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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 22 Recap (2025/26)

          

Full Results (Matchday 22)

  • Manchester United 2–0 Manchester City

  • Chelsea 2–0 Brentford

  • Leeds 1–0 Fulham 

  • Liverpool 1–1 Burnley

  • Sunderland 2–1 Crystal Palace

  • Tottenham 1–2 West Ham

  • Nottingham Forest 0–0 Arsenal

  • Wolves 0–0 Newcastle 

  • Aston Villa 0–1 Everton

  • Brighton 1–1 Bournemouth

Game of the Matchday 

Tottenham 1–2 West Ham

This London derby had everything from late winners to world class saves, but the story was all about West Ham surprising everyone by finally snapping that brutal 10-game winless streak in the Premier League. Under Nuno Espírito Santo, they showed a massive amount of grit to hang in there against a Spurs side that has been 'Frankly' disastrous at home, winning just 2 of their 11. The game was on a knife-edge until the very end when Callum Wilson, who has been amidst all the transfer speculations, popped up as the hero, slotting home a late winner that could be the turning point in their fight to stay up. This defeat has left Thomas Frank firmly under the pump. Are we about to see the last of him as the Spurs boss?

Biggest Surprise

The top 4 all drop points

The top 4, consisting of Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool all dropped points in a surprising manner. It’s just so rare to see the "big boys" all slip up at once. While City were losing the derby, Arsenal got stuck in a 0-0 grind at Forest, Villa were stunned at home by Everton, and Liverpool couldn't find a way past Burnley at Anfield. What makes it even more surprising was that the bottom 5 teams (Leeds, Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Burnley and Wolves) all held their ground while the title favorites fell apart. How often does that happen!

Best Team Performance

Manchester United 2–0 Manchester City

This was absolutely a candidate for the biggest surprise of the matchday, but the level of dominance Manchester United showed against Manchester City was simply too great not to stake their claim as the team with the best overall performance this matchday. All eyes were on Michael Carrick for his first game as interim boss, and he absolutely nailed the game plan. United didn't try to out-possess City, instead, they sat deep, stayed incredibly organized, and hit them on the break like a whirlwind. Classic United. To beat the defending champions 2-0 while keeping a clean sheet in your first game back in the dugout is a massive statement. And to think it could have been much worse for City, had Gianluigi Donnarumma not repeatedly come to their rescue. United winning against their rivals is not a surprise, but the way they completely outplayed, outclassed and embarrassed a Pep Guardiola side surely is.

Player of the Matchday

Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

Bruno Fernandes was back to his absolute best this week, and he’s the easy pick for Player of the Matchday. With Carrick switching back to a 4-2-3-1, Bruno returned to his favoured No. 10 role and he looked like a man reborn! He was the heartbeat of the derby, creating a whopping six big chances for his teammates, while also putting in a massive shift defensively with four tackles and eight recoveries. He assisted the opener for Mbeumo and looked like he was everywhere at once. It was a classic "Captain’s performance" that reminded everyone why he’s one of the best in the league when played in the right spot.

Honorable mentions - James Garner (Everton), Mateus Fernandes (West Ham) & Florian Wirtz (Liverpool)

Moment of the Matchday

Lukas Nmecha wins it late against Fulham

Watch Nmecha's winner here

While the headlines recently have been going to his strike partner, the most clinical moment of the weekend came from Leeds' Lukas Nmecha. When it looked like Leeds were heading for a 0-0 draw at Elland Road, Nmecha made a dash forward and swept home the cross from Etham Ampadu to send the Leeds faithful into a euphoric state. What makes this even more sweet, was the fact that in the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage, a stoppage time Gabriel Gudmundsson own-goal gave Fulham their first win of the season, denying Leeds of a hard-fought away point. What goes around, comes around!

Looking Ahead – Matchday 23 Fixtures (IST Kick-offs)

Saturday, 24 January (IST)

    • West Ham vs Sunderland - 6:00 pm

    • Burnley vs Tottenham - 8:30 pm

    • Fulham vs Brighton - 8:30 pm

    • Manchester City vs Wolves - 8:30 pm

    • Bournemouth vs Liverpool - 11:00 pm

    Sunday, 25 January (IST)

    • Brentford vs Nottingham Forest - 7:30 pm

    • Crystal Palace vs Chelsea - 7:30 pm

    • Newcastle vs Aston Villa - 7:30 pm

    • Arsenal vs Manchester United - 10:00 pm

    Tuesday, 27 January (IST)

    • Everton vs Leeds - 1:30 am

    by ShotBlogged


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