More from PST What we learned | Premier League transfer news | Latest USMNT news
Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Pretty goals lead Toronto FC past Philadelphia (video)

By Nicholas MendolaMay 4, 2018, 10:00 PM EDT
1 Comment

Toronto FC’s unusually slow start to the season took a step toward the norm on Friday, when the Reds kicked off the MLS weekend with a comfortable win over the Philadelphia Union at BMO Field.

[ MORE: Other MLS Things — The Archive ]

Here are three things of note from TFC’s 3-0 win, as Victor Vazquez, Sebastian Giovinco, and Jay Chapman lit the proverbial lamp.

Vazquez absence might’ve been key to TFC’s slow start

Here’s what I love most about this goal, even more than Sebastian Giovinco’s cutting through ball.

Look at TFC’s Jonathan Osorio and most of Philadelphia’s defense, which thinks the Reds’ hometown midfielder is going to connect with Nicolas Hasler’s cross.

Nope, Vazquez darts into the thick of the 18 to turn the ball inside the near post. Osorio’s even in the midst of winding up for a dig.

Beautiful.

The 31-year-old has scored in both of his MLS matches since returning from a back injury, having scored eight goals with 10 assists in last season’s MLS debut voyage.

He went 71 minutes in the CONCACAF Champions League Final’s second leg, having missed all of TFC’s 2-1 first leg in Canada.

All told, TFC went 2W-4L-1T in the seven matches he missed between MLS and the CCL.

Could Michael Bradley serve a long-term purpose as a CB?

Bradley again went 90 minutes as an emergency center back for Toronto FC, and it has us dreaming of, perhaps, the USMNT captain becoming part of a three-man backline for club and country.

Imagine the ball-playing out of the back from Bradley, whose best assets are reading the game and pinging passes. As part of an American unit with John Brooks and Matt Miazga, holding the center of the field for young buck center mids Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams? Could be worse!

Seba’s still Seba

Giovinco had to wait til his fifth MLS match of the season to score, as he salted away TFC’s much-needed win with 35 minutes to play.

His relative league struggles aside, Giovinco is doing fine this season thanks to four goals and four assists in eight CONCACAF Champions League games.

Still, it’s good to see him on the board.

Belarusian Premier League roundup: BATE Borisov pick up win, end early-season drought

Getty Images
By Joel SoriaApr 4, 2020, 8:17 PM EDT
Leave a comment

The Belarusian Premier League – the only active European top-flight league at the moment – continued on Saturday despite the coronavirus pandemic.

FC Rukh 0-1 BATE Borisov

With an early goal from midfielder Stanislav Dragun, BATE Borisov, Belarus’ most successful team (15 league titles) and a regular face in European competition, earned their first win of the season. Kirill Alshevsky, who took over at the helm prior to the season, had started his spell on a two-game losing streak.

BATE, despite not winning the possession battle decisively, generated twice as many shots on target as the visitors, registering a total of 11 shots throughout 90 minutes at Borisov Arena.

A winner of 13 straight Belarusian Premier League titles – spanning from 2006 to 2018 – pressure began looming over BATE after starting the 2020 campaign with back-to-back lackluster results. BATE, who lost to Arsenal in Europa League’s Round of 32 in April 2019, were outscored 5-2 in the first, two games of the league.

Dinamo Minsk, the second most successful Belarusian side, also picked up their first three points on Friday, following a slower-than-usual start to the season. Meanwhile, defending champion Dinamo Brest fell 2-1 to Slavia-Mozyr, dropping to eighth on the table.

Elsewhere in Belarusian Premier League 

Shakhtyor 0-0 Nerman

Dinamo Brest 1-2 Slavia-Mozyr

NWSL extends league-wide training moratorium through May

Getty Images
By Joel SoriaApr 4, 2020, 6:04 PM EDT
Leave a comment

The NWSL is extending its league-wide training moratorium another month amid the coronavirus pandemic, the league announced on Saturday.

All NWSL teams will be unable to partake in team trainings until at least May 5, extending its previous training moratorium that was set to expire on Sunday, April 5. The 2020 season – which was set to start on April 18 – is expected to start by the end of June, according to NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird.

“We’ve been just communicating with our players and we’re targeting for the end of June for our season to start,” Baird told The Equalizer. “I say that with conviction and hope, but … we’re gonna adhere to the public health guidelines that are in place at the time and I don’t think that we can predict what they are. But our strategy is in place.”

Earlier this week, Major League Soccer and United Soccer League extended their training moratorium through April 24 and April 19, respectively.

Report: England manager Gareth Southgate agrees to 30 percent pay cut

Getty Images
By Joel SoriaApr 4, 2020, 4:52 PM EDT
Leave a comment

England manager Gareth Southgate has agreed to a 30 percent pay cut amid the coronavirus pandemic, our partners at Sky Sports reported on Saturday.

[ MORE: What PL clubs are doing to help during coronavirus ] 

Southgate’s move, which is reportedly expected to be confirmed by the Football Association (FA) next week, comes hours after the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) released a statement on behalf of the Premier League players responding to proposed pay cuts.

A FA spokesperson told Sky Sports the following: “The financial implications of the coronavirus are not yet known however, as a not-for-profit organization, we want to ensure that we take the appropriate course of action to support the wider organization and our employees.

“We will make a further announcement on our next steps in due course.”

On Friday, Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe – and a handful of technical staff personnel – became the first Premier League manager to take a voluntary pay cut. Howe’s “significant, voluntary” pay cuts were done in light of the club furloughing non-playing employees throughout the organization, joining Tottenham, Norwich, Newcastle and Liverpool.

Spanish league and players still far apart on salary cuts

Getty Images
Associated PressApr 4, 2020, 3:42 PM EDT
1 Comment

MADRID (AP) The Spanish league and players are still far apart on the size of the salary cuts they need to take to help reduce the financial impact caused by the coronavirus outbreak, with the footballers saying the organization wants them to carry nearly half the total losses.

The league and the players’ association have been in talks to try to find ways to mitigate losses that could reach nearly 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) if the season cannot be restarted because of the pandemic.

The players have said they are willing to reduce their salaries, but not as much as the league or the clubs want.

“After analyzing the current circumstances of the sector and given the distance in conversations with the players’ association, it is necessary to adopt measures in view of the serious economic crisis that COVID-19 is causing in the Spanish soccer industry,” the league said in a statement.

It also added that government furloughs are “an exceptional mechanism to avoid and mitigate the negative impact that COVID-19 is having on the sector, and thus guarantee its subsequent recovery.”

According to media reports, the league expects losses of 957 million euros ($1.03 billion) if the season is canceled, with 303 million euros ($327 million) lost if it resumes with games in empty stadiums and 156 million euros ($168 million) of deficits if it continues with fans.

The players said the total cuts in salaries requested by the league would account for 451 million euros ($487 million) if the top flight cannot restart.

The reduction in salaries being discussed reportedly varies depending on the clubs, and also on whether they are playing in the Champions League or the Europa League.

Team captains met with the players’ association late Friday to discuss their options after the league earlier in the day called for all clubs to put the footballers on government furloughs to reduce labor costs while the stoppage of play continued. The furloughs help the clubs and guarantee players their jobs once the crisis is over.

The league said it is responsible for preserving an industry that represents 1.37 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product and employs about 185,000 people.

Atlético Madrid and Barcelona were among the clubs to resort to the furloughs in recent days. Both reached an agreement with players to reduce their salaries by 70 percent, and guaranteed the wages of other employees were unaffected.

There are nearly 125,000 cases of the new coronavirus in Spain, which on Saturday surpassed Italy as the country with the second-most infections behind the United States. The death toll in the nation stands at 11,744.

The government is expected to extend lockdown measures until April 26, likely keeping the Spanish league suspended until then.

The league has said the season won’t resume until authorities deem it safe for everyone’s health. It said it will recommend a “minimum of 15 days” of practice before the games can restart, though it suggested recently the training period may begin with restrictions before the lockdown is removed.

—

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

—

Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni