Bayern-PSG ended with the Parisians taking their second loss this week. Bayern's 3-1 victory was more of a victory in the moral sense, as they had basically no chance of winning the group thanks to goal differential. However, Bayern can hold their heads high knowing they can still compete with the best teams in Europe. As recently as a few months ago that was debatable.
It was all Lil B's doing, obviously.
Goals change games. That’s pretty much football 101. That’s how the game works. But not every goal is created equal. This week in Serie A, the true value of a goal was shown to be different on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So let’s take a look at the three goals that defined the weekend and why they differed so widely.
Stanford had lost a two-goal lead and Julie Foudy suggested the momentum was all with UCLA. Jaye Boissiere had other things in mind. Boissiere curled in a beautiful shot from 20 yards out in the 67th minute to propel the Cardinal to a 3-2 victory in the Women’s College Cup final in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday.
Stanford (24-1-0) won its second national title by finishing the season on a 22-match win streak. The Cardinal’s only loss came in August against Florida in Gainesville, not far from where the Women’s College Cup took place at Orlando City Stadium.
There were moments in the Manchester City vs West Ham match when Arsene Wenger might have considered breaking out the champagne like the 1972 Dolphins to celebrate another season in which his Invincibles remained the only unbeaten side in English Premier League history. But as always seemed inevitable, Manchester City found another late goal to equal the English top flight record with a 13th straight victory on Sunday at the Etihad.
Manchester United-Arsenal was the best game of the Premier League season so far. The highlights prove it, and some other thinga also prove it.
Highlights:
This isn’t exactly a hot take, but damn that Juventus defense can be impressive, even after losing two key figures from last season’s rearguard. Massimiliano Allegri has created a defensive unit that, on its day, can shut down the most potent of offenses. They don’t sit super deep or press super high, but their supreme organization dulls even the sharpest of attacks.
The Bianconeri defense pitched a ninth shutout of the season in a 1-0 blanking of league-leading Napoli on Friday at Stadio San Paolo in Naples, the home side’s first Serie A loss of the season.
Grêmio claimed its third Copa Libertadores title with a 2-1 victory (3-1 aggregate) over Lanús on Wednesday. The Gremio Copa Libertadores victory sparked a wild celebration back home as the Brazilian club rounded out the field for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins next week.
Fernandinho and Luan both scored in the first half for Grêmio, which held on despite a red card to Ramiro in the 83rd minute.
Manchester City maintained their eight-point gap at the top of the Premier League table thanks to Raheem Sterling’s 95th minute winner against Southampton on Wednesday. Sterling’s ninth goal of the campaign (more than the likes of Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku) was an absolute beauty, and it continued his remarkable penchant for the dramatic this season.
Gareth Bale made his return from another injury layoff with an exquisite assist for Real Madrid, but goalkeeper Keylor Navas’ ricocheted blunder may have overshadowed Bale’s attempted heroics. Real Madrid drew 2-2 against Fuenlabrada in the second leg of their Copa del Rey Round of 32 match on Tuesday, advancing 4-2 on aggregate as the club’s (relative) struggles continued this season.
The feel-good aura surrounding Newcastle United was evaporating faster than a fart into a Panasonic exhaust fan as they stared a fifth-straight defeat in the face on Tuesday. West Bromwich Albion took a 2-0 lead in the 56th minute of their Premier League match at The Hawthorns, but a spirited fightback earned Newcastle an invaluable point and somewhat arrested the slide on Tyneside.