One of the wildest Champions League matches of all time had one of the wildest endings imaginable.
Tottenham Hotspur — and VAR — threw a wrench into Manchester City’s quest for an unprecedented quadruple on Wednesday at Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Spurs lost 4-3 on the day but advanced 4-4 on aggregate by way of away goals into the Champions League semifinals, where Ajax awaits.
Hi. Do you like goals? Do you love watching defenses get picked apart by strikers at the top of their game or defenders just deciding to neglect their duties? Well, we’ve got the game for you. The Man City-Tottenham first half of their second-leg Champions League quarterfinal was absolutely bonkers.
A couple months out from the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Alex Morgan has been named to the Time 100.
Morgan is one of two footballers named to the list of the 100 most influential people put together by Time magazine. That list includes everyone from Taylor Swift to Donald Trump, Michelle Obama to Ariana Grande, Dwayne Johnson to Emilia Clarke (Daenerys).
Mohamed Salah joined Morgan on the list as the only other soccer player chosen. Other athletes included Caster Semenya, Naomi Osaka, LeBron James, Tiger Woods and (kind of) Ninja.
Ah, the Champions League. A bastion of European Football and a staple of any footy fan’s season. There’s certainly a lot to love about the competition: goals, matchups, drama and more — but mostly the goals. Something characteristic of European competitions, both the Champions League and the Europa League, is the scoring. The away goals rule is important because it prevents tie-breakers and can change the mentality of how teams play. Here’s how Champions League scoring works.
Manchester United started brightly against Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday. Marcus Rashford was in on goal and nearly scored seconds into the match.
And the Red Devils had a bit of fortune when the VAR overturned a penalty decision to keep the scores level.
Then Lionel Messi broke loose with two goals in four minutes, quickly making up for a quiet first leg in Manchester (after being bloodied by Chris Smalling).
Watford and Ben Foster didn’t have their best day at home versus Arsenal on Monday. The Gunners had not kept a clean sheet away from home this season, and the Hornets likely felt that a good result was possible in the match. Unfortunately for Watford, that was not the case.
Watford started the match well, putting Arsenal under pressure and having a few chances on goal. Arsenal didn’t provide very much going forward and needed a stroke of luck to get on the scoresheet early. Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster did Arsenal a huge favor.
The Premier League title race doesn’t seem like it will be decided until the final matchday. Liverpool and Manchester City both picked up a vital three points this past weekend, with City winning 3-1 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and Liverpool with an emphatic 2-0 win against Chelsea at Anfield.
October 14, 2017: Watford are fresh off defeating Arsenal 2-1 thanks in part to a Troy Deeney penalty, dropping the Gunners to eighth in the table. Deeney was scathing in his assessment of Arsenal after the match.
Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League table on Sunday morning with a convincing 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace, heaping the pressure on Liverpool ahead of its colossal clash against Chelsea at Anfield later in the day.
That pressure built after Chelsea kept Liverpool off the scoresheet in the first half despite decent opportunities for the misfiring Mohamed Salah and the in-form Sadio Mané, and the Blues posed their own menace on the counter through Eden Hazard and Willian.
At the 1970 World Cup, Gordon Banks made what is often considered to be the greatest save of all time, denying a header from Pelé that seemed destined for the goal. Nearly 50 years later, this David de Gea save vs West Ham looks remarkably similar — and was, perhaps, more important.
Gordon Banks was a legendary goalkeeper for England and Stoke City, winning the World Cup in 1966. Four years later, he made what British-centric football fans view as the greatest save ever: