dash player Veronica Latsko and Jordyn Huitema. It was another disappointing weekend for the Dash. They play again against another tough team on Friday, hosting Portland.
Dynamo 2 went with a younger lineup once again to face the Vancouver Whitecaps 2. The Dynamo lost 1-0 to a J.C. Ngando goal. This was very disappointing, coming off a great performance last weekend. The team struggled to create much of anything the whole night. They will be back home to host Real Monarchs next Sunday.
MLS/NWSL
This week in MLS, the biggest matchup came at Levi’s Stadium, where San Jose played LAFC. This game drew an attendance of 45,000 to watch this intense match up. Two of the current MVP favorites, Dennis Bouanga and Cristian Espinoza traded first half goals. Espinoza then scored again from the spot to give San Jose the lead. San Jose held on, giving LAFC their first loss of the season.
This week also saw last season’s MVP Hany Muhktar score a hat trick to destroy Chicago at home 3-0. There were two, five goal thrillers with one in Charlotte and the other in Vancouver. Both home teams won these games 3-2. Enzo Copetti bagged a brace for Charlotte and Brian White had a brace for Vancouver.
In NWSL we had the Washington Spirit host the San Diego Wave in a big matchup. Washington went on to win 3-1 with a big performance by Trinity Rodman. North Carolina and Portland played to a 3-3 draw as nobody can stop Portland from scoring at the moment. Crystal Dunn bagged another two goals to add to her very impressive start to the season.
Around the World
In Scotland, Celctic beat Hearts 2-0 to claim the Scottish Premier League title for the 10th time in 11 years. Celtic have been dominant once again winning the league by 13 points as of today. Kyogo Furuhashi scored the winning goal, which was his 24th of the campaign.
In Italy, with the title already wrapped up, the race for the Champions League places is heating up. Both Milan teams, Juventus, and Lazio make up the rest of the top five with only five points between them. The Milan teams had tough matchups with AC Milan playing Lazio and Inter playing Roma. Milan teams beat the Rome teams, making the race for the top four very interesting. With only four games left, it is looking like one of the Milan teams may miss out or Lazio can fall out after having a very impressive season for their standards.
In England, third place Newcastle hosted second place Arsenal in one of the most pivotal games of the season. Arsenal edged out Newcastle in a very tough and physical game. Martin Odegaard scored a phenomenal long-range goal to give Arsenal the advantage. However, Manchester City won their game against Leeds, so the title is still in City’s hands. With only a few games to go, there is lots of drama to come in the Premier League.
