Shocking

This is Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dark period. Like Francisco Goya before him, he’s probably living in near-solitude outside Lose Angeles in a farmhouse, painting haunting themes concerning his bleak outlook on VAR and retrospective fines from Major League Soccer.

It’s been 227 minutes since his last goal in MLS, a stretch that’s included three straight defeats for the LA Galaxy. When considering his exploits so far this season — nine goals and two assists in 10 games — this current run of form is apocalyptic. 

Last night, D.C. United defeated the Columbus Crew 3-1 at Audi Field thanks to goals from Luciano Acosta, Wayne Rooney and Paul Arriola, but the complexion of the match would’ve been wildly different had the Crew’s 22nd-minute opener been allowed to stand.

With the score level at 0-0, referee Ted Unkel got mixed up in the play with United in possession. A pass intended for Acosta never reached its mark because of the ref’s interference, and Wil Trapp immediately released Pedro Santos going the other way. Santos hammered home his finish, 1-0 to the Crew.  

PSG has endured quite the torpid spell in its last matches of the season. From bowing out of the Champions League to Manchester United, to losing the Coupe De France to Rennes on penalties, there hasn’t been much joy for Les Parisiens, spare eventually securing the Ligue 1 title.

The misery was compounded Tuesday as PSG traveled to Montpellier.

Things went from bad to worse last night for the New York Red Bulls when the club allowed victory to escape its grasp by virtue of an 88th-minute Sporting Kansas City equalizer at Children’s Mercy Park, leaving the Red Bulls — last season’s Supporters’ Shield winners — with only one win from its opening six games.

To compound matters, Alejandro Romero Gamarra, better known as Kaku, was given a straight red in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time for smashing the ball into the face of an SKC supporter from point-blank range. 

Mentally, Diego Costa isn’t entirely there. Look at the 26 yellow cards he received over his three-year Premier League stay for ample evidence of the striker’s propensity to be a mad lad. 

Cagliari should be ashamed of its football club, its fans and its club president. What happened Tuesday night was another deplorable, disgusting display of racism from a group of fans, acts that should be unacceptable in society. 

And yet, Leonardo Bonucci, whose teammates were the victims of the racial abuse, seems to be the one receiving the most backlash in the fallout.

How did this happen?

To start, let’s set the scene. 

Jordan Pickford has had his fair share of the limelight lately, and maybe not for the best reasons. The England goalkeeper made himself an annoyance against Newcastle, goading the Newcastle fans after Everton’s second goal. As a former Sunderland player, Newcastle fans did not take kindly to his antics.

Good thing for Newcastle though, Pickford gave up three goals after that and the Toon picked up three points. Everton fans were less than pleased that day, and for good reason.