Thursday’s soccer daily starts in Germany’s DFB Pokal. Tyler Adams’s RB Leipzig advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 home win over Hansa. Yussuf Poulsen scored in the 6th minute and Dani Olmo doubled the lead in the 82nd. Leipzig and the rest of the quarterfinalists will learn their matchups on January 30, with the games scheduled for March 2 and 3.
“We achieved what we set out to do, reach the next round, so I’m pleased,” RB Leipzig coach Domenico Todesco said. “A lot today was okay, but there was room for improvement.”
Chris Richards’s Hoffenheim exited the DFB Pokal with a 4-1 loss at Freiburg. Trailing from a 10th minute goal and a 36th minute penalty, Andrej Kramaric scored for Hoffenheim in the 52nd. Freiburg added goals in the 55th and 68th. Richards saw yellow in the 32nd minute.
“It wasn’t a great night for us,” Hoffenheim coach Oliver Baumann said. “We were so fired up as a team before the game. But unfortunately, something was missing out on the pitch today. Freiburg were simply better, especially when it came to winning tackles. We weren’t decisive enough in our play, we were off the boil. That’s why we deserved to lose. The way it happened hurts a lot.”
In Ligue 1, Nicholas Gioacchini subbed on in the 85th minute of Montpellier’s 1-0 loss at Erik Palmer Brown’s Troyes. Palmer-Brown subbed on in the 86th. Montpellier’s Tejo Savanier saw red in the 63rd and Troyes’ Xavier Chavalerin scored in the 74th minute. Timothy Weah subbed on in the 68th minute of Lille’s 3-1 home win over Lorient. Isaac Lihadji opened the scoring for Lille in the 10th and an own-goal doubled the lead in the 19th. Reinildo Mandava made it 3-0 in the 30th. Lorient’s Sambou Soumano scored two minutes into stoppage time.
Yunus Musah subbed out in the 85th minute of Valencia’s 1-1 home draw with Sevilla in La Liga. Falling behind to a 7th minute own-goal, Goncalo Guedes equalized for Valencia in the 44th. Valencia’s Jose Gaya saw red in the 89th minute.
Also in the soccer news, Concacaf officially announced that VAR will be in place for the rest of the Octagonal round of World Cup qualifying. “For 2022, Concacaf can now confirm it has a large enough pool of VAR qualified referees, and VAR certified venues, which provide the Confederation with the resources to further implement the technology in men’s and women’s tournaments taking place during the year,” the statement read.
The Athletic’s Luke Brown explains FIFA changing the rules on clubs loaning out multiple international players. The Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa looks at New England Revolution players getting time with the USMNT. The Associated Press’s Ron Blum reports on the potential for freezing conditions when the USMNT hosts El Salvador in Columbus later this month.
FRIDAY’S SOCCER TV
Primeira Liga on GolTV: Arouca vs Benfica at 2pm. Premier League on USA: Watford vs Norwich City at 3pm. Ligue 1 on beIN Sport: Lyon vs St Etienne at 3pm. Liga MX on TUDN: Mazatlan vs Toluca at 8pm and Puebla vs Tijuana at 10pm 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 DFB
