SUNDAY, MAY 29 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3
BY ANDY KOSTKAboston — Nathan Eovaldi threw
his first career complete game in
the Boston Red Sox’s 5-3 win over
the Baltimore Orioles in the first
game of Saturday’s doubleheader
before an early offensive outburst
carried the visitors to a 4-2 win in
the n ightcap a t Fenway Park.
Eovaldi ran into the occasional
hiccup — left f ielder A nthony S an-
tander’s RBI single and c atcher
Robinson Chirinos’s two-run shot
over the Green Monster — but for
the most part he cruised all the
way to the end. The 32-year-old
right-hander limited Baltimore to
seven hits a nd a w alk.
On the other side, right-hander
Jordan Lyles — whom the Orioles
have so frequently counted on to
provide length this year — turned
in his shortest outing of the sea-
son, lasting 41 / 3 innings while giv-
ing up three runs on n ine hits and
a walk. K eegan Akin was charged
with the loss, his first of 202 2, a fter
giving up two runs i n relief.
In the second game, second
baseman Rougned Odor contin-
ued what has been a resurgent
May, crushing a three-run homer
to deep right field that capped a
four-run third inning in Balti-
more’s v ictory.
With right-hander Denyi Reyes
getting the start — serving as the
27 th man — Boston was held in
check, scoring once across t he f irst
32 / 3 innings. Odor provided
enough firepower to back up
Reyes in his spot start, and the
Baltimore bullpen continued an
impressive run, with scoreless ap-
pearances by Joey Krehbiel, Félix
Bautista and Cionel Pérez before
Jorge López allowed a run in the
ninth en route to his sixth save.
After shortstop Jorge Mateo’s
two-out double in the third, the
Orioles d idn’t manage another hit.
But t hey didn’t need one.
— Baltimore SunBaltimoreearns splitof twin billin BostonRED SOX 5-2,
ORIOLES 3-4ASSOCIATED PRESSR eal Madrid became European
champion for a record-extending
14 th time after beating Liverpool,
1-0, in a Champions League final
that started 37 minutes late be-
cause of disturbing crowd issues
outside S tade de France on Satur-
day.
Brazil winger Vinícius Júnior
applied a close-range finish in the
59 th minute from Federico
Valverde’s drive across the face of
goal, securing a win that gave Ma-
drid Coach Carlo Ancelotti a rec-
ord f ourth European C up title.
While Madrid completed a
Champions League-La Liga dou-
ble, Liverpool finished a season
that promised so much — a week
ago, it was in contention for an
unprecedented quadruple of ma-
jor trophies — with just the two
domestic c ups in England.
The English team couldn’t find
a way past Madrid g oalkeeper Thi-
baut Courtois, who tipped Sadio
Mané’s first-half shot o nto the post
and produced an even better save
to turn away Mohamed Salah’s
effort i n the 8 1st.
“Today n obody was going to get
in my way,” Courtois said. “I was
going to win a C hampions League
no matter what.”
Vinicius sank to his knees and
covered his face at the end of the
match. Many of his teammates
sprinted the length of the field to
celebrate in front of Madrid’s fans
at o ne end of the stadium.
Madrid underlined its status as
the k ing of European s occer, given
the S panish giant owns double the
number of European Cups as the
No. 2 on t he list, AC Milan.
And this time, there was no
need for the kind o f stirring come-
back that the Spanish giant h ad to
produce in getting past Paris
Saint-Germain, defending cham-
pion Chelsea and Manchester City
in the knockout stage.
It might go down as the most
grueling run to the t itle in the long
history of the competition.
For many, especially Liverpool
fans, pre-match c rowd issues over-
shadowed this final, though, and
are sure to be the focus of an
investigation by UEFA and au-
thorities in the coming d ays.
Riot police fired tear gas and
pepper spray at supporters wait-
ing in long lines to get into Euro-
pean soccer’s showpiece game,
whose kickoff w as d elayed.
UEFA blamed the chaos on p eo-
ple trying to get into the stadium
without legitimate tickets, with-
out providing details on where
they could be from.
“In the l ead-up t o the g ame, t he
turnstiles at the Liverpool end be-
came blocked by thousands of fans
who purchased fake tickets which
did not work in the turnstiles,”
UEFA s aid in a statement.
Some fans climbed fences sur-
rounding the stadium to get in.
Others barged their way past secu-
rity and sprinted onto the con-
course before getting wrestled tothe g round.
Riot police with batons and
shields ran from gate to gate to
prevent pockets of fans from forc-
ing their way into the s tadium.
UEFA said it was “sympathetic
to those affected” and it an-
nounced an urgent review by
French police and authorities
along with the French Football
Federation.
l MLS: Alejandro Pozuelo
scored in the 71st and 78th min-
utes to give host Toronto FC a 3-2
victory over the Chicago Fire....
Brian Rodriguez scored the de-
ciding goal in the 4 7th minute in a
3-2 win for host Los Angeles FC
over the S an Jose Earthquakes....
The visiting Columbus Crew
scored i n the f irst and last minutes
of the first half and beat Atlanta
United, 2-1....
The host New England Revolu-tion and the Philadelphia Union
traded goals two minutes apart in
the second half and tied, 1-1, in
Foxborough, Mass....
FC Dallas scored three second-
half g oals — t wo b y Paul Arriola —
to rally for a 3-1 victory over host
Orlando City SC....
In Fort Lauderdale, F la., R obert
Thomas Taylor’s goal helped lead
Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over
the Portland T imbers....
In K ansas City, Kan., Lucas C av-
allini’s penalty shot in the 2 4th
minute gave the Vancouver White-
caps a 1-0 victory over S porting
Kansas City....
Hany Mukhtar scored twice to
lead Nashville SC to a 3-1 win over
the C olorado Rapids in Commerce
City, C olo....
In Sandy, Utah, Zach MacMath
made four saves as Real Salt Lake
beat t he H ouston Dynamo, 3-0....In Minneapolis, Alexander Cal-
lens’s goal was the difference as
New York City FC topped Minne-
sota United, 1-0....
Romell Quioto scored twice,
and host CF Montreal won, 4-3,
outlasting FC Cincinnati, which
got two goals from Júnior Moreno.Chelsea sale to close Monday
The sale of Premier League club
Chelsea is e xpected t o be complet-
ed Monday after a “final and defin-
itive” agreement w as reached w ith
the c onsortium f ronted by Los An-
geles Dodgers part-owner Todd
Boehly.
The club said Saturday that “a
final and definitive agreement
was entered into last n ight” to sell
to the Boehly and Clearlake Capi-
tal consortium. T he price is 2.5 bil-
lion pounds ($3.2 billion) — the
highest ever for a sports t eam.SOCCER ROUNDUP
Real claims Champions finale marred by chaos
REAL MADRID 1,
LIVERPOOL 0LEE SMITH/REUTERS
Real Madrid w on its record-extending 14th European title in a match delayed by clashes between fans and police outside the stadium.BY STEVEN GOFFharrison, n.j. — Saturday
marked D.C. United’s last regular
season match for three weeks,
and amid the club’s d eficient start
to the MLS campaign, the Red
Bull Arena visit offered an oppor-
tunity to create good vibes enter-
ing the long break.
As interim coach Chad Ashton
said two days earlier, “You defi-
nitely don’t want to have a bad
taste in your mouth for that
length of time.”
The taste is going to be rancid.
Without injured star Taxi
Fountas, United survived one half
before being buried by the New
York Red Bulls in a three-goal,
nine-minute blitz packed with
failed clearances and sensational
finishes. The 4-1 outcome could
have been worse and saddled
United (4-7-2) with a four-game
winless streak to stare at u ntil the
season resumes June 18 in Chica-
go.
“First half was a professional
half,” defender Brendan Hines-
Ike said. “The second half was an
amateur half.”
Hines-Ike wasn’t done.
“Maybe the break comes at a
good time,” he said. “It’s going to
be very difficult to wait to play
again. It sits in your mind. It
doesn’t even hurt. It’s pure anger.
Guys have to look at themselves.
Nobody wants to be in this situa-
tion. We’re going in the wrong
direction.”
Between the 54 th and 63 rd
minutes, Brazilian Luquinhas
scored consecutive goals and
Lewis Morgan added a breathtak-
ing volley for the Red Bulls (6-
3-5), who won their first at home
after two defeats and four draws.
Ola Kamara scored for United
in the 87 th minute, and Tony
Alfaro’s own goal capped the mis-
erable half. Since starting the
season with two shutouts, United
has conceded at l east two goals in
nine of 11 matches.
“This one hurts,” captain Ste-
ven Birnbaum said. “It’s our rival.
It’s a g ame I felt we were ready for.
We were expecting to pick up
points, and to lose the way we did,
it’s going to sting for a long time.
It will probably sting until the
next game.”
Fountas has been sensational
since arriving in early April, post-
ing five goals and three assists in
seven appearances. Back spasms,
though, forced him to miss this
trip. The injury is also expected to
end his hopes of joining the Greek
national team for the first time
since September. Greece is sched-
uled to play four UEFA Nations
League matches from June 2 to
12.
Without him, United did not
generate many quality posses-
sions or genuine opportunities.
The Red Bulls were better with
the ball and in their buildup, but
with United defenders making
timely tackles in the box, the
match remained scoreless at h alf-
time.
“We felt like there was still an
opportunity there at halftime,”
Ashton said, “but we needed to
raise our competitive level; we
needed to raise our mentality; we
needed to get a little more brave.”
United finally created danger,
but after drawing out goalkeeper
Carlos Coronel, Julian Gressel
missed the short side.
A minute later, the Red Bulls
went ahead. Bill Hamid blocked
Frankie Amaya’s shot, but the
rebound fell to Luquinhas, who
pumped in a 12-yarder.
Four minutes passed before
the Brazilian struck again, latch-
ing on to a clearing attempt by
Chris Durkin and sending a slid-
ing volley from 14 yards into the
far top corner.
Another five minutes, another
goal for the Red Bulls: a corner
kick, two D.C. touches, then a
wicked volley by Morgan from
25 yards that swerved beyond
Hamid’s reach and into the far
side netting.
“As a group, we know there’s a
lot to do, but as individuals, guys
need to reflect on the first third of
the season, knowing there’s still
two-thirds left,” Hines-Ike said.
“It’s not the beginning of the
season anymore. We need to ei-
ther come out firing or we will
end up dead.”
With the transfer and tradewindow opening in July, Ashton
said, “We need quality.”
Here’s what else to know about
United’s defeat:Lineup adjustments
While Fountas was absent, de-
fensive midfielder Russell Ca-
nouse returned to the lineup after
missing one game with a ham-
string ailment. He p artnered with
rookie Sofiane Djeffal, leaving
Durkin on the bench.
Durkin didn’t have to wait
long, though. Brad Smith, a wing
back, left in the 18 th minute with
a groin injury, and Durkin was
thrust into an unfamiliar posi-
tion.
Despite conceding Toronto’s
late equalizer last weekend,
Hamid retained his starting job
ahead of Rafael Romo. Center
back Donovan Pines was back in
the lineup after being used as a
sub last week, and in Fountas’s
place, Nigel Robertha made his
first start since April 16.Next: Capital Cup
Though United is beginning a
long league break, it won’t be
inactive. The second Capital Cup
at Audi Field will feature D.C.
hosting Águila (El Salvador) on
Wednesday and Xelajú (Guate-
mala) on June 7. The visiting
clubs will clash June 4.
Ashton is expected to provide
ample opportunity for secondary
players, as well as call on rein-
forcements from second-division
Loudoun United.Missed opportunity
United and Dynamo Kyiv were
unable to agree on a date for a
friendly in June at Audi Field,
people inside and outside the
MLS organization said. The plan
was to raise funds for relief efforts
in war-torn Ukraine.
Dynamo, which had sought to
play multiple matches this sum-
mer in North America, encoun-
tered issues with player availabil-
ity during the international win-
dow in the first half of June, and
United faced the resumption of
the regular season shortly after
the window closes.United enters break looking broken
RED BULLS 4,
D.C. UNITED 1D.C. United at Fire
June 18, 8 p.m., Twitter, UniMásTake The Post for a run
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