Most of you out in soccer land, we are willing to bet, watched Manchester City vs. Barcelona this afternoon. We do not begrudge you one bit for that, as it was a fun game. However, if you did watch Manchester City vs. Barcelona, you missed out on this Thomas Meunier rocket volley winner for PSG, which we think is the goal of the Champions League so far.
So much of the prematch hype for Barcelona versus Manchester City centered on the 4-0 hiding Barca had administered the Citizens only two weeks previously. If Guardiola’s new side ever aspired to reach the levels of his former protegees, that scoreline demonstrated how much work still remained.
The return match in Manchester started brightly for City. An early penalty appeal from Raheem Sterling saw the attacker booked for simulation, an extremely harsh reading of what looked an almost certain penalty.
For those watching Mexico play New Zealand in a friendly match in early October, it was easy to scoff at the sight of Giovani dos Santos wearing the captain’s armband for El Tri. Leadership has never been a quality directly associated with the Mexican attacker, but his continued evolution as a footballer speaks to his newfound maturity.
Once again, Didier Drogba took his place on the sidelines to watch his Montreal Impact in the 2016 MLS Playoffs. Once again, his replacement, Matteo Mancosu, proved a more than reliable substitute.
The Italian striker made it three goals in two playoff games for Montreal, lifting his side to a shock 1-0 first-leg victory over the top seeded New York Red Bulls.
Montreal were the only away side to win in the knockout round, defeating D.C. United 4-2 in the capital. On Sunday, they recorded another shocking result by blanking the Red Bulls at Saputo Stadium in Quebec.
FIFA 17 was released on September 27, 2016, giving players just over a month now to work on mastering the new version of the EA Sports soccer simulation. Some players have already gone beyond mastery level, bending the rules and laws of the game to score on bicycle kicks from 25 yards out.
The Seattle Sounders and Sporting KC played out a contentious Western Conference knockout round match in front of 36,000 at CenturyLink Field, the Sounders advancing with a controversial 1-0 victory.
The subject of all the controversy was two offsides calls, both of which went against Kansas City. Sporting started off the match with terrific intensity, Benny Feilhaber in particularly inspiring form in the midst of one of his best years as a professional.
Philipp Lahm probably doesn't care that he was left off the Ballon d'Or shortlist. He did, after all, once call the award a "popularity contest for attacking players."
Lahm, as you may have guessed, is not an attacking player. He's a fullback and defensive midfielder. He is very good at those things, but he doesn't get in on goal much.
When he does, though, look out.
Written a few days ago, this article would've been very different. In the cold light of Monday morning, many people were welcoming the revived glories of AC Milan. A young, exciting squad packed with home grown Italian talent, led by one of Serie A’s most promising and intriguing managers, had taken on the champions of the last five years and won. 'Milan beat Juventus — they’re back!' came the shouts. A new era was upon us.
For a long-suffering Toronto FC fan base, it was history. For Sebastian Giovinco, it was about time. Toronto FC scored its first playoff goal in franchise history and advanced past the knockout round for the first time. Toronto will now face New York City FC in the conference semifinals in a match pitting a large majority of the league’s major star power.
Bobby Wood scored a brace for Hamburg SV and Fabian Johnson scored the goal of the day for Borussia Monchengladbach as the USMNT members helped their respective sides to the round of 16 in the DFB-Pokal.
Johnson’s Gladbach took on German second division side VfB Stuttgart, and the American winger got the home side off to a dream start in front of 40,452 at Borussia-Park. Collecting the ball off an exquisite back heel pass from Andre Hahn, Johnson scored his second goal in all competitions for the club.