Orlando wins NWSL title, MLS conference finals set and Barcelona left stunned
Kick your Monday off with all the news from this past weekend
American soccer dominated the scene this past weekend. The NWSL crowned a new champion (congratulations to the Orlando Pride), while the MLS Cup Playoffs continued to serve up upsets.
In Europe, some of the continent’s top clubs had dismal outings (we’re looking at you Manchester City and Barcelona), while Napoli won to maintain top spot in Serie A.
In South America, meanwhile, Argentina’s Racing won its first Copa Sudamericana.
Here’s a look at the weekend’s biggest storylines:
NWSL: Pride (and Marta) win first-ever league title
Barbra Banda scored in the 37th minute and the Orlando Pride beat the Washington Spirit 1-0 on Saturday night to capture its first National Women’s Soccer League championship.
Banda dribbled into the right side of the box, before kicking the ball with her left foot past goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. Banda earned the championship MVP award and became the first player in the NWSL to score in each round of the playoffs.
Orlando’s win also gave veteran striker Marta her first NWSL title.
“I believe that God knows when the right time is for things to happen,” the Brazilian star said.
Pride midfielder Angelina was nearly called for a push before passing it to Banda, but VAR determined the play was fair.
“It feels good to win the championship in the playoffs and I’m proud of this team,” Banda said. “It feels natural to play with Marta because she’s my idol.”
MLS: Upsets continue to dominate playoffs
If upsets are your thing, then the MLS Cup Playoffs have not been a disappointment.
Jordan Morris scored in the 109th minute and Stefan Frei made nine saves to lead Seattle to a stunning 2-1 overtime victory over top-seeded Los Angeles FC on Saturday night in a Western Conference semifinal at BMO Stadium, earning the fourth-seeded Sounders a trip to the conference final.
Gabriel Pec, Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic each scored two goals Sunday to help the No. 2-seed Los Angeles Galaxy beat Minnesota United 6-2 to advance to the Western Conference finals, where they will face Seattle.
Over in the Eastern Conference, the New York Red Bulls got the best of their intra-city rivals in the first-ever playoff edition of the Hudson River derby. Dante Vanzeir had an assist on a first-half goal by Felipe Carballo and then scored nine minutes later in the 2-0 win on Saturday at CitiField.
The Red Bulls will play Orlando City SC in the Eastern Conference finals. Ramiro Enrique scored a first-half goal to lift the Florida club to a 1-0 win against Atlanta United SC.
La Liga: Celta Vigo stuns 10-man Barcelona
Celta Vigo gave 10-man Barcelona a shock on Saturday, scoring two late goals and snatching a 2-2 draw at home.
Barca was minutes away from a win to pad its league lead (now just four points over second-place Real Madrid) after Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski had scored.
But the game dramatically swung after Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado was sent off with a second yellow card in the 81st minute.
Moments later, Jules Kounde’s poor ball handling in the penalty box allowed Alfon Gonzalez to score in the 84th minute. Celta tried again, and two minutes later, Hugo Alvarez rifled in the equalizer.
“It was not only the 10 last minutes, it was the whole match. We played a really bad game today,” Barcelona manager Hansi Flick told reporters. “The passing game for us was bad. We made a lot of mistakes and at the end we had no confidence with the ball.”
In other news: Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge took a major blow on Saturday after being thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham. A fifth-straight defeat in all competitions was the worst losing run of any defending champion in England since Chelsea in 1956. Manager Pep Guardiola had never lost four successive matches in his trophy-laden coaching career at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City. … Gaston Martirena and Adrian Martinez scored first-half goals as Argentina’s Racing won its first Copa Sudamericana by beating Brazil’s Cruzeiro 3-1 in the final on Saturday. Martirena opened the scoring in the 15th minute and Martinez added a goal five minutes later to give “La Academia” its first international title since 1988 when it won the now-defunct Supercopa Sudamericana. … Romelu Lukaku scored against his former club as Napoli defeated Roma 1-0 on Sunday to reclaim the Serie A lead and spoil Claudio Ranieri’s debut with the Giallorossi. Napoli moved one point ahead of Atalanta, Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio. Fiorentina won 2-0 at Como for its seventh consecutive victory and Lazio beat Bologna 3-0.