Lionel Messi scored another all-time goal, and the Ray Hudson call on it was perfect

“THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE OF FOOTBALL!”

Lionel Messi tied the record for La Liga appearances for Barcelona on Saturday, when he played his 505th career game in the league.

He marked the celebration with two outrageous goals against Alaves.

The first one was truly special, a rocketed left foot that left the Alaves keeper just sort of standing there, looking at it, which to be fair to the keeper is what I would have done as well. (Maybe that’s not being fair to the keeper.)

The goal was great, and it was almost matched by the brilliance of beIN SPORTS announcer Ray Hudson, who did what he does best when Messi scores a great goal — he lost his mind, and screamed all sorts of incredible nonsense.

He calls him “the ghost in the machine of football” and that’s like the third best moment. Here’s the clip:

Messi added another goal a short time later.

It is equally stunning.

He’s very good at the soccer.

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Tobin Heath scored her first goal for Manchester United and it was a rocket

What a goal from the USWNT winger Tobin Heath.

Tobin Heath joined Manchester United this season, and the creative attacking midfielder kicked off her goalscoring tally for the side on Sunday with a rocket of a right-footed shot.

The goal came against West Ham and gave Manchester United a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute.

Heath has plied her trade in NWSL up to this point, but joined a growing cascade of USWNT players who are finding playing time by linking up with WSL sides. Heath was joined by Christen Press at United, while Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis have joined Manchester City.

Here is a look at the goal from Heath that doubled United’s lead:

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Gonzalo Higuain absolutely blasted a free kick for his first MLS goal

This ball from Gonzalo Higuain stayed hit.

Gonzalo Higuain has had a somewhat inauspicious start to his MLS career, as the Argentine great struggled to get on the scoresheet in his first game for Inter Miami … and actually skyed a penalty kick in that match.

But the striker seems to have settled in.

In Wednesday night’s game against Red Bulls, Higuain lashed a free kick from outside the 18 in the upper right corner, a bomb of a strike that gave his team a 2-1 lead in the 81st minute. That scoreline would stay that way for the finish.

Luckily for us, too, the inimitable Ray Hudson is the announcer for Inter Miami games this season, and was on the call for this goal.

You better believe we got a “magisterial.”

Are there arguments to be made that the wall wasn’t lined up particularly well, or that the goalie shouldn’t get beaten on his side of the wall? Of course there are.

But notice that Higuain put that ball directly over the head of a teammate who ducked at the perfect moment … and also that Higuain just hit the everliving snot out of this ball. I don’t care if the goalie was right there, that’s a bomb.

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Notre Dame women’s soccer dominates Syracuse

Notre Dame’s women’s soccer team had more goals on Sunday than Syracuse had shots on goal. Details to ND’s latest win here.

The Notre Dame women’s soccer team dominated Syracuse on Sunday and won their third straight contest with a 2-0 win.

Kiki Van Zanten handled the scoring for Irish as her first goal of the day came just before halftime at the 42 minute mark and was assisted by Brooke Van Dyck.

Van Zanten’s second goal of the day came with just minutes remaining the contest as she scored at the 89′ mark to cap the scoring by giving Notre Dame a 2-0 lead.

The win kept Notre Dame unbeaten all-time at home against Syracuse, a series that has now seen nine games, none of which Syracuse has even scored in.

Notre Dame’s defense was so stout on Sunday in fact that goalkeeper Mattie Interian had to make just one stop to record the shutout.

The win was Notre Dame’s third straight and moved the Irish to 3-1-0 on the year while Syracuse dropped to 0-3-0.

Notre Dame returns to action when they host Wake Forest on October 15.

Wild, stoppage-time bicycle kick goal lifts Monterrey over Club América in first leg of Liga MX final

Rogelio Funes Mori gave us one of the goals of the year with a stoppage-time bicycle kick to give his team the lead.

CF Monterrey took on Club América in the first leg of the Apertura final of Liga MX this week, and hoo buddy, what a game.

(For fans new to Liga MX — their season is divided into two parts, with two tournaments. The Apertura starts in the summer and concludes now, with the Clausera starting up shortly.)

The match was tied 1-1 in the 93rd minute, and it looked like the teams would go into the second leg of the final all square. Then the ball started bouncing in the América box, and landed on the chest of Monterrey’s Rogelio Funes Mori.

Then he had an absolute moment of magic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01D0056TDJY

A bicycle kick stoppage-time winner? Yes. Oh heavens yes.

América will be disappointed to enter the second leg down a goal. They fought admirably, even after going down to 10 men when Francisco Cordova was shown a red card in the 53rd minute. To defend that well for that long, down a man, only to give up a late goal like that? That stings.

The second leg of the final is this Sunday night.

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