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MLS Player of the Week: Columbus Crew SC’s Kei Kamara

By Andy EdwardsNov 9, 2015, 5:26 PM EST
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Kei Kamara‘s failed penalty kick attempt in the 68th minute of Sunday’s Eastern Conference semifinal second leg — his first from the spot all season — stood as the decisive moment in Columbus Crew SC’s season for 10 excruciating minutes after Montreal Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush read his run-up and poor attempt all the way.

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Kamara had already scored a potentially semifinal-winning goals for Crew SC — first in the 4th minute for a 2-2 (away goals) aggregate lead (below video) — something he would have to do once more to erase his own mistake, and did — a wonderfully lobbed header in the 111th minute for the 4-3 aggregate victory (above video).

[ MORE: Latest MLS Team of the Week — conference semifinals leg no. 2 ]

The 31-year-old Sierra Leonean striker scored 22 goals during the regular season — double that of his previous career-high — yet managed to come up even bigger for his team in the playoffs, when it mattered most, when it was his own wrong needing to be set right.

MLS Players of the Week

Week 1: Tyler Deric, Houston Dynamo

Week 2: Chris Wondolowski, San Jose Earthquakes

Week 3: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls

Week 4: Kaka, Orlando City SC

Week 5: Harrison Shipp, Chicago Fire

Week 6: Jaime Penedo, LA Galaxy

Week 7: Fabian Castillo, FC Dallas

Week 8: Ethan Finlay, Columbus Crew SC

Week 9: Fabian Castillo, FC Dallas

Week 10: Mauro Diaz, FC Dallas

Week 11: Chad Barrett, Seattle Sounders

Week 12: Kei Kamara, Columbus Crew SC

Week 13: Krisztian Nemeth, Sporting Kansas City

Week 14: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC

Week 15: David Villa, New York City FC

Week 16: Matias Perez Garcia, San Jose Earthquakes

Week 17: Darlington Nagbe, Portland Timbers

Week 18: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC

Week 21: Cyle Larin, Orlando City SC

Week 23: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC

Week 24: Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy

Week 25: Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy

Week 26: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls

Week 27: Didier Drogba, Montreal Impact

Week 28: Kei Kamara, Columbus Crew SC

Week 29: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC

Week 30: Cyle Larin, Orlando City SC

Week 31: Tim Melia, Sporting Kansas City

Week 33: Mauro Diaz, FC Dallas

Week 34: Darlington Nagbe, Portland Timbers

Fernandes scores first goal, says Ronaldo backed Manchester United move

Bruno Fernandes Ronaldo
Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
By Nicholas MendolaFeb 23, 2020, 9:51 AM EST
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It’s probably not a surprise that a young Portuguese player would fancy Manchester United given the heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford early his career.

Bruno Fernandes admits that those images danced through his head well before he signed with the Red Devils in January.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

It’s also not a shock that United would turn to their former player for a take on the playmaker before buying him from Sporting Lisbon.

Fernandes says he’s grateful that CR7 endorsed BF18. From Sky Sports:

“I know some people asked Cristiano what he thought of me and what I was like as a player and a person,” Fernandes said. “I know he spoke highly of me and gave me a good reference, so I sent him a message after to thank him for his kind words.”

Fernandes has 19 caps and two goals for Portugal, while Ronaldo has a few more with 164 and 99.

He now has a goal and an assist in four appearances for United. Ronaldo finished with 118 goals and 69 assists in 292 appearances for the Red Devils.

Here’s the finish:

Eden Hazard suffers fracture ahead of Man City in UCL, El Clasico

Photo by JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaFeb 23, 2020, 8:17 AM EST
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Eden Hazard is set to miss the Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League first leg against Man City with a broken fibula.

Hazard had only returned to the lineup for two matches following a three-month absence with an ankle injury.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

The 29-year-old has made just 15 appearances for Real since arriving in a big-money move from Chelsea, scoring once with five assists.

He has never appeared in less than 30 league matches over the course of his career, five times missing one or zero matches.

Of course, all of his absences show that Real is very comfortable playing and winning without Hazard. Zinedine Zidane’s men lost Sunday to drop behind Barcelona in La Liga, but that was just its second loss of the league season.

Real will be taxed in depth like its rivals, with Wednesday’s visit from Man City followed by an El Clasico at the Bernabeu on March 1. Barcelona hosts Napoli on Tuesday.

Whether you like the playmaker or despise him, there must be some sense of sympathy for his latest ailments (even if Man City and Barca fans will likely offer a Jerry Seinfeld-esque, “That’s a shame”).

Watch Live: Manchester United, Wolves host bottom three battlers

Manchester United Watford live stream link
Photo by Leila Coker/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaFeb 23, 2020, 8:10 AM EST
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A pair of Premier League basement dwellers face stiff tests in their bids to win another season in the top flight.

Manchester United hosts Watford on NBCSN while Wolves welcome Norwich City on CNBC as both home sides aim to improve the health of their top four hopes in 9 a.m. ET kickoffs.

[ WATCH: Man Utd-Watford | Wolves-Norwich ]

Lineups notes from both matches:

LINEUPS

Manchester United

Watford

Wolves

Norwich City

Three Serie A matches suspended due to virus deaths in Italy

coronavirus
Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Associated PressFeb 23, 2020, 7:29 AM EST
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ROME (AP) Three Serie A soccer matches scheduled for Sunday in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto were suspended late Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the virus from China.

On orders from the Italian government, the games called off were: Inter Milan vs. Sampdoria, Atalanta vs. Sassuolo and Hellas Verona vs. Cagliari.

Three other matches in Genoa, Turin and Rome on Sunday are going ahead as scheduled.

[ MORE: Premier League schedule ]

A dozen towns in northern Italy effectively went into lockdown on Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus from China, and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad.

“The government is working on urgent measures to decisively confront and contain the cases of coronavirus contagion,” read a letter from Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora to Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago shortly before midnight local time on Saturday. “Those measures also include the sports world in order to prevent risks and to better take care of the health of those involved in the events and competition.

“Following measures taken by the cabinet for protective reasons and maximum precaution, on orders of the government I’m asking you to suspend all sports events of every level and discipline planned for the Lombardy and Veneto regions on Sunday.”

The secondary contagions prompted local authorities in the Lombardy and Veneto regions to close schools, businesses and restaurants and to cancel sporting events and Masses.

The mayor of Milan, Italy’s business capital and the regional capital of Lombardy, shuttered public offices.

A 78-year-old man infected with the virus died in Veneto. A postmortem on a 77-year-old woman in Lombardy came back positive, though it wasn’t clear if illness from the virus caused her death.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

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Andrew Dampf on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf