Stephan El Shaarawy's goal in the 5th minute was simply stunning. He collected the ball in the midfield, dribbled at the goal and unleashed a curling shot that beat Empoli keeper, Lukasz Skorupski. El Shaarawy would add another in the 74th minute as Roma would go on to win 3 - 1.
The man who mugged Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne this weekend had one of the more interesting requests we've heard about from a mugger (we used to be a crime reporter, so this statement is made with at least some authority).
The thief – who made off with €800 in cash, a Rolex and some jewels – had one very peculiar request for Insigne: dedicate a goal to him, the mugger, against Fiorentina on Monday.
The18 loves to bring the most exciting players on the planet to our audience, and Paul Pogba is nothing if not one of them. We have been following him for quite some time, as he transitions from a young player looking to establish himself to one of the best XI players in the world. Check out our little homage, 18 Seconds of Pogba:
What a fantastic weekend of soccer. So many brilliant goals, so many talking points. We compiled a list of ten of the best moments from the weekend, in no particular order.
10. Dutch club walks out with lingerie models instead of kids.
As promised, my predictions for futbal were awful, 0-5…but I nailed the Super Bowl call, I will take it. Enough said about that, on to the top five matches you can’t miss this weekend:
Juventus vs. Napoli, Saturday 2:45 p.m. EST beIN Sports
If you watched the Milan derby this past weekend, you may have seen this olive tree ceremony before the game.
The Milan derby was the latest game to see the ceremony take place. Photo: @waatp | Twitter
Grading transfer window performances is a stupid endeavor. No one can say for sure whether a club has performed well or poorly because the players haven't even taken the pitch yet for their new clubs.
But news outlets do this anyway because they can't think of any better use of time, and the grades get clicks, and clicks get money.
Undoubtedly media organizations are already in the throes of typing out their grades for this January transfer window, even though it hasn't even ended yet.
Basketball great, Kobe Bryant, is an avid soccer fan. Having grown up in Italy, Bryant played soccer everyday and became immersed in the culture during his time there. So, which team does Kobe Bryant support? Why, A.C. Milan of course.
Dries Mertens is having a fantastic year, and now he can check “perform heartwarming celebration off of his list.” The Belgian winger is currently one of the best attackers in Italy, and while his goal-scoring record (8 in 22 across all competitions) might not not convince you of this, he has played a large roll in putting Napoli at the top of Serie A.
He and his teammates have scored a league leading 45 goals so far. That’s 6 more than the second leading scoring team, Fiorentina, and firmly establishes Napoli as the most potent attack in Italy.
TV Preview: Juventus v Roma: the Bundesliga is back after a month off although most German sides were busy during the sabbatical. Chicharito did what Chicharito does, scoring goals in Florida of all places and with 19 goals in 22 appearances, the Mexican National player is getting glances from English sides once more.