Lost in all the hullabaloo surrounding the defeats that Barcelona and Real Madrid suffered yesterday was the fact that Villarreal’s Pablo Fornals put on one of the most exquisite 15-minute displays of football the game has ever seen.
It’s not 15 minutes of consecutive footballing brilliance, but once you see the highlights you’ll understand.
Lionel Messi is only the fifth best player in the world, according to FIFA. At least one LaLiga club would probably beg to differ after the Argentine set up this Philippe Coutinho goal vs Leganes on Wednesday.
Aston Villa was defeated 2-1 at Villa Park by Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, but a 53rd minute strike by 23-year-old Scottish international John McGinn briefly offered hope to the Claret & Blue Army.
Although the defeat leaves Villa mired in 12th place in the Championship, the lasting memory of the day will almost certainly be this absurd left-footed volley from McGinn.
Fresh from his stint in the CSL with Hebei China Fortune, former Arsenal and Roma winger Gervinho appears to be loving life back in Italy with Serie A side Parma. After scoring against Juventus back on Sept. 1, the Ivory Coast flyer registered his second of the season Saturday in Parma’s 2-0 win over Cagliari.
Rennes played Jablonec on Thursday in the Europa League, beating them 2-1. And there were a few takeaways. One being the fact that Hatem Ben Arfa came on after practically two years of inactivity and scored the winner, another being that Theoson Siebatcheu is an American-born player and plays for Rennes, which is promising for the state of U.S. soccer and could be an exciting USMNT call up.
But most notably: Ismaïla Sarr scored a banger — a volley outside the box that arguably skyrocketed into the upper-right corner faster than an actual rocket.
Someone, somewhere must've officially declared this week "World Heart-Attack-Inducing Stoppage Time Goal Week." Matias Vecino’s 92nd strike to seal Inter's comeback victory over Tottenham; Roberto Firmino’s one-eyed 91st minute winner that crushed PSG hearts; Niko Vlašić’s 95th minute goal that salvaged CSKA Moscow a point in the Czech Republic against Viktoria Pl
Wednesday featured the first Champions League matches for both Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid since the two parted ways over the summer. Ronaldo, now with Juventus, was sent off after 29 minutes. Real Madrid, with a Welsh winger leading the line, scored a 3-0 win thanks to a brilliant Gareth Bale goal vs Roma.