It was quite the Champions League week for our boys with goals and assists, as well as a few emphatic victories over Premier League opposition.
Bodo/Glimt 2 – 3 Juventus
The Italian giants looked less than ordinary in the first half of their Champions League clash in the frozen north of Norway, leaving the field at the intermission down a goal but looked a different team from the re-start as they scored the goals that gave them the much needed three points. One of those goals came from their American midfielder, Weston McKennie, who played the full 90 minutes.
It’s always hard for visiting teams to play above the Arctic Circle where the temperature plummets well below zero degrees and it was no different for the Italians who took a while to get their body temperature up and their heads in the game. This was quite evident just before the half hour mark when their defense fell asleep on a set piece and Ole Blomberg was able to score from a couple feet in front of goal.
Minutes after the re-start a more determined “Old Lady” got to work right away and were able to take advantage of the Norwegian defense’s inability to clear their area. Lois Openda, on loan from RB Leipzig, scored his first team goal after a deflection fell kindly for him.
Then seconds before the clock showed an hour played, McKennie got in on the action, jumping higher than central defender, Fredrik Bjorkan and nodding the ball past the Russian keeper in the Norwegian net.
The hosts continued the fight back and were rewarded from the penalty spot in the 87th minute, thanks to Sondre Fet, who just signed a new contract with the Norwegian champions. A point was not to be however because a minute into stoppage time, Canadian striker Jonathan David, who just came off the bench 15 minutes ago, latched onto the Bodo/Glimt keepers poorly pushed out-of-harm’s-way save and buried it into the back of the net, warming the frozen hearts of the traveling Juventus fans.
The three points leaves the Italian giants in the 22nd spot of the standings, leaving them just inside the play-off places with just three more CL games to go. They’ll host Pafos FC from Cyprus and Benfica from Portugal before traveling to Monaco. Next up however is a visit from Cagliari Calcio on Saturday in Serie A action.
Pafos 2 – 2 Monaco
Folarin Balogun was on the score sheet when the Red and Whites of Monaco headed east to the beautiful island of Cyprus to take on the Cypriot champions on Wednesday night. The American scored the team’s second goal, which turned out to be one goal too shy of collecting all the points. He pretty much played the duration of the game, getting subbed off in the 89th minute.
The French side started the game off well and were ahead after just five minutes when Maghnes Akliouche picked out Takumi Minamino inside the penalty box and watched the former Liverpool man poke the ball into the corner of the Pafos goal.
The lead didn’t last very long however, 13 minutes to be exact, because of former Arsenal and Chelsea man, David Luiz’s header from a corner kick. But then a moment of madness from the keeper saw him make a lazy pass to his defender, across the face of goal. Balogun reacted quickly, latched onto the ball and put his shot just inside the near post from inside the box.
The three points were however thrown away late on when a shot from close range hit the crossbar and then hit defender Mohammed Salisu and crossed the Monaco goal line, snatching the victory from the visitors in the 88th minute with an own goal.
Monaco sits in the 23rd spot, one below Juventus and still in a play-off spot. Their final three CL games will be at home against Galatasaray, a trip to the Spanish capital to take on Real Madrid and then they welcome McKennie and his Italians to the French Riviera. They’ll however be focusing on their next Ligue 1 clash on Saturday as the French champs, PSG come to town.
Marseille 2 – 1 Newcastle United
Marseille come from behind and then hung on in the end as they fought off Magpie attacks to claim all the points in this Tuesday night clash in the south of France. Tim Weah had an impressive game and was the provider for one of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s two goals that assured Marseille’s three points.
After a sixth minute goal by Harvey Barnes, it took the hosts until the second half before they were able to get themselves sorted and find the back of the net. The thirty-six-year-old Gabon national team captain tied the game up seconds after the re-start when Nick Pope came a long way from his goal to chase down a through ball but the attacker got there first and slotted a nice curler in from the right side of the goal. Four minutes later Weah put in a brilliant cross and watched the old man beat his marker and poke it into the back of the net.
Marseille are in 21st place in the standings with games against USG in Brussels, followed by a visit to Liverpool before heading back to Belgium to take on Club Brugge. Up next in Ligue 1 is a visit from Mark McKenzie and Toulouse.
Liverpool 1 – 4 PSV Eindhoven
It was a humiliating night for the English champions in front of their Anfield faithful when PSV came to town and dismantled the team that has forgotten how to win a game. Sergino Dest started and went the distance at his right back position, while Ricardo Pepi came on in the 69th minute. Both of the American boys provided an assist for the cause.
After only six minutes the visitors were up when Croatian Ivan Perisic buried the ball into the back of the net from the penalty spot. The PK was awarded when a corner kick was sent in and Virgil van Dijk thought it was a good idea to raise his arm to deflect the ball away. It wasn’t and the team paid for it.
The home fans’ frayed nerves were a bit settled 10 minutes later however when Cody Gapko shot and his effort was pushed away by the keeper but only into the path of Hungarian, Dominik Szoboszlai. He didn’t miss.
Ten minutes after the re-start, Liverpool conceded again, this time it was a nice through ball into the box that Guus Til got to before his marker could and buried it from 10 yards out. Then it happened again in the 73rd minute when Pepi played the ball off the near post and it fell to Couhaib Driouech who seized the opportunity and put it away. Dest assisted on the Moroccan’s next goal in the 91st minute, pulling the ball back to him for an 18 yard blast.
PSV are in the 15th spot with Atletico Madrid, Newcastle United and Bayern Munich forthcoming. Up next in the Eredivisie is a visit from Volendam.
Manchester City 0 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Malik Tillman went the distance when his Bayer Leverkusen went up against Manchester City on Tuesday night and came away with a shock defeat of Pep Guardiola’s Citizens. In front of their home crowd, Erling Haaland was unable to add to his impressive 54 CL goals on the night, but the Germans had no problems beating James Trafford between the Sky Blues’ sticks on both sides of the intermission. Pep Guardiola’s 100th CL game for Citeh turned out to be nothing to celebrate.
The boys from Nord Rhine-Westphalia scored their first halfway into the first half as they quickly worked the ball out from the back, down the field where Alex Grimaldo drilled a low shot too far from Trafford to make the save.
Before 10 minutes were played after the re-start, a ball into Patrik Schick saw the Czech striker get the better of Nathan Ake and put it into the Citeh goal, basically putting the game to bed.
Sitting in the 17th spot, Bayer still have to face Newcastle, Olympiacos and Villareal before the playoffs start. Next up will be a pair of clashes against Borussia Dortmund in what is called the Revier Derby. On Saturday is a home league game, followed three days later in Dortmund in a German Cup clash.
