Latest news with #TaiBaribo

Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Uhre scores 2 late goals, Union beat Rapids, extend their home unbeaten streak to 11
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Mikael Uhre subbed on in the 73rd minute and score two goals, Tai Baribo also scored a goal and the Philadelphia Union beat the Colorado Rapids 3-1 on Saturday night. Philadelphia (15-5-5) is unbeaten in four straight overall. The Union are 9-1-3 at home this season and unbeaten in 11 straight at Subaru Park. Uhre, at the left side of the penalty arc, cut outside to evade a defender and then rolled a shot from 18 yards out that bounced off the back post to give the Union a 2-1 lead in the 89th minute. Colorado (8-11-6) was dispossessed near midfield and Alejandro Bedoya played a first-touch pass down the right side and Uhre, who outraced the defense to the corner of the 6-yard box, rolled a shot that bounced off goalkeeper Zack Steffen's right foot as it went between his legs and into the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time. On the counter-attack, Cole Bassett's first-touch shot bounced off the crossbar and Rafael Navarro's putback — a diving header from the center of the area — opened the scoring in the 37th minute. Philadelphia had 63% possession and outshot the Rapids 11-4, 6-1 on target, before the break but went into halftime trailing 1-0. Baribo scored his 15th goal of the season — tied with Cincinnati's Evander Da Silva Ferreira for third most in MLS — to make it 1-1 in the 64th. Kai Wagner, who had played a corner kick in to Jovan Lukic and got it right back, chipped a perfectly-placed entry to the back post and Baribo's left-foot volley bounced into the net. The Union's Francis Westfield (red card - violent conduct) and Nathan Harriel (yellow card accumulation) served one-game suspensions. Colorado's Connor Ronan (ankle) did not play. The Union is 5-6-4 all time against Colorado in the regular season. ___ AP soccer:


Washington Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Uhre scores 2 late goals, Union beat Rapids, extend their home unbeaten streak to 11
CHESTER, Pa. — Mikael Uhre subbed on in the 73rd minute and score two goals, Tai Baribo also scored a goal and the Philadelphia Union beat the Colorado Rapids 3-1 on Saturday night. Philadelphia (15-5-5) is unbeaten in four straight overall. The Union are 9-1-3 at home this season and unbeaten in 11 straight at Subaru Park.


Associated Press
3 days ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Uhre scores 2 late goals, Union beat Rapids, extend their home unbeaten streak to 11
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Mikael Uhre subbed on in the 73rd minute and score two goals, Tai Baribo also scored a goal and the Philadelphia Union beat the Colorado Rapids 3-1 on Saturday night. Philadelphia (15-5-5) is unbeaten in four straight overall. The Union are 9-1-3 at home this season and unbeaten in 11 straight at Subaru Park. Uhre, at the left side of the penalty arc, cut outside to evade a defender and then rolled a shot from 18 yards out that bounced off the back post to give the Union a 2-1 lead in the 89th minute. Colorado (8-11-6) was dispossessed near midfield and Alejandro Bedoya played a first-touch pass down the right side and Uhre, who outraced the defense to the corner of the 6-yard box, rolled a shot that bounced off goalkeeper Zack Steffen's right foot as it went between his legs and into the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time. On the counter-attack, Cole Bassett's first-touch shot bounced off the crossbar and Rafael Navarro's putback — a diving header from the center of the area — opened the scoring in the 37th minute. Philadelphia had 63% possession and outshot the Rapids 11-4, 6-1 on target, before the break but went into halftime trailing 1-0. Baribo scored his 15th goal of the season — tied with Cincinnati's Evander Da Silva Ferreira for third most in MLS — to make it 1-1 in the 64th. Kai Wagner, who had played a corner kick in to Jovan Lukic and got it right back, chipped a perfectly-placed entry to the back post and Baribo's left-foot volley bounced into the net. The Union's Francis Westfield (red card - violent conduct) and Nathan Harriel (yellow card accumulation) served one-game suspensions. Colorado's Connor Ronan (ankle) did not play. The Union is 5-6-4 all time against Colorado in the regular season. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLS All-Stars crush Liga MX despite Lionel Messi absence
July 24 (UPI) -- Sam Surridge, Tai Baribo and Brian White each found the net to steer a dominant MLS victory over Liga MX in the 2025 MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas. Liga MX launched 21 shot attempts, but placed just seven on target in the 3-1 setback Wednesday at Q2 Stadium. The MLS All-Stars placed 7 of 13 attempts on target, including two second-half scores. "It was a special week," MLS All-Stars coach Nico Estevez told reporters. "I think I've been in the country enough to value what this event means. ... This is special. It's a unique event. "Not everyone can come enjoy this thing. I'm honored and fortunate to coach the MLS All-Stars." Philip Zinckernagel, Diego Rossi and Denis Bouanga logged assists for the MLS All-Stars, who played without Inter Miami's Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba. Elias Montiel assisted Gilberto Mora for Liga MX's lone score. "It was my first time in the All-Star Game," Baribo said on the Apple TV broadcast. "I scored and we won, MVP, it's the best feeling. Great night." The win helped the MLS All-Stars avenge a loss to Liga MX in the 2024 MLS All-Star Game. The MLS All-Stars won three of the four previous editions of their matchup with Liga MX. "What I told them is that we have quality when we have the ball if we can do combinations, being together, get the good relations and interactions that will help us to break the opponent," Estevez said. "When we had the ball, it was less instruction and more about being a unit and being compact." The Liga MX All-Stars threatened early on, but were often denied by Austin FC goalie Brad Stuver. Those heroics included a one-handed diving block in the 19th minute. But Liga MX goalie Luis Malagon also stood strong between the posts, keeping the game scoreless until the 28th minute. Bouanga started that sequence by leading a breakaway into the Liga MX box. He blasted a shot on net, but the attempt was denied by Malagon. Bouanga regained control on the left flank and fired a pass back toward the far post. Surridge -- who is tied with Messi with a league-leading 18 goals this season -- jumped into the area and headed a point-blank range shot past Malagon for first blood. Bouanga and Surridge each earned separate attempts about five minutes later. Bouanga drilled the right post with a volley, while star defender Sergio Ramos blocked Surridge's shot. The MLS All-Stars finally doubled their lead with Baribo beat goalie Kevin Mier in the 51st minute. Ross cut off several Liga MX defenders with a ball into the box for Baribo on that play. The Philadelphia Union striker let the ball roll onto his right foot and finished with a shot just inside the left post. Mora cut the deficit in half by beating Minnesota United goalie in the 65th minute, but White went on to add the clincher in the 80th. Carles Gil gained control in transition, weaved through defenders and found fellow midfielder Cristian Espinoza on the left flank to lead that attack. Espinoza proceed to tap a pass ahead for Zinckernagel, who spotted White about eight yards in front of the net. The All-Star striker finished with a one-touch shot off Liga MX All-Star Brian Rodriguez and into the net. The MLS regular-season slate will continue with six games Friday. Orlando City will host the Columbus Crew at 7:30 p.m. EDT in Columbus, Ohio. The New England Revolution will host CF Montreal at the same time in Foxborough, Mass. Messi and Alba, who were the leading vote getters for their positions, could be open to one-game suspensions for not playing in the MLS All-Star game. Their fifth-place Herons will host first-place FC Cincinnati at 7:15 p.m. Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.


The Guardian
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
The MLS All-Star game entertained plenty, but that may no longer be enough
The MLS All-Star game is what you make of it. Want to see it as yet another benchmark by which we can measure the US and Canada's top professional league against Mexico's? The current format, pitting a team of MLS stars against Liga MX's own selection, will provide that (however flimsy the conclusions may be from MLS's 3-1 win). Want it to be nothing more than a good time? The tenor of play, and that of the previous night's very fun but very silly skills competition won by MLS, will do that. Sam Surridge's first-half opener, the confirmation of which was somewhat hilariously delayed by a VAR check, came after an impressive display of speed and skill from LAFC's Denis Bouanga, who picked the pocket of Necaxa's Agustín Palavecino before bursting through on goal. The Philadelphia Union's Tai Baribo finished off a well-worked second off a super through ball from Columbus' Diego Rossi. All four of those involved in the goals are among the league's best attacking stars, and they shone brightly. LigaMX had a major asset ball out as well. Sixteen-year-old Gilberto Mora, who broke through impressively with Mexico during the Gold Cup and has done the same at club level with Tijuana, scored the league's only goal of the night. Vancouver's American standout Brian White bundled in MLS's final goal, giving a boost to the league's work improving the depth of the USMNT ahead of a huge World Cup year. Substitutions came with regularity, every 30 minutes or so. No heavy tackles were put in, no injuries were reported, both teams put forth effort in attack and a lively sold-out crowd seemed plenty entertained by the spectacle. If you see it as a total waste of time, though, there's some reason for that too – and you'd have some famous company. The biggest star in the league said as much with his actions, as Lionel Messi skipped the three-day festivities in Austin, Texas entirely (along with Inter Miami team-mate Jordi Alba, who shared many of Messi's best years at FC Barcelona). Both could be suspended for Inter Miami's next match as a result of their absence, a crucial clash against top-of-the-table Cincinnati on Saturday. In one sense, Messi's no-show is a needlessly aloof move. The publicity demands on him would have been great, but they always are, and that hasn't stopped him from continuing to be his famously reclusive self. Events like All-Star, as silly as they may seem to the rest of the world, are a fixture of American sports culture. It's existed since the first year of the league, and every other major US pro league has one. To effectively scoff at its existence is akin to protesting against the searing heat and bitter cold that accompany MLS's season, or complaining about Boxing Day matches and the resulting holiday-period fixture congestion in England. The conditions may not be ideal, the timing may suck, but it's part of the culture. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion And in that sporting culture where Messi is a natural fixture, big stars like him show up for these games. Michael Jordan played in 13 of them. LeBron James has started all 21 of the ones in which he appeared. Wayne Gretzky played in 18; Sidney Crosby just made his 10th. Shohei Ohtani has taken part in each of the last five All-Star games, even when his health has prevented him from taking part fully. It is not ridiculous for MLS to have an All-Star game, and it is similarly not beyond the pale to expect a player making over $20m per year with the implicit expectation of being the face of the league to take part. Or is it? Unlike those stars of past and present, neither Messi nor Alba made their names in a North American league. It's not like either player is coasting on their names – both have been extremely impressive in MLS. In a way, Messi is showing the league a backhanded form of respect by saving himself for games that actually matter. Even MLS commissioner Don Garber admitted in a press conference before the game that All-Star, while useful to the league from a business standpoint, is not without its flaws for players. 'This is first time we've had all of our CSOs [Chief Soccer Officers] here, all of our CBOs [Chief Business Officers] here, all of our owners here, it is an important mid season break for us,' Garber said, before pointing out that Messi has indeed played nine games in the past 35 days between the Club World Cup and MLS league play, with him going the full 90 minutes in every one. 'Miami's had a schedule that is unlike any other team. Most of our teams had a 10 day break. Miami hasn't. We have to manage through that as a league. At the same time, we do have rules, and we have to manage through that as well.' By 'manage through that,' Garber is hinting at a feeling he said explicitly later on in that press conference: It is time for MLS to re-think the foundations of its All-Star game. The commissioner revealed for the first time a specific per-game number of viewers the league draws for its game broadcasts on average: 120,000. That is not an impressive number, and it represents a near-50% increase on last year, according to Garber. Does continuing to hold an All-Star game as currently presented help boost that number as the league, like all leagues, deals with increasing fixture congestion? It's unlikely. Garber said that the league was still focused on keeping the game competitive, and that changing it up could be as simple as finding a different type of opponent. In the past, the league has hosted games against famous clubs from around the world – and perhaps that could be a reality again. But this push for competitiveness comes as most US leagues are doing the exact opposite. The NBA abandoned the East-West format of old and the game itself seems less and less like real basketball each year. The NFL no longer holds a Pro Bowl at all (A sensible decision, all told, considering the violence inherent in modern American football). MLB is seemingly the only other major league to hold firm – its recent All-Star game was the most-watched among US sports, with viewership up 6% this year. 'I love the All-Star game,' Garber said, 'Most leagues probably do. But how do you get your players to love the All-Star game?' Judging from their comments throughout the week, most MLS players do. But that feeling may be declining, and perhaps it's not as important any more anyway.