Soccer

6:58 PM ET LIVERPOOL, England — There were only 2,000 fans inside Anfield to celebrate Roberto Firmino‘s 90th-minute winner for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur, but the noise that the small crowd generated told you everything about the importance of the Brazilian forward’s late header. Firmino knew too, as his celebratory run deep into his own

4:46 PM ET Liverpool have proved themselves the Premier League’s irresistible force in the past 18 months, and we’re about to find out whether Tottenham Hotspur can become the immovable object at the top of the table this season. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp put it slightly differently in his Tuesday news conference, labeling Spurs a

6:40 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — West Brom have never won a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium and kicking off here 19th in the table and with just one win all season, they were never expected to start now. That said, it says everything about where Manchester City are at the

4:21 PM ET WOLVERHAMPTON, England — Frank Lampard won enough Premier League titles as a Chelsea player — three in six seasons between 2004 and 2010 — to know what it takes to emerge at the top of the tree when the silverware is handed out, so maybe he knew what was coming when he

4:29 PM ET Arsenal have moulded the club’s off-field structure around Mikel Arteta. Now it is time to do the same with the playing staff. It’s been 95 days since the Gunners effectively promoted a 38-year-old with no previous experience of leading a club from “head coach” to “manager.” While that decision slipped under the

7:00 AM ET Multiple Contributors “In Barcelona, on Dec. 14, 2000, in the presence of [Josep Maria] Minguella and Horacio [Gaggioli], Carles Rexach, FC Barcelona’s sporting director, hereby agrees, under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon.” The above

12:24 PM ET It was another wild weekend in soccer as Real Madrid shrugged off “crisis” talk to beat Atletico in the derby, the top three in England (Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea) all dropped points, Bayern’s flaws are proving hard to paper over and Dortmund responded to a humiliating defeat by firing manager Lucien Favre. The

8:30 AM ET The path to the 2020-21 Champions League final in Istanbul has now reached the knockout phase and the draw for the round of 16 has thrown up some truly heavyweight encounters, with Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain emerging as the outstanding tie of the round as Lionel Messi and Neymar go head-to-head for

3:02 PM ET LONDON — Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Fulham was setback enough for Jurgen Klopp’s side, but as they played half the match without a recognised centre-back on the field, it further emphasised the need for the Premier League champions to find reinforcements in January. Liverpool were poor in the first half, and Fulham

Arsenal‘s dreadful home form continued on Sunday night as the Gunners fell to a 1-0 loss against Burnley in the Premier League. A dull first half was followed by a dramatic second as Granit Xhaka’s straight red was made worse by a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang own goal to give Sean Dyche’s men the victory. – Report:

Saves 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Offsides 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0

1:49 AM ET Caleb Porter couldn’t hold it in any longer. When the final whistle blew, making official the Columbus Crew‘s 3-0 MLS Cup final win over the Seattle Sounders, he sprinted over to the Nordecke — the corner of MAPFRE Stadium where, even amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Crew’s hardcore fans congregate — and

3:33 PM ET MANCHESTER, England — It has always irritated Manchester City and their supporters to be overshadowed by Manchester United and events at Old Trafford, where the two sides drew 0-0 on Saturday. Good, bad or indifferent, United’s historical might and global popularity has tended to claim the headlines, even when City have been

8:39 AM ET Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has said it’s a “lie” the players are unhappy with his tactics and insists he still has their full support following back-to-back defeats against Cadiz and Juventus. Barca sit ninth in La Liga having lost four of their first 10 league games and Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Juve

3:30 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Ed Woodward doesn’t like the phrase “on the brink.” It’s too simple, according to Manchester United‘s executive vice-chairman, because it implies the next result can determine whether he will back or sack a manager. He has dismissed three since getting the top job at Old Trafford in 2012 — David

11:10 AM ET Seattle Sounders FC is contesting their fourth MLS Cup in five years, searching for a third championship in that span of time. Would a win mark them as the greatest dynasty in Major League Soccer history? Five years ago Columbus Crew SC manager Caleb Porter lifted MLS Cup at Mapfre Stadium. The

4:50 AM ET Mesut Ozil’s future and hopes of a move to MLS headlines this week’s Insider Notebook: PLUS: A row over a ‘shameful’ ham sandwich in Spain. Jump to: ‘Shameful’ ham sandwich row in Spain | Toronto FC want Blanc | Raiola takes aim at FIFA | Bayern battle for De Jong | Wenger’s

9:24 PM ET Columbus Crew SC‘s hopes of winning a second MLS Cup final suffered an immense blow on Thursday night when the team announced that midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Pedro Santos have been deemed “not medically cleared to play.” The Crew are scheduled to play the Seattle Sounders FC in the MLS Cup final