On Saturday, ABC broadcast a Bundesliga match for the first time ever. Gone are the days of hoping you can find the Bundesliga on tape delay a day or two later as major broadcasters are giving the beautiful game the attention it deserves in the U.S., and not just for major Premier League matches. Now that the soccer TV ratings are out for the past weekend, we wanted to point out a few interesting facts about the viewership.
Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic has struggled for playing time under new manager Thomas Tuchel but the German said on Friday the 22-year-old is part of his plans at the Premier League club.
Pulisic has played 134 minutes and is yet to start a league game under Tuchel, who replaced Frank Lampard in late January and has led the London club on an unbeaten run of 11 games.
"He is in my plans, he is an important player," Tuchel said before Saturday's trip to Leeds United.
Much of the discussion surrounding soccer refereeing this season has focused on the use of the Video Assistant Referee. The VAR controversy is dangerous to the modern game, but there is another issue — a serious player safety concern — that is being carelessly overlooked because of the VAR commotion.
There was a point in Manchester City’s 21-game win streak where we ran out of things to say. To watch them is to immediately understand the profundity of Pep Guardiola’s highly drilled machinations and the osmosis of an obsession with spatial perception (here comes João Cancelo into the midfield); that and the recognition of İlkay Gündoğan as an absolute monster of the No. 8 position.
When we look back at football in 2020/21 over the years to come, there will be no classics, no games to remember — because without fans, matches just don't have the same impact.
Of course, these changes were necessary to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, and, if current trends hold, it seems that fans will soon be allowed back in stadiums again.
As the 2020 American NFL season drew to a close with Tom Brady winning his record seventh Super Bowl, it was interesting to note another sporting first: the three women involved in the game — two coaches and one official.
With eight women currently coaching in the NFL, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to parity, but it does seem that women are finally breaking into elite men’s sports coaching in the U.S.
Harry Kane scored two and assisted two, Gareth Bale got a brace of his own and Son Heung-min provided one assist as Tottenham’s in-form front three fueled a 4-1 hammering of Crystal Palace on Sunday.
It was a complete performance from Spurs, who opened the scoring in the 25th minute after Lucas Moura poked it off Luka Milivojević and into the path of Kane. The English striker advanced towards goal before squaring to Bale for the tap-in.
MANCHESTER, England - Manchester City's 21-match winning streak was ended by rivals Manchester United as Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side enjoyed a 2-0 Premier League derby victory at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
United won thanks to an early penalty from Bruno Fernandes and a second-half strike from Luke Shaw with the result narrowing City's lead at the top of the table to 11 points over United with 10 games remaining. It was City's first defeat in all competitions since Nov. 21.
It’s rare that a Premier League game has gone by this season where the announcers, players, fans or even the referees themselves haven’t complained about an offside call. With VAR, offside calls are calculated with more precision than ever before, but lovers of the beautiful game still aren’t happy with the offside rule.
I’ve got a solution: get rid of the whole offside rule altogether.
Wait, wait, hear me out.
American sports can be tacky at times (see cheerleaders, singing the national anthem and extensive commercial breaks), but one positive that has arisen from the heartland of this fine country is the extensive use of trophies.