Soccer
Soccer
Around the NSL: Rise falling, Boychuk’s beauty of a boot, Roses remain flawless
4 minute read Yesterday at 8:09 PM CDTNOT to step on the toes of Week 3, which technically kicked off Wednesday, but can someone check the pulse of the Vancouver Rise?
The defending inaugural champs have lost of all three games this season. The Rise dropped its season opener 3-2 to AFC Toronto, then were shutout by the Montreal Roses 4-0 last Saturday. On Wednesday, the club was blanked again — this time at the hands of the Ottawa Rapid.
To get back to Week 2, seven shots — with only one making it on target — isn’t going to win a footy game. This was the abysmal stat line posted by the Rise in its matchup against the Roses. Montreal, meanwhile, had 16 shots on net with seven on target and four of those making it past Vancouver goalkeeper Morgan McAslan.
What might be worse is that Wednesday’s Week 3 game is the Rise’s last match until May 18, when they visit the Halifax Tides.
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Soccer
Daniel Ríos and Dagur Thorhallsson score goals as Montreal beats Orlando City 2-0
2 minute read Updated: 6:24 PM CDTMONTREAL (AP) — Daniel Ríos scored and Dagur Thorhallsson scored stoppage-time goals, Thomas Gillier had four saves, and CF Montreal beat Orlando City 2-0 on Saturday.
Gillier had his third shutout this season.
Luca Petrasso drew a penalty, conceded by Orlando City's Robin Jansson, and Ríos converted from the spot in the fourth minute of injury time to open the scoring.
Thorhallsson scored his first goal for Montreal (4-7-0) to make it 2-0 in the eighth minute of stoppage time. The club acquired Thorhallsson from Orlando City on Dec. 10 in exchange for up to $625,000 in General Allocation Money.
Soccer
Celta puts pressure on Betis in fight for Spain’s fifth Champions League berth
4 minute read 4:28 PM CDTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Real Betis missed a chance to take a step toward sealing its return to the Champions League after squandering a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday.
Betis remained in fifth place with a four-point advantage over sixth-placed Celta Vigo, which put the pressure on the Seville-based side after it won at Atletico Madrid 1-0. There are three games — and nine potential points — left for the two teams this season.
Spain clinched a bonus fifth entry into the Champions League on Thursday when Rayo Vallecano’s win against Strasbourg in the Conference League semifinals gave Spain an insurmountable edge over Germany in the race for an extra berth.
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal and Atletico all have spots in Europe's elite club competition locked up. Barcelona can clinch the Spanish title on Sunday with at least a draw when it hosts Madrid in a clasico at Camp Nou.
Soccer
Trio leads Red Bulls to 3-1 victory over Chicago as Fire’s Cuypers ups goal-scoring streak to 9
3 minute read 4:15 PM CDTCHICAGO (AP) — Rookie Jorge Ruvalcaba, Cade Cowell and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored goals to lead the New York Red Bulls to a 3-1 victory the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
The Fire (5-4-2) avoided a shutout when Hugo Cuypers scored in the 87th minute to extend his goal-scoring streak to nine matches. Cuypers had scored two goals in three straight to help Chicago climb to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, entering play. His 11th goal of the season moves him one in front of FC Dallas’ Petar Musa in the Golden Boot Award race.
Ruvalcaba used assists from Emil Forsberg and Adri Mehmeti to find the net the net in the 45th minute and give the Red Bulls (4-5-3) a 1-0 lead at halftime. It was the fourth goal for Ruvalcaba in 12 appearances. Forsberg's helper was his fourth after posting a career-best 11 last season.
Cowell took passes from Ronald Donkor and defender Robert Voloder and scored his first goal of the campaign for a two-goal lead four minutes into the second half.
Soccer
Udinese’s Keinan Davis alleges racist slur by Cagliari’s Alberto Dossena
4 minute read Preview Updated: 4:29 PM CDTSoccer
Lionel Messi has 3 goal contributions to become fastest to 100 as Inter Miami tops Toronto 4-2
3 minute read 2:57 PM CDTTORONTO (AP) — Lionel Messi had a goal and two assists to become the fastest player in MLS history to reach 100 goal contributions, and Inter Miami doubled up Toronto FC 4-2 on Saturday, upping its winning streak on the road to six.
Messi’s effort gives him 59 goals and 41 assists in 64 regular-season matches, shattering the previous record of 95 set by Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco. Messi has piled up 87 goals and 57 assists in 101 career appearances in all competitions.
Rodrigo De Paul also had a goal and two assists to help Inter Miami bounce back from a 4-3 home loss to Orlando City in a match it led 3-0. The club is 0-1-3 at home since moving to Nu Stadium.
De Paul scored off a free kick in the 44th minute to give Inter Miami a 1-0 lead. The midfielder corraled the ball after it ricocheted off the wall of players and banged a second shot off the left post and into the net.
Soccer
Japan lands defending champion Qatar in a tough 2027 Asian Cup group draw
3 minute read Updated: 6:21 PM CDTRIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Four-time winner Japan was grouped with defending champion Qatar at the 2027 Asian Cup in the draw on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia will host the 24-team tournament for the first time from Jan. 7-Feb. 5.
The Asian Football Confederation will be hoping the competition will be held without any further complications.
The draw was originally set for April 11 but was postponed because of the conflict in the Middle East. The final field is still incomplete because the Lebanon-Yemen match was not played as scheduled on March 31 and has been postponed to June.
Soccer
Messi dominant at revamped BMO Field in Inter Miami’s 4-2 win over Toronto
5 minute read Preview Updated: 5:22 PM CDTSoccer
Toronto FC welcomes Miami at new-look BMO Field in dress rehearsal for FIFA World Cup
4 minute read Preview Updated: 2:37 PM CDTSoccer
Man City closes gap on Arsenal and Liverpool fans boo more dropped points in Chelsea draw
5 minute read Preview Updated: 2:27 PM CDTSoccer
Wirtz misses Liverpool’s game against Chelsea because of stomach infection
2 minute read 6:33 AM CDTLIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz missed Saturday's Premier League game against Chelsea because of a stomach bug, coach Arne Slot said.
The Germany international was sick this week and missed periods of training, so Slot left him out of the squad for Chelsea's visit to Anfield.
“He tried everything to be in it,” Slot told TNT Sports in a pre-match interview.
Slot described the illness as “an infection in the stomach.”
Soccer
O’Kane scores 2 goals in Racing Louisville’s 3-1 win over the Thorns
2 minute read Preview Yesterday at 9:37 PM CDTSoccer
Lautaro scores again as Serie A champion Inter beats Lazio in Italian Cup warmup
3 minute read Preview Updated: 4:14 PM CDTSoccer
Kane’s Bundesliga penalty streak ends with miss and Leipzig back in Champions League
4 minute read Preview Updated: 2:15 PM CDTSoccer
Real Madrid’s Arbeloa asks to ‘turn the page’ after fight between Valverde and Tchouaméni
4 minute read Preview Updated: 5:57 AM CDTSoccer
Two soccer players and a betting agent are convicted of match-fixing in Hong Kong
2 minute read Updated: 12:23 AM CDTHONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Friday convicted two soccer players and a betting agent with bribing other players to rig matches in the city's top two football leagues in an operation that involved tens of thousands of dollars.
The two players, Brian Fok and Luciano Silva Da Silva, and the betting agent, Waheed Mohammad, ran a match-fixing gambling operation that covered some 30 matches from 2021 to 2023, the city's Independent Commission Against Corruption, which led the investigation, said in a statement.
Fok first attempted to fix a match in October 2021. He offered $10,000 per match to a teammate in the Hong Kong Football Club team, which is a member of the HK Premier League, to participate in fixing the game. The teammate declined, but Fok later found willing participants in Silva Da Silva and Mohammad.
The three men then acted to fix match results, placing illegal bets on more than 30 matches in the HK First Division, another league in the city. Both Fok and Silva Da Silva were playing on teams in that league then. Their operation involved intentionally losing matches.
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