Europe

Wolves nearly stole a win against struggling Chelsea, but a late stoppage time goal from Eden Hazard saved the Blues on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea dominated the ball, possessing it for an incredible 76 percent of the match, but the Wolves defense held strong despite facing 22 shots (six on goal). Wolves managed 47 clearances and 38 tackles, smothering most attacks.

As the away side, Wolves only took two shots, but their counter attack in the 56th minute almost proved too much for Chelsea.

The Second City Derby between Birmingham rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham City was decided by a 67th-minute goal from Villa captain Jack Grealish, who’d earlier been punched in the back of the head by a pitch invader.

In the match’s ninth minute, with the ball in the Birmingham end, a City fan could be seen entering the pitch near the corner flag and hightailing it towards an unsuspecting Grealish.

After landing a punch, he was immediately apprehended and led away by police while blowing kisses to the crowd.  

Barcelona made heavy work of 3-1 victory over 19th-place Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou on Saturday to maintain a seven-point lead at the top of LaLiga. Raúl de Tomás opened the scoring for the visitors in the 24th minute, but Barca found the equalizer 14 minutes later through Gerard Pique. In the second half, a Lionel Messi penalty and a Luis Suarez goal would secure three points ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League second leg against Lyon (0-0 on aggregate).

Given the form of Jadon Sancho, Christian Pulisic had become something of a forgotten man at Borussia Dortmund while relegated to the role of impact sub over the last few months.

How about this from the hometown hero? Gearóid Morrissey, a 27-year-old midfielder from Cork, Ireland, ripped this outrageous stunner for Cork City during the club’s 4-3 victory over Finn Harps on Friday. 

With Harps leading 2-1 just before the halftime whistle, Morrissey swiveled to control a loose ball at the top of the box, juggled it across his body to take a defender out of the equation and then laced a dipping half volley from 18 yards out to equalize for Cork.

Three perfect touches — all with the right foot — for one of the more outrageous goals of 2019.   

Weston McKennie can kind of do it all. He’s lined up at just about every position for Schalke, from center back to forward, but he’s best deployed as a box-to-box midfielder given his mobility and awareness. 

He’s also a really good header of the ball.

While most players use their leaping and heading abilities to score (Cristiano Ronaldo) or defend (Virgil van Dijk), McKennie takes another approach. He’s becoming adept at earning assists with his noggin. 

As Manchester United wildly celebrated two ludicrously self-inflicted PSG errors and a contentious, VAR-influenced handball decision to advance to the last eight of Europe (we won’t begrudge Red Devil supporters after the life and times of David Moyes, LVG and Jose Mourinho, but if you thought Liverpool fans were getting annoying with the EPL title at hand, this is a stern reminder that United’s fanbase is built of the exact same stuff), PSG was left to rue another night of historical ineptitude. 

Manchester United has traveled to Paris with a midfield anchored by Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira and Fred along with a substitutes’ bench of assorted children and overturned a 2-0 deficit to eliminate PSG from the Champions League. 

When Barcelona recorded its unbelievable comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain two years ago at the Camp Nou, it was a story about a brilliant team coming together to defy the odds. 

When Manchester United recorded its unbelievable comeback win over PSG on Wednesday, it was a story that made everyone watching feel yucky (Manchester United fans aside). 

We got 10 years of Pepe at Real Madrid, and if time weren’t such a cruel mistress, we could’ve been blessed with 10 more. I, for one, would welcome an eternal version of Pepe, a timeless incarnation of shithousery that doesn’t care about VAR now being a thing — a mad lad with his face cast in an eternal scowl, eyebrows bulging cartoonishly from his skull and always looking for fingers to stomp on and fouls suffered to greatly exaggerate.