Back-To-Back Losses For United:
United loses only there 3rd match in all competition since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over at Old Trafford. Wolves which I consider as the premier league boogie team pulled another upset yet again, they confirmed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United to their 2nd successive defeat in all competitions, having lost to Arsenal in the EPL a week again ago. Wolves impressive performance of the season has seen them defeat 4 of the top 6 clubs, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and now Manchester United are the big guns that have been fed to the Wolves.
Having eliminated Arsenal and Chelsea on their way to the quarterfinals, United were the clear favourite to advance into the last 4, United was also boosted with the return of some of their key men, Anthony Marshall, Jessie Lingard, Ander Herrera was passed fit to start for United
United started the match with the larger percentage of possession, but with little or no threat to Wolves goal, Wolves, on the other hand, were full of energy, pace, and sure ran United ragged, it was a matter of time before such display earned Wolves a goal. Joao Moutinho skipped past 3 United players and found Raul Jimenez who seemed to have lost his footing but somehow regained control and fired the past couple of United bodies, past Sergio Romero for the games opening goal in the 70th minutes. 6 minutes later, it was 2 nil in favour of Wolves, a quick breakaway down the middle saw Wolve's Diogo Jota shrugged off a challenge from United's Luke Shaw and fired past Romero. United got a late consolation in the added time of regulation time, 90+5, through Marcus Rashford, 2-1 it ended in Wolve's favour at the Molineux.
United most realistic chance of winning a title faded into thin air, they still have the UCL as an outside chance though, with Barcelona standing between United and semifinal berth.
Quadruple Still Alive For The Citizen:
Manchester City's quest of a quadruple was given a scare by championship side Swansea City in the quarterfinals. Swansea is having a difficult season in the league, and a result against high flying EPL side Manchester City, which are coming from a mauling, 7-0 of another team, was highly unlikely. Manchester City gave a much-needed respite to their talismanic striker, Kun Aguero, who started from the bench.
The match started with a plum, Swansea took a surprise 1st-half lead when City's standing-in left back, Fabian Delph fouled Swansea's right-back, Connor Roberts in the box, Matt Grimes duly convert the spot-kick to give Swansea a 20-minute lead, 9 minutes later, it was 2 nil, former Man City midfielder, Bersant Celina delightful curler beat Man City goalkeeper, Moraes Ederson to stun Man City. With defeat staring at his face, Pep Guardiola brought in Sterling and Aguero, and their impacts were immense. Man City staged the 2nd-half fight back, though 2 of Man City's goals were contentious with VAR not in use at the Liberty Stadium. Goals from Bernardo Silva, Swansea's goalkeeper, Kristoffer Nordfeldt own goal, in off Kun Aguero"s spot-kick, after Sterling was brought down in the box, and an Aguero's diving header completed Man City's win.
Manchester City was let off the hook with the absence of the VAR, and head into the FA Cup semifinal with the dream of a quadruple still alive.
Champions Elect Stunned At Genoa:
Juventus travelled to Genoa in the Serie A match-day 28, hoping to extend the point gap between them and nearest rival, Napoli to 21 points, but they were brought to earth by a resolute Genoa. Genoa who sits a distance 12 place on Serie A log table, no longer have the ruthless Krzysztof Piatek in their ranks anymore, but yet were unfazed by the star-studded Juventus side. The Serie A runaway leader had not tasted defeat in the 28 league matches so far, won 24, and drew just 3, one of which was a 1-1 draw against the same opponent earlier in the season, and the odds were in their favour not to lose.
Juventus rested their top goal scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was not included in the squad to Stadio Luigi Ferraris and were made to rue the decision as the Old Ladies lacked his finesse in front of Genoa's goal. There was 2 overturned decision by the VAR at either end of the pitch, firstly, a penalty awarded to Genoa at the half-hour mark due to a contentious handball in the Juventus box, then a Paulo Dybala goal due to an offside in the build-up.
The breakthrough goal finally came in the 72nd minute in favour of Genoa, when substitute, and on-loan Juventus ace, Stefano Sturaro curled in from just outside the box to beat Juventus goalkeeper, and former Genoa, Mattia Perin. Genoa made the maximum points save with the 2nd goal when veteran and 33-year old Macedonian, Goran Pandev scored with just 9 minutes remaining. The defeat is inconsequential as far as the league table is concerned but Juventus will not have an unbeaten season after all.
Inter Milan Edged Derby Di Milano:
Derby di Milano or simply Milan derby is one of most fierce derby in world football, both Inter Milan and AC Milan share not just City but Stadium too. The history between these 2 clubs is old and is dated back to 1909, and will most definitely exist as far as football still exists.
The last time both teams met was a Serie A 1st-leg meeting in October last year, Inter ran away with a 1 nil winner, with Mauro Icardi scoring a stoppage-time winner. Fast forward the months and a lot have changed since October, Milan now has a certain Krzysztof Piatek in their lineup, and he has been massive to Milan course so far, scoring 6 league goals already since his January arrival, and are undefeated in their last 5 matches, winning 4 and drawing 1 in all competition. Inter, on the other hand, are having a patching run, with just 1 win in their last 5 matches across all competition, and will be missing the services of a rebel, Mauro Icardi, injured Radja Nainggolan, Joao Mario, Joao Miranda among other key players.
Despite Inter's injury absentees, they took an early 3rd-minute lead when Lautaro Martinez and Matias Vecino combined for the latter to score. They scored a 2nd when De Vrij headed in to make the game safe, but Tiemoue Bakayoko half the deficit for Milan, to make it 1-2. Lautaro Martinez restored Inter 2-goal cushion via a spot-kick, but Milan pulled 1 back again 4 minutes later, and so it ended, 2-3 to Inter Milan. Inter have now leap-frog their rivals to 3rd place, 2 points clear, with 10 matches to go.
Contrasting Results For The Madrid Teams:
ZIDANE WON ON HIS RETURN; All the pre-match talking point was the return of Real legend both as a player and manager, Zinedine Zidane to the dugout at the Bernabeu, Zizou as Zidane is popularly referred to was reappointed after Santiago Solari was relieved of the job following a string of poor results that includes an embarrassing 1-4 home defeat at the hands of Ajax Amsterdam.
Zidane's starting line-up drew a few eyebrows, with the recall of goalkeeper Keylor Navas, left full back, Marcelo, Midfielder, Isco and attackers Asencio and Gareth Bale, all who are a major actor in Zidane's 3-year dynasty. No qualms as Real Madrid started Zidane's 2nd reign with a 2-0 victory. Real have to wait until the 2nd half before they finally break Celta Vigo down, Karim Benzema's cross found Isco, who scored from a few yards out. The 2nd goal came 15 minutes later, Marcelo made one of his trademark forward burst, and then squared the ball to Gareth Bale who fired home, in off the woodwork, to secure the 3 points.
ATLETICO MADRID LOSES AGAIN; Still hurting from the UCL exist, the Diego Simone tutored side went into the La Liga Matchday 28, hoping for a response and a result at rival's, Athletic Bilbao, which is still in the hunt for a European spot. However, rather than a response from Athletico Madrid, it was more misery as they fell to goals from Inaki Williams and Kenan Kodro at the San Mames Stadium, home of Bilbao.
The slim chance of Atleti catching Barcelona further diminishing, they now trail their rival with 10 points, and Real closing up on their heels, with gap cut to just 2 points.
All Images are Gettys' Images.
Thank you all for your support.
Comments