Relegation-threatened Reading got absolutely hammered by promotion hopefuls Fulham in the Championship on Tuesday — losing 7-0 at the Madejski to braces from Harry Wilson and Aleksandar Mitrović and further goals from Kenny Tete, Neeskens Kebano and Tosin Adarabioyo.
In a poetically fitting way, Reading's 33-year-old striker Andy Carroll also had two outrageous efforts ruled out for being clearly offside.
When asked what motivates him to continue playing football after the age of 50, Kazuyoshi Miura softly answers: "I have this passion of wanting to play, so that keeps me going"
It’s frustrating when you see countless European coaches, fans and media outlets focusing more on what the Africa Cup of Nations costs than the joy it brings. Yes, some European clubs are without some top players for a little while, but no one complains participation in the Euros or Copa América. For proof of what AFCON means to the continent, look no further than the tears of Mohamed Kamara, the young Sierra Leone keeper who was named Man of the Match after an unlikely 0-0 draw with Algeria on Tuesday.
The reigning Africa Cup of Nations champion Algeria began its title defense Tuesday with a match against Sierra Leone in Douala, meaning it was also time to get a first glimpse of three-time Premier League winner and 2016 African Footballer of the Year Riyad Mahrez.
In 1986, Diego Armando Maradona was on top of the world. With five goals and five assists, El Pibe de Oro led Argentina to an impressive World Cup victory. The stat that really shows how great Maradona was that summer in Mexico wasn’t his goals, assists or record number of dribbles — it was the record he set for most fouls suffered in a men’s World Cup.
Wycombe Wanderers and Sunderland played out a batshit crazy League One match Saturday that saw the two clubs exchange four goals in the opening 39 minutes before each scored in second-half stoppage time to cap a wild 3-3 draw.
A David Stockdale own goal gave Sunderland the lead in the third minute, but Wycombe responded through Anis Mehmeti in the 13th. The Blues then went ahead through Sam Vokes in the 36th, but the Black Cats equalized only three minutes later thanks to Ross Stewart's goal.
After Sporting lost 3-2 to Santa Clara on Friday, Porto was presented an opportunity to open up a lead at the top of the Primeira Liga with a positive result against Estoril Praia on Saturday.
However, Estoril Praia, the league's fifth-place team, stormed to a 2-0 halftime advantage thanks to an André Franco penalty and a wicked deflection on Arthur's shot from the edge of the area.
Barcelona shared the points with Granada on Saturday with a 1-1 draw that saw a peach of an assist from Dani Alves. This truly felt like a blast from the past to see the 38-year-old doing what he does best in a Barcelona kit.
We at The18 recently looked at some of Alves’ best assists to Lionel Messi. Luuk de Jong was on the end of Alves’ ball against Granada, but we’re sure Messi would have been proud.
Newcastle United suffered a humiliating 1-0 home defeat by third-tier Cambridge United. Premier League strugglers Newcastle flexed their new financial muscle by signing England full back Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid on Friday and he made his debut.
But humble Cambridge were undaunted as Joe Ironside fired in a second-half goal and keeper Dimitar Mitov made a series of saves to seal a famous victory and send their fans into delirium.
FIFA has narrowed down the best goal of 2021 — or the Puskás award as it’s commonly known as — to three finalists. The 2021 Puskás award will be won by one of the following three players.