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Bundesliga wrap: Relegation playoff race stays tight

By Nicholas MendolaApr 22, 2018, 2:24 PM EDT
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With three matches remaining for all 18 Bundesliga clubs, there’s clarity at the very top and bottom but plenty to sort in the races to qualify for Europe and avoid the relegation playoff.

[ RECAP: Man City 5-0 Swans ]

We focus on the latter here, with all three teams on 30 points losing away from home this weekend, including one to the 17th place side in Germany.

Hamburg 1-0 Freiburg

Lewis Holtby scored a 54th minute goal to keep the hosts’ slim survival hopes alive, and USMNT forward Bobby Wood got into the match for the final 23 minutes as Hamburg scooped up a rare win.

Augsburg 2-0 Mainz

The visitors had more of the ball but couldn’t rebound from a 29th minute Michael Gregoritsch goal, allowing Alfred Finnbogason to seal the result in stoppage time.

Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0 Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg has a hefty edge on Mainz and Freiburg in terms of goal differential, but won’t be feeling too confident after watching Lars Stindl, Raffael, and Christoph Kramer all score before halftime.

Elsewhere
RB Leipzig 2-5 Hoffenheim
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Hertha Berlin
Stuttgart 2-0 Werder Bremen
Hannover 96 0-3 Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Koln 2-2 Schalke — USMNT’s McKennie goes 90

STANDINGS

Team GP W D L GF GA GD Home Away PTS
 Bayern Munich 31 25 3 3 84 22 62 13-2-0 12-1-3 78
 FC Schalke 04 31 16 8 7 49 35 14 9-4-2 7-4-5 56
 Borussia Dortmund 31 15 9 7 61 41 20 9-4-3 6-5-4 54
 Bayer Leverkusen 31 14 9 8 55 41 14 7-5-3 7-4-5 51
 1899 Hoffenheim 31 13 10 8 60 44 16 9-4-2 4-6-6 49
 RB Leipzig 31 13 8 10 47 47 0 8-4-4 5-4-6 47
 Eintracht Frankfurt 31 13 7 11 41 40 1 7-4-5 6-3-6 46
 Mönchengladbach 31 12 7 12 42 48 -6 8-4-4 4-3-8 43
 Hertha BSC Berlin 31 10 12 9 38 35 3 5-6-4 5-6-5 42
 VfB Stuttgart 31 12 6 13 29 35 -6 9-4-3 3-2-10 42
 FC Augsburg 31 10 10 11 40 40 0 6-4-6 4-6-5 40
 Werder Bremen 31 9 10 12 34 38 -4 6-5-4 3-5-8 37
 Hannover 96 31 9 9 13 38 47 -9 7-3-6 2-6-7 36
 VfL Wolfsburg 31 5 15 11 30 40 -10 2-8-5 3-7-6 30
 FSV Mainz 05 31 7 9 15 32 49 -17 6-3-6 1-6-9 30
 SC Freiburg 31 6 12 13 26 51 -25 5-6-4 1-6-9 30
 Hamburger SV 31 6 7 18 24 48 -24 5-4-7 1-3-11 25
 1. FC Köln 31 5 7 19 31 60 -29 3-5-8 2-2-11 22

MLS gets new 2nd youngest goal scorer in hilarious fashion (video)

Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP
By Nicholas MendolaOct 18, 2018, 7:56 AM EDT
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Gianluca Busio is going to score a lot of goals in his professional career, but the new second-youngest goal scorer in MLS history will find few as memorable as his first MLS goal.

Definitely in terms of hilarity.

[ MORE: USWNT beats Canada ]

The center midfielder, 16, ran onto a Johnny Russell pass and had a gaping goal in front of him during stoppage time of Sporting KC’s 4-1 defeat of Vancouver on Wednesday.

Busio, who recorded assists in both his USL and MLS debuts, just had to tap it into the goal. He did that, just.

Only Freddy Adu (14 years, 320 days) was younger than Busio when he scored his first MLS goal.

“Johnny was working and he outran the dude, worked it, and right when he turned that corner,” Busio said in a post-match interview on Fox Sports Kansas City. “It was him against one defender. I was so happy I almost missed it. I was just so excited, I didn’t know what to do.”

Busio now has a goal and an assist in 153 minutes spread over seven appearances. And Sporting KC moves into second out West with two matches to play.

Lavelle goal leads USWNT to CONCACAF Championship

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaOct 17, 2018, 10:05 PM EDT
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Rose Lavelle’s early goal was enough for the United States women’s national team to seal its eighth CONCACAF Women’s Championship with a 2-0 win over Canada in Texas on Wednesday.

Alex Morgan scored an offside goal in stoppage time, a deserved marker despite the captain’s transgression. The dominant striker has 17 of her 97 national team goals in 2018.

[ MLS: Rooney scores another wonderful goal ]

Both sides had already clinched berths in this summer’s World Cup in France, while Jamaica earned a spot via a third place match win over Panama earlier Wednesday.

The USWNT is 15W-2D in 2018 and in fine form heading into a World Cup year. The last loss came in the 2017 Tournament of Nations.

The game was vicious, with Tobin Heath the target for a number of hard Canadian fouls and Megan Rapinoe responding on behalf of the Americans.

“Obviously, we hate Canada and they hate us,” Rapinoe said after the game on Fox Soccer. “It was very apparent tonight.”

Lavelle sent a second minute loose ball just past the reach of Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe.

Seattle clinches unlikely playoff spot with win over Orlando

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
By Nicholas MendolaOct 17, 2018, 9:48 PM EDT
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Say this for the Seattle Sounders: It’s not wise to write them off.

Brian Schmetzer’s men are going to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the 10th straight season after beating Orlando City 2-1 in Florida on Wednesday.

[ MLS: Rooney scores another wonderful goal ]

The Sounders still have an outside look at finishing as high as third in the West, which is wild considering the start of their season.

Seattle lost its first three matches and had a whopping 12 points through 15 games.

They then kicked off a sparking 13-2-2 run which included a nine-match winning streak.

Not a bad goal from Victor Rodriguez, either:

Rooney swerves long free kick around the wall (video)

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaOct 17, 2018, 8:45 PM EDT
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Thirty-plus yards is a tricky distance for defending a free kick.

How many guys do you put in the wall in case the shooter has the audacity to shoot?

[ MORE: Henry looks to Pep, Wenger ]

It didn’t matter all that much during Wednesday’s match between DC United and Toronto FC. The shooter was Wayne Rooney, and he curled a fireball around the wall and inside the near post.

The amount of spin on the ball is out-of-this-world, as Rooney and DC aim to gain a four-point advantage over seventh place Montreal with two matches to play.

It’s Rooney’s 10th MLS goal in 18 games. He’s also posted six assists in leading United up the table.