Saka Gold
Saka Gold
Kick Off
Let's start off very briefly by whizzing around the European fixtures from last week. Tuesday saw some really big ticket games and didn't disappoint. Liverpool Rangers was fast and furious and Liverpool should probably have won by more than two goals. In the earlier games Bayern thumped Viktoria Plzeň 5-0 and Marseille saw off Porto 4-1, however it was one of the later fixtures that provided the biggest shock when Napoli, on a roll and playing excellently, beat Ajax 6-1. Could they be the surprise package this year? Unfortunately I'm with Rory Smith who said on BT Sport Score on Saturday that at some point one of the big dominant teams (Bayern was his example) will beat them and that will be that.
On Wednesday City predictably beat Copenhagen 5-0, Chelsea beat a woeful Milan 3-0 and in Spain Dortmund beat Sevilla 1-4 with some really great goals from Guerreiro, Bellingham, Adeyemi and Brandt.
On Thursday United were given a brief scare by Omonia Nicosia but prevailed in the end 2-3, while Arsenal bossed Bodø/Glimt and won 3-0. Rob Holding's goal was the pick of the three as it involved an absolutely stunning pass from Fabio Vieira. I wish Mikel would pick him for the league games, he's so good.
And so to Friday, where the Lionesses, Champions of Europe, took on the USA, Champions of the World. The game was at a sold out Wembley (although the attendance didn't reflect this, for no doubt many reasons that don't really need interrogating here) and it was a fantastic night.
I was lucky enough to be there with some pals, after queuing to get on the website for over four hours. The seats were decent and entry was quick and painless.
I really enjoyed the game, it was a lot of fun. It was end to end, feisty and some of England's passing was just so delightful. They, to my eye anyway, looked so disciplined and well drilled. Sure there were a few scares when the USA attacked and maybe both teams were a little wasteful with their chances but it was a game played with all the intensity of a proper rivalry, despite it being a friendly. Yes there was ~*discourse*~ after. No I won't be getting into it here.
Now let's move to the men and the league games this week. I missed much of the action on Saturday as there was no early game and I went to the cinema in the evening, which means I didn't see either the excitement of Dortmund levelling the Klassiker via Anthony Modeste in 90+5 or Milan beating Juventus 2-0 with goals from the Southgate-ignored Tomori and the pocket rocket Brahim.
I did however see lowly Reims hold PSG to a 0-0 draw and very much enjoyed the scenes in the latter stages of the game. Ramos had already been sent off in the first half for, basically, being a prick and then the game descended into a shambles in the second half. The commentator was doing his best to express his disgust but he was no Jonathan Pearce. Those levels of indignation don't just come overnight.
This leaves PSG at the top but Lorient have snuck into second after beating LOSC, despite Marseille also winning.
In the Bundesliga, Union are now two points clear of Freiburg and four clear of both Bayern and Dortmund who are separated by goal difference.
Over in Italy, Milan's win leaves them 4th after Napoli won and Udinese and Atalanta drew against each other.
The leagues this year are all really fascinating I think. Of course in both France and Spain the usual suspects are in the top spot but not by the margins you might expect and the contenders around them could all spring a surprise. In Italy Napoli are on fire but Atalanta and Udinese are also proving themselves. And as mentioned many times, in the Bundesliga the usual suspects are behind two unexpected teams. Even in the Premier League, Arsenal holding on to the top spot is a triumph though it's fair to say the rest of the Top 5 is basically as to be expected, bar Liverpool's poor start.
Which brings us to the Premier League. On Saturday we had the delightful scenario of the winners scoring 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 goals (something I hadn't noticed until Gary pointed it out at the end of MOTD but which I LOVE) with Newcastle putting 5 past poor Brentford, down to the grieving Spurs getting just one against Brighton in an emotionally charged game. City, of course, scored four, Chelsea three and Bournemouth two, heaping further pressure on Brendan Rodger's Leicester.
On Sunday we kicked off with Crystal Palace v Leeds and "secret" game (i.e. it wasn't on TV) West Ham v Fulham, both of which gave us home wins.
The late game saw United coming from behind to beat Everton, although I turned over at half time to Italy and then Spain as it wasn't a particularly great game and Ronaldo came on and got his 700th club goal and I couldn't stand it.
This just leaves the early evening game, Arsenal v. Liverpool. The marital derby. The form team v. the not form team.
Jurgen went in with a strongly attacking side, unchanged from Rangers; Mikel changed this a little bringing in Tomiyasu but essentially sticking to his tried and trusted formula.
Arsenal scored after 58 seconds with a great goal from Martinelli and the atmosphere at home got even tenser!
Arsenal should have scored more but eventually Darwin broke his dry spell and slotted home to equalise (and now the dust has settled and Arsenal won I can say I'm pleased for him although I do wish he'd waited until Rangers tomorrow).
Just before half time Arsenal hit back with a Saka peach and we went into half time with the advantage.
It wasn't to be an easy ride though and Roberto Firmino levelled the score after some terrible defending, 2-2.
Thank god then for Michael Oliver and his decision to give a penalty for a tackle on the already battered Gabriel Jesus (Tsimikas accidentally walloped into him earlier in the game and gave him a nasty whack in the face). Yes it was soft, yes I'm taking it. You wouldn't?
It was down, then, to Saka to step up and remain cool and despite everyone holding their breath, he put it away. 3-2.
We then had over 20 minutes of extreme tension, mostly due to Oliver not blowing the whistle until 90+8 after the announcement of 5 minutes added time. But we did it! Arsenal, Arsenal, top of league!
That's all for this week, I'm sick from my booster so the rest of this is a little light, hopefully back to normal next week.
Thirst Trap
Quite some time ago a popular internet personality quizzed me about whether or not this week's Thirst Trap was indeed Thirst Trap worthy. At the time I was only aware of him via his cover on the Scouted Football Handbook and said I wasn't sure, that he was very young and I was a bit dubious about his neck tattoos.
Since then I've seen much more of him, both during his time at Sassuolo, the Italian NT and now, West Ham. I've had people insist I include him in this section and you know what? They're right.
Gianluca Scamacca is a 6'5" package of rippling muscles, tattoos, long legs and a cute smile. He's funny too, seen here doing his own version of the classic Lampardian Transition.
I appreciate that he chooses to wear a genuinely long sleeve jersey too. I'm still unsure about the neck tattoos and the frosted tips but I can overlook them for everything else. He's... well, he's just hot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Merch Stand
Corinthians third shirt is really gorgeous. Big fan.
Adidas shoes based on Mexico's WC kits are so so nice. Look at them!
Full Time
I was very amused by this tweet, which you'll probably need to click through to see properly. What a set up! At least get a GIANT TV if you're going to do this
The two iconic shirt off celebrators met on Friday <3
After Erling Haaland tweeted following City's win in the Champion's League, Laporte had his say...
And we're done, have a great everyone and see you next Monday!
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