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.
Leicester City broke the Premier League record for largest road win with its 9-0 butchering of Southampton on Friday.
After one Leicester goal, Saints midfielder Ryan Bertrand was sent off with a red card. But how many goals do we excuse for being down one?
Jaime Vardy’s Foxes wasted no time scoring in the first 10 minutes just before the red card was issued. From there on, Leicester would toy with the Saints.
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?
In a very defensive Champions League matchup, Chelsea handed Ajax its first loss of the season in all competitions.
Michy Batshuayi subbed in for forward Tammy Abraham in the 71st minute and he did not waste time attempting to get on the board. After receiving a tipped pass in prime position in front of the box, the Belgian sent the ball into the nosebleeds.
Fifteen minutes later, with a little help from fellow sub Christian Pulisic, he had a chance at redemption.
There were not, admittedly, many great matchups in Tuesday’s Champions League slate. All the big clubs played opponents they were expected to beat, and while some struggled to claim all three points, most came away with easy victories.
Two of the most emphatic victories came from PSG (5-0 over Club Brugge) and Manchester City (5-1 over Atalanta). Their star men both recorded stunning hat tricks.
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.
An 85th-minute equalizer from Adam Lallana — his first goal since May 21, 2017 — earned Liverpool a dramatic point from Old Trafford on Sunday, extending Manchester United’s winless streak in league play to four games. It was a gut punch to the home side, who’d largely dictated the run of play for the entirety of the match.
One can never presume to know what goes through the minds of executives at networks like NBC, Fox, ESPN and TNT who decide which matches to show on TV.