Soccer

5:22 PM ET The Professional Referees Organization, which makes referee assignments in North America, including MLS, has defended referee Allen Chapman’s handling of the end of the first round MLS Cup playoff match between Orlando City SC and New York City FC. – MLS Cup playoff preview: Depth will be tested in postseason– MLS on

3:44 PM ET Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday hints that the Premier League might just get to witness a genuine rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola after all. When Mourinho returned to England to manage Manchester United in 2016, the script was written for the Portuguese to renew hostilities with perhaps

Chelsea vaulted to the top of the Premier League table after a convincing 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon. The visitors took the lead after just 10 minutes, when Newcastle defender Federico Fernandez clumsily turned Mason Mount‘s cross into his own net. Chelsea continued to dominate proceedings and would finally double their lead

9:08 PM ET Gustavo Bou‘s goal five minutes into second-half stoppage time gave the New England Revolution a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact in an MLS Cup playoff play-in match on Friday in Foxborough, Mass. The eighth-seeded Revolution advance to play either the top-seeded Philadelphia Union or second-seeded Toronto FC on Tuesday. –

10:58 AM ET Inter Miami starters Gonzalo Higuain and Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez will not play in Friday night’s MLS Cup playoff match against Nashville SC due to positive tests for COVID-19, a source confirmed to ESPN. – MLS Cup playoff preview: Depth will be tested in postseason– MLS on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S.

5:24 AM ET There’s a sense of fragility in the air when considering Jose Mourinho’s relationship with Tottenham Hotspur, but on the first anniversary of his appointment in north London, their marriage of convenience is much more stable than many anticipated. The origin of the tension was this: Mourinho and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy appeared

12:57 PM ET Jeff Carlisle Close U.S. soccer correspondent Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Austin Lindberg The 2020 MLS Cup playoffs are upon us, with games beginning this Friday, and with 18 clubs vying for an opportunity to lift that most prized piece of silverware, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle

11:34 AM ET Bayern Munich’s dominance in Germany is only going to get stronger over time. MARTIN MEISSNER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Last week, we took a look at the stats behind the Premier League’s odd start. The other leagues among Europe’s Big Five haven’t been quite as strange by comparison: Bayern and PSG are still leading

3:31 AM ET Two days before Christmas will mark Diego Simeone’s ninth anniversary as manager of Atletico Madrid. So glorious has been his era, the greatest in this club’s 117-year history, that the combative Argentinian’s achievements seem endless. They’re not, of course, but it wouldn’t be hard to be seduced by the illusion. Count them

11:00 AM ET After a nine-month gap between games due to COVID-19, the United States men’s national team finally returned to the pitch this past week with a pair of friendlies in Europe against Wales and Panama. The games, a 0-0 draw with Wales and a 6-2 win over Panama, showcased the growing talent standard

2:36 PM ET Teams that suffer from an outbreak of the coronavirus during the MLS Cup playoffs will likely be forced to forfeit their match, and thus exit the postseason, sources have told ESPN. – Carlisle: Can MLS complete playoffs outside bubble?– MLS Cup playoffs: Who’s in, fixtures and more– MLS on ESPN+: Stream LIVE

8:30 AM ET Ronaldo, Pele, Zidane and Messi are all legends, but are they the greatest from their own countries? ESPN Illustration Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona? Is Pele the undisputed best from Brazil? Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan? What about the No. 1 from England? After asking our writers to nominate the most iconic players

12:45 PM ET Every day at 6 a.m., Minnesota United manager Adrian Heath wakes up, and the first thing he does is look at his phone. Did the latest COVID-19 tests for players and staff come in? Did anyone test positive? With four positive tests in his team since the start of October, his tension

4:46 PM ET Spain forward Ferran Torres scored a first career hat-trick as his side crushed helpless Germany 6-0 at home on Tuesday to storm into the final four of the Nations League. The schellacking in Seville was the Germans’ worst ever loss in a competitive match, with keeper Manuel Neuer conceding six goals in

5:01 AM ET When Spain welcome Germany at an empty Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville on Tuesday in their final Nations League match, it offers the chance to see where they are in their evolution. When Spain won back-to-back European Championships and a World Cup in their dominant spell from 2008 to 2012, they

7:28 PM ET The worth of a forward is often in the eye of the beholder. A 30-yard-blast counts as much as a two-yard tap-in, even though the former is often what gets the hearts of fans beating faster. There is value in both kinds of goals — not to mention link play and pressing

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6:35 PM ET Moving to a three-man defence at the 2018 World Cup was widely acclaimed as a masterstroke by Gareth Southgate. The jury is still out, however, on whether returning to a similar shape will prove equally effective when it matters most. As a disciple of former Three Lions boss Terry Venables, Southgate is