Early Goal Was All Man City Needed Against The Gunners

It was the 48TH meeting overall in the English Premier League for Manchester City and Arsenal as they did battle at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal may have the overall lead in the series (23 Wins, 14 Losses, & 10 Draws), but it was Manchester City who were coming in hot with 17 straight victories without a loss or tie in all competitions and they definitely used this momentum in their favor right from the opening whistle. All it took for Manchester City was 76 seconds to strike first blood against the shell shocked Gunners when a nice pass from Algerian international Riyad Mahrez found Raheem Sterling who headed the ball to the near post for his ninth overall goal in the premier league. Manchester City would keep the pressure on Arsenal's defense for a bit more before the Gunners finally woke up and started bringing some pressure of their own. Unfortunately for the Gunners, nothing would come out of any of their promising chances that they had in the first half as Manchester City took the 1 to 0 lead into halftime. A lot is on the line for Manchester City as they try to keep their distance from Leicester City (who have 49 points) and cross town rivals Manchester United (47 points with a game to play). 

The second half featured much of the same kind of play with both sides creating chances and both failing to reach the back of the net. One thing is for sure and that is the game started to get a little more chipper than the first half as each side acquired two yellow cards a piece with most coming in the first ten minutes of the half. Despite giving up the first goal, German International and Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno did his best to keep Arsenal in the game with some incredible saves including one against İlkay Gündoğan who shot from 20 yards away, but was able to get the ball to curl ever so delicately that it looked as if it had a chance to go in, but Leno made the incredible save. Despite all of the efforts, the whistle would blow and Manchester City would record their 18TH straight win in all competitions. It was also their eighth straight victory against Arsenal (Their longest streak since 1973) and it was also Arsenal's fourth straight loss without scoring a goal against a team which was the first time in the team's history that it happened. It is not a pretty site for Arsenal who have only mustered one win in their last six games so something needs to give for the Gunners otherwise we can expect a lot of pink slips. My player of the game award is going to go to Raheem Sterling who as we said scored his ninth overall goal and was an absolute workhorse all game long. 

The Red Devils Serve A Proper Thrashing To Real Sociedad

If there was ever a question of where Manchester United is at this point, the answer would simply be that they are rising to top form these days. The legendary Red Devils sit at a tie for second place in the Premier League and they have not lost a game since the upset to Sheffield United back on January 27TH. In fact they won two games (which includes the 9 to 0 thrashing of Southampton) and two draws going into today's game against Spanish side Real Sociedad in Turin, Italy for their round of 32 UEFA Europa League game. Sociedad has had a similar run where in the last five games they played they have won two, drawn two, and lost only one match to Real Betis in the Copa del Rey. The question entering the day was who would strike first blood in the match up and while Real Sociedad had most of the possession, Man United made theirs count when they had it. In the 27TH minute, Marcus Rashford would send a beautiful pass into the box to Bruno Fernandes who allowed both defenders and the goalkeeper to crash into each other in an attempt to get the ball before he struck the easy chip in to take the 1 to 0 lead. Manchester looked energized and a lot of the creativity was coming from Fernandes and Rashford. They went into halftime with the lead, but more was still to come for the Red Devils. 

The second half was when things begin to spark for Manchester United who had several chances, but none of them broke through until the 57TH minute. Rashford had the ball on the flank and he passed it through the middle to Fernandes who for a moment allowed James to take the pass, but it quickly found Fernandes who didn't miss his mark for his second goal of the game. It however took a minute to review the goal because there was a question of whether Man UTD were offsides, but the goal stood and Sociedad were in trouble. In the 64TH minute, Fred would pick pocket a Real Sociedad player, sends a heat seeking missal to Rashford who is on the breakaway and he slips it past Álex Remiro for the third goal of the game. Real Sociedad was pretty accurate with their passes and the amount of possession they had, but they could utilize the opportunities as Man Utd shut them down. Things would get worse for Sociedad heading into the second leg as Manchester United found the net yet again. After stealing possession, Eric Bailly finds Daniel James along the sideline who has been clawing at a chance to score all second half and he doesn't miss as he drives the ball to the net and squeaks just past the five hole for the fourth and final goal of the game. It's a tall mountain to climb for Real Sociedad come the second leg as Manchester secured four away goals and that is going to take some heavy thinking from manager Imanol Alguacil. My player of the match was a tough one to chose, but it has to go to Marcus Rashford who was creative all game long with his two assists and one goal. This was definitely the boost Manchester United needed heading back into Premier League play as they try to secure their Champions League spot for next year. 

Porto Stuns Ronaldo and Juventus At Home

One can certainly agree that Italian side Juventus is a giant of European football with all the major titles they have won in the past and all of the appearances in the Champion league. However, that is not an excuse to sleep on Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto who came into their own as a powerhouse in the late 1980's and on winning two Champions League Trophies (86-87 & 2003-04), A UEFA Supercup (1987), a UEFA Cup (2002-03) and a UEFA Europa League title (2010-11). Coming into this game, the two sides had only met a total of six times with Porto only have one win and a draw against the Italian powerhouse. They are definitely a team not to be taken lightly and that is the very mistake that Juventus made right from the very first minute of the game after a poor clearance from Juventus Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny ended up finding Iranian international Mehdi Taremi who buried it right in the back of the net to give Porto the early 1 to 0 lead. Porto did not let up and they were not going to be intimidated by Ronaldo as they kept him at bay for the first half minimizing his chances on goal. Juventus had some chances, but Porto's defense was frustrating them as they went into halftime finding themselves trailing against a team that theoretically they should be beating. 

The second half of the game started out much like the first half did, but this time Porto struck first and they did it fast. As soon as the referee blew the whistle, Porto moved the ball deep with some great passes including one from Wilson Manafá who surgically found Moussa Marega who slipped it just past Szczesny to go up 2 to 0 to start the half. Juventus's defense was caught sleeping and they paid for it dearly and now Andrea Pirlo was left wondering how they could come back from this to try and safe face for the second leg. Much like the first half, Porto kept attacking Juventus, but they did a great job of coming back and playing defense when they needed to and kudos to them for keeping Ronaldo limited in his chances on net as they were clearly frustrating the Portuguese legend. Porto's last great effort on net came in the 74TH minute when Sérgio Oliveira rocketed one that challenged Szczesny, but he had no problem making the save. There was a glimpse of hope however for Juventus in the 82ND minute when Adrien Rabiot brilliantly crossed the ball to the top of the box for Federico Chiesa who one times it right into the back of the net. While Juventus may have walked out of this game 2-1 losers, they scored the all important away goal which now gives them an advantage heading into the second leg of the series. So now Sérgio Conceição is tasked with figuring out how Porto can steal one back in Turin. It was a hard decision to come up with a player of the game because I wanted to award to the Porto defense, but I decided to give it to Federico Chiesa for the all important away goal. 

Benfica Losing Site of Title as Moreirense Manage A Draw

When it comes to competition, there is no love lost on the field when you are chasing championships and a spot in the Champions League because money trumps love on the pitch even on Valentine's Day. S.L. Benfica, the kings of Portuguese soccer currently sit at fourth place with 38 points which is just two points behind third place Sporting Braga who currently hold the keys to the last spot in the UEFA Champions League in the Liga Zon Sagres. Despite all of this, Benifca was going to try their hardest to try and squeak a win against eighth place stalwarts Moreirense F.C. who were ready to defend their turf against the kings of the big three of Portugal. Both teams were clawing for that first goal, but things began to look bleak for Moreirense when Benfica struck first blood with their 25TH minute goal from Swiss international Haris Seferović. Up this point, Moreirense goalkeeper Mateus Pasinato had been doing his best to stop any chances Benfica had, but Seferović rocketed one right past him to the far post from the halfway point in the box that he just had no chance in stopping. It was exactly what Benfica needed at the time to lift their spirits and put them in control, but as they say in life nothing lasts forever. 

Around the 38TH minute, Moreirense was starting to gain their composure as they started pressuring the Benfica back four and a beautiful onside pass to Walterson was all they needed to catch Benfica off guard as Spanish international Álex Grimaldo just tackled Walterson enough to award Moreirense a penalty. There was no question in the 40TH minute that Yan Matheus, the forward on loan from Brazilian side Palmeiras wasn't missing the penalty as he buried in the back of the net for the equalizer before the end of the first half. Benfica wasn't really themselves for most of the second half as Moreirense were finding more ways to attack their net, but no one could find the back of the net. It wasn't until the latter part of the second half that Benifca found some opportunities all thanks to three second half subs in Pizzi, Luca Waldschmidt, and Pedrinho. Mateus Pasinato proved to be a huge savior for Moreirense as he made some fantastic saves including one that Waldschmidt set up when he found Uruguayan international Darwin Núñez in the box, but Núñez's excellent header was miraculously saved by Pasinato who also serves as my man of the match. The battle would end in a one all draw which was great for Moreirense, but just OK for Benfica who are still on the outside looking in. Only time will tell where Benfica lands in the standings, but they just don't look like the Benfica of old in my opinion and Jorge Jesus has a lot of questions to answer moving forward. However, there is still time left and they are not that far behind. 

Goliath Erobert David: How FC Bayern Munich Defeated Al Ahly

The FIFA Club World Cup was a great concept when it was conceptualized, but one had to wonder how the teams of the world would fair against the giants of Europe. It's a competition where the winners of each federations champions league battle to be the ultimate club team of the world. It's not a concept that is hard to imagine as only four teams in the history of the competition that won it were not from Europe (in fact all four were from Brazil). For today's match up which resonated from Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, it was another battle of David versus Goliath as Germany's FC Bayern Munich collided with African powerhouse Egypt's own Al Ahly in what promised to be an interesting matchup. The competition was a holdover from the 2020 edition which was postponed and resumed this month to finish it up. Tigres UNAL of Mexico were already through to the finals and were awaiting the winner of this matchup. The game started exactly as one would wonder how it would go and that was with deadly German side threatening to score as Ahly had their backs to the wall in the first half. No matter what Ahly tried to do, Munich was constantly there to disrupt plans and to press only the way they know how and it paid off for them. 

In the 17TH minute off of a rebound, Polish star Robert Lewandowski made them pay as he launched a nice cross from Serge Gnabry right past goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy into the back of the net to give Bayern the early 1 to 0 lead. Bayern did stop there as they kept pressing and even missed opportunities in the first half to increase their lead while Ahly struggled to find their footing even losing a key player in Tunisian star defender Ali Maâloul. In the second half, Ahly started to find their footing as they pressed against Bayern who looked to slow down a bit, but Ahly could not pass Bayerns last line of defense as the European powerhouse were able to keep a clean scoresheet. With literally minutes left in the game, second half substitute Leroy Sane was able to find Lewandowski at the far post with his cross and it was an easy chip in for the forward as El Shenawy had no time to react to the pass to make it 2 to 0 which was all it took as Bayern Munich punched their ticket to the finals. There was no shame in the loss for Al Ahly as they played a decent game, but their only fault was not being able to test goaltender Manuel Neuer at all. The player of the game award obviously goes to Robert Lewandowski and his two goals which helped seal the deal. On Thursday February 11TH, Bayern finds themselves a new challenge in crafty Tigres UNAL who bested Brazilian side Palmeiras to make it to the finals. 

With Their Backs Against The Wall, Minnesota United Finds A Way To Win

We have seen rust become an issue in some of the games while in other games we have seen some teams just take off and not look back. Today we saw a game that seemed to be the tale of two halves as Sporting Kansas City took on Minnesota United FC in the opening match of Group C in the MLS Is Back Tournament. The first half seemed to belong to Sporting Kansas City who were constantly applying the pressure as they stayed on top of Minnesota United not allowing them out of their own half of the field for almost the whole first half. Minnesota just couldn't seem to get any real touches going before Sporting Kansas City shut them down. The 43RD minute of the game, Minnesota would pay for their style of play as Alan Pulido made quite the move and found a charging Khiry Shelton who made Minnesota United goalkeeper Tyler Miller pay as Shelton buried it passed him at the near post. Sporting Kansas City would carry the 1-0 lead all the way into halftime as Minnesota had to come up with a new game plan for the second half.

The second half featured a complete 180 by Minnesota as they started developing more than three touches and they were creating chances on goal. They had a chance to equalize in the 63RD minute when the ball coming off of a rebound found Ethan Finlay who put it away, but there is just one problem. The VAR system would show that Kevin Molino was just offsides. In the 73RD minute,  Aaron Schoenfeld gets a great pass on a clear run from Romain Métanire, but Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia would deny an obvious scoring situation and he received a red card for his troubles. So now Kansas City was down a man and only playing with ten men which meant that Minnesota was going to apply the pressure and that is exactly what they did with every opportunity and finally in the 92nd minute it paid off as a Minnesota shot would find Sporting KC first half goalscorer Khiry Shelton for an own goal meaning that he scored a goal in each half for both teams. To make matters worse for them, Minnesota would find the back of the net with a nice cross from Raheem Edwards that found Romain Métanire near the post who found a charging Molino who buried it in the back of the net for not just the go ahead goal, but the game winning one. My man of the match definitely coincides with ESPN's as Kevin Molino gets it for his hard work during the game.

Despite Some Rustiness, The Union Get The Job Done

The last game played in the MLS before the Coronavirus Pandemic was on March 8TH when Philadelphia and LAFC played to a 3-3 draw. Now after having three months off, the MLS was indeed back in a tournament style to help celebrate the return of soccer here in the US as it's played behind closed doors at the ESPN Wild World Of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL. The second match of the tournament featured two rivals playing a 9AM game as the Philadelphia Union took on NYCFC who were still looking to score their first goal of the season. Both sides were eager to work out all the kinks after so much time away and Philadelphia showed some solidarity with social issues with the Black Lives Matter shirts and on the back of the jerseys were the names of those shot by police officers. Nonetheless, there was a game to be played and that they did as both sides struggled to create opportunities in the first half. One thing was for certain in this game and that was Philadelphia's back five were definitely no joke. After a water break and almost 50 minutes of first half football, both sides were unable to find the back of the net on this hot and humid day in Florida as it remained scoreless.

The only takeaway from the first half is that NYCFC needed to take advantage of the opportunities they were given with more shots on target. That is exactly what NYCFC did with a substitution at halftime to try and breathe new life into the team, but unfortunate for them Philly was on the hunt for a goal and in the 65TH minute New Jersey native Alejandro Bedoya found the back of the net when he scooped up the rebound and hit the back of the net as he shot it towards the far post. For the rest of the game, the pressure was on NYCFC to try and even the game up, but as I said before Philadelphia had a tremendous defense that was shutting them down and they had a goalie by the name of Andre Blake who just came up huge in this game with some big saves. In the 86TH minute, Anton Tinnerholm sends a nice ball across the field to Brazilian international Héber who tries to shoot near post, but Blake makes the amazing save. In extra time, just as the game was coming to an end, Gary Mackay-Steven has a chance at a breakaway, but Blake put an end to the chance and ended all hopes NYCFC had of trying to walk away with a point. I know Bedoya was chosen as the player of the game for scoring the amazing goal, but we are awarding ours to Andre Blake whose saves kept Philly at the top of the food chain (for now).