Following Lille’s 1-1 draw with Reims on Sunday, PSG had a chance to clinch the Ligue 1 title with seven matches remaining by defeating eighth place Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes.
With the title just a matter of time, Thomas Tuchel elected to hand starts to the likes of Colin Dagba, Leandro Paredes, Layvin Kurzawa and a forward line spearheaded by Christopher Nkunku and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
A meeting between two clubs desperate to cement commendable seasons with a shot at silverware produced a classic FA Cup semifinal today at Wembley Stadium. Wolves went 2-0 up by the 62nd minute before Watford came storming back to force extra time with a goal in the 94th minute, and then Hornets hero Gerard Deulofeu scored his second in the 104th to book his side’s passage to the final, where Manchester City awaits.
Cardiff City sat third bottom of the Premier League table and, coming into Sunday, had eight games to go to claw its way out of the relegation zone. Cardiff’s schedule seems daunting, having to play Chelsea, Manchester City and the team above them, Burnley, in its upcoming three matches.
Chelsea arrived in Cardiff today looking for what was supposed to be three easy points. To be fair to Cardiff, it seemed like a match that would not be won. But that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Legendary American wide man DaMarcus Beasley began his 20th year as a professional on Tuesday, and the 36-year-old started with an almighty bang.
There’s always more to like about AFC Bournemouth: the 11,329-capacity Dean Court; cherubic 10-year-old boy whiz manager Eddie Howe; the fact that the club was in the fourth division as recently as 2010 but now sits comfortably in 10th during its fourth consecutive season in the Premier League (following on finishes of 16th, 9th and 12th).
After flirting with relegation last season before ultimately finishing 16th, Athletic Bilbao again finds itself near the bottom of the LaLiga table and struggling to avoid a fate that’s never befallen the Basque club (a distinction it shares with only Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spanish football).
The Carabao Cup is essentially a contest to determine which Premier League side has the most expansive, expensively assembled reserve team. It’s a test of squad depth that only a handful of clubs can afford to juggle while the rigors of league play take precedent, and so it comes as absolutely no surprise that Manchester City has won the competition three of the last five years and is on the cusp of making it four of six.
Although we still have a few replays to settle, the FA Cup Third Round is pretty much done and dusted, giving us time to look at the darlings of the competition with 32 clubs remaining.
The usual favorites are all there — Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs — but we also have three clubs that standout at the opposite end of the spectrum. Barnet, playing in the fifth tier, is the lowest ranked remaining club and the only non-League side left.
Serie A has long been defined by aging Italian footballers getting better with age, just like a fine box of Franzia. Recent examples include Francesco Totti scoring 15 at the age of 34, Filippo Inzaghi hitting 13 at the age of 35, Alessandro Del Piero notching 13 at 34, Luca Toni dropping 22 at 38 and Antonio Di Natale recording 14 at 37.
No one expected Crystal Palace to have any chance of getting anything out of a trip to the Etihad on Saturday. Roy Hodgson probably didn’t even plan for a point against the defending Premier League champs. But then the Andros Townsend goal vs Man City broke Pep Guardiola’s side.
Townsend unleashed a vicious volley from 30 yards in the 35th minute to send the Eagles on their way to a remarkable 3-2 victory over Manchester City on Saturday.
Everything appeared to be business as usual when Ilkay Gündogan put City in front in the 27th minute with a nice header.