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Recap: New England Revolution vs. Montreal Impact 11/20/2020 – MLSsoccer.com

Published

4 years ago

November 20, 2020

The 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs got off to a thrilling start, as the New England Revolution topped the Montreal Impact 2-1 in the Play-In Round match between the sides at Gillette Stadium on Friday, thanks to a golazo at the death from Gustavo Bou.

Carles Gil scored the first goal of the match for New England in the 38th minute, giving the Revs a 1-0 lead they would hold into the second half, only to relinquish it thanks to a clutch leveler from Montreal’s Romell Quioto. But Bou came to the rescue on with of the last kicks of the match with a stunning distance strike that sends New England through and brings Montreal’s season to a heartbreaking end.

The Revs had the better of the chances throughout much of the first half and found their breakthrough courtesy of Gil, who lashed home a gorgeous first-time volley off a feed from Bou.

But the Impact would strike back in the 61st minute after Amar Sejdic sent a free kick into the box that was headed back across the danger zone by Rudy Camacho into the path of a charging Quioto. The Honduran cashed home the huge equalizer with a perfectly placed headed finish past the outstretched arms of New England goalkeeper Matt Turner.

The leveler set up a back-and-forth finish as the sides swapped chances in search of a winning goal. The Revs had a flurry of close chances, starting in the 76th minute, when Gil found Teal Bunbury wide open in the box for a look on goal with Montreal goalkeeper Clement Diop charging off his line. But Bunbury put a curling effort just over the crossbar.

New England nearly struck for a winner twice more before full-time, as Bou had a shot trickle just wide in the 86th minute and Gil was denied by a sprawling save from Diop just moments later. Adam Buska also came within inches of a dramatic winner in second-half stoppage time with a snap header that looked bound for goal but was denied again by a diving Diop, who managed to deflect the shot off the post and get Montreal within mere moments of extra time.

But the Montreal goalkeeper’s late heroics would be extinguished by a spectacular winner from Bou just before the final whistle, as the Argentine lashed home a laser strike from distance into the bottom corner, sending the Revs through in dramatic fashion to face either the Philadelphia Union or Toronto FC.

Goals

38′ – NE – Carles Gil | WATCH
61′ – MTL – Romell Quioto | WATCH
90’+5 – NE – Gustavo Bou | WATCH

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: What a start to this year’s postseason. Give credit to the Impact for a hard-fought performance with a shorthanded lineup, but in the end, the heart-pounding finish ends with another playoff win on the distinguished resume of Bruce Arena. They had to work hard for this one, but the Revs were the deserved winner with a strong overall performance. New England have all three of their Designated Players fit and healthy, and the duo of Gil and Bou showed how significant a development that might be as they look to turn the dramatic victory into a postseason run.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH: It’s the late winner from Bou, which was a gorgeous finish in the biggest of moments.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Scoring a 95th-minute game-winner is usually a good way to get the honors. Bou is the choice for this one as well.

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Canada to face three-time champion Germany in Davis Cup quarterfinals

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.

Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.

World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.

The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.

Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.

Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.

The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Canadian men climb two places to No. 38 in latest FIFA world rankings

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.

Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively

Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.

It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.

Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.

The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.

Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.

The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.

Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.

San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.

Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.

Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024

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Carolina Panthers’ early-season struggles not surprising to Proline players

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.

As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.

In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).

However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.

And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.

In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).

Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).

Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.

Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.

Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.

A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.

A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.

A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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