This past week was a rollercoaster of emotions in the world of football, featuring a myriad of thrilling moments, comebacks, own goals, red cards, and jaw-dropping performances. Here’s a rundown of this week’s edition of The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. **The Good..** **The 7-Goal Thriller At Old Trafford** When Manchester United visited Anfield last season, it was a seven-goal spectacle, with all seven goals going to Liverpool in a classic beat down by Klopp’s side. Sunday’s FA Cup encounter between them produced another seven-goal thriller, but this time it was a more evenly contested affair as the Red Devils emerged 4-3 winners. Manchester United had maintained an unbeaten home record against Liverpool in the FA Cup for over a century, and they needed two comebacks to preserve that streak. Interestingly, all seven goals were scored by seven different players, including Liverpool’s Mo Salah, whose goal marked his eighth at Old Trafford—making him the visiting player with the most goals in the 21st century at the stadium. Amad Diallo sealed the victory for Erik ten Hag’s side in the 121st minute, only to be sent off seconds later. For the fans of these sides, it was a somewhat frustrating watch as both teams played as much defense as baby guarding a bank vault. For the neutrals, however, it was one hell of an entertaining game.
**Coventry City’s Superb Comeback** Coventry ensured the magic of the FA Cup remained alive following their late 3-2 comeback victory over Wolves in the Midlands Derby. To be entirely honest, this was a deserved win for Coventry, who were underdogs coming into this game. After a scoreless first half, Ellis Simms gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute, with Coventry feeling like they could have scored more. Despite their efforts, Wolves’ goalkeeper Jose Sa made incredible saves to keep his team in the game. Rayan Ait-Nouri and Hugo Bueno then turned the game around for Wolves with goals in the 83rd and 88th minutes, seemingly securing the win for Gary O’Neil’s side. However, Coventry’s Elis Simms got his second of the game with an equaliser in the 97th minute, and Haji Wright sealed the deal with a 90+10 winner, stunning Molineux Stadium. **Vinicius Jr. & Real Madrid Keep Rolling** Girona’s defeat at Getafe on Saturday made Real Madrid’s 4-2 victory over Osasuna even more significant, extending their lead at the top of LaLiga to 8 points. This cushion of breathing room is crucial as they gear up to take on Manchester City in the Champions League Quarter-final—a fixture bound to be physically and mentally demanding. Vinicius Jr. shone once again for Los Blancos, netting a brace and maintaining his impressive streak of 5 goals in his last 4 games for the league leaders. Perhaps the biggest winner of this game was back-up goalie Andriy Lunin who, despite conceding twice, was in outstanding form for Real Madrid. Speaking after the game, Carlo Ancelotti said: **“We’ve found a great goalkeeper in Lunin, he can give us guarantees. We will see how Courtois [and Militao] will return after serious injuries. We’re not in a rush.”** **Harry Kane Sets Yet Another Record** With every Harry Kane goal comes a new record, and we might have to get used to this. The English captain was on target yet again as Bayern Munich steamrolled Darmstadt 5-2 on the road. Harry Kane’s goal saw him set the record for the most goals in a player’s debut Bundesliga season (31) as he also became the only player in football history to score 30+ league goals in an English top-flight season and 30+ goals in a single Bundesliga campaign. After months of mediocrity, the Bavarians seemed to have finally found their groove with their last couple of Bundesliga results going their way. They’ve now won 3 games in a row across all competitions, scoring a jaw-dropping 16 goals in that span. And while Bayer Leverkusen might be out of their reach in the Bundesliga, they’ll be confident that they can hold their own against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.
**Alex Pfeiffer Makes NWSL History** In a thrilling opening day for the NWSL season, Alex Pfeiffer made headlines by scoring the decisive goal in Kansas City Current’s 5-4 victory over Portland Thorns. Hailing from St. Louis, Pfeiffer made her mark as the fourth-youngest player to join the NWSL when she signed with the KC Current at just 15 years and 338 days old last year. On Saturday, she etched her name in the record books once again by becoming the youngest player to score in the league at 16 years and 110 days—a record previously held ironically by Thorns’ Olivia Moultrie (set in 2022), who was on the opposing side. Pfeiffer’s remarkable left-footed strike from outside the box initially put the KC Current in a commanding 5-1 lead, seemingly securing a routine victory. However, a late surge from the Thorns saw them net three goals, turning the last minutes into a nerve-wracking affair. **Almeria Gets First League Win of the Season** You read that right! With relegation all but confirmed, the discussion around 20th place Almeria was if they were going to finish the league campaign without a win. Coming into the weekend, they had 10 draws and 18 losses in 28 league games, but Pepe Mel worked his magic in his first game in charge of the club. Leo Baptistao’s 14th minute strike put them ahead at Las Palmas and they somehow held on. It was one of only 3 total shot attempts by the visitors with Las Palmas trying (but not succeeding) with 21 attempts of their own. They were the last winless team in Europe left and this win has seen them shake that tag off. 29th time’s a charm, right?
**The Bad…** **Brentford In Trouble?** Brentford faced another setback in the Premier League, falling 2-1 to Vincent Kompany’s Burnley. Their struggles in 2024 continue, with just two wins in 12 matches across all competitions. Even more worrying is their results in EPL matches where they’ve only gathered 7 points out of a possible 45 in their last 15 games, leaving them just 4 points above the relegation zone with 9 games remaining. These are worrying times for Thomas Frank whose side have been overachievers since gaining promotion in the 2021/22 season, but now face their first fight for survival.
**Pedro Neto Out For The Season** Wolves’ manager, Gary O’Neil, revealed that Portuguese winger Pedro Neto might be sidelined for the rest of the season. This disappointing news follows the team’s humiliating defeat to Coventry and deals a significant blow to Neto, who has been enjoying his most productive season with the club. Neto has contributed 11 assists for Wolves this season, with 9 of them coming in the Premier League, placing him tied for the second-highest assist tally in the league. Unfortunately, Neto is grappling with a recurring hamstring injury, which previously kept him out of action for 10 games between November and December. With only 10 games remaining in the league, there’s little hope for a full recovery before the final few weeks, casting doubt on his availability for the Portugal national football team ahead of EURO 2024. **A Disasi-ter At Stamford Bridge** Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke both found the net in stoppage time to secure a dramatic victory over Leicester City, booking their spot in the FA Cup semi-finals. While Cole Palmer had a superb performance, contributing a goal and an assist to increase his season tally to 16 goals and 12 assists across all competitions, it was his teammate Axel Disasi who stole the headlines with one of the most bizarre own goals seen in a while. Admittedly under pressure, Disasi, who was about 40 yards away from the goal, attempted what he believed to be a back pass towards goal. If only he had looked up, he would have noticed an open goal with the goalkeeper, Robert Sánchez, standing well off his line. It could have spelled disaster for the Blues, but fortunately for them, Chukwuemeka and Madueke came to the rescue, sparing Disasi’s blushes. **Juventus Keep Sinking** With just one victory in their last eight Serie A matches, what was once a tightly contested battle between Inter and Juventus for the Scudetto now sees the Old Lady potentially finishing third, or even lower. The home draw against Genoa adds to a string of disappointing results, as they got leapfrogged by Milan on Sunday. Adding to their woes, Dušan Vlahović, who was suspended in last week’s 2-2 draw against Atalanta, received a late red card in this match and will be absent for the upcoming clash against Lazio on the 30th of this month. With Serie A well out of reach, Juventus’ hopes for silverware now rest solely on the Coppa Italia, and one of our betting tips is for them to win it.
**The Ugly: The Demolition of Spurs** Game of Thrones fans will be familiar with this quote: **“Madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.”** Here’s one for football fans: **“Excellence and mediocrity are two sides of the same Tottenham-coin. Every time they step onto the pitch, the football gods toss a coin in the air…”,** You can probably guess the rest. Following a fantastic 4-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park last weekend, Spurs had one of their worst performances of the season as they were thoroughly beaten by Fulham in the London Derby. Rodrigo Muniz scored twice in the 3-0 win to take his tally to 7 goals in his last 7 games for the Cottagers. For Spurs, they missed an excellent opportunity to (temporarily) move to 4th place. With games against West Ham, Newcastle, Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool still to come, their chances of a top 4 finish have taken a significant hit, and our bet of the day is for Aston Villa to hold on to that spot ahead of Spurs. [Cursed? Maybe not, but definitely very Spursy.](https://m.betking.com/blog/news/how-valid-is-the-tottenham-hotspur-curse/)
Join the best betting site in Nigeria today; [Register with BetKing](https://m.betking.com/account/registration) to get value for your money by betting on the most exciting football fixtures, including [English Premier League](https://m.betking.com/sports/events/prematch/football/england/premier-league) matches.