PSG wins Ligue 1, Rodman scores in US return and SKC breaks winless streak
Kick your Monday off with all the news from this past weekend
Good morning and happy Monday!
It was a weekend marked by Paris Saint-Germain winning the Ligue 1 title, part of the club’s larger ambition to win the Champions League this spring.
On this side of the Atlantic Ocean, Sporting Kansas City finally won a game and the U.S. women’s national team exerted its dominance by steamrolling Brazil in a friendly.
Here were the top storylines from this past weekend:
Ligue 1: PSG captures league title without a defeat
Paris Saint-Germain won the Ligue 1 title on Saturday with six games to spare — and without ever losing a game — following a 1-0 win over Angers.
PSG only needed a draw, but teenage striker Desire Doue tallied the game’s only goal at a festive Parc des Princes.
“The club has so many achievements,” manager Luis Enrique said. “The objectives are to play attractive soccer and to go and win trophies.”
The victory — 23 in 28 games so far, with 80 goals scored and 26 conceded — won them the title after second-placed Monaco lost at Brest 2-1 later, PSG had a massive lead of 24 points.
It marked PSG’s 11th French league championship and fourth straight in 13 seasons since Qatari backer QSI took over the team. The previous two had come in 1986 and 1994.
USWNT: Rodman scores against Brazil in her U.S. return
The United States defeated Brazil 2-0 on Saturday as Trinity Rodman scored early and team captain Lindsey Heaps clinched the friendly win with a second-half penalty kick.
Rodman — playing her first USWNT match since the 2024 Paris Olympics after eight months of recovery from back woes — picked up right where she left off, scoring in the sixth minute off a pass from fellow forward Alyssa Thompson.
After the goal, Rodman broke away from the goal celebration and grabbed her lower back, pretending to be in pain — only to stand up tall and laugh while flipping her pink hair over both shoulders.
“The medical staff was freaking out, but I felt like I had to do it,” Rodman said. “It felt so good to be in this atmosphere again, to be with the team. The stadium was crazy.”
For the Americans, the win at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles served as a rematch of 2024 Olympics gold-medal match.
MLS: Sporting Kansas City finally wins a game
Dejan Joveljic recorded a brace in the second half to help Sporting Kansas City end a team-record 13-game winless streak across all competitions with a 2-0 home win against St. Louis City on Saturday night.
The victory came in the debut of interim manager Kerry Zavagnin.
It was Joveljic’s fourth goal in his first season with Sporting KC after scoring 19 times for the MLS Cup-champion Los Angeles Galaxy last season.
The game was the 1,100th in club history for Sporting KC and the first under Zavagnin, who played for the team from 2000-08 before becoming an assistant coach in 2009.
The win also came after longtime coach Peter Vermes was let go as the longest tenured manager in the league last week after 17 seasons.
In other news: Three players were sent off in the span of 18 minutes near the end of a Premier League game between Crystal Palace and Brighton on Saturday. Palace was reduced to nine men when Eddie Nketiah (in the 78th minute) and Marc Guehi (90th minute) picked up second yellow cards. Brighton center back Jan Paul van Hecke was then sent off in the sixth minute of stoppage time, also for two yellow cards. Palace held on to win 2-1 after nearly 14 minutes of stoppage time. … Vinicius Junior flubbed a penalty kick and Real Madrid conceded a stoppage-time goal in a 2-1 home loss to Valencia on Saturday. The shock result was softened hours later when league leader Barcelona was held at home 1-1 by Real Betis. That meant Barca extended its lead to only four points over its rival with eight rounds to play. … Thomas Muller has announced that will end his “incredible journey” with Bayern Munich this summer after 25 years at his boyhood club. The 35-year-old midfielder, made the announcement in a joint statement with Bayern. He has helped Bayern win a record 12 Bundesliga titles and two Champions League crowns.