Poland’s top flight of soccer has once again produced a moment of chaotic brilliance.
The Ekstraklasa isn’t abundantly discussed among fans — hell, a lot of people don’t even know Poland’s top flight is called the Ekstraklasa — but in Sunday’s match between league leader Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznan, the luckiest goal ever was scored. This goal deserves the eyes of all soccer fans.
The U.S. has been on edge this week since the death of George Floyd. The Minnesota man died while in police custody, with one officer charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter and three other officers having been fired, with possible charges pending.
The well-worn cliché in England states that league titles are captured by winning games on your worst days. In Germany, Bayern Munich claims titles by demoralizing opponents on its best days.
Bayern looked well on its way to an eighth straight Bundesliga championship with a 5-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday at Allianz Arena. The German giants never let up the pressure against relegation-threatened Fortuna, squeezing the life out of the visitors for 90 minutes.
As hundreds of thousands die from a global pandemic, as livelihoods are ruined by a tanking economy and as Minneapolis burns amid protests over a black man dying at the hands of police, 2020 has already reached a decade’s worth of devastation in five months.
In midweek action in the 2.Bundesliga, VfL Osnabrück defeated Greuther Furth to take its point tally to 33 for the season. Osnabrück, competing in the 2.Bundesliga for the first time since 2010-11 after securing promotion last season, is now five points clear of the relegation playoff space with six games left to play.
The goal was gaping for Kerem Demirbay. Kai Havertz had just struck the crossbar, but the ball bounced kindly to Demirbay wide open in the six-yard box. It was impossible to miss.
Well, almost impossible.
Center back Nico Elvedi never gave up on the play and against all odds recovered in time to get a foot to Demirbay’s shot, clearing the ball off the line in spectacular fashion.
With the Bundesliga taking center stage around the planet this past weekend, millions tuned in on Sunday to watch league-leader Bayern Munich go through the paces in a 2-0 win over Union Berlin. While the two-month break obviously took its toll on the standard of play, Bayern relied on the unshakeable midfield brilliance of Thiago Alcântara to establish the rhythm of play and control 62 percent of possession.
The Bundesliga has taken center stage this weekend, but although we’re asleep for it, we shouldn’t sleep on the K League. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Ulsan’s three-goal comeback allowed the visiting side to escape Suwon’s Big Bird Stadium with all three points.
Suwon took the lead right before halftime thanks to this sensational strike from midfielder Ko Seung-beom. Ko took possession inside his own half, nutmegged his marker, took off on a 40-yard run and — with the defenders backing off — dialed up an unstoppable drive from 25 yards out.
Are you ready for some football?
As the Bundesliga resumed play on Saturday, one poor cameraman sure wasn’t.
RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg played to a 1-1- draw at Red Bull Arena on Saturday. The single point left Leipzig four points back of league-leading Bayern Munich and three back of second-place Borussia Dortmund, which whipped rival Schalke 4-0 on Saturday.