Soccer Monday: Liverpool wins, Bayern loses and Columbus captures MLS Cup
Kick off your week with all the action from this past weekend
MLS crowned a new champion this past weekend, while one of Germany’s most-storied clubs suffered an historic defeat.
Those were some of the biggest stories to emerge from this past weekend in the world of soccer.
Here’s a look at the biggest storylines to emerge from the last few days:
3. Liverpool takes over first place
Liverpool climbed atop the Premier League table after Mo Salah scored his 200th goal for the club in a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday, before Aston Villa beat Arsenal 1-0 the following day to stop the Gunners from retaking first place.
“I’m a very happy manager in this moment, but I know we were lucky as well,” Reds manager Jurgen Klopp told reporters. “If you only win your really good games you have no chance to be really successful, that's how it is, and obviously today was not a really good game from us.”
Storm clouds returned to struggling Manchester United as they lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth. Bottom club Sheffield United beat visiting Brentford 1-0 for only their second win of the season.
Manchester United remained sixth and are now 10 points behind Liverpool after a fourth home defeat in the league. After a must-win Champions League game against Bayern Munich, United travel to Liverpool next weekend.
“Of course, annoyed, disappointed, definitely,” Manchester United Erik ten Hag said. “I expected something different.”
2. Bayern suffers first defeat of the Bundesliga season
Eintracht Frankfurt routed Bayern Munich 5-1 on Saturday to deal the 11-time defending champion its first Bundesliga defeat of the season.
Eintracht ended its run of four straight defeats across all competitions, while Bayern star Harry Kane failed to score for just the third time in the Bundesliga this season.
The defeat was unexpected as Frankfurt lost its previous four matches, including on Wednesday against third-division Saarbrucken in the German Cup. Saarbrcken had previously knocked Bayern out of the competition.
Bayern’s defeat left league leaders Bayer Leverkusen as the only unbeaten team in Germany’s top flight.
Bayern return to action on Tuesday in the Champions League with an away game against Manchester United to close out the group stage.
1. Columbus Crew SC win MLS Cup ‘23
To be the best, you’ve go to beat the best.
That’s exactly what Columbus Crew SC did on Saturday, downing defending champions Los Angeles FC 2-1 to lift the MLS Cup.
Played at a rain-soaked Lower.com Field before 20,802 fans, the Crew faithful avoided seeing their title hopes dampened with a brilliant performance by manager Wilfried Nancy's team.
Goals from Cucho Hernández in the 33rd minute and a second by Yaw Yeboah just four minutes later gave Columbus a cushion heading into the second half. Denis Bouanga’s goal in the 74th minute gave LAFC a flicker of hope that was eventually extinguished when time ran out.
The Crew, the highest-scoring team in MLS this season, played champagne football this season and they were rewarded for it in the end. The Crew have now won MLS Cup three times. The other two championships were won in 2008 and in 2020.
In other news: Inter Milan returned to the top of Serie A table on Saturday with an easy 4-0 win over Udinese. Juventus had knocked Inter off the summit with a 1-0 victory over Napoli on Friday, but the Milan side reclaimed top spot with their 12th win from 15 league games this season. Hakan Calhanoglu, Federico Dimarco and Marcus Thuram all scored in the first half, before Lautaro Martinez added his 14th league goal of the season. … No Santos player will wear the No. 10 jersey made globally famous by the late Pelé as long as the Brazilian club plays in the country's second division. Santos was relegated last Wednesday for the first time in team history following a 2-1 home defeat to Fortaleza. In response, fans burned cars and broke into Vila Belmiro Stadium the next day and on Saturday in a series of riots that have plagued the venue. … The United States and Mexico have submitted a joint bid to host the 2027 Women's World Cup. The bid is expected to face opposition from Brazil and a three-nation European bid of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The U.S. is hosting Copa America next year with FIFA's expanded Club World Cup in the country in 2025 before the 2026 World Cup itself, which is being co-hosted with Mexico and Canada.