There was tons of action all over the world over the weekend as international tournaments were in full swing alongside leagues in the Americas. We’ll try to cover all of that in this edition of our weekly column, Last Weekend.
?? Austria: Austria 1-1 France
The UEFA Nations League has featured some pretty tight scheduling at the end of a very hectic season, and this has led to a fair bit of unpredictability in the results.
For example, no one would have expected France to be at the bottom of their group halfway through the group stage, yet they are two points adrift following their 1-1 draw against Austria.
The hosts took the lead through Andreas Weimann, who scored his first-ever international goal in the 37th minute. France were the dominant side though as they had about two-thirds of possession and drew a number of great saves out of Patrick Pentz, and they were ultimately rewarded with an equaliser in the 83rd minute. Substitutes Kylian Mbappé and Christopher Nkunku combined with the PSG star lashing his finish past the keeper.
Nonetheless, this was a very good result for Austria who have taken four points in Ralf Rangnick’s first three competitive matches and they will have the chance to go to the top of their group if they beat Denmark tonight.
Their players have quickly implemented the German tactician’s high-octane style of play and are already looking a very different side to the one Franco Foda was in charge of.
?? Ireland: Ireland 3-0 Scotland
In Division B, Ireland finally ended their long wait for a Nations League win with an emphatic display against Scotland.
They were not as dominant as the scoreline may suggest, but they were comfortably the better side in the first half. A set-piece goal from Alan Browne put them in front, after which Troy Parrott doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark as he found himself on the end of a brilliant chipped ball from Michael Obafemi.
The Spurs forward returned the favour a few minutes into the second half as Obafemi made it 3-0, allowing Ireland to coast home and register their first points of the campaign.
?? Greece: Greece 2-0 Kosovo
Greece are on the verge of promotion from Division C after they got the better of Kosovo in their fourth match of the group stage.
The home side did look the better team throughout the match but the scoreline read 0-0 until the 70th minute. Then, substitute Georgios Giakoumakis put his side in front with a very good header and Petros Mantalos made it 2-0 deep into stoppage time when the Kosovo goalkeeper came up for a set-piece and was left stranded.
Having beaten Kosovo home and away, Greece sit top of Group 2 with a perfect record of 12 points from four games with no goals conceded. They just need one point from their last two games to seal promotion. And even then, that might not be completely necessary considering the goal difference they have in the bank.
?? Andorra: Andorra 2-1 Liechtenstein
Like Ireland, Andorra finally registered their first-ever Nations League win this weekend as they got the better of Liechtenstein in Division D.
There were no goals for 75 minutes but a lot went on in the final quarter of the match. Jordi Aláez put the hosts in front from the penalty spot, after which Jesús Rubio scored an absolute wondergoal, as he found the back of the net from close to the touchline inside his own half! Livio Meier scored for Liechtenstein in stoppage time but that was nothing more than a consolation.
?? USA: USMNT 5-0 Grenada
We also have a Nations League raging in another continent as the second edition of the CONCACAF tournament recently got underway. The US played their first match this weekend and came away with a very comfortable win over Grenada.
The headlines were made by FC Dallas youngster Jesús Ferreira, who scored four goals in the match having failed to find the back of the net in any of his previous appearances for his country in 2022. The 21-year-old forward is also enjoying his best goal-scoring season in MLS even though we are less than halfway through the season. He sits top of the scoring charts with nine goals.
His underlying numbers are also quite impressive, as he is joint-third best in the league as far as xG is concerned with a tally of 7.1.
?? MLS: Charlotte 2-0 New York Red Bulls
Speaking of MLS, we did have three matches in the league this weekend. The most noteworthy of those was Charlotte FC’s comprehensive win over the New York Red Bulls, as interim manager Christian Lattanzio got his tenure off to a perfect start.
He did not change much in terms of the tactical set-up as Charlotte once again used a 4-1-4-1 formation, but their performance was a lot better as they controlled possession throughout the match. They couldn’t fashion many clear-cut chances but Ben Bender’s deflected strike gave them the lead on the stroke of half-time.
The second half followed a similar pattern as the hosts looked to be in charge but they only sealed the win in stoppage time as substitute Derrick Jones added a second goal.
This win moves Charlotte up into the play-off places for now, although a number of sides below them have played fewer games.
?? Brazil: Internacional 3-1 Flamengo
There was a new manager in Brazil too as Dorival Júnior replaced Paulo Sousa in the Flamengo dugout after a poor start to the season left the 2020 champions closer to the relegation zone than the top-four.
The 60-year-old switched to a 4-3-3 formation after Flamengo had primarily used a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 under Sousa but his side got off to the worst possible start as they conceded in the first minute of the match. Wanderson went on to score his second goal of the game in the 22nd minute, and although a controlled volley from Andreas Pereira brought the visitors back into the match before the hour-mark, they lost out with Pedro Henrique converting a spot-kick in stoppage time for Internacional.
Although Flamengo dominated possession, they failed to create as many big chances as their opponents and that is what proved costly for them in the end.
?? Argentina: Colón 2-2 Unión
Our final match takes us to Argentina, where there was a Santa Fe clásico between rivals Colón and Unión.
The hosts were the better side early on but it was Unión who took the lead in the 20th minute thanks to a wonderful counter-attacking goal which saw Federico Vera do all the hard work before setting up Mauro Luna Diale. Things went from bad to worse for Colón just before half-time as they went down to 10 men.
Unión also saw a red card before the 60th minute, after which Colon began to dominate proceedings. Facundo Farías equalised from the spot and eventually MLS-flop Ramón Ábila put the home side in front. There was yet more drama though, as a stoppage-time penalty scored by Jonatan Álvez, meant that the spoils were shared.
Written by Neel Shelat.
Cover Image from IMAGO