After being booked for diving in the first half, Sadio Mané sparked Liverpool to a yet another dramatic, come-from-behind victory. The Liverpool winger set up the equalizer and scored the winner in the closing minutes of a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday at Villa Park.
Almost immediately after, he was being attacked for diving by the manager — of next week’s match.
The Carabao Cup inspires hatred from many soccer fans who would rather be watching the Champions League at midweek and Premier League coaches who don’t care enough to play any of their regulars. Your dad would probably call it the “Don’t Carabao Haircuts Cup” because of all the shaggy haired teens taking the field in EPL uniforms.
But the Carabao Cup has some redeeming qualities — they were all seen Wednesday in the ridiculous match between Arsenal and Liverpool
Manchester United looked like a different team when it traveled to Norwich this past weekend. Despite the club’s lack of good penalty takers, the Red Devils put three goals away on a Norwich side that is struggling but is better than what the league table shows.
United has been missing Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic for quite some time, and United’s midfield looked weak recently with the pairing of Scott McTominay and Fred with Andreas Pereira ahead of them. Anthony Martial has also been out for some time but returned to start the match.
It’s a mutiny, folks. It's a mutiny.
Arsenal blew a two-goal lead to Crystal Palace on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium, settling for a 2-2 draw despite early goals from centerback pairing Sokratis and David Luiz. While manager Unai Emery has come under intense criticism for Arsenal’s recent displays and for his standoff with the increasingly beloved Mesut Özil, supporter fury today was aimed at club captain Granit Xhaka.
Another start, another full 90, another match without a significant contribution from Newcastle United’s Miguel Almirón. After arriving from Atlanta United for a club-record fee of $27 million last January, it’s now 20 Premier League appearances for the 25-year-old Paraguayan without a single goal or assist.
An hour into Christian Pulisic’s first Premier League start since August, Chelsea fans in the away end at Turf Moor were chanting “USA! USA! USA!” That’s what happens when you become the second American to score an EPL hat trick.
Christian Pulisic hadn’t started a Premier League match since August and many stateside started to wonder why Frank Lampard hates America. Well, Lampard has seen the light shining sea to shining sea and was rewarded with a brilliant Pulisic goal vs Burnley on Saturday. The 21-year-old American added a second as Chelsea led 2-0 at halftime.
Prior to Cristiano Ronaldo joining Juventus in 2018, the Old Lady had some of the best free-kick takers in the world in Miralem Pjanic, Federico Bernardeschi and Paulo Dybala. But who is going to tell the biggest ego in the sport he can’t take a crack at goal from distance, especially when he’s shown he can, when he hits it right, strike a mean free kick?
Sheffield United took on Arsenal at Bramall Lane on Monday night. It was a match that would’ve meant Arsenal jumping up to third in the Premier League assuming the Gunners turned up and won. Arsenal’s away form however tells a different tale: four wins in the past 18 matches.
Sheffield United was looking to break its duck as it hadn’t scored a goal since September. Lo and behold, Sheffield United outplayed Arsenal and beat the Gunners 1-0, moving up to ninth in the table.
On Monday, France Football (over the course of five ridiculous hours) released its 30-man shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d’Or prize, as well as a 20-player shortlist for the Ballon d'Or Féminin. Last year, Luka Modrić broke Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s combined 10-year stranglehold on the game’s most prestigious individual award, but Messi is again the favorite this year after leading Barcelona to the Spanish league title while capturing his sixth European Golden Shoe.