After 45 of 46 matchweeks had been completed in the EFL Championship, it was clear that there would be no promotion drama on the final day of the season.
Norwich secured automatic promotion in mid-April, and Watford did the same a week later. On May 1, the Canaries sealed the league title in a division they had thoroughly controlled this campaign.
As someone over the age of 30, I’m constantly blown away by the creativity I see on TikTok. Sure, there’s plenty of bullshit out there (as with any social media site), but there’s also a thriving community of people younger than me doing cool shit. The Daryl Dike TikTok account is a perfect example of the joy that can be found on the app.
When Wycombe earned promotion to the Championship for the first time in 2020, the Chairboys became instant favorites for relegation.
This was a side that finished 17th in League One in 2018/19 and was predicted to be near the bottom end of the table once again in 19/20. Manager Gareth Ainsworth's side finished eighth in a COVID-shortened season and only earned a playoff spot due to the points per game formula applied by the league.
One way or another, it seems Daryl Dike is going to be playing in the Premier League next season. While there are plenty of current EPL suitors, another match winner from the 20-year-old American has his new club Barnsley within touching distance of ensuring a place in the promotion playoffs.
After just two months of English football, Barnsley striker Daryl Dike has transformed from a good MLS striker into a transfer target for some of Europe's biggest clubs.
The Oklahoma native has seven goals in 13 matches for Barnsley, and the club has earned 32 of 39 possible points in the Championship during that stretch.
Last season, the Championship was a perfectly scripted drama that perfectly encapsulated the unpredictable nature of the league at both ends of the table — the final promotion and relegation spots were truly not decided until the last kick of the season.
The English second tier has been just as good so far this year, as numerous teams have challenged for promotion and the bottom of the table has been just as tight.
Two Daryl Dike goals vs. Luton Town on Monday upped the Oklahoman’s scoring tally to seven goals in 13 games for Barnsley.
Dike has been a scoring machine for the English Championship side ever since Orlando City loaned him out in February. The 20-year-old’s brace secured an important 2-1 victory as the club pushes for promotion, and Barnsley is now fifth in the league.
Dike bagged the game’s opening goal in the 27th minute with his favored run off the last defender and followed it up with a classy finish into the bottom corner.
The EFL Championship is world-renowned for its rough and rowdy ways, which are the byproducts of a demanding 46-game schedule and the almighty struggle for promotion to the globe’s most lucrative league. It’s goals that directly fuel the fire of this singular ambition, and the Championship top scorers 2020-2021 are doing everything in their power to fire their respective sides to the promised land.
Americans have a long, but not necessarily impressive, history of playing soccer in Europe.
John Harkes was the first American to play in the English Premier League when he debuted for Sheffield Wednesday in 1991. Since then, many Americans have tested their mettle in England, yet very few have delivered truly impressive seasons.
Tim Howard was one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League for a decade, Brad Friedel's Premier League run extended even longer, while Clint Dempsey and Brian McBride both had their share of impressive seasons.
Fresh off the announcement that he’d been included in Gregg Berhalter’s 26-man squad for a pair of USMNT friendlies at the end of the month, Daryl Dike went and scored a brace for Barnsley on Wednesday, bringing his Championship total to five goals in 10 games.