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ProSoccerTalk Player of the Week: Troy Perkins

By Steve DavisMay 21, 2012, 2:20 PM EDT
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With apologies to Teal Bunbury, Saer Sene and Dwayne De Rosario, a trio of worthy two-goal scorers for their teams over the weekend – and really big apologies to De Rosario for notching three over a pair of Round 11 MLS matches – we’re gonna zig were some others have zagged on MLS Player of the Week.

D.C. United is on top of its game at the moment, and “De Ro” is certainly a big part of it. But could United have taken down visiting Colorado and Toronto FC without the fine contributions from their playmaker and goal scorer? Probably.

Maybe not so with Portland and goalkeeper Troy Perkins, who was outstanding over two matches for the Timers.

His good work in goal helped preserve Portland’s 0-0 draw at Houston in mid-week. And more of the same helped the Timbers nurse home a 2-1 win Sunday at home over Chicago.

His best save against Chicago is here …

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And then the best of his excellent, seven-save night down in Houston last week is here, as Perkins hustles quickly into position for a second time to close space on Calen Carr in a one-on-one …

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Past ProSoccerTalk Players of the Week

Round 1: Kalif Alhassan, Portland

Round 2: David Estrada, Seattle

Round 3: Thierry Henry, New York

Round 4: Thierry Henry, New York

Round 5: Kenny Cooper, New York

Round 6: Aurelien Collin, Sporting Kansas City

Round 7: D.C. United’s Chris Pontius

Round 8: New York’s Dax McCarty

Round 9: San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski

Round 10: New England’s Lee Nguyen

Round 10: Portland’s Troy Perkins

UEL roundup: AC Milan, Celtic, Rangers reach last round of qualifying

Europa League results
Photo by Jeroen Meuwsen/BSR Agency/Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsSep 24, 2020, 6:56 PM EDT
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Europa League results: AC Milan, Celtic and Rangers were all victorious in the third round of UEFA Europa League qualifying on Thursday, advancing to the playoff round — the final round — on Oct. 1.

[ MORE: Son to the rescue as Spurs advance in UEL qualifying (video) ]

AC Milan 3-2 Bodo/Glimt

Hakan Calhanoglu scored twice — once in each half, including the game-winning goal in the 50th minute — as Milan did just enough to knock out Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt.

Lorenzo Colombo got the other goal for Stefano Pioli’s side, with Bodo/Glimt tallies bookending the Italians’ three.

Riga 0-1 Celtic

Celtic’s progression into the playoff round was far more dramatic, and uncertain. Neil Lennon’s side found itself level at 0-0 as they entered the 90th minute. Exra-time, and maybe even penalties, seemed likely.

Mohamed Elyounoussi had other ideas. It wasn’t the most visually pleasing goal scored on Thursday, but Elyounoussi’s bouncing, first-time finish had just enough on it to evade the goalkeeper and hit the back of the net.

Willem II 0-4 Rangers

As for the other side of Glasgow, Rangers cruised past Dutch side Willem II and were just about through to the next round before halftime. James Tavernier converted from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute, followed three minutes later by a goal from Ryan Kent.

Filip Helander made it 3-0 in the 55th, and Connor Goldson finished the rout in the 71st. Steven Gerrard’s team was one of the most impressive sides on the day, and looked ready for a season-long battle for the Scottish Premiership title. Having played one more game than their local rivals, Rangers currently lead Celtic by a single point.

Notable Europa League results

Shkendija 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (FULL RECAP)
Mura 1-5 PSV Eindhoven
Wolfsburg 2-0 Desna Chernihiv
Sporting CP 1-0 Aberdeen

Notable Europa League playoff matchups

Tottenham Hotspur v Maccabi Haifa
Rio Ave v AC Milan
Sarajevo v Celtic
Rangers v Galatasaray
Rosenborg v PSV Eindhoven
AEK Athens v Wolfsburg
Sporting CP v LASK

League Cup: Liverpool win 7-2; Man City survive and advance

League Cup - Liverpool
Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsSep 24, 2020, 5:13 PM EDT
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A roundup of League Cup third round results on Thursday, as Liverpool and Man City booked their places among the final 16 teams…

[ MORE: Edouard Mendy to Chelsea: What does it mean for Kepa, Blues’ defense? ]

Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp fielded a team of most of his seldom used players, and had virtually no issues getting past League One side Lincoln. Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring in the ninth minute, and he did so in truly fantastic free-kick fashion.

Takumi Minamino scored twice — once either side of halftime — beginning with his first-time, curled beauty in the 18th minute to make it 2-0. The Japanese international appears to have stockpiled plenty of confidence to force his way into the Reds’ star-studded first team with greater regularity.

From there, Liverpool were off to the races. Curtis Jones bagged a brace in the 32nd and 36th minutes, followed the second from Minamino to make it 5-0 after 46 minutes. Lincoln hit back right on the hour mark, but Marko Grujic restored the five-goal lead just five minutes later.

The Imps clawed back another goal just a minute later, but an 89th-minute tally from Divock Origi ensured the Reds would triumph by the five-goal margin.

Up next for Liverpool is a heavyweight fourth-round showdown, at home against Arsenal.

[ MORE: Transfer news: Reyna to Liverpool; Jorginho to Arsenal ]

Man City 2-1 Bournemouth

Pep Guardiola’s men were far from full stretch, and far from their best, en route to a 2-1 victory over recently relegated Bournemouth. With as many as six first-team regulars given the rare night off, City found themselves level at 1-1 with the final 15 minutes approaching. U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Zack Steffen was one of the backups to feature.

Fortunately for City, Phil Foden has stepped forward in recent outings and asserted himself a star of the present — no longer of the future — and reaffirmed his ascent with a well-place winner in the 75th minute.

It was one of the youngsters, 17-year-old Liam Delap, who opened the scoring in the 18th minute, when he hammered a left-footed strike into the upper-90 of the far post. Foden provided the diagonal through ball for Delap and picked up the assist on the play. The lead lasted barely four minutes, though, before Sam Surridge had drawn the Cherries back to level terms.

Up next in the League Cup, City will visit Burnley in the fourth round.

Bristol City 0-3 Aston Villa

A pair of new signings — Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore — bagged goals, alongside the opener from Anwar El Ghazi, for Dean Smith’s Villa, to make it a comfortable 3-0 victory over Championship side Bristol City.

Villa will host Championship side Stoke City in the next round.

Son to the rescue as Spurs advance in UEL qualifying (video)

Europa League - Tottenham
Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsSep 24, 2020, 3:49 PM EDT
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Son Heung-min got to play the role of hero once again for Tottenham Hotspur, as it was the South Korean superstar’s second-half goal and assist which lifted his side to a 3-1 victory away to North Macedonia side Shkendija in the third round of Europa League qualifying on Thursday.

[ MORE: Edouard Mendy to Chelsea: What does it mean for Kepa, Blues’ defense? ]

Spurs took an early lead through Erik Lamela’s fifth-minute strike. Son found his Argentine teammate atop Shkendija’s 18-yard box and Lamela hit his right-footed shot with pinpoint accuracy.

Spurs were in control, without being dominant, for the remainder of the first half. Though they failed to make a handful of half-chances count, Jose Mourinho’s men looked like they never had to move past second gear to remain 1-0 ahead at the halftime break.

The second half, however, was a bit more tricky. Shkendija needed just 10 minutes, and two shots, to pull level.

[ MORE: Transfer news: Reyna to Liverpool; Jorginho to Arsenal ]

Valmir Nafiu let fly from 22 yards out, and there was very little — if anything — Joe Hart could do to get close to the upper-90-bound laser.

After scoring four goals in Spurs’ 5-2 thrashing of Southampton on the weekend, Son provided the moment of quality so desperately needed in the 70th minute. Lucas Moura’s initial effort on goal was saved, but it fell ever so kindly to Son 12 yards from goal. His finish was far from simple, though, as no fewer than two outfield players and the goalkeeper obstructed his path to goal. In the end, he picked out the top-left corner for a delicately placed finish.

It was another moment of quality from Son which propelled Spurs to a two-goal advantage not even 10 minutes later. He whipped in a cross from the left wing and found Harry Kane perched near the six-yard box, where he rose highest and put plenty of power behind his header.

Up next for Spurs will be a playoff-round clash with Israeli side Maccabi Haifa. The winner of that single-leg tie will qualify for the group stage draw.

Burnley – Southampton: How to watch, start time, team news, odds

By Joe Prince-WrightSep 24, 2020, 2:05 PM EDT
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Burnley – Southampton: Two committed and hard-working clubs clash at Turf Moor on Saturday (Watch live at 3pm ET online via Peacock) as both teams are aiming for their first points of the season.

[ MORE: How to watch PL in the USA ]  

Sean Dyche’s Burnley lost at Leicester in their opening game of the season last weekend, while Ralph Hasenhuttl saw his Southampton side hammered 5-2 at home by Tottenham are losing at Crystal Palace on the opening day.

[ MORE: ProSoccerTalk unfiltered, Week 2 ]

These clubs are evenly-matched as Burnley finished 10th and Saints 11th last season, but both clubs know they have increasing competition to finish in midtable.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of what should be an extremely physical early-season clash.

Team news: Burnley – Southampton (INJURY REPORT)

Burnley are without a host of players as Jay Rodriguez suffered an injury in the midweek League Cup win at Millwall and joins Ben Mee, James Tarkowski, Robbie Brady, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Jack Cork and Ashley Barnes in the treatment room.

Southampton only have one player missing through injury, Nathan Redmond, while Mohammed Salisu isn’t quite up to full speed following his arrival this summer.

Odds and ends (full odds provided by our partner, PointsBet)

With all of their injuries Burnley (+220) are the underdogs but Southampton (+135) have never fared well at Burnley and last won at Turf Moor in 2007 when both teams were in the second tier.

PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links

Burnley – Southampton prediction

This is a real clash of style as Hasenhuttl’s Saints will press high and look to force the issue, while Burnley will sit back and soak up the pressure and look to go direct. Burnley always seem to catch Saints out on the break or from set pieces and I think that will be the case here too, but with all of the Clarets’ injuries I think Southampton will come away with something. Burnley 1-1 Southampton.

How to watch Burnley – Southampton stream and start time

Kickoff: 3pm ET Saturday
TV Channel: Peacock
Online: Stream via NBCSports.com