Match Week 24 Wrap Up
Match Week 24 completed on Monday this week. In the last blog I shared that Liverpool , in position #3 going into the week, was playing last place Swansea City, ranked 20th of the 20 teams in the Premier League. I shared that after the win, Liverpool would hold their top 3 spot and keep their recent run of quality play going. They had been in excellent form and were cruising up the league table.
Have I also shared that the Premier League is the hardest soccer league in the world…have you heard that yet. The result of the game is below.
Liverpool 0 Swansea City 1
Holy Toledo, the last place team in the Premier League just beat the 3rd place team in the Premier League and held them scoreless. Think about that for a minute. Imagine the Minnesota Vikings or Jacksonville Jaguars (in theory the 3rd best team in the NFL) getting beat by the Cleveland Browns and also getting shut out by the Cleveland Browns. Does not seem likely it would ever happen, but it routinely happens in the Premier League. This was a stunning result and a real buzz kill for the momentum Liverpool was building in the league in the race for the Top 4. They now sit in 4th, 3 points behind Chelsea and only 2 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur….I just like saying that name, the Tottenham Hotspur.
Caraboa English Football League Cup
The semi-finals of the EFL Cup were completed this week and we now have the match up for then first Trophy of the Year, Manchester City vs. Arsenal in February for the finals. Arsenal came from behind 1-0 to beat Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday. No secret I am a Chelsea fan and for most of the first half they dominated the game. They only needed a tie to advance based on away goals results. The early lead was a good sign….but then this happened.
I have watched a lot of soccer games, as I am sure you have as well. I have never seen it happen before, not even close. A triple header, with a double deflection of two Chelsea players and then…if that was not crazy enough…it loops over the top of the goal keeper like a perfectly headed ball. But it wasn’t…it was just the luckiest, most unlikely goal I have ever seen. And the Arsenal player, Monreal, is celebrating like he did something amazing. I don’t know if he realized what occurred. He thinks he headed it in I guess, but it went off two other players first. Just dumb if you are a Chelsea fan. Just dumb! The official scorekeeper called it an own goal off Rudiger. 1-1 and maybe a sign it was just not meant to be for Chelsea. But at 1-1 Chelsea still advance.
But then this happened.
Clearly, it was not Chelsea’s night. After a pretty bizarre goal, Arsenal scores another dumb goal. If you watch the video, you will see the player out wide right makes a cutback move and then attempts to pass the ball to the top of the box. It was designed to be a layoff with the hope the player at the top of the 18 could get off a shot. What does happen is the ball, ricocheted off Rudiger, the Chelsea defender, yes the same Rudiger that just had the own goal, and directly into the path of the Arsenal midfielder Xhaka, for a toe poke goal. The deflection went like 90 degrees the other direction, not just a glancing deflection, but it goes the opposite direction and right to the Arsenal player. Like a perfectly delivered pass. Unreal and again, as a Chelsea fan, just dumb! I guess pretty cool for fans to see crazy goals, just no so cool for Chelsea. Two very strange goals and obviously, just not their night. The soccer gods did not want them to advance to the finals. Chelsea had a break away later in the game with their best player breaking free around the 18 to go 1 v 1 with the goal keeper. A pretty good chance he will score to even the game at 2-2. Again, their best player, strong, physical, great balance. What happens, the player, Eden Hazard, trips and falls.
Was not touched, did not dive, just lost his footing and fell down. Must have been some Arsenal grass goonies that tripped him. It was strange on what was for Chelsea, a strange night. Congrats to Arsenal, but man, that was unlucky! The only good news, you are not Antonio Rudiger. What a tough night for him.
FA Cup Round 4
16 games scheduled between Friday and Sunday to complete the 4th round. After Sunday we are down to the Quarter Final match ups. Will there be some upsets, I will update you next week if some lower tier under dogs shocked the world!