Scores
Minnesota United 2 – 2 Chicago Fire
The Loons left their come back pretty late (which happens when Emanuel Reynoso spends most of the match on the bench). The absence of Michael Boxall, Ike Opara and Ozzie Alonso continues to be exploited, and coach Adrian’s Heath’s choices are….interesting (that’s Minnesotan for infuriating)
Emelec 1 – 2 Union [M-South American Cup]
Despite coming in with a hefty advantage Los Bombillos bombed out of the competition. Facundo Barcelo’s second half equalizer was diminished as Union peppered keeper Pedro Ortiz with twice Emelec’s shot total.
Ross County 1 – 1 Livingston
Ollie Shaw seems to have found his shooting boots (or skull rather), scoring for the second time in two weeks. Meanwhile Ross Doohan has continued to find himself at the mercy of opponents. Doohan’s let in 7 over 4 games, but with Ross Laidlaw ceding 16 in the first 10, the Staggies might just be sunk between the goalposts (particularly with as thin the defense has been stretched by low cross after low cross).
Rosenborg BK 1 – 1 Sandviken [F]
Rosenborg remained undefeated but the only action came from an own goal off each side, so it wasn’t exactly a thriller or even particularly edifying. The team will now have one last match to try and swipe the title out from the hands of Valerenga, whose loss to Lyn has finally left the two teams equal. Any result better than the Oslo side will do it, Otherwise they’d need to win by 5 more goals than their rivals…
Grenoble 2 – 1 Le Havre [M]
In their first match back from quarantine Grenoble hit their marks with aplomb (it was probably the hot pink tops). Kevin Tapoko built a goal out of absolutely nothing with an interception, secondary assist and goal in about 10 seconds, while Willy Semedo’s winner showed a strength in attack that GF38 sorely needed.
Final Result: Joe Biden [D] 306 – 229 Donald Trump [R]
This is probably the most relieved I’ve felt in a looooooong time. And with a 5 Million vote edge translating into just a 77 electoral vote margin that felt more comfortable than it ever seemed on the day. Just for fun, here’s how Grenoble covered both the election and the victory.
RB Leipzig 3 – 0 Freiburg [M]
From one angle, Freiburg started well, only losing one of their first five matches. From the other angle Freiburg are in terrible form taking only 3 points from 6 matches. The truth may lie somewhere in between but we hope Christian Streich finds it and fast.
Cukaricki 3 – 2 FK Vozdovac
Credit where it’s due, from falling behind on an early penalty, the Red Dragons fought back to take the lead in the second half. But a fine Cukariki goal and another penalty wiped that away.
Emelec 0 – 0 CS Barcelona [F]
The quarterfinal in this year’s women’s league was an all Guayaquil affair with the local derby determining the next step towards national triumph. Las Electricas held their own earning a goal-less draw with their rivals. But with a second leg still to come, they actually have a great opportunity. A win or a draw should see them through!
SC Freiburg 2 -1 Werder Bremen [F]
After falling behind in the first four minutes, Freiburg stormed back to take the lead back before half-time and hold on from there. Sandra Starke became the first player with two goals (that probably has as much to do with the team’s recent scoreless streak as it does the lack of a dominant force like Klara Buhl).
Viking 3 – 0 Rosenborg BK [M]
Rosenborg lost for the first time in the league since the beginning of August and it wasn’t particularly close. Despite dominating the possession, they got absolutely slaughtered by Viking’s counter attack. Here’s hoping that they took the L so the ladies don’t have to.
Minnesota United 3 – 0 Dallas
We’ve raved about Emmanuel Reynoso, whose first goal was an absolute banger. But it’s worth taking some time to shout out Kevin Molino. The first high profile Loons signee, has paid his dues on the bad teams, sat on the bench to heal an injury during the last good season, and now is leading the charge into the playoffs (though having Reynoso along side him sure helped).
Alebrijes de Oaxaca 1 – 2 Atalante
Oaxaca started out on the right foot, taking the lead through Hector Reynoso Lopez. While the team held on well against the top 4 side for a full hour, a pair of late goals sank their hopes and dropped them back to the bottom of the league.
Emelec 2 – 0 Universidad Catholica [M]
Los Bombillos celebrated the Reddy Kilowatt 5 K with a pair of goals to win their second of five. (For comparison they had only won 2 of 8 to wrap up the first half of the season). Dixon Arroyo’s absurdly placed ball to Romario Caicedo who seemed to be gliding through mile 2 was pretty to watch, and Bryan Carabali hammered home a cross like a quart of chocolate milk at the end of the run. (Trust me, these running references are on point)
Elgin City 1 – 4 Ross County [Cup]
As a Premier League club County should expect to beat up on their fourth tier opponents. As a team in terrible form, nothing can be taken as a given. Fortunately Oliver Shaw (yup, him again) broke open the scoring and the Staggies never looked back). (Here’s hoping Ross Laidlaw gets a second chance soon)
News & Notes
Setting Schedules for the Spring
Both The University of Montana and Punjab FC have announced their schedules for the coming season. The only downside, their seasons won’t start until 2021. But let’s take a look.
On January 9th, India’s soccer will kick off again in Kolkata. Punjab FC will again take part, this time under the leadership of Roundglass Sports, and, judging from the Orange-ified logos, a brand new look too.
The season will be a two part process, rather like the current Scottish style. After one half of the season (a single match against each opponent), teams will be split in to two halves. The top half will play eachother for the title, the bottom half will play eachother to avoid relegation. (Sidebar: Minerva Punjab is also in training…which team we stick with…well…we shall see)
Meanwhile, in Missoula, the Grizzlies have set a very localized schedule in their quest to repeat as Big Sky champs 18 months later. While the fall season was mostly to keep in shape, before the next season, in the spring they’ll be playing for keeps.
Fans return in Dingwall
(MSN.com)
Ross County has become one of the first sides to officially let in fans (albeit fewer than they’d hope and farther apart than they’d hoped. But still fans were back and reported being quite happy to sit in the stands again.
France Shuts Down Lower Women’s Leagues
With a spike in Coronavirus cases, particularly around Grenoble, and even within the team, a shutdown seems fair. Not fun, but fair. That it now encompasses all of the lower leagues in Women’s soccer well…that’s a bitter pill to swallow…if only there were some good wine to wash it down.
Alebrijes Confronts Racism
As if the struggles in playing well weren’t enough, Alebrijes de Oaxaca also had to deal with a conflict of a much more serious nature on Sunday. Center Back Yohan Zetuna was subjected to racist abuse by Ronaldo Gonzalez of Atlante. The two had been battling for a while (with each one earning a cuation from the ref), and while the incident is still in the “alleged” stage. We stand with Yohan as every player deserves to be welcomed on the field (wherever they’re from and wherever their field is)
Player of the Week
With equal output and effect on the match, we have no choice but to split the honors this week. Handing half of the honor to a widely-regarded star calibre talen, and half of it to a little known, just emerging young talent. So Emmanuel Bebelo Reynoso for your plethora of assists, goals, and innovation: take a bow. Oliver Shaw for your star turn at a time the Staggies need it most: take a bow too.
What’s Next
Wednesday, November 11th
6:00 LDU Portoviejo v. CS Emelec [M]
7:00 Cancun FC v. Alebrijes de Oaxaca
Thursday, November 12th
Friday, November 13th
Saturday, November 14th
9:00 Ross County v. Sterling Albion
Legon Cities FC v. Berekum Chelsea
Sunday, November 15th
6:00 Klepp v. Rosenborg BK [F]
9:00 SGS Essen v SC Freiburg [F]
2:30 CS Emelec v. Tecnico Universarito
Monday, November 16th
Tuesday, November 17th
7:05 Alebrijes v. Cimarrones
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