I had said I wouldn’t cross post much, but it was such a busy weekend – graduations, banquets, etc. – and this generally gives a good rundown of everything soccer that happened this past weekend. Each positive (green) is followed by a negative (red). Enjoy:
5. With Carlos Johnson out with a fractured foot and Jorge Rojas ejected on account of sheer stupidity, who provides the heroics for the New York Red Bulls? Woly does. With a proper chest trap in the box, a few deft touches to open up some room, the journeyman slotted home a winner that forced the decent crowd (decent meaning 15k or so) at the Swamp to rise to their feet in honor of the goal against all odds. He doesn’t score much, but when he does – he makes it count.
5. Alright. Now teams are starting to get comical with the ties. Columbus and Los Angeles played to a tie early today making it 13 ties for the both of them out of a total 18 games. That’s absolutely ridiculous. For the Galaxy, they keep finding these last gasp equalizers but quick question, what happens when their luck runs out? League-wide we had 5 out of the 7 weekend matches end in a tie. I don’t mind, but it is somewhat crazy.
4. Yes, Fulham’s match next weekend vs. Everton will decide whether or not they play European ball next year but something bigger was clinched this weekend with their 1-0 win over Newcastle. The Cottagers clinched their best ever EPL finish, not half bad considering this was a team fighting relegation last year. Dempsey has been in great form – as good as any Yank Abroad – but the real hero this season has been Mark Schwarzer and every media outlet knows it. The Aussie might be getting older but on numerous occasions this season he has been the biggest reasons Fulham keeps finding results. The past two games, however, look no further than Diomansy Kamara, returning with a vengeance and scoring 3. Here’s to hoping they can clinch the last spot and join Timmy Howard and Brad Friedel in the Europa Cup in the fall. There’s no doubt they deserve it.
Soccer News Topics4. Talk about winning the league in anti-climactic fashion! Barca takes La Liga all thanks to a Villarreal 3-2 win over Real Madrid and then loses their Sunday game to Mallorca. What a way to celebrate. Yawn. Samuel Eto’o scored first early on only for Barca to fall to two late goals, the winner by Juan Arango. There’s nothing I can really complain about I guess – with La Liga’s Championship won for them, the focus turns to Manchester United in what should be one amazing Champions League showdown on May 27th. Two champions, easily the two best teams in the world right now, and arguably the two best players. What more can you ask for?
3. You have to love that even though Lyon – most likely dethroned as 7-time champions – is virtually out of the Championship, they still get to act as spoilers. They underperform against almost every club in Ligue One this season but when it comes to ruining Marseille’s title chances? They play flawless soccer. Karim Benzema scored a brace for Les Gones to waltz by Marseille 3-1 and open the door for Bordeaux to take the prize for the first time in a decade. Les Girondins outlasted midtable Le Mans, 3-2, in a nail-biter with Marc Planus playing hero with the 76th minute gamewinner. Ligue One continues to be the place to be for dramatic storylines this season. I hope people are paying attention.
3. There were downright disgusting outcomes for some Bundesliga squads this weekend, Michael Bradley’s Gladbach being one of them. The scorelines looked like this: 5-0, 6-0, 5-0. The victims? Gladbach, Bielefeld, and Hannover. The ass-whoopers? Leverkusen, Dortmund, and Wolfsburg. Edin Dzeko and Grafite were back at it again this weekend, scoring a ton of goals and solidifying their label as the best striker tandem in the world right now (an overstatement? not based on statistics…they have 25 in 31 and 26 in 24 respectively). Probably the biggest reason why Wolfsburg has a two-point lead over Bayern at the top of the table with only one match remaining.
2. Coach Jesualdo Ferreira has a good thing going in Porto. Of course it has been something brewing since Jose Mourinho led the Portuguese side back to the top of Liga Sagres again in 2002-2003. Ferreira, however, has found a way to get consistency once again from a squad that at one point – back in 2004 after the Mourinho era – couldn’t quite it. It has been a trio of championships for Ferreira and Porto now (to add a fourth consecutive won under Co Adriaanse) but this offseason proves to be a key one – especially if they’re going to make a concerted run in Europe next season – as the whole team seems to be attracting interest from major clubs around Europe. Lisandro Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez, Ernesto Farias, Hulk (yes, Hulk…), Bruno Alves…all have the worlds’ best inquiring about them. Can Ferreira hold on to all the pieces? He’s going to have to if they want to advance past the quarterfinals in the Champions League next season…
2. Not only does it suck knowing your time in the EPL is over (at least for the next year) but it only makes things worse when you hear of allegations that your star striker was caught on camara buying marijuana and cocaine after a recent EPL game. West Brom experienced just that. The Baggies knew of the tape before a 2-0 loss to Liverpool sent them back to down to the Championship and they suspended Roman Bednar, pending investigation. Caught on tape, though, and heading back down a rung, it’s pretty clear the 26-year old striker will be on his way out of The Hawthorns. Ouch.
1. A scoreless tie has never yielded so much joy. Manchester United after knotting up Arsenal on Saturday won their third consecutive EPL title grabbing the point that ensured Liverpool couldn’t catch them. Questions loom in the offseason for United – will Tevez, Ronaldo stay? is Fergie close to done? will Berbatov ever settle in? – but right now, with a record-tying 18th EPL title, it is clear that the Red Devils are the best team in the world. They’ll have to show up to play on May 27th to make that official.
1. Remember the name Tore Andre Flo (now 35)? After years of scoring for the likes of Rangers, Chelsea, and Siena ofthe Italian Serie A, Flo was now concentrated on helping League One squad MK Dons find their way past Scunthorpe to the English Championship. His chance to do just that came with a simple PK that decided whether or not MK Dons survived another penalty round. The crossbar denied the former star and ensured that either 5th place Millwall or 6th place Scunthorpe would be heading to the Championship next season.
Leave a Reply