Category: England

Horvath literally takes eyes off the ball as Cardiff suffers Burnley rout

Horvath and Cardiff City have gotten off to a nightmarish start to the 2024-25 season

Ethan Horvath and Cardiff City have not exactly gotten off to a good start in the 2024-25 Championship season.

The U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper made an embarrassing mistake in the early stages of the Bluebirds’ league clash at Burnley on Saturday, conceding the first goal in what turned into a 5-0 rout.

Cardiff City’s Championship schedule has 44 more fixtures left to play, and the Wales-based club will be hoping its first two outings are its worst back-to-back games of the season. After two rounds of play, the Bluebirds have lost twice, conceding seven times and scoring none.

At Turf Moor, the game seemed to be settling into a very normal rhythm in its first nine minutes, with the visitors regaining possession after a series of loose balls in the midfield.

Around 25 yards from goal, center back Dimitrios Goutas received a simple pass and turned to scan for his next option. With pressure arriving, the Greek defender changed his mind, and calmly played a slow roller back to Horvath for the kind of long clearance forward that is a universal occurrence in the sport.

Just one problem: as the pass arrived at his right foot, Horvath glanced upfield, losing track of the ball. The USMNT man didn’t get much (if any) of a touch, and Goutas’ pass carried on past Horvath, rolling over the line for a debacle of a goal.

“We conceded an unlucky goal. The mistake that happened with our goalkeeper,” Bluebirds manager Erol Bulut told reporters after the match. “This can happen, and we are fully behind Ethan. He has saved many goals for us in other games.”

Adding insult to injury, official Championship stat-keeping eventually ruled that the goal will go into the record books as a Horvath own goal.

Burnley would manufacture a goal of its own in the 31st minute, with U.S.-eligible winger Luca Koleosho getting on the scoresheet. For Cardiff, things only got worse, with Burnley scoring three second-half goals to turn the match into a blowout.

Cardiff City has eight days to sort itself out before its next match, a Welsh derby against Swansea.

Watch Horvath’s error for Cardiff City

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Luton goalkeeper Kaminski shown red card for rare on-field double murder

The referee had many options as to how he would send the goalkeeper off

It’s only week two, but Luton Town goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski has already submitted his entry for the season’s best red card.

Kaminski was already on a yellow card for time-wasting when he made doubly sure that he would be sent off after a wild pair of challenges in Saturday’s Championship match.

The keeper came flying off his line to cut off a long ball in the 31st minute, only to clatter into Portsmouth’s Paddy Lane instead.

Not content with that challenge, Kaminski quickly got to his feet and demolished Portsmouth defender Connor Ogilvie seconds later.

The referee was left with a multitude of options for how he would send Kaminski off: one yellow? Double yellow to make it a total of three? Straight red? Double straight red?

In the end, he would go with the conservative option and simply hand Kaminski his second yellow.

Forced to play down a man for two-thirds of the game, Luton responded admirably and held on for a 0-0 draw.

Watch Kaminski red card vs. Portsmouth

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Bolton vs. Wrexham: How to watch League One, streaming

Both teams are looking for a second straight win to start the league season

Wrexham will hit the road for the first time in League One on Sunday, as the team travels to face Bolton Wanderers at Toughsheet Community Stadium.

The Red Dragons kicked off League One play with a 3-0 win over Wycombe last weekend, as Max Cleworth, Jack Marriott and Steven Fletcher all scored.

That was followed by a midweek defeat against Sheffield United, which got a goal from American defender Auston Trusty in a 4-2 win at Bramall Lane.

For Wrexham coach Phil Parkinson, Sunday’s game will be a homecoming after he served as Bolton’s head coach from 2016 to 2019.

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Bolton, meanwhile, is looking to return to the Championship for the first time since the 2018-19 season — when Parkinson was the head coach.

Bolton began League One play last weekend with a 2-1 win at Leyton Orient.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Bolton vs. Wrexham (League One)

  • When: Sunday, August 18
  • Where: Toughsheet Community Stadium (Bolton, England)
  • Time: 10 a.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: Paramount+ (WATCH LIVE), CBS Sports Golazo Network

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Boro coach Carrick hails ‘fantastic’ Morris after strong start

The USMNT midfielder is making quite the impression early in his time at Middlesbrough

Aidan Morris is making quite the impression early in his time at Middlesbrough.

The midfielder joined Boro from the Columbus Crew in June, with the Championship side shelling out a reported $4 million.

Morris has been thrown into the fire in his first foray into Europe, playing the full match in both of Boro’s opening games of the campaign.

The 22-year-old has responded well to the challenge, as he was named man of the match in a 1-0 league win over Swansea over the weekend, before turning in another strong display in Wednesday’s 3-0 win at Leeds in the Carabao Cup.

After the game against Leeds, head coach Michael Carrick spoke glowingly of Morris and fellow summer signing Delano Burgzorg.

Carrick said: “It (making early signings) certainly helps, and credit to everyone for that – the backroom staff, in terms of recruitment, and having good ideas, and having a plan and sticking to it.

“We’re all in it together. We’ve spoken about the value of getting the two lads in early, and it is the truth.

“We’ve seen the benefits of that, and we’re feeling those benefits. I thought the two boys in particular were fantastic tonight, in different ways, and you can see how well they’ve settled in.”

Next up for Boro is a trip to face Derby County in a Championship encounter on Saturday.

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Sheffield United vs. Wrexham: How to watch Carabao Cup, live stream

The two sides look to build off positive starts when they meet in cup action

Wrexham looks to continue its promising start to the season when it faces Sheffield United on Tuesday in a first-round EFL Carabao Cup match.

The Red Dragons kicked off League One play with a 3-0 win over Wycombe on Saturday, as Max Cleworth, Jack Marriott and Steven Fletcher all scored.

The club didn’t seem at all affected by a second straight jump in divisions, as it continues to rise in the English football pyramid.

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Sheffield, meanwhile, is looking to bounce straight back to the Premier League this season after it was relegated last term.

The Blades began Championship play over the weekend with a 2-0 win against Preston North End.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Sheffield United vs. Wrexham (Carabao Cup)

  • When: Tuesday, August 13
  • Where: Bramall Lane (Sheffield, England)
  • Time: 3 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: Paramount+ (WATCH LIVE), CBS Sports Golazo Network

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USMNT’s Aaronson scores equalizer at the death on Leeds return

It was a good afternoon for the USMNT attacker, but it could have been great

Brenden Aaronson returned to Leeds with a bang on Saturday — but the U.S international missed the chance to make it a truly special afternoon at Elland Road.

Aaronson scored a stoppage-time equalizer for Leeds against Portsmouth, netting in the 95th minute after coming on in the second half of his side’s Championship opener.

But just two minutes later, Aaronson missed the chance to complete his brace and seal a Leeds win by firing wide when in alone on goal.

Aaronson is back at Leeds after spending last season on loan with Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.

The 23-year-old had a difficult debut campaign at Elland Road in 2022-23, fading in the second half of the season as the club was relegated from the Premier League.

On Saturday, it looked like Leeds would suffer a demoralizing home loss to kick off the season after Callum Lang’s 93rd-minute penalty put Portsmouth ahead.

But Aaronson responded minutes later, carving out space for himself inside the box before firing home into the bottom corner.

Watch Aaronson’s goal vs. Portsmouth

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USMNT goalkeeper Slonina joins Barnsley on loan from Chelsea

The 20-year-old will take in his third loan since joining Chelsea in 2022

Chelsea goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina has joined Barnsley FC on loan for the 2024-25 season.

The League One club will not have a purchase option on the U.S. international.

Slonina, 20, spent last season on loan at KAS Eupen, making 34 appearances as the club was relegated from the Belgian top flight.

The Illinois native signed for Chelsea in 2022 from the Chicago Fire in a reported $10 million deal.

After finishing the 2022 MLS season with the Fire, Slonina spent a half season with Chelsea’s U-21 side before his move to Belgium last season.

Slonina is said to be highly rated at Chelsea, but it is unclear if he’ll have a chance to challenge for the starting role as the Blues continue to add more goalkeepers.

This week, Chelsea reportedly paid Genk up to €20 million to sign goalkeeper Mike Penders, with the Blues also signing Filip Jorgensen from Villarreal for €24m earlier in the summer.

Chelsea rotated between Djordje Petrovic and Robert Sánchez as its starting goalkeepers last season.

Slonina became the youngest USMNT goalkeeper ever when he started a January 2023 friendly against Serbia. He was on the team’s Olympic roster this summer, but didn’t see any action as he backed up Patrick Schulte.

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Wrexham signs club-record transfer on eve of League One debut

The club made a statement on the eve of its debut in League One

One day before its first game in League One, Wrexham made a statement by signing Ollie Rathbone from Rotherham United for a club-record fee.

The midfielder has spent the last two seasons in the Championship with Rotherham, which was relegated to League One at the end of last season.

Before leading Rotherham to promotion in 2022, Rathbone played nearly 200 games in League One with Rochdale and Rotherham.

Wrexham secured its second straight promotion last season by finishing second in League Two. The Red Dragons will kick off their League One campaign on Saturday against Wycombe Wanderers at Racecourse Ground.

“I’m delighted. I’m really excited to be here and to get going,” Rathbone, 27, told Wrexham’s website.

“To have back-to-back promotions, the club is obviously doing something very right from the outside looking in. There’s nowhere I’d rather be signing.

“I’m really glad the move has been completed. It’s going to be a long season, but I’m hopeful that we’ll have another successful season.”

Wrexham confirmed it had paid a club-record fee for Rathbone, but did not disclose the amount. The club set its previous record when it paid $383,000 to sign Ollie Palmer from Wimbledon in January 2022.

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Wrexham vs. Wycombe: How to watch League One, live stream

The Red Dragons return to the third tier for the first time in 19 yearss

Wrexham begins its League One journey on Saturday when it hosts Wycombe Wanderers at Racecourse Ground.

The Red Dragons secured their second straight promotion last season by finishing second in League Two.

That sees the team in the third tier of the English pyramid for the first time in 19 years, as it looks to continue its meteoric rise after being purchased by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020.

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Wrexham will go into this game without star forward Paul Mullin, who is out after minor spinal surgery. The forward is expected back shortly after the season begins.

Wycombe finished 10th out of 24 teams in League One last season as it looks to push toward a playoff position this time around.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Wrexham vs. Wycombe (League One)

  • When: Saturday, August 10
  • Where: Racecourse Ground (Wrexham)
  • Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: CBS Sports Network, Paramount+ (WATCH LIVE)

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We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Pro Soccer Wire operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

USWNT to face England at Wembley in November

The USWNT will return to Wembley after losing to England in a 2022 friendly

The U.S. women’s national team is heading back to Wembley Stadium.

U.S. Soccer has announced that the USWNT will face England in a friendly at the famed venue on November 30.

The match will kick off at 12:20 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT, Universo, truTV, Max and Peacock.

After England qualified for Euro 2025 this month, the defending champion became available for the November international window due to not having to play in a playoff.

The USWNT will play one more game in Europe after the match against England, with the opponent and venue to be announced soon.

The match at Wembley will see the U.S. return after losing 2-1 to England in a friendly in October 2022. It will also be a homecoming for head coach Emma Hayes, a London native.

The USWNT and England have played 19 times in their history, with just three of those matches taking place in England.

Currently, the U.S. is in France attempting to win Olympic gold, with its final group-stage match set for Wednesday against Australia.

England, which was designated as the team to qualify on behalf of Team GB, did not reach the competition.

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