Arsenal finally reminded everyone the depth within the squad that has been overshadowed by recent poor performances. A string of single-touch passes were connected with perfection to set up Mesut Ozil for the finish.
Mesut Ozil dedicated his goal to Erdogan pic.twitter.com/NiuAUXL4rv
— ㅤ (@Pepcatalonya) April 17, 2017
Middlesbrough came out of the dressing room in the second half with an extra spring in their step. On the contrary, Arsenal seemed lackluster in the first minutes of the second half. Brilliant work from Stewart Downing on the right flank led to a pinpoint cross to set up Negredo for the one-touch finish.
The Gunners were the first to strike in their match against Middlesbrough at Riverside Stadium. Frantic defending by Middlesbrough led to a clumsy challenge on the top of the box on Granit Xhaka by Adam Clayton. To any goalkeeper in the world, fear sinks in when the likes of Ozil and Sanchez are both standing over the ball for a free kick. Alexis Sanchez took initiative and placed the ball perfectly up and over the wall into the net.
After over two decades of flinging himself at the ball in the blue of Chelsea and winning a lot of trophies, John Terry has announced his decision to leave the club at the end of the season. Terry is synonymous with Chelsea’s rise to English and continental dominance as well providing that bit of assholery that every successful club needs.
JT, as he’s called by those in the know, isn’t done defending yet, though. His high and tight haircut and high socks could be making their way to resolutely defending a club near you.
Who would bet against Jose Mourinho in a situation like Sunday’s? The man’s the ultimate party spoiler. He comes to every massive occasion equipped with his tactical wet blanket and extinguishes the feel good factor around the place.
Mourinho adopted a maniacally fluid 3-1-4-1-1 with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Daley Blind and Michael Carrick starting on the bench. Matteo Darmian’s place on the left side of defense served to make Pedro’s life a living hell, and Ander Herrera was instructed to do this same with Eden Hazard.
There’s a statistic on the Leicester City vs. Atletico Madrid chalkboard that sticks out like Marc Albrighton’s foul on Antoine Griezmann. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given his isolation throughout the match, culminating in a 77th minute substitution, but Jamie Vardy, according to who you choose to believe, left the pitch with a pass completion percentage of 0.
In the end, somehow, one team won but the other team didn't lose. At least that's what Diego Simeone and Craig Shakespeare will be saying after Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg between two identical teams. In the end, everyone was happy, because, in the end, Leicester City and Atletico Madrid are the same thing.