Tottenham faced a league-leading Manchester City side on Saturday and tried to neutralize them with physical play. It did not go well. It especially did not go well when Dele Alli stomped on the ankle of Kevin De Bruyne. Like a midfield incarnation of Maximus Decimus Meridius, Kevin De Bruyne had his vengeance and it was oh so sweet.
Anderlecht's Lukasz Teodorczyk was sent off on the weekend, and he was NOT happy about it. Teodorczyk was so not happy that he attacked an inanimate object — in this case a simple, innocent door — with his noggin. That's about as not happy as it gets when it comes to sports. Hitting things with one's head tends to hurt, after all.
Anderlecht'in golcüsü Lukasz Teodorczyk kırmızı kart gördükten sonra hıncını kapıdan çıkardı! pic.twitter.com/iPNg7mWwcG
So maybe VAR doesn’t get every single little call right. Nor does it turn referees into infallible robots. But we think every soccer fan can get on board with the VAR decision during the Roma-Genoa match on Sunday. The VAR spotted this pathetic Daniele De Rossi slap on Gianluca Lapadula, which resulted in both players rolling around on the ground like they had just been shot.
After a review, the referee brandished red for De Rossi. Lapadula miraculously recovered from his injuries and scored the ensuing penalty to equalize and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
In the end, the snitches didn’t get any stitches. Jozy Altidore believed that video evidence would clear him of any wrongdoing during the tunnel bust up between Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls, resulting in red cards for both Altidore and Sacha Kljestan, but an independent panel has upheld Altidore’s one-game suspension after being unable to find enough evidence to overturn the ruling.
Qatar actually won some soccer and all it took was a field player making an impressive save in a penalty shootout. After the goalie was sent off with a second yellow card for coming off his line during the shootout, a field player came in and saved the retaken shot to lift Qatar’s U-19 team over Iraq.
Patrice Evra's career may have come to an end Thursday as the 36-year-old Marseille fullback was sent off before a Europa League match against Guimares for trying to kick a fan in the head.
Watford captain Troy Deeney is facing a three-match ban after being retrospectively punished for his tussle with the 5’6’’ Joe Allen on Saturday. With Stoke City leading Watford 1-0 in the match’s final seconds, Deeney, who’s 6’0’’ and built like a brick sh*thouse, appeared to squish the wee Welshman’s head while cackling like a maniac.
Some players are just destined for greatness from the moment they step on the pitch, their debuts so magnificent the entire stadium recognizes the kid on display is special. Like a 17-year-old Alan Shearer netting a hat trick against Arsenal in his debut, some introductions are seminal events that will never be forgotten.
Jesús Vallejo did not have such a debut for Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.