On the second day of 2018, West Brom’s Jake Livermore rushed into the stands to confront a West Ham fan during an English Premier League match. On Wednesday, the English FA decided not to punish the midfielder. This stunning lack of a Jake Livermore punishment is wholly unacceptable.
Alabama won yet another stupid national championship in college football on Monday. Pretty much everyone outside of Alabama hates the Crimson Tide. It’s a common narrative: Hate the team that always wins — be it the New England Patriots, the New York Yankees or Barcelona/Real Madrid.
Ah, the magic of the (looks down at hand) Carabao Cup. Tuesday's semifinal first-leg pitted Premier League leaders Manchester City, thus far undefeated in domestic competition this season, against Championship fourth-place squad Bristol City, known mainly for their excellent goal gifs.
But, reader this is the (looks down at hand again) Carabao Cup, and the unlikely could happen at any moment. Bristol City took a 1-0 lead late in the first half and they had a cool goal gif at the ready.
American-born defender Eric Lichaj had a deal with his wife: Score a hat trick and she will finally let him get a dog. The Nottingham Forest defender came oh so close to scoring a hat trick against Arsenal during the FA Cup on Sunday. After Lichaj asked Twitter to bombard his wife with dog memes, she caved. Eric Lichaj finally has a dog.
After scoring 226 goals in a sensational eighty-year stint with Arsenal from 1999 to 2007, Thierry Henry’s sale to Barcelona was seemingly the end of the Frenchman’s legendary time with the Gunners. Five years later, after a period with Barcelona and currently on the books with Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls, Henry romantically returned to his beloved club on a two-month loan deal.
Philippe Coutinho’s official presentation as a Barcelona player took place at the Camp Nou today with the world’s second-most expensive footballer of all-time going through the usual rigamarole, only with the price tag of $192.7 million attached to him.
With Manchester City holding an unassailable 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, the managerial mind games in the race for second place began in earnest on Thursday with Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho outlining how his work sets up future managers for success and how he refuses to “behave as a clown on the touchline,” both quips being viewed as digs at Chelsea coach Antonio Conte.
In the end, it’s all shock and horror for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal FC. Their 4-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday means it’s the first time since Wenger became Arsenal’s manager that they’ve failed to progress past the third round — a record of 21 straight seasons that’s now over. Forest are also the first team from a lower division to score four or more goals against Arsenal in the FA Cup since 1908.
If you take your eyes off Manchester City, if you relax for just a moment, they will absolutely destroy you. Burnley learned that the hard way in the FA Cup third round. After the visitors took a surprise first-half lead, Manchester City punished them for a short lapse in concentration with Sergio Aguero scoring two goals in two minutes to turn a halftime deficit into a second-half lead on the way to a 4-1 victory on Saturday at the Etihad.
Everyone plays football for different reasons. For some it’s the love of the game, others for money or fame and still more do it to impress the opposite sex. But winning free pizza for playing football is a prize everyone can appreciate. That’s exactly what goalkeeper Chris Neal won by helping Fleetwood Town shut out Leciester City in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday at Highbury Stadium.