Erling Braut Håland is a force of nature. The teenager scored a remarkable hat trick in his 34-minute Borussia Dortmund debut against Augsburg on Saturday. Given 25 minutes against Cologne, the Norwegian striker scored two more, including a ridiculous effort from an absurd angle to cap BVB’s 5-1 victory on Friday.
The Quique Setién era at Barcelona began with a 1-0 victory over 10-man Granada at the Camp Nou on Sunday evening. The game’s lone goal was a beautifully constructed move that finished with Arturo Vidal backheeling the ball into the path of Lionel Messi for his 14th goal of the LaLiga season.
Liverpool’s title procession continued on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United at Anfield that was bookended by Virgil van Dijk’s header in the 14th minute and Mohamed Salah’s strike at the death. With 64 points from 22 matches, Liverpool’s performance so far is the best in the history of Europe’s top five leagues.
A sell-out crowd at Arsenal’s Meadow Park stadium was witness to the rapidly turning tide of the FA WSL as Chelsea stormed to a 3-0 halftime lead before securing a 4-1 victory to remain undefeated after 12 matches.
Arsenal’s the most successful club in the division’s eight-year history with three titles — including last year’s triumph when Chelsea finished third — but the Blues issued a statement of intent by signing Norway’s Guro Reiten in May before adding Australia’s Sam Kerr back in November, and both of the club’s marquee signings got on the scoreboard today.
Casemiro isn’t exactly known for his goal-scoring prowess. Before Saturday, the Brazilian defensive midfielder had scored 18 goals in 218 appearances for Los Blancos — about one goal every 12 matches.
Luka Jovic, meanwhile, has struggled since joining Real Madrid from Eintracht Frankfurt for $68.4 million over the summer. He came into the weekend with one goal and no assists in 13 LaLiga appearances.
And yet Jovic supplied what might be Real Madrid’s best assist of the season to set up Casemiro’s first of two goals in a 2-1 win over Sevilla on Saturday.
It’s not unusual for pundits who haven’t been in the game for ages to proclaim new signings will take time to adjust to a new league. Personally, I think that’s a bit of BS; talent will find a way to shine through regardless.
Case in point: Erling Braut Håland.
Maybe this is the answer for Argentina up top? Absolutely not, but still, Juventus’ Argentinean duo of Gonzalo Higuaín and Paulo Dybala combined (3x) for a mesmerizing goal on Wednesday to help the Old Lady stroll into the Coppa Italia quarterfinals after hammering Udinese 4-0.
With Cristiano Ronaldo missing out entirely due to illness, it was up to the front three of Higuaín, Dybala and Douglas Costa to produce the goods, and they all got on the scoresheet for Juve.
It is a new decade and soccer players are wasting no time getting their highlights. We are just two weeks in and we may already have our flashiest PK of the year.
The 1958 World Cup Final remains an iconic match due to the fact that a 17-year-old Pelé spearheaded Brazil’s 5-2 beatdown of host nation Sweden with two fantastic goals. But rather than turn the page there, why not take a closer look at the Seleção’s first-ever world title?
Having just watched the entire 90 minutes for the first time myself, I’m happy to report that the showpiece event of the sixth World Cup definitely didn’t disappoint. It was a different era — one full of strange skills, uplifting sportsmanship and a certain nostalgic sense of the human collective.
Will all due respect to Christian Pulisic and Diego Lainez, it’s a Canadian who is the best young North American playing in Europe right now. There can be no debate after this Alphonso Davies goal vs Nurnberg on Saturday.