![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Didn't the casino incident happened a few days earlier? Alexis definitely looks lost, true.
Pizzi doesn't seem to be a very good manager. Any chance he'll leave after the WC (in case Chile qualify)?
Brazil comfortably won 2-0 against Ecuador (goals here, courtesy of Paulinho and Coutinho
).
Peru won 2-1 against Bolivia. Two screamers for Peru (Flores and Cueva) and a Zlatan-esque goal by Bolivia's Alvarez, Bolivia were also close to equalizing in the last minute of the match, but one of their players shot the ball, and it went just over the bar.
So, Peru will be in the fight as well (they're just 2 points behind Argentina). 7 teams, 3.5 spots left, 3 matchdays to be played, 5 points of distance between the 2nd and the 8th placed team. It's do or die, from now on until the end.
edited 31st Aug '17 9:16:57 PM by Quag15
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
A couple of deals that were almost too late but got through anyway:
- Danny Drinkwater to Chelsea. When Leicester won the league, Drinkwater and Kante were essential to the way Leicester controlled games from midfield, restraining the opposition when they had the ball and then turning it into a quick counter-attack once the ball was won. Chelsea must have felt that Kante is missing something, so they brought his old partner in. Drinkwater will probable be on the bench for most games, though.
- Mamadou Sakho's transfer also went through at the last moment. Liverpool loaned him to Crystal Palace last season, and it seems everyone was happy enough with the result that the transfer has now become permanent.
Today's European and African qualifiers:
Europe, group E: Montenegro won 3-0 at Kazakhstan (goals here)
. Romania won 1-0 against Armenia (goal and saved penalty by the Armenian GK here), with Armenia being down to 10 men at a certain point, and Maxim (not the magazine) scoring in stoppage time. Denmark destroyed Poland 4-0 (goals here). Judging by how the group looks after these matches, there's gonna be a three-way battle for the 1.5 spot between Poland, Montenegro and Denmark (Poland has 16 points, the other two have 13 points).
Group C: Northern Ireland won 3-0 at San Marino (two goals by Magennis and a penalty by Davis), Norway won 2-0 at home against Azerbaijan (Joshua King's goal and and own goal by Sadygov), and the Czech Republic lost 1-2 against Germany (goals here). Unless there's some cataclysmic result(s), Northern Ireland will take the play-off spot, thanks to Germany's win, which increased the distance between the Norns and the Czechs.
Group F: Lithuania suffered an embarassing 0-3 defeat against Scotland (goals here), England won 4-0 at Malta (goals here, including two by Harry Kane), and Nemec scored the goal that gave Slovakia the win over Slovenia. England is still on top, and Slovakia's important win puts them 4 points above Slovenia and Scotland.
In Africa, Ghana surprisingly drew 1-1 at home with Congo (goals here) and are at risk of not qualifying, Nigeria destroyed Cameroon by 4-0 (goals here, by Ighalo, "THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND" John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and Iheanacho; Cape Verde got a necessary win by 2-1 against South Africa in order to not lose hope in regards to qualifying, Tunisia won 2-1 against DR Congo, and Morocco annihilated Mali by 6-0, with Mali being down to 9 players a few minutes after the 3-0 was scored.
In the CONCACAF, United States vs. Costa Rica will begin in half an hour.
edited 1st Sep '17 4:05:39 PM by Quag15
Officially intimidated
USA 0 - 2 Costa Rica
Ouch. Good thing the CONCACAF qualifying format is stupidly lenient, because the US would have a much harder time in CONMEBOL or, to a lesser extent, UEFA.
Also, Barcelona ultimately didn't receive any new player this final transfer day. And hell is starting to break loose already.
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Dutch fans seem to acknowledge that the new generation isn't that talented, especially compared to the previous one (van Persie, van Bommel, Sneijder, Robben...), but they still think their national team should do better. After all, Iceland isn't exactly riddled with talent yet they always manage to hold their own no matter the opponent.
So, now that I am not on a cell phone anymore, what I gathered from the game is mostly that to my great joy, the Kanté/Pogba midfield works wonders. Admittedly the opponents weren't stellar but still, they were so dominant I am less worried about the lack of consistency of our fullbacks (Sidibé in particular is very similar to the fullbacks of the great Brazil, Cafu and Roberto Carlos, which is super dangerous on the offense, but sometimes making glaring defensive mistakes). Pogba still makes his "I'm 2 good 4 you" mistakes, but the Kanté twins can make up for that. He is usually focussed when the opponent is good, so I won't blame him.
Lloris had one save to do. He did it. Makes up for the loss in Sweden because of him, as with that goal the Dutch would have tied the game. Kurzawa was helped by how inoffensive the Dutch attack was and how absolutely superb Lemar was on his side, but he is still the weak link of the team - can't wait for Mendy to be back. It's not a huge criticism, he is a good player, but we are kinda stacked at the moment. Plus Sidibé was more consistent and also combined well with Coman. Kanté crushed the Oranje midfield (look at 1'52 & 2'20...). Pogba will always make me both mad (because sometimes he is overconfident) and amazed (because he is a unique talent). Lemar was the best blue player on the pitch without a doubt. Even without his goals, he ruled his side with his amazing passing ability and his sweet, sweet left foot. Coman was a pleasant surprise for a guy who is at best our fifth best winger at the moment, I hope he keeps building confidence during the year (although I have no idea how you can have all of them playing at the same time). Griezmann scored despite his bad start in the season (expelled during the first Liga game...), and once again showed that he is great when he plays with Giroud, who was his usual self and gave an assist.
I am slowly growing to like Deschamps' strategy, which is pretty much "put Big Bulky Ollie for 60 minutes to wear off the defence..." - especially since his qualities are opposite to Griezmann's, meaning that it requires extra focus from the defenders to adapt to them, plus Giroud really is a powerhouse in the box - "...and then for the last 30 you switch him for dragsters like Mbappé and Dembélé". Sure, I'd like for France to reliably secure early, comfortable leads, but we tend to finish really strong when opposite defences have to deal with super-fast and technical wingers while already tired. It's similar to MU right now where the sub winger is the one who scores, not the starting one.
Now, if only Deschamps and Benzema could come to an arrangement, that would give us great tactical flexibility.
Deschamps probably considers Benzema to be too much of a destabilizing influence, after all that past blackmail debacle or whatever. Lacazette deserves more game time, imo.
The goals from the match between the US and Costa Rica are here.
Mexico has ensured qualification, with a 1-0 win over Panama (goal here), one day after Japan secured theirs.
Honduras won 2-1 at Trinidad & Tobago's stadium. Goals by Lopez and Elis, and a penalty by Jones. T&T's hopes are pretty much over, while Honduras, Panama and the US are probably gonna have a 3-way battle for the remaining 1.5 spots (I can see Costa Rica winning and ensuring qualification 3 days from now).
Well, Zambia is winning 2-0 against Algeria. Looks like Cameroon and Algeria will be missing the WC, with Nigeria being way ahead of them, if the match ends like this.
EDIT: Zambia 3-1 Algeria. Goals here. To think Algeria pulled back, only to then suffer a goal against 10-men Zambia near the 90' mark. Algeria and Cameroon are pretty much out, unless Nigeria somehow collapses in the next 3 matches (which is unlikely to happen).
edited 2nd Sep '17 8:05:01 AM by Quag15
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Finland managed to hold on to their 1-0 lead against Iceland, securing Finland's first win in a competitive match in what feels like years. The players looked really committed, and it seemed that they had a system and tactics that they had agreed to as a team, which hasn't been the case in a long time. This win was deserved, in my opinion. Iceland had most of the possession but they didn't manage to put together many scoring chances, although they did often get a cross in to the box, only for Finland's keeper or defenders to win it. Finland had a bunch of chances, but poor decision-making by the forwards meant that none of the real chances got converted. Instead, the goal came from a free kick from pretty far away.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have registered their 25-player squad for the Premier League.
Goalkeepers:
Deyan Iliev, Petr Cech, David Ospina, Matt Macey. (Iliev and Macey are home-grown at the club.)
Defenders:
Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac, Nacho Monreal, Hector Bellerin, Mathieu Debuchy, Rob Holding, Calum Chambers. (Bellerin is home-grown at the club, while Chambers and Holding are home-grown at other UK clubs.)
Midfielders:
Mohamed Elneny, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka, Mesut Özil, Francis Coquelin. (Ramsey, Wilshere, and Coquelin are home-grown at the club.)
Forwards:
Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud, Alexandre Lacazette, Chuba Akpom, Daniel Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez. (Walcott and Akpom are home-grown at the club, while Welbeck is home-grown but not at Arsenal.)
Three things are notable about this:
- Arsenal have a lot of home-grown players, even after selling/loaning several of them this window. 8 players are home-grown at Arsenal's academy, and a further 3 are home-grown but not at Arsenal.
- Cazorla is not registered - so he's not expected back before January, and will now not be eligible until he's registered (and the next opportunity for that is January.) That's a shame - he's one of Arsenal's top 3 players, and probably the hardest to replace because he's such a massive part of the way Arsenal play. Even with Özil and Alexis, when Cazorla has been fit, it's looked like Arsenal were built around him - which is largely the case, so you'd expect it to look that way.
- Despite loaning out the home-grown Martinez and selling home-grown Szczesny, Arsenal still have two 'keepers from the academy registered for this season. That's too many, in my opinion; Iliev isn't as good as Macey, and Macey isn't ready for first-team football. You need cover, but I would've preferred to keep Martinez as back-up and loan Iliev and Macey, instead. Oh, well.
Maybe I should also mention that Nelson, Maitland-Niles, and Iwobi count as under-21 players, and don't need to be registered.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Finnish goal and Icelandic red card here. Icelandic fans seem to be mad at the ref's performance, and it would be great if a rivalry between these Finland and Iceland began, due to the controversial performances by the refs in both matches.
In any case, the stakes in the match between Ukraine and Turkey just got higher with this result. Whoever wins will climb over Iceland for the play-off spot.
Georgia 1-1 Ireland (goals here). This draw is good for Serbia, who won 3-0 against Moldova (goals here).
Albania won 2-0 against Liechtenstein goals by Roshi and Agolli. The more important match (Spain - Italy) will begin in about 20 minutes and will more or less decide who of them will qualify and who will go to the play-offs (since it's probably unlikely they'll lose points in the next matches).
In Africa, Ivory Coast won 3-0 at Gabon's stadium (goals here, including two by Doumbia). Aubameyang was absent from the call-up, because reasons.
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Finland did seem to get a lot of decisions their way this time, especially towards the end of the first half (when at least one possible red card was given as just a yellow).
Iceland's red card is a bit soft, as well - there's not a whole lot of contact there. Then again, that same player had been given a yellow maybe 2 minutes earlier for much the same thing: Finland were breaking through, so Iceland's defender committed a late tackle with no hope of reaching the ball just to stop the counter-attack. That's normally supposed to be a yellow, so if you do it twice, that's a red, right?
I don't think the refereeing in this game was anywhere near as biased as it was in the reverse fixture, though.
I'm not too happy that Finland spent so much time drawing fouls (by slowing down after putting the ball forward to ensure that there'd be contact) and time-wasting, but that's pretty much what Iceland did against Finland before so it's basically just showing them what their tactics feel like when the other side is trying to play football. I'd prefer that nobody do that sort of thing, but I don't feel very bad when the victim is someone who does the same thing all the time.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Officially intimidated
Spain 3 - 0 Italy
The two Isco goals (the first was stationary, the second came as a result of a Counter-Attack) were impressive, as was Asensio's. Also, for the first time since June 2014, David Villa played alongside the national team, albeit for a brief period of time.
135 - 169 - 273 - 191 - 188 - 230 - 300
Spain - Italy goals here. The third goal was scored by Morata (with an assist by Ramos).
Seems like De Gea had lots of saves to make (there are also other highlights here). Still, Italy utterly failed tactically (which is something that doesn't usually happen). Isco was a beast and put Verratti in his pocket.
Israel 0-1 Macedonia (goal here). The Israeli fans booed the team and their captain Zahavi so much Zahavi threw away his arm band on the pitch. In fact, it seems that he was booed everytime he touched the ball.
Wales 1-0 Austria (goal here). Wales remains in the fight with Ireland and Serbia. Better luck next time, Austria (it's unlikely they'll recover from a five-point disadvantage in regards to second-placed Ireland, with 3 matchdays and 3 teams above them, even if Ireland and Serbia will face each other two/three days from now).
Ukraine won 2-0 against Turkey (goals here) and are now in second place above Iceland. Turkey might have blown away their aspirations tonight (and no, Turkey, you're not supposed to throw two balls onto the field
).
On the other hand, those Yarmolenko goals probably needed some VAR.
The match between Croatia and Kosovo was suspended/postponed due to heavy rain that turned the pitch into a water field. FIFA will announce later when it will be resumed. The match was 0-0 on the 26th minute.
In Africa, Senegal and Burkina Faso drew 0-0.
edited 2nd Sep '17 7:11:22 PM by Quag15
Officially intimidated
My bad, it was Morata. You're right.
Also, Boca defeated River by 1-0, goal by Jr. Benítez. It was a friendly, but in Argentina even friendlies are considered Serious Business, and River coach Gallardo was visibly bothered by how badly his team played.
edited 2nd Sep '17 9:46:35 PM by MyFinalEdits
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It is River and Boca, after all.
The match that was suspended yesterday was completed today. Croatia won 1-0 against Kosovo (courtesy of Vida) and they're at the top of the group, 2 points above Ukraine and 3 above Iceland. There will be at least a 3-way battle between these teams for the 1.5 spot.
Faroe Islands won 1-0 at home against Andorra ((goal here)).
Cyprus, who bravely won against Bosnia, now lost 1-0... against Estonia (goal scored near the end.) This loss may have ended their hopes of reaching the play-offs, depending on the other results today (Bosnia will very likely win against Gibraltar, anyway).
In group A, the Netherlands won 3-1 against Bulgaria (goals here), and Sweden comfortably demolished Belarus at the latter's stadium in Borisov (goals here). This means that the Netherlands and Sweden will likely duke it out between themselves on the 10th of October to see who will reach the play-off spot, unless they choke hard and Bulgaria take advantage.
More qualifiers next. The more interesting match is Greece vs. Belgium. If the latter win, they'll achieve qualification with two other matchdays yet to be played.
edited 3rd Sep '17 11:00:25 AM by Quag15
France 0-0 Luxemburg.
Well, that game was like the Euro finals all over again. France was clearly better, the opponent parked the bus, their GK was excellent, and luck decided to take a leave of absence. At least we didn't lose this time around.
In a way, it's good to have such a result after the Netherlands game, because it will stop people from becoming too comfy with our current team and give them a boost in motivation for the last two games so that it doesn't happen again.
Still freaking stupid to watch, France shot about 40 times, hit the posts 2 or 3 times, there were a couple of saves on the line - the kind of thing that usually happens once or twice in a game was seen six or seven times here. Worse, Luxemburg almost managed to score at the 80th minute, but this time we didn't get fucked like we did with Eder and he also hit the post.
Better get used to teams playing like this too, because it's going to happen time and time again from now on.
Well, looks like group A is getting more exciting. France had 30-something shots, but Luxembourg held out. 0-0 is the final result. France has just one more point than Sweden. ![[nja]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/user_ninja_2074.png "[nja]"){kind=small}
'd
The previous time France failed to beat Luxembourg was in... 1914. Franz Ferdinand was still alive and Charles de Gaulle was in his 20's.
In group H, Belgium has qualified, after winning 2-1 at Greece (goals here, scored in the space of 5 minutes). Looks like Greece and Bosnia will duke it out for the play-off spot (Bosnia won 4-0 against Gibraltar - goals by Dzeko, Kodro, Lulic and Dzeko again.
In group B, Switzerland won 3-0 at Latvia's stadium (goals by Seferovic, Dzemaili (who had missed a penalty minutes earlier), and Rodríguez. And...
Hungary 0-1 Portugal
The Hungarians played really dirty, and, as a result, they were down to 10 men. André Silva scored our goal in the beginning of the second half, and it was a slightly difficult game, due to Hungarian's overly deffensive approach and their constant fouls (some of which the ref let go). There was a slight rotation in the starting XI, but we managed to be in control (in spite of team anxiety in the final 10 minutes of the match) for most of it. Hungary still tried to score near the end, but Patrício denied it.
edited 3rd Sep '17 1:47:57 PM by Quag15
More qualifiers today: Cameroon and Nigeria drew 1-1 (goals here). This means that, depending on tomorrow's game between Zambia and Algeria, Nigeria will only have to win the match against the former a month from now to get qualified.
Lybia is winning 1-0 against Guinea, which means they're pretty much both out.
In Europe:
Group E will be basically a three-way battle for the 1.5 spots between Poland, Montenegro and Denmark for the last two matchdays. The latter won 4-1 at Armenia (goals here, including a hat-trick by Delaney), Montenegro won 1-0 against Romania (goal here). Poland comfortably won 3-0 against Kazakhstan (goals here).
In group C, Azerbaijan won 5-1 against San Marino. I could post all the links, but I'll just link SAN MARINO's GOAL WOHOOOOOO! (by Palazzi). Germany demolished Norway 6-0 (goals here, including a brace by Timo Werner and a goal by Mário Gomez - for the latter, press that button!). Northern Ireland won 2-0 against Czech Republic (goals here) and have secured the play-off. Which means things are pretty much wrapped up here, since Germany only needs to draw the match against the Norns to qualify.
In group F, England had to battle with Slovakia to win 2-1. Lobotka scored first for the visitors, but Dier equalized. In the second half, Rashford scored the other goal. Scotland won 2-0 against Malta (goals here), and Slovenia comfortably won 4-0 against Lithuania (goals by Ilicic (penalty), Verbic and Birsa. Can't find the 2-0 goal. With these results, England only has to win the next match to qualify, while Slovakia, Scotland and Slovenia will duke it out for the play-off spot.
edited 4th Sep '17 1:49:46 PM by Quag15
The Asian qualifiers are almost over (over one match left, and then the play-off). There is heartbreak and dreams kept alive.
First, in group B, Australia had to put up with a resilient Thailand (2-1, goals here)... and resilient posts. Saudi Arabia - Japan will begin in 20 minutes. If Saudi Arabia wins, it's them who will qualify, while Australia will go to the play-off. Iraq won 1-0 against the UAE (highlights here).
Now, for the heartbreaks and dreams. In group A, Uzbekistan drew 0-0 with South Korea (highights here), and failed to score near the end (which would have directly qualified them for the first time ever). Not only did they fail to qualify, they didn't even got to the play-off, because Iran and Syria drew 2-2 (goals here). First goals conceded by Queiroz' team in this round, impressively enough. Syria's last-minute equalizer puts them in the play-offs. The dream remains for a country who's still in deep despair. South Korea, due to these results, has qualified (9th time in a row, but with a team that has declined in quality).
Syria will face either Australia or Saudi Arabia in the play-off, and, if they beat them, they'll face the 4th-placed CONCACAF team.
China had barely any hopes, but they still won 2-1 (highlights here) at Qatar.
In Africa, Ghana destroyed Congo 5-1 at the latter's stadium (goals here) and will be chasing Uganda and Egypt (who will be playing tonight).
edited 5th Sep '17 10:38:50 AM by Quag15
Well, Saudi Arabia did won against Japan and are now qualified. Goal here. Australia will face Syria in the play-offs.
There are still two matches being played, but let's go to Africa now:
In group D, Cabo Verde turned things around in these two matches against South Africa. After the win a few days ago, they've won again, but this time in the latter's stadium. 2-1, with a brace by Garry Rodrigues. With this win, Cape Verde has now the same points as Burkina Faso (6 p.), who drew 2-2 with Senegal (goals by Bertrand Traoré, Ismaila Sarr, Sadio Mané and an own goal by Seydou N'Diaye. Senegal has 5 points, South Africa has 4.
In group C, Gabon won 2-1 at Ivory Coast (goals here). If Morocco wins, they'll climb above the Ivorians.
In group A, DR Congo and Tunisia drew 2-2. The former will probably regret not winning this, since it would've put them on the same amount of points as the latter.
In group E, Egypt gave an important step with a 1-0 win over Uganda (goal by Mohamed Salah).
edited 5th Sep '17 1:09:30 PM by Quag15
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
In European qualifiers, two teams with no hope of qualifying met in Albania: Kosovo v Finland. The game ended in a surprise victory for Finland, a late goal by Pukki after an opportunity he created for Hämäläinen was stopped by the Kosovo 'keeper. It was a very close game, as one might expect, with neither side building very many chances.
It's nice to see Finland play some football again after several years of the players and management not caring enough to even build a system. It's also good that there are new players coming through, looking about as ready for the national team as the current regulars do.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
And now, onto Europe:
Group I will be on fire for the final two matchdays in October. Turkey won 1-0 against Croatia with a goal by Tosun, and Iceland won 2-0 against Ukraine (goals by Sigurdsson). With these results, Croatia and Iceland have 16 points, Turkey and Ukraine have 14 points. It will be do or die for these four teams and the 1.5 spots in dispute. In the same group, Finland got their second consecutive win (1-0 over Kosovo, goal by Pukki.
In group D, Wales won 2-0 in Moldova (goals here), Serbia won 1-0 in Ireland (goal here). Austria drew 1-1 with Georgia (goals by Gvilia and Schaub. With these results, Serbia only needs a win to qualify, while Wales and Ireland will probably duke it out for the play-off spot on the final matchday.
In group G, Italy unimpressively won 1-0 against Israel (goal by Immobile, Macedonia and Albania drew 1-1 (goals by Roshi and Trajkovski), and Spain did an homage to old-school destructions with a 8-0 win in Liechtenstein (keep in mind that Spain had already won by the same amount a year ago against them, tho). All goals here.
The CONMEBOL matchday began a while ago.
edited 5th Sep '17 1:54:00 PM by Quag15
Algeria won't be going to the WC. Zambia won against them by 1-0 (goal here).
Mali and Morocco drew 0-0.
In South America, oh boy, oh boy.
Already eliminated Bolivia managed to snatch 3 points from Chile. The now well-known high altitude and a a penalty scored by Arce is now putting Chile at serious risk. Especially since Peru won 2-1 at Ecuador's stadium (goals here, including the second Peruvian goal, by my man Paolo Hurtado!)
Colombia drew 1-1 at home with Brazil. Goals here, with Colombia's being scored by Falcao.
Argentina - Venezuela is about to begin, and then Paraguay - Uruguay will follow.
In the CONCACAF, the US has drawn 1-1 at Honduras (goals here). Apparently, it was a really shitty performance by the US team.
Uruguay won 2-1 against Paraguay (goals here) and are close to qualifying.
The surprise tonight is the 1-1 draw between Argentina and Venezuela (goals here). Looks like it's not only in Chile that the alarms are being raised.
Late EDIT: Costa Rica drew 1-1 with already qualified Mexico (goals here), and will only a point or two get qualified themselves. Panama killed whatever hope Trinidad & Tobago had left with a 3-0 win (goals: Torres (spectacular run & goal), own goal by Mitchell, and Arroyo. The remaining 1.5 spots (assuming Costa Rica will qualify, which is pretty much a given) will be disputed by Panama (10 points), the US and Honduras (9 p., both of them).
edited 6th Sep '17 7:27:51 AM by Quag15
The League Cup groups are drawn. Our group is acessible, yet I don't feel confident enough, with our poor form and all that. Moreirense are the cup holders, but the coach that won them the title left a few months ago, Feirense are the more resilient challenger. Oliveirense is in the Segunda Liga, and should be, on paper, the easier opponent.
3 matches, short geographical distance, we'll see how it goes.
edited 7th Sep '17 6:51:54 AM by Quag15
Officially intimidated
Metz 1 - 5 PSG
The match was 1-1 until a Metz player was unfairly expelled. ![[tdown]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_down_emoticon_3571.png "[thumb down]"){kind=small}
Honestly, I wish there were more calls like this, because that is a tackle that should never, ever happen on a football pitch. The way Assou-Ekotto slided in, he could very well have caught Mbappé's ankle inbetween his two legs, and snapped it in half. That's exactly the kind of action that leads to broken tibia and fibula.
In that case, Assou-Ekotto should have slided in front of Mbappé to catch the ball, because those kind of tackles can "only" trip the attacker. If your tackle puts you straight through the attacker's body from behind, even if you also get the ball, it should 100% of the time be illegal and rewarded by a red card.
Rugby made the right call by setting rules on types of fouls that lead to straight yellow of red cards. Even if the defender realizes what he does and tries to salvage it, and the attacker gets up immediately afterwards, the movement in itself is illegal. There are several fouls that lead to being yellowed (and it's a 10-min exclusion in rugby), like going shoulder first into a ruck zone and especially "spear tackles" (I love the French word for it by the way, "plaquage cathédrale", cathedral tackle) where the defender lifts the attacker in the air.
In the case of spear tackles, there even is a clear limit between what leads to yellow, and what leads to red: if the attacker falls down on his back, it's yellow, but if he falls on his shoulder, neck or head, it's red. Even if he broke the fall with his arms or fall at super slow speed because the defender tried to grab him to limit the fall's speed.
Pretty sure they could do this in football too. Body tackle from the side is yellow, from the back it's red. Even if it catches the ball, it doesn't matter. Safety should always come first.
Edit: so...Crisis in Liverpool? Klopp out? I mean, Arsenal only lost 4-0 before cries of their season being ruined forever started to emerge.
As someone put it, Oxlade-Chamberlain is now 0-9 on his last two games. Attaboy!
And to get back to the original topic of this post, imagine if Mané had touched the ball before burying his boot in Ederson's face - would that be considered "okay, because he got the ball"?
edited 9th Sep '17 6:45:51 AM by Julep
Man, that was embarrasing. Vidal looked lost (during his day off he went partying with some friends at a casino and things got ugly, whether he wasn't involved or just snuck out when the cops got there is debatable, but anyway he was out of it today ) and the offensive was sinking. I wonder if Alexis' failed trade affected him.
Wake me up at your own risk.