Saturday Soccer Thoughts #1
(12/22/18)
I watch too much soccer, which is not a real
thing, but based on how many hours and my effort to plan my daily life around to
watch football matches I needed a way to outwardly express some thoughts on what
I just witnessed. Why? The main reason, pretty much the only reason, is that I
do not have enough friends to talk about how passionate I am about soccer
without potentially losing the limited number of human contacts I already
possess.
Arsenal defeated Burnley by a two
goal margin, 3-1. Unai Emery’s men won the match after previously losing two
consecutive to Southampton and Tottenham. Burnley was not happy with the match
officiating but the creativeness of this Arsenal side was too match either way.
My takeaway was that Mesut Ozil played the full match and was effective. Speculation
around the London based club that Emery did not see Ozil in his plans, but it
seems that those speculations have been put to rest for the moment, after all
he started the German against a smaller club, no disrespect to Burnley.
Crystal Palace shocked the
football world by defeating Manchester City 3 goals to 2. Townsend with the
goal of the year, it was a beautifully struck volley that gave the City
goalkeeper no chance on reaching the well struck ball. This means that Liverpool now have a 4 point lead against Manchester City. Chelsea also experienced
a set back with a 0-1 defeat to Leicester City.
Manchester United scored 5 goals
in the teams first match since the firing of Jose Mourinho. Cardiff City is not
necessarily a premier league powerhouse, so one should not raise the
expectations too high over the 5-1 result, but it is a free feeling that United fans and
players should enjoy.
In La Liga, Real Betis drew against Eibar which will keep the
Andalusia club in the Europa League position for now. Atheltico Madrid won
their match against Espanyol to keep the pressure on FC Barcelona. The Catalan
club also won their match against Celta de Vigo, 2-0, with goals from Dembele
and Messi. Real Madrid where across the globe in the FIFA Club World Cup final
against Al-Ain. Real Madrid came out victorious winning the tournament with a
final score of 4-1.
Bayern Munich defeated Frankfurt
3-0 to close the gap to 6 points on Borussia Dortmund who were also victorious
from their Friday night match. Dortmund defeated Borussia Monchengladbach in a
1st vs 2nd place teams. The defeat drops Monchengladbach
to 3rd place in the Bundesliga and Bayern Munich moves up into
second. RB Leipzig won 3-2 to keep pace with the top 3 clubs. Fortuna
Dusseldorf have won their third league game in a row and are steadily moving
away from the relegation zone.
In the Serie A Inter
Milan earned a point away from home against Chievo Verona, 1-1. Napoli won
their match. AC Milan lost to Fiorentina by a score of 1-0, which could see
Milan fall out of a European position if AS Roma defeat Juventus later on today
in their match. Lazio won their match which makes them the sole possessor of
the 4th and final spot for the UEFA champions league group stage.
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