A soccer team owned by FIFA streamer Edwin Castro has withdrawn from an inaugural soccer tournament after a member of the team allegedly used a racial slur against an opposing player in a match.
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Dallas United was playing West Ham United F.C. in the inaugural The Soccer Tournament (or TST), a 7v7 tournament with a $1 million prize for the winning team taking place in Cary, North Carolina on June 1. The Dallas team, which is composed of “mostly amateur players from the Dallas area,” according to ESPN, was up 2-0 in the match against West Ham when the incident reportedly took place.
Video clips on social media show West Ham players gathered around the match’s referee, with center back and former English Premier League player Anton Ferdinand at the center of it all. One clip appears to show Ferdinand telling the ref “I’m here to set a precedent now,” before the entire team decided to walk off the pitch. Though it’s unclear what was allegedly said, the chatter on social media and on sites like The Daily Mail suggest the n-word was hurled at Ferdinand by a Dallas United player.
The official TST twitter account later shared an update, saying that it had “[conducted] an investigation into the final moments of the match between West Ham United and Dallas United” and “concluded that Dallas United violated TST’s code of conduct.”
“We have been in dialogue with leadership from both clubs and we are all aligned that the best path forward is Dallas United withdrawing from competition,” the statement also reads.
Though Castro’s Dallas squad initially shared a tweet stating that it had launched its own internal investigation into what took place during the match and was “cooperating fully” with TST’s investigation, a later tweet seemed to suggest the squad’s stance is that the “accusation” against them is false. “In light of the shadow cast by an opposing player’s accusation during tonight’s match, the Dallas United players unanimously decided to withdraw from the remainder of the competition,” read a tweet posted just a few hours after the initial one. Kotaku reached out to TST and Castro for comment.
Castro has 3.5 million followers on his Twitch account and over 1.5 million on Twitter. He is best known for his FIFA streams. In a March 7 video posted to the Dallas United Twitter account, Castro likens owning the team to “[playing] FIFA in real life.”
As reported by ABC 11, North Carolina’s branch of the news organization, Ferdinand spoke to reporters after West Ham’s final match on June 2, praising TST’s swift response to the allegations. “I need to go on record and say the topic of conversation that was laid bare yesterday is better than football. The way that TST dealt with it so swiftly, the no-nonsense action, a lot of people around the world, organizations around the world, can take note,” he said.
West Ham and their opponents reportedly knelt in solidarity before Friday’s match, as Ferdinand’s team considered not continuing on in the tournament after the racially charged incident. “When somebody of white heritage hears somebody of my heritage speak of [such racism], it’s almost like it’s a broken record, we’ve heard it before. But when you hear it from somebody who looks like you, it makes you take note. So I think everybody needs to come together to fight as a collective. And if we do that, football can be the catalyst for change in society. But society is going to have to want to change with it,” Ferdinand said during the press conference.
As reported by the BBC, Ferdinand isn’t the only former pro footballer competing in the tournament—Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Cesc Fabregas are a part of it, as well, and professional clubs Borussia Dortmund and Wrexham (owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney) have teams representing them, as well.
This is also, sadly, not the first time Ferdinand has faced racism as a Black man in football. According to the BBC, a former Chelsea player was fined and banned four matches back in 2011 for racially abusing him when he was a defender on Queens Park Rangers. Racism has no place in football, gaming, or otherwise.
Streamer, YouTuber and all-round internet celebrity IShowSpeed has recently been helping one of the biggest TV stations in Europe, Sky Sports, with its broadcasts of English Premier League matches. That was, reportedly, until the executives at the channel found out about a video that went viral back in April.
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IShowSpeed—more commonly known as simply ‘Speed’—had been in the stands earlier this month to watch his team Manchester United play Fulham in the league (and then my beloved Aston Villa for the League Cup). While there, he helped present segments for the channel and appeared on their social media feeds. Here’s one (surviving) example:
And here’s another (uploaded independently by someone who had saved the footage), showing him failing to recognise either Jamie Redknapp or Louis Saha:
Ishowspeed in SKY SPORTS STUDIO reacting to no RONALDO
Speed, who got famous streaming games like Fortnite, NBA 2K and FIFA, was presumably brought in by Sky to leverage his internet following and supposed appeal to younger football fans, which at time of posting stands at 13 million YouTube subscribers and 5.4 million Instagram followers (he is permanently banned from Twitch).
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As of today, though, nearly all of Speed’s promotional material on Sky’s social media has been deleted (with the exception of that single Tweet above), with The Athletic reporting that Sky made the decision after they were made aware of a video that did the rounds in April—one that became so notorious we reported on it—in which Speed made incredibly hostile and misogynistic comments to his teammates:
While Speed later apologised for those comments, they were so bad that Riot Games banned him from not just Valorant, but League of Legends as well. His Twitch ban, meanwhile, was also for misogyny, just a different video. It’s weird—given that it was so widely reported, the tweet above having 180,000 likes and 11.7 million views and it was only 7 months ago—that nobody at Sky thought to even Google his name before putting him in the spotlight like this!
What happened: In the 19th minute, Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Robert Sanchez appeared to catch Erling Haaland as the striker attempted to take the ball around him. Referee Craig Pawson gave a goal kick.
VAR decision: No penalty.
VAR review: Sanchez clearly catches Haaland, which makes this about that level of contact being enough to make the striker go to ground in the way he has.
Most would expect the VAR, Lee Mason, to award a penalty, but he chose not to because the ball was going out of play and he deemed there to be minimal contact.
The argument that the ball was going out doesn’t seem to hold water, as a foul remains a foul — although it can of course be used when deciding upon a yellow card, or a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. Minimal contact should only be a consideration when the challenge is shoulder to shoulder or a regular tackle. When a player catches an opponent with the sole of the boot (studs) leading, then it should result in a penalty kick.
VAR overturn: Penalty for Dunk foul on Silva
What happened: Bernardo Silva ran through the area in the 39th minute and clashed with Lewis Dunk. Pawson ignored the appeals.
VAR decision: Penalty, scored by Haaland.
VAR review: Play continued while the VAR reviewed the incident and came to a decision (2 minutes, 15 seconds from foul to the penalty being awarded), in line with the protocol. If the ball had gone out of play at any point in this period, Pawson wouldn’t have allowed play to restart. This happens in most games, so a match can carry on while a review takes place and not be interrupted if the VAR clears the incident.
One of the key things a VAR should look for is whether a player has initiated contact to draw the foul, which makes this VAR overturn confusing.
Mason felt it was more of a foul from Dunk, rather than contact initiated from Silva (no push was considered in the review.) It’s subjective whether you believe the Manchester City forward did position his leg or he was caught by Dunk, but for that very reason the VAR getting involved seems wrong.
Had Pawson given the penalty himself, then there is enough doubt for the VAR not to get involved to overturn too. It should have stayed with the on-pitch outcome. For the VAR to be the one to overrule the referee on such a subjective call doesn’t seem to fit with the Premier League’s overriding protocol for reviews. The referee will have the final decision at the monitor, but the VAR will usually show the evidence to support the overturn, rather than to have another look from several angles.
There are similarities with Bukayo Saka‘s booking for simulation against Southampton, although it was a harsh decision from referee Robert Jones to show the yellow card. Duje Caleta-Car made an attempt to tackle Saka outside the area, so the VAR cannot review, but the Arsenal forward placed his leg into the defender’s to initiate the contact.
The best decision in both cases would have been no action and for play to continue.
Possible foul: Wilson on Lloris before scoring
What happened: Newcastle United took the lead in the 31st minute when Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris came out of his area and attempted to take a touch on the ball, then collided with Callum Wilson. The striker picked up the loose ball and lofted it over the Spurs defence to score (watch here.)
VAR decision: Goal stands.
VAR review: The VAR process took 2 minutes, 11 seconds because Stuart Attwell had three things to check: offside, the foul and handball by Wilson.
Referee Jarred Gillett decided it was a coming together between striker and goalkeeper, with Lloris having rushed out of his area to intercept the long ball over the top. There was no offside or handball.
The only evidence of a possible foul, rather than an accidental clash, was Wilson’s left arm coming out as he bumped into the Tottenham keeper, but it feels as though that would be searching for a reason to disallow the goal. Remember Jarrod Bowen on Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy?
The same applies to Haaland’s challenge on Adam Webster before his first goal on Saturday. The City striker showed great strength and some referees might have given a foul at the time, but the VAR shouldn’t be disallowing a goal in situations like this.
As discussed in last week’s VAR Review around the disallowed Man City goal at Liverpool, decisions are far better when they are keeping with the way a referee is managing the game. Gillett was allowing the play to flow, so to disallow the goal for what was a questionable foul situation wouldn’t fit.
This incident might also show us how the VAR process is being improved. There are similarities to the goal West Ham United‘s Maxwel Cornet had disallowed last month for the foul by Bowen; there was contact between attacking player and goalkeeper and the match referee deemed it not enough to rule out the goal, but it was cancelled through the VAR (who just so happened to be Gillett.) PGMOL then deemed it a mistake for the VAR to get involved.
Possible penalty: Handball by Royal
What happened: In the 51st minute, Joelinton attempted to head a cross back across the area, and the ball hit the arm of Emerson Royal.
VAR decision: No penalty.
VAR review: We discuss handball on a weekly basis, and there is a tendency for supporters to take individual aspects of certain decisions and apply them exclusively to other incidents rather than as an assessment that takes in all criteria.
For instance, while proximity could be the same on two handball decisions, that doesn’t mean arm position itself might not be the overriding consideration on one compared to the other.
All handball decisions are subjective, and each one has its own unique factors — how has a player made a challenge, ergo is he taking a risk with his arm in that situation? Would you expect a player to have his arm in that position? Has the ball come at the player from a short distance with no time to react? Has his arm moved towards the ball?
Royal had his arm in a position that would be expected when jumping to block the ball, even though it was out from the body. If the ball had hit his leading arm, or the arm it hit had been above shoulder level, there is a far greater chance it would have led to a penalty.
Compare this with two other incidents this month, both with Michael Oliver as referee. The first involves Arsenal defender Gabriel against Liverpool when no penalty was given due to proximity — although while Gabriel was using his arms as balance, a penalty through VAR might have been the better outcome.
Then there’s Aston Villa‘s Matty Cash against Fulham this past Thursday. Although proximity might be similar to with Gabriel, it’s the way Cash is making the challenge with arms away from his body that creates an obvious barrier to the cross and is high risk. There’s very little doubt the VAR would have advised a penalty if Oliver hadn’t awarded it, but the Gabriel incident is more subjective.
Possible offside: Kane when scoring
What happened: Tottenham pulled a goal back in the 54th minute through Harry Kane, but there was a possible offside to be reviewed (watch here.)
VAR decision: Goal stands.
VAR review: While Kane was onside from Clement Lenglet‘s initial flick on, the VAR review was about a possible touch from Davison Sanchez before the ball reached the England captain, which would have made him offside.
There was no definitive proof that the ball had touched Sanchez on the way through, so the VAR cannot intervene to disallow the goal.
Possible penalty overturn: McTominay foul on Broja
What happened: Chelsea were awarded a penalty in the 84th minute when Armando Broja was held by Scott McTominay as the ball came over on a corner routine. Referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the penalty spot.
VAR decision: Decision stands.
VAR review: This situation provides the perfect example of how VAR protocol, and the edict that the decision on the pitch carries most weight, will never give the game consistency of decision-making.
Attwell gave the penalty to Chelsea because the Manchester United midfielder had both of his hands around Broja’s body, enough to restrict the forward’s movement and his ability to challenge for the ball. But if the referee hadn’t seen it clearly, it’s unlikely to have been a situation in which the VAR, Michael Oliver, would have advised a penalty kick.
We can look back to Southampton vs. Arsenal, with Gabriel Jesus going to ground after holding from Caleta-Car, who initially got a touch on the ball. It’s far less prolonged than McTominay on Broja, and while Arsenal fans might believe the defender having both arms around Jesus should result in a penalty, it really is a decision that is not going to be given by the VAR. Again, the pitch decision carries the weight.
If you take each incident in isolation, most would say the Perraud foul was a clear penalty and Broja/Jesus were less certain, but the more obvious foul isn’t given.
The VAR’s role is purely to assess each individual incident based around the referee’s original decision rather than to take precedents.
VAR overturn: Gordon onside for goal
What happened: Everton thought they had scored their second goal in the 63rd minute through Anthony Gordon, but the flag went up for offside.
VAR decision: Goal awarded.
VAR review: Sometimes an assistant just gets it badly wrong. It doesn’t happen very often, but we do see situations when a player is a long way onside (or indeed offside by a large margin) and the flag goes up. It’s the exact reason why we have the delayed flag, as frustrating as that might be sometimes.
Gordon was well onside, and the VAR was quickly able to advise that his goal should stand.
VAR overturn: Luiz sent off for violent conduct against Mitrovic
What happened: In a game played Thursday, Douglas Luiz and Aleksandar Mitrovic squared up to each other off the ball in the 61st minute.
VAR decision: Red card, three-game suspension overturned by an independent regulatory commission.
VAR review: The three-man commission — usually made up of a chairman and two former players who are members of the Independent Football Panel — isn’t deciding whether the red card is right but judging only the suspension and whether that should be removed. It came as a huge surprise that Aston Villa won their appeal against Luiz’s suspension for wrongful dismissal.
The VAR, Paul Tierney, told referee Oliver he should visit the monitor to review a red card as a serious missed incident, meaning the officials hadn’t seen it. While both players went chest-to-chest against each other, Luiz appears to make contact with his head on Mitrovic’s (whatever you might think of the Fulham player’s reaction.)
PGMOL hasn’t yet received the written reasons behind the decision, but the only possible explanation is the panel either didn’t feel there was head-to-head contact or felt it was accidental due to the way they confronted each other. Either way, exonerating Luiz when there is no obvious evidence that the officials made a mistake was very unexpected.
It’s rare that a red-card appeal is won when there is evidence in support of the referee. Take the VAR dismissal of Everton midfielder Allan against Newcastle last season; it was a very harsh dismissal for serious foul play that Frank Lampard’s team appealed but ultimately unsuccessfully.
Information provided by the Premier League and PGMOL was used in this story.
Steven Gerrard lasted just 11 months as Aston Villa manager. Jesse Marsch might pass through Leeds United after an even shorter tenure with the club’s fans turning on the former RB Leipzig coach in recent games despite him being in charge for a mere eight months.
Managing a Premier League team is becoming harder at every level — even Thomas Tuchel lost his job at Chelsea earlier this season, just over a year after winning the Champions League. But succeeding at clubs that go into the season as neither title challengers nor relegation candidates appears to have become the hardest challenge of them all.
All those coaches employed by the so-called Big Six know exactly what will happen if they don’t succeed, but they at least go into the job knowing they are working for clubs with the financial power and attractiveness to potential signings to have a chance of achieving their targets. And at the other end, at those clubs who have either been promoted or who accept that Premier League survival is their only measure of success, the manager has a simple objective: stay up. Scott Parker’s dismissal at Bournemouth five games into the season, having secured promotion back to the Premier League three months earlier, was due to his repeated public questioning of the club’s recruitment strategy rather than a prolonged period of bad results although a 9-0 defeat at Liverpool almost certainly sealed his fate.
Yet teams such as Villa, Leeds and Everton, who dispensed with Rafa Benitez after seven months last season after the former Liverpool boss lost 10 of 22 games in charge, are in an unenviable position. They have proud histories, huge fan bases and ambitions to re-create the successes of the past, yet lack the resources or patience to play the long game and build from the bottom up.
Finishing 10th might be a sign of progress at such clubs, but only if it is a springboard for bigger, better and higher the next season. Unless you are a team such as Newcastle United, another club seeking to re-create more positive times from the past but one with the financial strength to build for today and tomorrow, it is almost impossible to succeed if you are in that middle ground of Premier League clubs.
Gerrard discovered that to his cost at Villa, losing his job after 40 games in charge in which he won 13 and lost 19. The former Liverpool captain cannot argue that he was successful at Villa Park, but the club invested only £63 million on new signings this summer (plus £27m on full-back Lucas Digne in January) and his biggest transfer, £28m defender Diego Carlos, has been out since the second game of the season due to injury. Gerrard’s gamble on Philippe Coutinho did not work out, with the £18m summer signing from Barcelona failing to have an impact after an initial bright spell on loan last season. But for a club of Villa’s stature and ambition, the summer outlay on new players was never likely to be transformative.
It is a similar story at Leeds, where Marsch lost midfielder Kalvin Phillips (to Manchester City) and forward Raphinha (Barcelona) for fees totalling almost £100m, while club-record signing Daniel James also left on loan to Fulham. The Elland Road recruitment team replaced them with a variety of players with little or no Premier League experience, such as Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams and Rasmus Kristensen. Having avoided relegation only on the final day of last season, Leeds arguably went into this season with a weaker squad after allowing three key players to leave in the summer, so it is no surprise that Marsch’s team would be struggling and now in the bottom three.
But Leeds, like Villa, have too proud a history for their fans to accept annual fights against relegation. The problem is, neither club is yet financially strong enough to be able to chase new glories with the kind of investment, on and off the pitch, that enables Eddie Howe to make such rapid strides at Newcastle.
Gerrard went after the fans turned on him at Fulham last week, chanting “You’re getting sacked in the morning” as they watched their team lose 3-0 at Craven Cottage. Marsch was subjected to the same supporter anger after his side also lost, 3-2 at home, against Fulham on Sunday.
Hearing fans sing the name of a previous manager is another bad sign, and Marsch has heard Marcelo Bielsa’s name chanted several times in recent weeks. Sources told ESPN on Friday that Marsch was in no imminent danger of losing his job at Elland Road, but Premier League management is all about the shifting sands of results and the backing of supporters. Marsch is in negative territory in both of those key metrics.
It was the same story for Gerrard who, having arrived at Villa Park to great fanfare last November after proving his credentials by guiding Rangers to the Scottish Premiership title in 2021, was fired within minutes of the 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage this past Thursday. Whomever Villa appoint to replace Gerrard will discover the same problems, and there might also be a new coach at Leeds soon charged with bridging the gap between expectation and reality.
But if clubs appoint managers and then fail to sign players good enough to make a difference, it will always be a story of diminishing returns followed by another roll of the managerial dice.
Another weekend of headlines, golazos and unpredictable finishes across Europe’s biggest league is in the bag. From Napoli‘s gritty 1-0 over AS Roma in Serie A, to Liverpool‘s shock loss to Nottingham Forest, there was no shortage of drama.
ESPN correspondents Rob Dawson, Julien Laurens, Sam Marsden, James Tyler and Mark Ogden break down the big stuff you need to know about the weekend.
Dembele, 25, has been consistently backed by coach Xavi Hernandez, who was the key to him signing a contract renewal in the summer, and is now repaying that faith on the pitch. What he now needs to do, after receiving some criticism for his performance in last weekend’s loss to Real Madrid, is be more consistent and, above all, make the difference in the biggest games.
Barca’s win against Athletic concluded a good few days for Xavi’s side after they beat Villarreal3-0 on Thursday. There was an element of disappointment lurking around the club after Champions League and Clasico setbacks, but two big home wins — Sunday’s was played in front of over 84,000 fans at Camp Nou — has helped lift the mood around the club.
It has also kept things interesting at the top of LaLiga. Barca remain just three points back from leaders Madrid after 11 games. Madrid are still unbeaten after they beat Sevilla3-1 on Saturday. Barca have lost just once, that reverse to Madrid last weekend. — Marsden
Steph Curry probably didn’t keep a close eye on events between Aston Villa and Brentford on Sunday, with the Golden State Warriors player more likely to have been preparing for his own encounter with the Sacramento Kings later the same day, but whether he knows it or not, the NBA superstar helped pave the way for Villa caretaker-manager Aaron Danks to win his first game in charge.
Danks is perhaps the biggest unknown ever to take charge of a Premier League team, with even the most ardent Villa supporter unlikely to know too much about the 37-year-old who has been installed as interim boss following the sacking of Steven Gerrard last week.
Having never played the game as a professional, Danks has risen through the coaching ranks in England, initially as academy coach at West Bromwich Albion before becoming head of specialist coaching with the English FA and a stint working with England undder-20s when they won the 2017 U20 World Cup.
It was during his time with the FA that Danks travelled to San Francisco to study the methods of seven-time NBA champions Golden State, shadowing Curry and his individual development coach while working on his three-point shooting.
Danks has since worked alongside Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht before moving to Villa as assistant to Dean Smith and Gerrard, but with Gerrard fired after a disastrous start to the season, he now has the chance to become the latest coach to prove that a big reputation as a player is not required to become a top coach.
Villa are almost certain to turn to a proven coach as the permanent successor to Gerrard, but clubs are now hiring managers who have worked their way up as coaches and Danks is the polar opposite of Gerrard, who was one of the best players of his generation.
The new wave of coaches spend years honing their skills and studying the best in all sports, just as Danks has done with Curry and the Golden State Warriors. — Ogden
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Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens discuss the possibility of Mauricio Pochettino taking the manager’s job at Aston Villa.
Napoli are the real deal
Maybe Gab Marcotti’s slogan for Victor Osimhen, “The best is yet to come,” should be the same for Napoli. The Nigerian striker scored the winning goal against AS Roma at the Olimpico on Sunday night, proving once more that this Napoli side is the real deal, both in Italy where they are top of the table, and in Europe where they have been the best team in the Champions League so far.
The game in Rome felt like a real test for Luciano Spaletti and his players. They passed it and even if they didn’t have their usual attacking mojo, they were still solid and efficient. They are still unbeaten this season after having beaten Lazio and AC Milan on the way too.
Napoli’s upcoming fixtures (Sassuolo, Atalanta, Empoli and Udinese) mean that they can definitely stay at the top of Serie A until the World Cup. Sunday night showed that they can do it in different ways: with flair and scoring goals or with grit and defensive cohesion. — Laurens
Time to say goodbye to Union’s title hopes?
Sunday’s dour 2-1 defeat at Bochum should precipitate the eventual return of the Bundesliga’s status quo at the top end of the table, especially with so little time until the expanded World Cup winter break and with everyone else steadily closing the gap. It’s a shame, too: Cinderella stories are always a treat, made more thrilling that the gaps between rich clubs and the remainder getting ever-wider. Union Berlin’s style of football can be tough on the eyes and is reliant upon forcing mistakes from opponents, which works most of the time; however, being reactive is never going to work for a team that wants to contend. Great teams bend others to their will rather than waiting for gifts.
Heading into the game knowing that the five teams immediately below them — Bayern Munich, Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz and Borussia Dortmund — all won this weekend, Sunday saw Union muster just three shots on goal and only found the net in the 93rd minute, with the game well beyond them at that point. Depth was always going to be a concern in a title race that always felt like a brief novelty, especially as the likes of Bayern were able to rotate a little and still pick up three points.
A stubborn Bochum served as inhospitable hosts, forcing mistakes and profiting from individual brain-farts. Philipp Hofmann scored two very different goals — the first a header off a corner in which Union barely prevented him glancing it beyond Frederik Ronnow, and the second a sliding finish after a slick counter-attack caught Union flat-footed. Only when two goals down did Union really show spark, and they’ll wish Milos Pantovic had a second chance at a penalty after a super save by Manuel Riemann, but this should force a refocus and restatement of season goals by Union that helps them remain in the top 7-8. With two Europa League games and league dates with Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen in the next 14 days, there’s little time to dwell. — Tyler
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Watch the Game Highlights from VfL Bochum vs. FC Union Berlin, 10/23/2022
Goals
Another Haaland masterclass
The pass from Ederson is absurd, but so is the turn of pace from Erling Haaland to nick the ball away from Robert Sanchez and also the strength of the Norwegian to flatten Adam Webster before rolling the ball into an empty net. After being kept out by Liverpool last weekend, it was Haaland’s 16th Premier League goal of the season. By full-time, he already had No.17 — the same number as Harry Kane managed in total last season. — Dawson
WHAT A BALL FROM EDERSON!
Erling Haaland with the finish and City take the lead.
It’s been another difficult season for United States star Giovanni Reyna at Dortmund; not because of his form (he’s always good), but because of his fitness. As usual, minor injuries have kept him from getting up a head of steam before the World Cup — he’s played just 19% of the available minutes at the club level this season — but he was superb throughout during Dortmund’s 5-0 rout of hapless Stuttgart on Saturday, even scoring his first goal in 421 days. The win also helps BVB feel like they’re in the title race, creeping up to fifth place, just four points behind league leaders Union Berlin.
Reyna’s goal was the cherry on top of his excellent performance in midfield, dazzling alongside the equally effervescent Jude Bellingham. With BVB 2-0 up on the cusp of half-time, Reyna got his chance following some neat approach play by Julian Brandt and Youssoufa Moukoko. The ball was slid into Reyna’s path on the left side of the box and after a couple of touches, he curled it beautifully beyond a helpless Florian Muller and inside the far post.
It was elegant and emotional in equal measure; even non-USMNT fans will have welled up a little at the sight of him celebrating, face down, in the corner while his teammates sprinted to give him a hug of encouragement and a pat on the head. More please, Gio. — Tyler
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Gio Reyna fires one in with his right foot before halftime, giving Borussia Dortmund the 3-0 lead.
Valverde’s hot streak continues for Madrid
At this stage, teams should probably stop letting Federico Valverde shoot from distance, although that is presumably easier said than done. The Uruguayan’s latest rocket hit the back of the net before Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou had a chance to blink on Saturday and sealed an impressive 3-1 win for Real Madrid, who remain unbeaten at the top of LaLiga.
It was Valverde’s third goal in a week. His strike and performance in last weekend’s Clasico victory over Barcelona led teammate Toni Kroos to brand him one of the top three players in the world right now. That praise did not go to his head and he followed up that display with crackers against first Elche and then Sevilla. That is seven goals in all competitions for the all-action midfielder. He only scored six in his first four seasons with Madrid. — Marsden
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Federico Valverde goal 81st minute Real Madrid 3-1 Sevilla FC
Teams in trouble
Liverpool stumble again
The worry for Liverpool is that they were supposed to be back. Back-to-back league wins over Manchester City and West Ham should have signalled a turning point in their season but they suffered another set-back at bottom side Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool will perhaps feel that they should have earned at least a point, particularly after Forest needed an unbelievable late save from Dean Henderson to keep out Virgil van Dijk‘s header, but they certainly didn’t do enough to win the game. Jurgen Klopp says he already believes Liverpool are out of the title race but if they were to go on another poor run, their place in next season’s Champions League would also be under threat. — Dawson
Between Aug. 7 and Sept. 30 — so seven weeks — Marseille didn’t lose a single Ligue 1 match. They were riding high, just behind Paris Saint-Germain in the table, playing well and being solid, giving their fans high ambitions and hopes. Between Oct. 8 and Oct. 22 — two weeks — they have now been beaten three times in a row, two of them at home at the Stade Velodrome.
All the good things that we saw at the start of the season are gone. In the defeat against Ajaccio, the first one of the bad run, the Marseillais defended badly. In Paris, PSG were better but Marseille played well but couldn’t take their chances. And against Lens at home, it was both. Igor Tudor and his players have a huge game in the Champions League (where things have been better) next week but right now, the camp is down and full of doubts. From a strong second in the table, there are now fifth and on a real negative spiral. –Laurens
Weekend MVP
Atleti’s ‘new signing’ Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann has been like a new signing for Atletico Madrid in their last three league matches, perhaps because technically he is. On Oct. 10, Atletico confirmed that Griezmann’s two-year loan from Barcelona had been made permanent for an initial fee of €20 million. Prior to that, he had been reduced to 30-minute cameo roles in the second half of games due to a clause in the loan agreement with Barca which could have forced Atletico to pay €40m for him. Freed from the uncertainty that generated surrounding his future, he has led Atletico’s charge to third in the table.
His latest exploits came on Sunday at Real Betis, where he scored twice in a 2-1 win as Atletico established themselves as Real Madrid and Barcelona’s biggest challengers once again. His first goal was direct from a corner and his second was squeezed between goalkeeper Rui Silva‘s legs. Three of his five league goals and one of his two assists have come in his last three games.
But Griezmann 2.0 at Atletico is about more than goals. He is Diego Simeone’s No.2 on the pitch. He is his team’s playmaker. He is, at the moment, the difference between Atletico and the rest of the chasing pack, as Betis, who were level on points with Atletico heading into the weekend, found on Sunday at the Benito Villamarin. — Marsden
Ronaldo was named on the bench but left his seat to return to the dressing room before the final whistle despite manager Erik ten Hag still having two available substitutions.
Ten Hag refused to expand on the situation during his post-match media duties, saying only that he would address the issue on Thursday.
“I don’t pay attention [to that] today, we will deal with that tomorrow,” Ten Hag said when asked about Ronaldo’s behaviour in leaving the bench in the 90th minute.
“The focus today was on a magnificent performance from all the 11 players.
“I have to correct myself, not just 11 players but the substitutes who came on, it was a squad performance.
“We deal with that [Ronaldo] tomorrow. What we see today is 11 players who defend and 11 who attack.”
It’s not the first time Ronaldo has caused a problem for Ten Hag by leaving a game early.
The Dutchman branded the striker’s actions “unacceptable” after he was pictured leaving Old Trafford before the end of a preseason friendly against Rayo Vallecano in July following his substitution at half-time.
“This is unacceptable,” Ten Hag said at the time. “For everyone. We are a team and you have to stay to the end.”
Ronaldo, who has scored two goals in 12 appearances so far this season, was replaced with 18 minutes left despite United needing a goal, but Ten Hag insisted he did not have a problem with the reaction.
“I think no player is happy when he [is taken] off, and especially not Ronaldo, I understand that,” he said.
“As long as it is [done] in quite a normal way, [I have] no problem with that.”
In October 2018, Donny van de Beek, aged just 21, was starting for Ajax against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. By the end of that season, he had scored 17 goals from midfield, one of which came in a Champions League semifinal at Tottenham Hotspur.
A few weeks later, he played against England and Portugal as Netherlands finished runners-up in the Nations League, and by 2020, he had earned himself a €45 million transfer to Manchester United.
But rather than the next step up in a career that until that point had gone from strength to strength, his move to Old Trafford triggered a decline so sharp that when head coach Louis van Gaal names his Netherlands squad for the 2022 World Cup, there won’t be any questions about why Van de Beek isn’t included.
The midfielder was told by Van Gaal he needed to “start playing games” after he was initially dropped from the national squad more than a year ago. Now that he is injured, as well as out of favour, there is little prospect of that happening before the tournament starts in Qatar next month.
It has reached the point where Van de Beek has been written off by most United fans as another bad signing. There was hope in the summer that the appointment of his former manager at Ajax, Erik ten Hag, might kick-start his career in Manchester. But Van de Beek has found opportunities just as hard to come by under the new United boss as he did under predecessors Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. So far this season he has played 19 minutes of football, and speaking last week, Ten Hag said the 25-year-old would first have to impress in training before being considered for a place in the team.
“He had a muscle injury,” said Ten Hag after the Europa League victory over Omonia Nicosia. “So it takes a couple of weeks. He’s now back on the training grass, so he’s outside doing his work but still individual, he’s not returning to team training. So we have to wait for that moment.”
Van de Beek has got used to waiting. After arriving at United from Ajax, it took Solskjaer more than two months to trust him with a Premier League start in a 3-2 win at Southampton. He was picked for the next league game against West Ham, but after being substituted at half-time at the London Stadium, he had to wait until May to start another game in the Premier League against Leicester at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer’s treatment of a player who was on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or in 2019 raised questions about whether the Norwegian was ever keen to have him at the club at all. Van de Beek was signed at a time when United were coming under pressure for a lack of ambition in the transfer market, and they were able to tie up a deal quickly after a proposed move to Real Madrid broke down.
A popular member of the squad, his lack of game time baffled some of his teammates, who would regularly make a point of highlighting him in their social media posts whenever he made a key contribution in training or matches.
A loan move to Everton in January was disrupted by a thigh injury, but Ten Hag’s appointment at United in the summer was seen as a fresh start with a coach who had got the best out of him at Ajax. Ten Hag initially said he was “looking forward” to working with his former player, but it wasn’t long before he was issuing a warning.
“Me as a manager and the coaching staff around him can do everything to set the right conditions so he can perform, but in the end, the player has to do it by himself,” he said during United’s preseason tour of Thailand and Australia. “It’s the same for every player, he has to do it by himself. They have to take responsibility for their performance. Donny has the capability. I have seen it, but he has to prove himself.”
Ten Hag insists “chances will come” during a hectic season in four competitions, but it is becoming increasingly likely Van de Beek will have to leave the club, either in January or next summer, to get his career back on track.
Sources have told ESPN that Leicester City are one of those interested, but Van de Beek has a contract at Old Trafford until 2025, with the option of another year, and United would want some kind of return on the €45m fee they paid just two years ago.
Still only 25, there is still time to prove he can be the same player who burst though at Ajax. But time has already run out on his chances of playing at the World Cup, and the clock is ticking on his future at United.
The 37-year-old has seen his opportunities to play restricted so far this season, but Ten Hag believes the winner against Everton could prompt a purple patch in front of goal.
“Every player needs it [confidence] even when you are the best in the world you need it, you need the goals,” Ten Hag told a news conference. “Once they have some goals, they come easier and then the goals come in a flow.
“That is really impressive when you score 700 goals, a huge performance. I am really happy for him and congratulate him for that. I am also really happy it is his first goal of the season in the Premier League. I am sure more goals will come for him.”
Victory for United moved them up to fifth in the table, one point off the top four. It was a crucial win following the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City a week ago and an awkward night against Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League on Thursday.
“Criticism is normal when you have a defeat especially in a big game in a derby, so we have to deal with that and then you learn the lessons and we did, already on Thursday and today as well,” added Ten Hag.
“The first 35 minutes were good, in and out of possession. We had a setback, a goal against, but I think we responded much better and turned it around before half-time, so really good.”
The one downside for United was another injury to Anthony Martial. The Frenchman was handed his first start of the season after already missing games because of hamstring and Achilles problems, but was forced to limp off after just 28 minutes.
“I have to see,” Ten Hag said. “I cannot tell what it is, how serious. Let’s wait the first 24 hours how serious it is and then I can give an answer.”
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