The main events of Wednesday in European football.
Premier League: Liverpool put the squeeze on Wolves
As a result of the postponed meeting of the 7th round, Arsenal finally caught up in the number of matches played with Manchester City and is now five points ahead of the defending champion. In the game with Everton, which began to show signs of life following the appointment of Sean Dyche and sensationally beat the Gunners on the day of the debut of this specialist, the segment at the end of the first half turned out to be decisive.
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His hero was Saka, who first baffled Pickford, who had signed a new contract with the Butterscotch, with a shot into the near top corner, and then organized the goal of Gabriel Martinelli. In the second case, the goal was scored following the intervention of the VAR, which corrected the mistake of the referees. In this episode, there was neither a violation of the rules at the time of the selection of Sac, nor an offside position from the Brazilian who sent the ball into the net.
A curious coincidence – both Martinelli and Saka on Wednesday brought their personal score to ten goals, and the first of this couple did not calm down. Now Arsenal is not only the leader, but also the only team this season where there are two players with double-digit performance. And, soon, apparently, there will be three such players, since Edegora has one accurate blow left to ten.
Liverpool — Wolverhampton Wanderers
Perhaps Jurgen Klopp might get bored with Wolverhampton this winter. On January 7, the Reds played a draw with the Wolves in the cup tournament (2:2), on the 17th they had a successful replay (1:0), and on February 4 they were humiliated on the opponent’s field (0:3). That game was a real nightmare for Liverpool, but on Wednesday everything went well. Although it is very difficult, since Nunes’ first goal was canceled following the referee went to the monitor. There he made sure that Diogo Jota, who burst into the penalty area, lost his balance and hit the defender in the leg.
But in the end, it was the stubbornness of the former Wolves player that turned out to be the key factor. When José Sa pulled a van Dijk shot out of the corner following a free-kick, it was the Portuguese who returned the ball to the goal, and on the second attempt, the Dutchman made Anfield explode with delight. And already on courage, Tsimikas, who rushed along the flank, gave an assist to Salah, who scored with a hip. Eurocups have become a little closer for Liverpool.
Manchester United have their first trophy in 6 years. Just had to part ways with Ronaldo
FA Cup: shock for Tottenham
Manchester United — West Ham United
After winning the League Cup, Erik ten Hag decided to give a pause to the group of leaders, and this was a real gift for former Manchester United manager David Moyes. In the first half, the guests were even closer to success, and Antonio’s one-on-one exit, stopped by De Gea, looked much more unpleasant than Zabitzer’s long-range shot for the West Ham goalkeeper.
Seeing something was wrong, ten Hag immediately sent Casemiro to the field following the break, but this did not give an instant effect, and the Brazilian was even involved in the missed goal. It was he who confronted Soucek on the sideline when the Czech seemed to have missed the ball over the line. As a result, the Brazilian stopped, forgetting the common truth that you have to play until the whistle. Meanwhile, the attack continued, and Benrahma got into the far corner so that De Gea might only follow the steep trajectory of the blow with his eyes.
The incident shocked Old Trafford, but at the same time it was a signal for Rashford to enter the game and, accordingly, for a sharp activation of the Red Devils. Casemiro clearly wanted to improve, but scored from offside, but the next standard ended with Agerd cutting the ball into his own net in the fight once morest Weghorst. When a replay seemed inevitable, the recently criticized Garnacho recalled his talent – he took the ball in the corner of the penalty area and launched it into the net with a second touch. Manchester United are truly a cup team this season.
Sheffield United — Tottenham Hotspur
It fell to Tottenham to give sensations this evening, and it is unlikely that the Spurs are happy regarding this. A few days ago, this team did not leave Chelsea a chance, and now they flew out from the representative of the championship. However, it is not worth belittling the opponent. It is possible that in a few months Sheffield United will return to the Premier League. Now he is second in the table, and in the Cup he went further in sync with the leaders in the second division, Burnley. True, he got a very modest opponent, and leaving Kane without a trophy, who missed the chance to equalize the score in the end, is worth a lot. And it is also a contribution to the fact that for the first time in 15 years only four representatives of the Premier League will play in the quarter-finals.
Spain: Unlucky Basques?
Athletic is at the same time the most cup and the most unlucky team of the tournament in recent years. The Basques have lost two consecutive finals once morest Real Sociedad (0-1) and Barcelona (0-4), and in the last draw they stumbled over Valencia in the semi-finals. It is possible that now the team of Ernesto Valverde will retire at the same stage. At least Osasuna made a bid for the second time in their history to reach the final, and Ezzalzouli became the hero. The football player, rented from Barcelona, caught the courage at the right time and scored in the second match in a row. After a pass from Gomez, the winger dealt with the defender and put the ball into the corner. Moreover, this was not an obvious moment, and the Pamplonians won with the most modest expected goals ratio of the season (0.3).
France: strong-willed “canaries”
The current winner of the French Cup reached the semi-finals, having won a strong-willed victory due to two 11-meter kicks. Both were realized by striker of the Algerian national team Delors, who switched from Nice in the winter. Last season, he scored 18 goals for the Eagles, but in the autumn everything changed. Firstly, the club did not fulfill its promise to raise the salary of its scorer. Secondly, the player was upset by the departure of Christophe Galtier to PSG. In the new team, Delors’ business was slow at first, but on Wednesday he finally opened a personal account in the form of “canaries”.
The main sensation of the quarter-finals was the home defeat of Marseille from the tenth team of the second French division. Such incidents with the owners have not happened at the Velodrome for almost 20 years. But it seemed that the Provencals, who had won back in the sixth added minute, would receive a psychological advantage. However, Annecy had stronger nerves, which did not break down following starting a penalty shootout with a misfire. The daring upstarts are now on holiday, while Marseille had to apologize to their fans for shattering their dream of a trophy.
Statistics of the day
5 goals in the first half of the official match “Toulouse” scored for the first time since the beginning of the century. Under the hot hand of purple got “Rodez” (6:1).
12 once Arsenal scored at least four goals once morest Everton. There are no more such pairs in the Premier League.
30 Manchester United won in 41 matches, taking into account all tournaments. Faster – in 40 games – the team reached this mark in the championship seasons 2006/07 and 2012/13.
