Game Recaps

Chapecoense traveled to Venezuela to play their first-ever Copa Libertadores match, having qualified by virtue of winning South America’s secondary club competition, the Copa Sudamericana, in 2016.

Facing Zulia, the runner-up in Venezuela’s 2016 Primera Division, away and with a squad made up mostly of players on loan, players that did not board LaMia Flight 2933 and one survivor, defender Neto, Chapecoense entered the match as massive underdogs. 

But Chapecoense took the lead off a clever free kick from Reinaldo, a defender on loan from Sao Paulo.

It all started so beautifully for Napoli inside a rocking Stadio San Paolo in Naples in their second leg match against Real Madrid. A mesmerizing buildup led to a really well taken goal by Dries Mertens in the 24th minute. 

We love you Arsenal, we do,

We love you Arsenal, we do,

We love you Arsenal, we do,

Oh Arsenal we love you!

Chelsea defeated West Ham on Monday to go 10 points clear at the top of the table with only 11 matches remaining. With Eden Hazard playing out of his goddamn mind, Diego Costa constantly threatening in every sense of the word and N’Golo Kante bossing things in front of the formidable pairing of David Luiz and Gary Cahill, the title race is over.

From a neutral’s perspective, thank God for Harry Kane. The Tottenham striker scored his 18th and 19th goals of the campaign to keep a bit of pressure on Chelsea before their match against West Ham on Monday. Tottenham defeated Everton 3-2 on Sunday in a match featuring the Premier League’s leading scorers, Kane and Romelu Lukaku.

18-year-old American attacker Christian Pulisic scored his third Bundesliga goal of the campaign and registered his fifth assist in Borussia Dortmund’s 6-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. 

Pulisic entered the match in the 44th minute after an injury to Marco Reus forced him off. The German international is expected to be sidelined until April with his latest injury setback. 

With Chicharito entering the match in the 66th minute and Wendell pulling a goal back for Bayer to make the scoreline 3-2 in the 74th minute, Pulisic’s composed finish dashed any hopes of a comeback.

Real Madrid salvaged a point after having Gareth Bale sent off in the 47th minute and Las Palmas leading 3-1 as late as the 85th minute, and it was all thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona started the day by crushing Sporting Gijon 6-1, so Real Madrid knew that anything less than a victory would cut into their lead at the top. Real’s draw means that Barcelona are now atop the La Liga table by a point, although Los Blancos still maintain a game in hand.

The United States U-20 team defeated a Mexican U-20 side that hadn’t lost a match since 2009 on Monday in the classification stage of the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. 

The loss for Mexico means that they’ll need a result against El Salvador on March 1 to qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea. If Mexico were to lose or draw that match, the US would clinch their spot before even playing their final classification match against El Salvador on March 3.

Panama were the surprise winners of the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship after defeating three-time champions Mexico 4-2 in the final. With the scores level at 2-2, Panama proceeded to score two unanswered goals to secure their first ever championship.

Mexico scored the first, but Panama responded with their goalkeeper hurling one down the beach for an attacker to side volley home.

Well, that was eventful. A game that promised buckets of narrative delivered and then some. Leicester, led by interim manager Craig Shakespeare came out guns blazing and Liverpool, um, liverpool came out like they normally do against relegation-threatened sides.

You can sort of see where this is headed.