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Report: Manchester United staff thinks Mourinho to be fired soon

By Kyle BonnSep 30, 2018, 3:48 PM EDT
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According to the Daily Mail, there are Manchester United staff members who believe Jose Mourinho could be fired this week.

The report states that both staff members and players on the roster were “openly discussing” Mourinho’s job status on the train ride home from the team’s most recent failure, a 3-1 loss to West Ham in London.

Manchester United sits nine points adrift of the top of the Premier League table, the club’s worst start in 29 years to this stage. The Red Devils fell to Derby County on penalties in their previous match to fall out of the League Cup in the third round, and have losses to Tottenham and Brighton earlier in the season.

Mourinho has most come under fire for his treatment of French midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been criticized and benched at times this year by the Red Devils boss, and Alexis Sanchez is the latest star to feel Mourinho’s heat. The Manchester United defense has also struggled mightily, with Mourinho unable to find his best defensive lineup. He has rotated between Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, and even young Scott McTominay, some of whom have dealt with injuries over the course of the young season. He has also missed key midfield cog Ander Herrera who should return soon from an ankle injury.

The Portuguese manager was meant to bring the club back to the heights of Sir Alex Ferguson, and they finished second in the Premier League table last season, but with the massive gap behind champions Manchester City, it was tough to enjoy the growth of the team. This year, they have taken a significant step back, with Mourinho unable to shake the narrative that his squads implode in his third season at the club.

The biggest hurdle to Manchester United making a change is Mourinho’s contract, which has a year-and-a-half left on it and pays him a whopping $19.5 million a year, all coming on an extension signed earlier this calendar year. United would have to pay the remaining amount on his deal should they cut him loose. Mourinho even joked about his contract a few weeks ago, saying “do you know how much they would have to pay me?” when asked if he’s worried about his job security.

Van Persie scores winner, sent off in wild Feyenoord finish

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By Kyle BonnSep 30, 2018, 7:35 PM EDT
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Robin Van Persie had an eventful final few minutes as Feyenoord pulled into a crowded top of the Eredivisie table seven matches into the season.

With Feyenoord and 10-man Vitesse Arnham even at De Kuip in the 87th minute, van Persie took a free-kick from outside the top-right of the box and unleashed a cannon that found the far corner, past a wrong-footed Eduardo. It put Feyenoord up 2-1, and looked in great shape to move into third in the Eredivisie standings.

That is likely van Persie’s final significant game action for some time.

The 35-year-old lunged in studs up from behind on Vitesse substitute Max Clark, earning him a straight red card. That comes with the standard three-match suspension, which would leave van Persie on the sidelines for the team’s big match against second-placed Ajax on October 28. It’s a big loss for Feyenoord, as van Persie is now joint-third in the Eredivisie goal tally with six goals through the first seven matches.

On the other side, Vitesse eventually saw two of its own sent off. First, Thomas Bruns saw a straight red card in the 63rd minute for a dangerous tackle from behind, while Danilho Doekhi earned his second yellow three minutes deep into stoppage time after van Persie had already been sent to the showers.

Serie A: Milan ends skid, Fiorentina blanks Atalanta, Gervinho scores

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By Kyle BonnSep 30, 2018, 4:40 PM EDT
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AC Milan ended a three-game winless streak by storming Sassuolo 4-1. It started on a first-half breakaway goal by 21-year-old Franck Kessie. The Ivory Coast international ran on the ball from his own defensive third on a breakaway, ending in a three-on-two situation and taking it himself and firing low into the back of the net.

The visitors would score twice more by the hour mark, as Suso gave Milan its second on a fantastic curler from the top-right corner of the box soon after the break, and 23-year-old Spanish international Samu Castillejo bagged their third with a left-footed shot from the top of the box. It’s just the second win of the season for AC Milan, pushing them to 10th in the Serie A table above SPAL and Torino on goal differential.

In somewhat controversial fashion, Fiorentina moved up to 4th with a 2-0 victory over Atalanta at home. The key moment came in the 62nd minute when Federico Chiesa went down at the edge of the box under pressure from Atalanta defender Rafael Toloi. The referee pointed to the spot for a penalty, but replays showed Chiesa clearly went to ground on his own from little to no contact.

Still, Jordan Veretout buried his penalty strongly into the top-left corner, and Fiorentina took a 1-0 lead. The visitors pushed hard for an equalizer, holding 65% possession and ripping off 17 shots to Fiorentina’s seven, but Atalanta only managed to put three of those on target, and were unable to pull back level. The hosts killed off the game in stoppage time on a goal by Cristiano Biragi and they moved to 13 points, level with Sassuolo and Inter.

23-year-old Polish international Krzysztof Piatek bagged a double for Genoa three minutes apart as they win on the road at Frosinone 2-1. Both of Piatek’s goals came off poor defensive mistakes, giving him an incredible eight goals just six matches into the season, including at least one in every game thus far. His first came in the 33rd minute on a speculative long-ball into the box that met the head of Christian Kouamé who beat his defender with ease, and all Piatek had to do was turn and shoot. His second came just three minutes later as Bartosz Salamon flubbed collecting a Genoa long-ball and had his pocket picked by Kouame, who fed Piatek on the two-on-none break for an easy finish.

Former Arsenal and Roma winger Gervinho scored the game’s only goal as Parma topped Empoli 1-0. The 31-year-old scored from a tight angle on a brilliant feed from Antonino Barillà in the 33rd minute.

Bologna earned its second win of the season by beating Udinese on an 82nd minute winner by Italian U21 international Riccardo Orsolini. Federico Mattiello whipped a cutback from the right edge of the box and it hit Orsolini perfectly in stride for the finish. Previously, Ignacio Pussetto saw his 32nd minute opener canceled out by Federico Santander just before halftime.

Chievo Verona and Torino went scoreless for 88 minutes before Simone Zaza scored to earn the visitors all three points at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. Zaza slid to finish off an absurd through-ball from Alex Berenguer seemingly out of nothing. It earned Torino its second win of the season moving them into 10th with nine points.

VIDEO: Finnbogason back-heel, Stuttgart own-goal in Bundesliga play

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By Kyle BonnSep 30, 2018, 4:30 PM EDT
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This weekend in Bundesliga play, there was a spectacular moment for Augsburg as they beat Freiburg 4-1, and an embarrassing moment for Stuttgart as they topped Werder Bremen 2-1.

First, Augsburg moved into the top half of the table with a storming win at home on Sunday. Alfred Finnbogason scored a hat-trick, and his first was an absolute beauty. Taking a cross from Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, Finnbogason turned and poked the ball inside the far post with the back of his foot. Take a bow!

The win for Augsburg was the second of the young season, putting them a point behind Wolfsburg and two back of Borussia Monchengladbach, Werder Bremen, and RB Leipzig. It was the club’s first win since beating Fortuna Dusseldorf back in late August.

While Augsburg stormed to victory, Stuttgart had to hold on late thanks to an embarrassing moment on Saturday that will end up on plenty of soccer blooper reels. With the home side up 1-0 at Mercedes-Benz Arena, Borna Sosa took a throw-in from the left sideline and went back to goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler…who wasn’t paying attention. With Zieler fixing his shin guards and socks, the ball trickled by him, not realizing it until it was too late. The ball rolled into the net to level the score at 1-1.

The goal goes down as an own-goal on Zieler as he was the closest to it when it went into the net, and it’s not possible to score – in your net or the opponent’s – on a throw-in. Thankfully for Stuttgart, Gonzalo Castro was on hand to win it in the 74th minute and save the three points.

NYRB 2-0 Atlanta: Supporters’ Shield race not over yet

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By Kyle BonnSep 30, 2018, 3:08 PM EDT
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The New York Red Bulls did the impossible. They held Atlanta United scoreless for a full 90 minutes.

The hosts kept their Supporters’ Shield hopes alive by beating visiting Atlanta United 2-0, ahead for good on a first-half penalty by Daniel Royer. The penalty was given after Chris McCann clearly handled the ball on a set-piece as Aaron Long looked to nod in a corner with his head. Royer sent Brad Guzan the wrong way from the spot to give New York the advantage.

They would kill the game off with 16 minutes to go as Alex Muyl timed his run perfectly and slid to chip the ball over a charging Guzan, leaving Tim Parker to tap in on the doorstep.

Atlanta struggled mightily against New York’s defense, holding 55% possession but only managing one lone shot on target out of seven attempts on goal. Meanwhile, Guzan had plenty of work to do, needing a big save to keep Kaku out late with Atlanta already down 2-0.

The result marked the first time since a May 9th loss to Sporting KC that Atlanta United was held without a goal in Major League Soccer play. It also means New York completes the double over Atlanta this season, although head-to-head record is not a tiebreaker used by MLS in the standings. The result does, however, push New York within two of Atlanta on goal differential, with Atlanta at +27 and New York at +25.

The win pulls New York within one of Atlanta, and each team has three games remaining. Atlanta has home games against New England and Chicago before a visit to Toronto to end the season. New York, meanwhile, has road trips to San Jose and Philadelphia before finishing at home against Orlando City.