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Champions League Quarter Finals 1st leg Recap (2025/26)

          Full Results (Quarter Finals 1st leg) Real Madrid 1—2 Bayern  Sporting CP 0—1 Arsenal  Barcelona 0—2 Atletico Madrid PSG 2—0 Liverpool Game of the Matchday Real Madrid 1 –2 Bayern Since the final whistle at the Bernabeu, fans have hailed this tie as a "refreshing" exception from the recent norm. In an era where modern football, particularly in England, is often criticized for being too robotic and over-coached, this match felt like a throwback to the "classic" era, defined by a relentless, end-to-end rhythm. While Bayern appeared to be in the driver's seat, the numbers suggests a much tighter contest. The Bavarians were certainly guilty of wastefulness, with Luis Diaz and Dayot Upamecano spurning massive opportunities, but Real Madrid ensured Manuel Neuer remained the busiest man on the pitch. Bayern finally broke the deadlock and silenced the Madridistas in the 41st minute via Diaz, before Harry Kane doubled the lead just seconds...
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Premier League Matchday 14 Recap (2025/26)

       

Full Results (Matchday 14)

  • Bournemouth 0–1 Everton

  • Fulham 4–5 Manchester City

  • Newcastle 2–2 Tottenham

  • Arsenal 2–0 Brentford

  • Brighton 3–4 Aston Villa

  • Burnley 0–1 Crystal Palace

  • Wolves 0–1 Nottingham Forest

  • Leeds 3–1 Chelsea

  • Liverpool 1–1 Sunderland

  • Manchester United 1–1 West Ham

Game of the Matchday 

Fulham 4–5 Manchester City


There were several entertaining matches in matchday 14 to pick from, but when you see a scoreline that says 4–5, you are left with no other option than to give it the honour of game of the matchday, and probably the season! A mad, mad game started with Erling Haaland hitting a century of PL goals faster than anyone ever has. City looked like they were about to stroll to a statement win when they cruised into a 5–1 lead right after halftime, with Phil Foden running the show. But Fulham refused to let this turn into a routine beating. Sparked by a brilliant and fearless cameo from Samuel Chukwueze, who scored two identical goals inside six frantic minutes, the home side suddenly had the Cityzens rattled and the entire stadium believing in a miracle. Fulham almost made them pay too, with City only saved by a desperate Josko Gvardiol goal line clearance. To provide you with some context on how unbelievable the finishing was in this match, 5 total goals were scored in the second half from a combined xG of 1.44. A 9-goal thriller! Those who were at Craven Cottage got their money's worth and then some.

Biggest Surprise

Leeds United 3–1 Chelsea

Just when you think you have Chelsea figured out, they surprise you. Sometimes this surprise leaves their fans excited and hopeful, other times it leaves them frustrated. Chelsea arrived on a decent unbeaten run, of which the latest two fixtures included 3-0 demolition of Barcelona and a gutsy 1-1 draw against Arsenal. Leeds arrived on a losing run. But from the very first duel, you could tell the  Elland Road faithful weren’t buying the script. Leeds played like a team insulted by their league position, pressing with real purpose and punishing every lazy Chelsea mistake. Jaka Bijol bullying his way to the opener and Ao Tanaka smashing in an absolute rocket for the second left Chelsea stunned. The stadium was bouncing like it was 2002 again. This was a team fighting for its life. An Ipswich Town deja vu for the Blues from last year's December.

Best Team Performance

Everton 1–4 Newcastle United

Coming to the flip side of the game discussed just above, sometimes the best team performance is simply the side that plays with the clearest identity, the biggest engine, and the most conviction. And that was Leeds. You can talk tactics, xG graphs, shots taken, whatever — which to be fair Leeds were also superior in — they didn’t care that Chelsea had 71% possession, they cared what Chelsea did with it which turned out to be almost nothing. Leeds pressed intelligently, won the duels that mattered, and forced Chelsea into panic mode. Coming off four straight defeats, the level of organisation, aggression, and composure against the current Club World Cup champions Leeds showed was simply remarkable.

Player of the Matchday

Phil Foden (Manchester City)

In the nine-goal thriller at Craven Cottage it was easy to look lost among the chaos, but Phil Foden somehow managed to look like the onky calm, sensible human being on the pitch. City’s attacks flowed through him like he had the controller in his hands, he created some and finished a few. The first goal felt like we were in the 23/24 season, a trademark turn and out of the box strike. The second, reaching out with determination to get on the end of a through ball. And beyond the goals, it was the way he constantly found space, constantly dictated the tempo, and constantly kept City threatening even while their defence was actively trying to sabotage the entire afternoon. One of the main reason City built the huge 4-goal lead that just about saved them from becoming a meme.

Honorable mentions - Ben White (Arsenal), Cristian Romero (Tottenham) & Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)

Moment of the Matchday

Cristian Romero's overhead kick against Newcastle United

Watch Romero's overhead kick here

Nothing topped the sheer “no way” energy of Cristian Romero’s 96th-minute overhead kick at St James’ Park in matchday 14. Spurs were dead and it looked like Newcastle were going to extend their home PL winning run against the Lilywhites. And then out of nowhere, a centre-back decides throws himself backwards, scuffs an overhead kick that somehow finds a way through five defenders and a confused keeper, and rescues a point Spurs had absolutely no business taking. It wasn’t clean, it wasn’t pretty, but that’s exactly why it was even more unbelievable. A last-gasp, improvised, desperation-filled piece of chaos that rescued Spurs. Who knows if he had connected with the ball cleanly, a defender might have blocked it. Not even Romero knew where that ball was going, but somehow it ended up in the only place Tottenham needed.

Looking Ahead – Matchday 15 Fixtures (IST Kick-offs)

Saturday, 6 December (IST)

    • Aston Villa vs Arsenal - 6:00 pm

    • Bournemouth vs Chelsea - 8:30 pm

    • Everton vs Nottingham Forest - 8:30 pm

    • Manchester City vs Sunderland - 8:30 pm

    • Newcastle vs Burnley - 8:30 pm

    • Tottenham vs Brentford - 8:30 pm

    • Leeds vs Liverpool - 11:00 pm

    Sunday, 7 December (IST)

        • Brighton vs West Ham - 7:30 pm

        • Fulham vs Crystal Palace - 10:00 pm

        Tuesday, 9 December (IST)

        • Wolves vs Manchester United - 1:30 am

        by ShotBlogged


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