Referees

Wolverhampton Wanderers fell behind by three goals after an hour of play to Tottenham Hotspurs in a (weirdly late) Premier League match on Saturday. And yet, the underdog nearly found a way to come back to tie the match but for a Wolves disallowed goal and a referee who completely forgot the rules in a 3-2 Spurs win. 

Playing at home, Wolves didn’t back down from Tottenham, racking up more shots than Spurs, 16-10. But it was the visitors who dominated on the scoreboard, with Eric Lamela, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane all scoring in the first hour of play. 

An assistant referee was assaulted, a coach was hit with a coin and a fan punched a goalkeeper — just another Edinburgh Derby.

The Edinburgh Derby, the name for the match between Edinburgh-based Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian, has been played since 1875. They’ve played 644 times (319 in competitive matches) with Hearts winning 282 (140). 

Wednesday’s match finished in a 0-0 draw and while no goals were scored, there was plenty of action. Sadly, most of the action was off the pitch. 

New York City FC defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-1 to advance to the MLS Conference Semifinals on Wednesday in the Bronx. On its face, it was a comprehensive victory, with the Union’s lone goal coming far too late in the 83rd minute. But one shocking no-call in the first half absolutely had an impact on the game, and MLS is being a bit tone-deaf in the aftermath. 

After losing the home leg of its Copa Libertadores semifinal against Grêmio 1-0 in Buenos Aires, River Plate pulled off a shocking 2-1 reverse scoreline in Porto Alegre on Tuesday night to advance to the final of South America’s premier club competition on away goals. For River Plate, the late dramatics were pure delirium; for Grêmio, it was the cruelest of defeats.

Everything started brilliantly for the Brazilian club. In the 36th minute, Léo Gomes gave his side a 2-0 aggregate lead with a nicely taken half-volley from outside the 18. Arena do Grêmio lost it. 

Video Assistant Referee is the future, whether old people (read: the English Premier League) want to admit it or not. Thankfully, Mexico is finally jumping on the train, as we’ll see VAR in Liga MX for the first time this weekend.

IFAB, the International Football Association Board, has approved Liga MX to use VAR in nine upcoming matches, starting Friday with Atlas hosting Veracuz.