Monday’s soccer news starts with the situation in the Eastern Conference for the teams currently in 3rd through 8th-place. Three points separate all of them, creating a situation where any slip could have a team the odd one out in the playoff picture. Right now, that’s Atlanta United in 8th-place on 36 points. With Major League Soccer’s unbalanced schedule, this is normally where we’d spend time on the difference in games played. Except that’s only an issue for 4th-place Philadelphia on 25. The rest of this group played their 26th game over the weekend.
NYCFC is top of the group in 3rd after losing at home to the Red Bulls. Their 39 points are one better than Philadelphia and Orlando. Behind those two are DC and Montreal. Then it’s Atlanta, losing 1-0 at Philadelphia in a game that could’ve sent United past the Union and into 4th-place had it gone their way.
That’s how close this part of the table is right now. The only semi-guarantee in the East is at least a few of these clubs losing by a goal to New England. The Revs did that to Orlando over the weekend, 2-1 at home. Next up on New England’s schedule is Montreal on Wednesday, potentially making space in the table for another team in another game to take full advantage.
Lower in the table, FC Cincinnati’s 4-2 loss at DC United was also the last game in charge for coach Jaap Stam and assistants Said Bakkati and Yoann Damet. The club announced on Monday that Staam is out. Youth coach Tyrone Marshall is taking over on an interim basis. Cincinnati is in 13th-place, a point above last-place Toronto with a game in hand. Whatever realistic expectations were for this season, it wasn’t that.
“During our nearly two-month process to identify the next general manager for FC Cincinnati, it was apparent that a head coach change was necessary,” FC Cincinnati president Jeff Berding said. “Therefore, after a great deal of deliberation, the club has made the decision to now move to the future with Jaap no longer serving as head coach. We believe a change in leadership is in the best interest of the club at this time, and a new general manager will lead the search for a new head coach. We are an ambitious club and we remain focused on achieving our goals, the first of which is making Cincinnati a championship city.”
Also in the soccer news, Concacaf’s Disciplinary Committee acted on the situation from the Concacaf League game between Inter Moengo Tapoe vs CD Olimpia. In a statement, the confederation wrote that, “Having assessed the actions evidenced in the video and considered written statements provided by both clubs, the Committee has determined that serious breaches of integrity rules occurred after the match. As a consequence of these rule breaches, both clubs have been disqualified and removed from this year’s Concacaf League with immediate effect.”
MLSsoccer’s Matthew Doyle reviews week 27 in MLS. ESPN’s Rob Dawson with what Manchester City faces against PSG’s attacking trio. Sky Sports with potential changes to the summer touring schedule for Premier League clubs. Marca’s Jamie Rincon looks at Barcelona after a league win. DW on Freiburg’s new stadium.
“To be able to give back, to be able to put things into perspective of why we do this is important.” – @headdturnerr.
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