Breakfast Links - October 23, 2023
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
Good morning, everyone! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are looking forward to game seven for the Astros tonight! Here are your links to start off the week.
Houston
The Dynamo are the only Houston team still alive as they finish off the regular season in style with a 3-1 win in Portland. Griffin Dorsey kicked off the night with an inch perfect header into the top corner. Coco Carrasquilla added a second coming out of the half. Dorsey then completed his brace with yet another powerful goal after an overlapping run. This is now only the third time the Dynamo have managed to come out of Portland with a win. With this result, Portland was knocked out and the Dynamo held on to fourth place. They will host Real Salt Lake on Sunday to open the playoffs.
MLS/NWSL
The NWSL playoffs began with the hot Angel City traveling to Seattle to play OL Reign. Angel City ended the season beating Portland 5-1 in their most impressive performance of the season. They could not keep up the momentum as they failed to score a single goal in Seattle. The Reign did not look too impressive either offensively but managed to find the breakthrough goal form Veronica Latsko in the 87th minute to win 1-0. Gotham traveled to North Carolina and upset the Courage 2-0. After winning the Challenge Cup and ending the regular season unbeaten in three, a first-round exit was a massive disappointment for the team. Midfielders Delanie Sheehan and Yazmeen Ryan found the goals to put Gotham through to the next round.
In the Eastern Conference, MLS Decision Day brought lots of shocking results that impacted the playoff picture. The two biggest surprises were both the Red Bulls and Charlotte qualifying for the playoffs. Charlotte needed to beat Inter Miami, who started Lionel Messi. The Red Bulls needed to travel to Nashville and get a result. Both teams managed to win their games 1-0 to just squeak in. They also got some help with both Chicago and Montreal losing their matchups.
Out West, the biggest surprise of the day was Portland failing to qualify after going unbeaten for seven games to then lose their last two. Sporting Kansas City managed to squeak in after a 3-1 smashing of Minnesota. Kansas City have shown that patience pays off after failing to win a single game until May and still making the playoffs. They are one of the teams to watch out for with the form they are in.
Around the World
The Italian Serie A continues to excite with both Inter Milan and Napoli getting massive results on Saturday. The big game of the week came Sunday with AC Milan hosting Juventus. A top of the table clash featuring four American players in the starting lineups is insane to see. For Juventus, the Americans showed out with Timothy Weah assisting the winning goal and Weston Mckennie putting in a solid shift. For Milan, Yunus Musah had an alright game and Christian Pulisic was subbed out after an early red card. A tight game with very little offense ended in a 1-0 win for Juventus to keep them in the title race.
The game of the week came in the Netherlands where FC Utrecht hosted Ajax to a 4-3 victory. It was looking like a normal game at half time with the score being 1-0 Utrecht after a Ryan Flamingo goal. Coming out of the half there was an explosion of goals with Mike van der Hoorn scoring for Utrecht right out of halftime. Just minutes later, Kristian Hlynsson scored two goals back-to-back to level the score for Ajax. Ten minutes later, Ajax won a penalty that Steven Bergwijn converted. After being down 3-2, Utrecht subbed in Jens Toornstra who went on to score the equalizer just minutes after being on the field. An intense last 20 minutes of the game ended in a 90th minute winner from Oscar Fraulo to give Utrecht the most important three points of their season so far. Utrecht have now jumped Ajax in the standings, leaving them in the automatic relegation zone. What a fall from the team who won the league just two seasons ago.
