Sport

Weekly Football Highlights

Mourinho 0-1 Guardiola

Everyone expected fireworks between these two managerial goliaths when their respective sides met at Old Trafford last weekend, but we were treated to nothing of the sort. Instead, we witnessed Guardiola’s team – not for the first time – emerging victorious against Mourinho’s. The game was entertaining, exciting and, above all, competitive. Both sides look capable of challenging for the title; they’re both packed to the brim with class and talent, but it seems that City have managed to hit their stride a little quicker than their rivals in red. Kevin De Bruyne has, quite rightly, received heaps of praise for his performance, and the young Belgian looks set to shine during this campaign. City may have won this battle, but it remains to be seen if they’ll win the war.

 

Congratulations, Leicester!

After a pretty shaky start in the Premier League this season – they’ve already lost two games this campaign, and lost only three during the entirety of last season – Leicester headed to Belgium with their heads aloft, but with expectations not particularly high. However, they took their first ever Champions League fixture in their stride, coming away from Bruges with a clean sheet and three goals to their name. Most football fans are expecting very little from Leicester in this year’s tournament, but very few anticipated their success last season; it seems incredibly unlikely that Leicester will go all the way in the UCL, but I’m certain we’ll all enjoy the ride while it lasts.

 

Balotelli loves to prove his doubters wrong

If there’s one thing Mario loves more than being a nuisance, it’s doing the opposite of what people expect of him. His future has been up in the air all summer, with nobody – himself included – really sure where his career was headed. Late in the transfer window he was handed something of a lifeline, with French side Nice giving him what would seem his final chance to prove he can cut it as a professional footballer. And, it would appear, he is more than willing to give it go; after just one game for Nice he has managed to double his entire Liverpool scoring tally, and has helped fire his side close to the top of Ligue 1 (they currently sit second, beyond Monaco on goal difference). Balotelli is incredibly talented, on that issue everyone agrees, but it is his application that has been lacking. If he can get his head down this season, then Nice could have an incredible talent on their hands.

 

Can Son Heung-min build on his impressive display against Stoke?

Son is something of an enigma. He can go missing for large periods during a game – in fact, he can often go missing for a few games at a time – but he also has to ability to run teams ragged, just as he did against Stoke at the weekend. Both of his goals during Spurs’ 0-4 victory were clinical strikes, each special in its own right, but it was his running off the ball, his tirelessness and his willingness to fight for every inch of ground that made his performance all the better. If Son can add consistency to his game, then he could be a very important player for Tottenham this season. 

 

Has Payet already provided the pass of the season?

West Ham have started their debut campaign at the London Stadium in a rather shaky manner and, though they lost at home to local-ish rivals Watford at the weekend, Dimitri Payet’s assist for Michail Antonio’s second goal was something positive to take away from an ultimately negative weekend. The classy rabona, which baffled the Hornets’ defence and landed perfectly on Antonio’s bonce, put the Hammers into a 2-0 lead that, at the time, appeared unassailable. However, Watford’s Troy Deeney – who scored a delightful goal just 10 minutes later – has subsequently lambasted Payet, calling the fancy cross ‘disrespectful’, and claiming the pass gave Watford additional incentive to rally and claim an unlikely victory. Whatever your view, however, it’s impossible to deny the quality of Payet’s assist.

 

When should an overhead kick be regarded as dangerous play?

This weekend both Diego Costa and Laurent Koscielny scored overhead kicks. Both goals were allowed despite defenders’ heads being very close to both the ball and the player’s foot when contact was made. In recent seasons we’ve seen such goals ruled out for dangerous play – Cameron Jerome against Palace last year, for example – so why did these two count when others have been disallowed? The rule states that dangerous play is regarded as:

 

Any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player themself) and includes preventing a nearby opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury

 

So, basically, it’s up to the referee to decide. One referee might deem an overhead kick dangerous, while another may regard it as entirely legal. It is frustrating that there is no definitive clarification on what dangerous play is, and it’s going to be very interesting to see how people react the next time a similar goal is chalked off.

 

Bafétimbi Gomis’ unsporting behaviour

Gomis, on loan at Marseille from Swansea, tried to put off Nice striker Mario Balotelli in the most embarrassing of manners. There’s no room for this sort of behaviour in our game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyZTzKwdXXI