Andre Blake
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Reggae Boyz captain and goalkeeper Andre Blake produced two stunning saves to assist Philadelphia Union to a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Liga MX side Mazatlan in the 2024 Leagues Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
Blake’s heroics were required after Mikael Uhre’s late first-half goal was cancelled out by Alonso Escoboza just shy of the hour mark, as the teams played out a 1-1 stalemate in regulation and extra-time.
The 33-year-old Blake, who won the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Glove, showed his class with two diving saves in the shootout to send Philadelphia Union to the semi-finals.
Interestingly, the other semi-finalists—Columbus Crew, Los Angeles FC, and Colorado Rapids—are also Major League Soccer (MLS) outfits, and with the top three Leagues Cup finishers guaranteed a spot in next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup, it means that all three qualifiers will be United States-based MLS teams.
Columbus Crew, a 2024 Champions Cup finalist, moved closer to a Champions Cup return as they too registered a close 4-3 penalty shootout win over New York City FC.
Both teams played out a 1-1 stalemate as Alonso Martinez gave New York FC a first minute lead, which was cancelled out by Cucho Hernandez. Like Blake, Columbus Crew’s custodian Patrick Schulte also produced a stop in the shootout to help secure his team’s passage.
Elsewhere, 2020 and 2023 Champions Cup finalists Los Angeles FC powered their way into the final four with a commanding 3-0 victory over the 2022 Champions Cup winners Seattle Sounders. Ryan Hollingshead and Kei Kamara logged first-half goals, before Denis Bouanga completed the win with an early second-half strike.
Meanwhile, there were plenty of thrills in the final match of the evening as Colorado Rapids slipped past seven-time Concacaf champions Club America of Mexico 9-8 on sudden-death penalties after they battled out a scoreless encounter.
The Liga MX giants were poised to win the shootout on their fifth kick, but Rapids’ goaltender Zack Steffen denied Igor Lichnovsky. The two teams then converted their next four kicks each, before Steffen scored his kick from the 12-yard spot, while his counterpart Luis Malagon hit wide and handed Colorado Rapids the victory.
Carragher: Replicating Klopp's final season enough for Slot
Jamie Carragher believes a repeat of Liverpool's third-place finish in their final season under Jurgen Klopp will represent a success in Arne Slot's first campaign at the helm.
Liverpool fell off at the tail end of 2023-24 to finish third behind Manchester City and Arsenal, before former Feyenoord boss Slot took the reigns from Klopp.
The Dutchman's first league game at the helm ended in a 2-0 win over newly promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday, with the Reds producing an impressive second-half display.
Liverpool created the highest expected goals figure (2.65 xG) of any team on matchday one of the Premier League season, registering 15 shots and 43 touches in the Ipswich area after half-time as goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah handed them victory.
Despite a positive start to Slot's reign, Carragher believes Liverpool's supporters will be forgiving if he fails to deliver silverware in his first season.
Speaking in his role of Sky Sports pundit, Carragher said: "I don't think Liverpool supporters are expecting the world in the first season.
"They realise the situation he is coming into, I think Liverpool replicating what they did last season would be enough.
"I was really impressed with a couple of things from the weekend. I was impressed with how decisive he was at half-time, he identified a problem and dealt with it.
"When I was watching Liverpool play out from the back, we've all played in those games on a dry pitch, the opposition are onto you.
"I liked what he said, that you don't need to keep playing short passes in those situations, you can go a bit longer.
"He's the total opposite of Klopp, the crowd were chanting his name at the end and he shied away from it."
Goretzka will be 'full member of squad' if he stays, says Bayern sporting director
Bayern Munich's sporting director Max Eberl says that Leon Goretzka will not be exiled if he stays at the club after the transfer window closes.
Under Thomas Tuchel last season, Goretzka started in 25 of his 30 Bundesliga appearances, winning 23 of his 41 tackles, only ranking sixth highest in the Bayern squad.
The midfielder looks to have slipped down the pecking order since Vincent Kompany's arrival, playing a bit-part role during pre-season.
Goretzka, who has made 221 appearances since joining from Schalke in 2018, was left out of the squad for their 4-0 win over Ulm in the first round of the DFB-Pokal last Friday.
However, he did start Tuesday's 4-0 friendly win over Grasshopper Club Zurich, playing just over an hour as he filled a gap in defence after it was confirmed Josip Stanisic will miss the start of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Goretzka's future is no clearer heading into the start of the season, with only tentative links to Liverpool or Barcelona being reported.
The German is reportedly keen to fight for his place in Kompany's squad, and Eberl says that will be a possibility if he is still at the club at the end of the transfer window.
"At Bayern Munich, there's no second training group," he told Sky Sports Germany. "Leon is a great player and played well today. If he stays, he will be a full member of our squad."
While speaking to Abendzeitung, he said: "We never spoke badly about Leon. He has done great things for FC Bayern.
"Competitive situations are quite normal in football. Leon is a full member of the team. We only hinted that it could be difficult."
Bayern's final pre-season game ended in another dominant win, with Michael Olise, Harry Kane, Mathys Tel and Thomas Muller netting the goals.
They will begin their season against Wolfsburg on Sunday, and Eberl noted the importance of the extra preparation before they launch a title challenge.
"It was important that we had another test to get fit, to internalize the processes and new ideas," Eberl told Bayern's media channels.
"It's a positive result, we didn't concede a goal. We are satisfied
"We have a new coaching team that brings new energy into the dressing room. We showed decent performances in the preparation, and now we want to win every game."
Jamaica, Bermuda extend unbeaten runs in CFU U-14 Challenge Series
Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz and Bermuda extended their unbeaten runs in their respective Tiers of the 2024 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Boys’ U-14 Challenge Series on Monday.
The Jamaicans, through goals from Davion Clarke (28th) and Corlando Morris (37th), blanked host Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in a crucial Tier I Group A clash at Dwight Yorke Stadium.
It was the third win on the trot for the young Reggae Boyz, who sit atop the group on a maximum nine points, three ahead of Trinidad and Tobago (six points), while St. Kitts and Aruba are on one point each in the development tournament, which sees games played over 70 minutes.
The young Reggae Boyz dominated proceedings from the off as they bossed possession and were more threatening in open play. They inevitably broke the deadlock when a Kyle Hussey pass found Clarke, who drove past Christian Tefler in goal for Trinidad and Tobago.
Bermuda versus St. Lucia.
Though they continued to create chances, the Jamaicans had to wait until the 37th to add to their tally as Morris capitalized on a defensive error and slotted home early on the resumption.
Trinidad and Tobago’s first real opportunity came in the 61st minute when Lucas Shaw's long-range cross forced Jamaica's Marcodean Spence into a save. Still, Jamaica continued to dominate and should have won by a wider margin but failed to make the most of their chances.
With 10 goals to their tally so far, the Jamaicans, who have yet to concede, will be aiming to keep their perfect record intact heading into the next round, when they face Aruba in the final group game on Tuesday at 5:30pm Jamaica time at the same venue. Trinidad and Tobago will face St. Kitts and Nevis.
Guyana versus St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Meanwhile, Bermuda completed their Tier II Group C play with a 1-0 win over St. Lucia at the Ato Boldon Stadium.
The win, a fourth for the Bermudans in as many games, puts them atop the group on 12 points.
It was a game of many chances, the best of which fell to Bermuda as they applied consistent pressure to their St. Lucian counterparts but couldn’t beat the glove of goalkeeper Brial Nelson for most of the way.
Bermuda eventually found the go-ahead goal in the 63rd through captain Z-ani Jennings, who dismissed two defenders to make space for a delightful strike from about 25 yards out.
Having completed all of their group stage matches, Bermuda awaits their opponents in Friday’s semi-finals. St. Lucia play their final group match against Grenada on Tuesday.
Monday’s Results
Tier I Group A
Jamaica 2, Trinidad and Tobago 0
St Kitts and Nevis 2, Aruba 2
Tier I Group B
St. Martin 0, French Guiana 5
Puerto Rico 0, Curaçao 0
Tier II Group A
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Guyana 1
Antigua & Barbuda 3, Cayman Islands 3
Tier II Group B
British Virgin Islands 3, US Virgin Islands 1
Dominica 0, Anguilla 0
Tier II Group C
Bermuda 1, St Lucia 0
Grenada 1, St. Maarten 1
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