#xg

#xg

It was not until the 47th minute that NYCFC hit the front at the Bank of America Stadium on Friday, as Fernandez capped off a fine solo run with a composed finish, after Brandt Bronico had squandered a great chance for Charlotte. Alonso Martinez doubled NYCFC's lead five minutes after half-time, seemingly teeing up Pascal Jansen's team for a smooth ride into the next round. Yet Idan Toklomati's 81st-minute strike dragged Charlotte back into the contest.

Expected goals (xG) is a metric used to determine how likely a player is to score a chance and to calculate how many goals a team is expected to score in a match. The metric was invented in 2012 by Opta's Sam Green and has become commonplace across football analytics. In xG, every shot a player has is given a score between zero and one.

Under Manager Eddie Howe, Newcastle's strongest attribute is its tough, aggressive defense. This approach has allowed the Magpies to seal games and change their narrative in recent years, while also fostering a hostile relationship with many Premier League teams, including Liverpool. Without Darwin Nunez's heroic off-the-bench performance two years ago, Liverpool's vulnerability at St. James' Park would be even clearer.

Borussia Dortmund let a two-goal advantage slip late on as they drew 3-3 against St. Pauli in their Bundesliga curtain-raiser on Saturday. Dortmund had Filippo Mane sent off five minutes from time, with goals from Danel Sinani and Eric Smith seeing St. Pauli completing the turnaround at Millerntor-Stadion. Niko Kovac's side took the lead in the 34th minute through Serhou Guirassy's header, though the striker missed a penalty five minutes later to double Dortmund's advantage.