Marko Marin’s simulated fall in a cynical attempt to get the referee to send himself off (bottom right) is the fastest I’ve ever seen anyone move on a soccer football pitch.
This Salah guy, he’s pretty good. Liverpool dominating Roma in the first half.
Funny how the assistant ref missed Salah’s off-side in Liverpool’s third goal, yet called an off-side, just previous to that, that I thought wasn’t one.
Some commentators were doubting the subbing of Salah, but given he’s not a defender, and defense was Liverpool’s issue near the end, then I disagree with that idea.
Usually it’s a truncated version (maybe one minute?) whenever I hear “You’ll Never Walk Alone” but this time my network broadcast the whole shebang. (Like, several minutes.) Broadcasters kept quiet, so I just cranked up the volume. Not a Reds fan (nor a hater), but that got me, indeed, goosebumps as big as what Mr. Hudson referred to as coconuts.
But that first goal from Salah, though - Holy Werner Fucking Klemperer.
Heh, back to Rome with that pesky three goal differential again.
(thinking to myself: naaaawwww that couldn’t happen. Again.)
Saw* a San Siro humdinger: Juve were down 2-1 to Inter in the 88th minute when it got tied up, and then two minutes later, Higuain heads in a free kick to piss off Napoli, who would’ve been only one point table leaders Juve, with three games left. Some of the goals, like the first Inter goal, involved some incredibly weak defense, which we all know is a cardinal sin in that league.
Kay Murray, Bein Sports footy anchor: Please keep doing what you’re doing.:o
*Unfortunately - on TV. Would kill to be there, or a game at Azteca or Camp Nou. (hey even Sounders fans are impressive!)
ETA: And yes, I will unabashedly, gratuitously, offer this, as well.
Back to regular programming…
Wow, one of the worst plays I’ve ever seen in that Bayern - Madrid match. Ulreich’s pretty good season is going to be completely forgotten.
Welly welly well then, funny seeing West Brom garbage themselves a scrappy goal in injury minutes to beat Tottenham, who had 72% possession. If Chelsea - five points back of the Spurs - pull ahead for that final Champions League spot for next year, I’ll consider that goal the pivotal moment for not only the switch between the fourth- and fifth-place teams, but also for West Brom maybe having a slight hope, now, of staying out of relegation. (The second scenario being less likely, possibly)
Blues are taking on the Reds tomorrow. 
Mr. Rush’s tally will not threatened.
…not BE threatened, that is.
Exciting seeing Juve mount a three-goal comeback in the Bernabeu, only to concede a penalty with thirty effin seconds left in injury time. In the last ten minutes Juve were definitely looking like the more tired team, retreating too much and letting the Madridistas repeatedly attack.
If I had a twoonie every time Ronaldo flopped down in the box and immediately turned to the ref with outstretched arms - what a jabroni, pork chop style.
Some part of me somewhere felt kinda bad (ok well perplexed as fuck) that ‘Italy played too shittily’ to qualify for the upcoming WC, and especially for 40 year-old Buffon, for whom this WC would have been his last crack at. Great red card tantrum he had at the end of today’s game - go out with guns blazing! (well, a couple more Serie A games left)
Simply for that WC reason alone, I think Juve coulda used that win, and eventually, the whole enchilada.
Meanwhile, as Higuain’s still walking off the pitch, there’s this hilarious close-up of him pulling a “half-Joachim Low”*: picking his shnozz, with follow-up inspection.
*I say half because Higs didn’t reach down lower, nor consumed.
Ok maybe a “third-Joachim Low”.
Sorry about this post.
Jeez is that battle for the fourth EPL spot going to come down to the final week of the season?
Unless they allow about seven goals past them at home to Citeh Saturday, looks like Saints are safe for another season. That was tense viewing yesterday for me.
I don’t know if I see signs of improvement anywhere yet for the near future.
Well, if there’s a team capable of scoring 7 away from home, even playing at half-throttle…
They’ll probably still be fine as it’s unlikely both Huddersfield and Swansea will get the required results, IMO. Pity about last night - I really wanted West Brom to pull off the best escape of all time, even though they probably wouldn’t have done anyway. I think they are paying the price of sacking Pulis when there were no better options available. Easy to say with hindsight, but I did say it at the time. I think he would have made more of a fight of it than Pardew managed.
Indeed, if anyone can pull it off, it’s City.
Back to managers for a moment. One of the Guardian writers said that Soton was slow to pull the trigger on Pellegrino because he kept picking up the odd point as they went along. Weren’t really in relegation trouble until very late. An interesting point, it seems like you never know when it’s time in a case like that. Having said that, I don’t know if Mark Hughes is the answer there. He plays a little too much Route 1 football for my liking.
Well, I was wrong about Huddersfield - good for them. If Swansea were any kind of threat going forward, they would maybe have a chance of putting three or four past already-relegated Stoke, but it’s just so unlikely. And surely City will take their foot off the gas a bit now they have the record goalscoring total - a 1-0 win will be enough for them to basically capture all the landmarks.
I’m glad Hughes appears to have succeeded in his brief at Southamption, since I like him from his playing days, but his overall record in management is pretty underwhelming. The question for the board is whether he has done enough to merit another crack next season, or whether that risks them being in relegation trouble from the start and having to sack him anyway. But again, who else is there? The Saints’ real mistake seems to have been sacking Puel. I still think stability should trump fashion in the absence of a manager clearly being absolutely hopeless (e.g. Pardew at WBA).
On last day of season Inter goes into Lazio and snatches away fourth place from them at the end of the game.
Craziness.
Neat seeing Zidane’s 20 year-old son Luka between the pipes in his first-ever La Liga appearance for Real Madrid today. Of the two goals scored on him, maybe the second he could’ve dealt with a bit better.
Being probably the only Chelsea fan here (and definitely only Barca one) I didn’t mind the FA Cup outcome.
(Maybe next year for the green and white of Yeovil. ;))
So after Zlatan gets his foot stepped on, he cuffs buddy on the side of the head, but it’s the completely awesome synchronized diving that should hopefully brighten your day.
I’m not quite sure what it is about the bad luck of footy players…
…and plaques.
First, there was Sol, the Bum, who was foisted off as Ronaldo, but now there’s poor Brandi Chastain of the US Soccer team…
…and her plaque.
Evident chucklehead Footy Hall of Fame president offered: “We’re happy to re-do the plaque, she just needs to send a new picture to the HOF. It’s expensive, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Oh. Right.
bolded translation: (“We don’t wanna do it, but we will anyway”) or? (“we think it looks fine”)
And why do they need a new picture? Was the first one she sent really tricky to work with, somehow, hence the result?
ETA: At least she was a trooper and posed alongside it, with a gamely smile. 