A holiday edition of the soccer news starts with the Champions League roundup. Tyler Adams wasn’t in the squad for RB Leipzig’s 5-0 win at Club Brugge in group A. Owen Otasowie missed the game for Club Brugge. Christopher Mkunku scored for Leipzig in the 12th and an Emil Fosberg doubled the lead from the penalty spot in the 17th. Andre Silva made it 3-0 in the 26th. Forsberg scored again in first-half stoppage time. Nkunku got his second goal of the game three minutes into stoppage time. RB Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch missed the game after a positive COVID-19 test earlier this week.
“We’re absolutely delighted with the win, which was so important for us,” RB Leipzig assistant coach Achim Beierlorzer said. “We worked as a team and put in a brilliant performance. The mentality the lads went about the game with was fantastic. The players worked for each other. We said before the game that we wanted to do it for all the guys that couldn’t be here because of injuries and other things. It was nice to see the team make that happen.”
Zack Steffen wasn’t in the squad for Manchester City’s 2-1 home win over PSG in group A’s other game. Trailing from the 50th minute, Raheem Sterling equalized for City in the 63rd. Gabriel Jesus scored City’s winner in the 76th minute. Manchester City and PSG are through to the knockout round with RB Leipzig in 3rd-place. Gio Reyna wasn’t in the squad for Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 loss at Sporting in group C. Trailing 2-0 from goals in the 30th and 39th minutes, Dortmund’s Emre Can saw red in the 74th. Sporting added a third goal in the 81st minute. Donyell Malen scored for Dortmund three minutes into stoppage time.
“We hardly gave anything away and were properly in the game, without having any incredibly dangerous forward actions ourselves,” Borussia Dortmund coach Maro Rose said “It was too easy for Sporting to make it 1-0. It’s too easy to score goals against us. The opponent was more consistent and merciless in certain situations. We have the ambition to win games and progress in the Champions League. We have to work on being more consistent and merciless ourselves in the next few weeks.”
In the Championship, Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream’s Fulham drew 0-0 with Derby County at Craven Cottage. Fulham outshot Derby 21 to 4, putting five of those shots on goal to Derby’s two. Duane Holmes wasn’t in the squad for Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 loss at QPR. The goal came in the 81st minute.
SI’s Jonathan Wilson works through the issues PSG faces after a Champions League disappointment. Reuters’ Simon Evans explains the potential for the British government setting guidleines for pro soccer.
FRIDAY’S SOCCER TV
Ligue 1 on beIN Sport: Lens vs Angers at 3pm. Primeira Liga on GolTV: Moreirense vs Gil Vicente at 3:15pm. The Australia vs US Women friendly is on FS2 at 11pm ET.
All links are provided as a courtesy. US Soccer Players nor its authors are responsible for the content of third-party links or sites. For comments, questions, and concerns please contact us at editor@usnstpa.com
Logo courtesy of Manchester City
