Los Angeles Galaxy wasted a golden opportunity to bridge the gap between themselves and the Western Conference playoff spots when they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.
In front of their home fans, Galaxy got off to flying start when Chicharito got on the end of a terrific ball from Victor Vazquez to put him through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and he made no mistake with his finish hard and low across the goal.
It was Chicharito's 200th club goal of his career, and his 33rd for Galaxy after arriving at the club in 2020.
That would be the only goal of the first half, but a penalty to Sporting in the 67th minute changed the complexion of the contest, with Johnny Russell equalising.
The visiting Kansas City side would have liked their chances of escaping with all three points after Felipe Hernandez gave them the lead in the 76th minute, but there would be another twist in the tale as Galaxy were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes.
Chicharito stepped up to the spot and tucked away his penalty high into the top-left corner of the goal, giving him 14 in 26 games this campaign, and he had a chance to make it 15 when there was another penalty given in stoppage time.
Trying to secure his hattrick and the match, Chicharito opted for the audacious panenka penalty, but was left red-faced as John Pulskamp in the Sporting goals did not flinch, catching it easily.
Elsewhere in California, Los Angeles FC had a much easier time in their 2-0 victory against Real Salt Lake to strengthen their position atop the Western Conference standings.
After a scoreless first half, LAFC were dominant after the break, with Ryan Hollingshead finding the back of the net in the 49th minute and Cristian Arango doubling the advantage in the 68th.
Carlos Vela also missed a penalty for the home side in stoppage time, but his side were good value for their win, producing 3.16 expected goals compared to just 0.29 for Salt Lake.
The win moves LAFC nine points clear of the chasing pack in the West, while at the other end of the standings, Houston Dynamo were bumped down to the bottom after a 2-1 loss away against the Seattle Sounders.
It was Houston striking first, with Daniel Steres breaking the deadlock in the 26th minute, and that score would hold until Nouhou Tolo's equaliser in the 59th.
A missed penalty from Nicolas Lodeiro in the 75th minute appeared to be Seattle's wasted chance to secure all three points in front of their home fans, but less than a minute later a terrific cross from Tolo found Fredy Montero at the back post the head in the winner.
With Houston losing again, the San Jose Earthquakes took the opportunity to shed the last-placed tag with a 2-0 win against the Vancouver Whitecaps, thanks to first half goals from Jeremy Ebobisse and Jamiro Monteiro.
Despite only owning 35 per cent of the possession and finishing with 0.36 expected goals, New England Revolution treated their fans to an emphatic 3-0 home win against New York City, with Jon Bell, 17-year-old Noel Buck and Thomas McNamara providing the scores.
In the highest scoring game of the day, CF Montreal came away with a 4-3 win despite two goals from Toronto's Lorenzo Insigne.
The Portland Timbers took advantage of two penalties to defeat Atlanta United 2-1, and DC United fought out the only 0-0 draw of the day against the Colorado Rapids, with Christian Benteke missing a penalty for DC.
Girona claim shock victory at Barcelona to move back to top of LaLiga
Girona moved back to the top of LaLiga as they shocked Catalan rivals Barcelona with a 4-2 win at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
With Real Madrid having only been able to draw at Real Betis on Saturday, Michel’s well-drilled side made the most of their opportunity with a brilliant display after taking an early lead through Artem Dovbyk.
Although Robert Lewandowski soon headed in an equaliser, left-back Miguel Gutierrez fired the visitors back in front before half-time and substitute Valery added a late third.
Ilkay Gundogan pulled one back for Barca in stoppage time, but Cristhian Stuani knocked in Girona’s fourth to seal a memorable victory.
Following a 13th league win of a superb campaign so far, Girona sit two points clear of Real Madrid, while Barcelona drop seven points off the pace.
After a lively start, it was Girona who went ahead following a swift counter attack in the 12th minute.
Viktor Tsygankov timed his run down the right perfectly to stay onside before crossing for fellow Ukrainian Dovbyk to knock the ball in off the far post.
Barcelona produced a swift response as Raphinha brought a smart save from Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga before Lewandowski headed in an equaliser from a corner in the 19th minute.
Despite all of Barcelona’s possession, Girona remained a threat on the break with Miguel Gutierrez flashing a drive across goal and just wide of the far post.
Joao Cancelo weaved into the left side of the Girona penalty area, but Gazzaniga stood up to make a block at the near post.
Full-back Gutierrez flashed another low shot just wide before he fired Girona back in front – five minutes before the break – with a fierce 18-yard drive after surging forwards down the left.
Barcelona started the second half on the front foot as Frenkie De Jong – who moved alongside Johan Cruyff’s total of 139 league appearances for the Blaugrana – and Gundogan both tested Gazzaniga with low drives from the edge of the penalty area.
Germany midfielder Gundogan then cut a shot across goal and just wide as the hosts continued to search for an equaliser.
Girona, though, stunned the home fans once again by scoring a third with 10 minutes left.
This time it was move direct with Stuani nodding down a long drop kick from Gazzaniga into the path of fellow substitute Valery, who got to the ball ahead of Jules Kounde at the edge of the area to slot past Inaki Pena.
Savio had a chance to add a fourth, but smashed his shot straight at Barcelona goalkeeper Pena, the ball striking him in the face from point-blank range.
Gundogan pulled one back for Barca in stoppage time before Lewandowski headed wide and Stuani then knocked in Girona’s fourth at the far post following a free-kick into the box.
Gary Neville dismisses ‘nonsense’ idea of sacking Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has said the idea of the club sacking boss Erik ten Hag is “absolute nonsense”.
United suffered their 11th defeat of the season in all competitions, and seventh in the Premier League, on Saturday as they crashed to a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth.
Neville says there is “no way” Ten Hag should be sacked this term and pointed the finger at United’s owners the Glazer family.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said of Ten Hag: “I fear for him generally, not really just because of this week (when United play Bayern Munich and Liverpool). Just more generally around the way in which a cycle is repeating itself again.
“I hope that somehow Erik ten Hag can turn it around this season and that ultimately he can improve what’s happening at the moment – or else he will be in trouble, it’s just inevitable. We’ve seen it with (previous United managers) Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer), Jose (Mourinho) and Louis van Gaal.
“There’s no way they should change him this season, this idea of sacking him is absolute nonsense. I wouldn’t be in favour of that.
“The lack of leadership and structure above him…I know people say you can’t blame the Glazers – yeah you can. You can because 10 years of failure, of miserable recruitment comes down to the fact they have not got a sporting director, a proper head of recruitment in place.
“That is why this happens. Ultimately managers look above them and think ‘I haven’t got anyone there to help me so I might as well just try and do it myself’.
“This is all down to the leadership. If it happened once, fair enough, if it happened twice you would ask a question, but this is five times, five times in 10 years.”
It is expected that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of 25 per cent stake at the Old Trafford club will be announced soon, with him acquiring significant control over footballing operations.
Neville added: “He has got to come in and sort this out, and you wonder how he is going to be able to pull it out of it, that’s the concern I have.
“What we need is a change of structure at the top, that will hopefully happen in the next few weeks, hopefully that will change the way in which the sporting project is looked at because you can’t come in and leave everything as is.
“And maybe, with some leadership and structure around the club, Manchester United could have some sort of ability to cope with the other clubs who recruit a lot better and do business a lot better.”
Richarlison brace inspires Tottenham to return to winning ways against Newcastle
Richarlison fired Tottenham to a first win since October 27 with a brace to inspire a 4-1 victory over Newcastle.
Spurs were Premier League leaders at the beginning of November, but had endured a barren run since after a succession of injuries and failed to win any of their last five matches despite taking the lead in each fixture.
It was a different story this time with Ange Postecoglou’s team selection paying dividends with the recalled Richarlison scoring twice after Destiny Udogie had broke the deadlock in the 26th minute.
Son Heung-min set up two of those goals after being moved back to the left wing and grabbed his 10th goal of the campaign with five minutes left from the penalty spot before Joelinton hit a stoppage-time consolation for Eddie Howe’s side.
Richarlison had one shot blocked and another deflected wide inside five minutes before Newcastle almost took the lead in the ninth minute.
Not long after Bruno Guimaraes had rifled over from 22 yards, Anthony Gordon broke the hosts’ offside trap, but Spurs defender Ben Davies got the faintest of touches to his cross and it was enough to put off Alexander Isak at the back post.
Postecoglou’s side regrouped after as Cristian Romero’s header was cleared off the line, while Son and Brennan Johnson fizzed dangerous balls across the face of goal shortly before the breakthrough.
Udogie passed out to Son on the left wing and the Spurs captain worked a yard of space to cross in for the defender to slot home from close range for his first goal for the club.
It was nothing new Tottenham taking the lead, having done so in 10 matches in a row now, but getting the second goal had been more difficult of late.
Newcastle threatened through Joelinton before the second goal arrived for Spurs in the 38th minute and it was all about Richarlison.
He won possession back on the halfway line before Tottenham moved the ball quickly out to Son, who again got the better of former team-mate Kieran Trippier to tee up the Tottenham number nine to sweep home.
It was only Richarlison’s sixth goal since his £60million transfer from Everton last year, but crucially gave Postecoglou’s team a two-goal cushion and it could have been 3-0 moments later.
Pape Sarr robbed Joelinton of possession and passed into Johnson, who fizzed an effort from 22 yards that skimmed the outside of the far post.
Newcastle came out with improved intent after the break, but their spirit was broken on the hour mark.
Pedro Porro was the architect with a wonderful crossfield pass into Richarlison, who got enough of a touch to bring the ball into his path and slide under Martin Dubravka for his second goal.
The shackles were firmly off now and Johnson side-footed against the inside of the post before Son flashed a volley across goal, which sparked a change by Howe with Callum Wilson introduced.
There was still time for more from Postecoglou’s men when Son was sent through and despite a heavy touch, he got beyond Dubravka and won a spot-kick which he converted.
Newcastle had the final say on proceedings when Joelinton slotted home in the first minute of stoppage time after Wilson’s assist, but Spurs returned to winning ways in style.
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