Another week of the MLS season passed us by and we saw Sporting KC continue their red hot form and further prove their credentials as arguably the best side in MLS. A difficult win at home against Real Salt Lake saw them prolong their perfect start to the season and extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to eight points. Elsewhere, the remaining games in this MLS round did not bring about any major surprises. In a battle of the second seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference, San Jose held the Red Bulls at home to an exciting 2-2 draw. Unsurprisingly, leading goal scorers Chris Wondolowski, Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper were all in the thick of the scoring mix, either assisting or scoring every goal that was scored in the match.
In Europe, the title race in England took a somewhat interesting turn. Manchester City asserted themselves in the title picture again with a 6-1 thrashing of Norwich this weekend, which included a Carlos Tevez hat trick. Manchester United surprisingly lost against Wigan midweek, but turned things around with a 4-0 win against Aston Villa this weekend. As a result, the gap at the top is five points, with the teams still set to face each other. Additionally, the FA Cup semi-finals took place this weekend with a hard fought Liverpool victory to book their place in the finals. Thus far underachieving Andy Carroll certainly did well to win over some Liverpool fans with a late winner. In the other semi-final, Chelsea thrashed Tottenham 5-1. After some contraversy over Juan Mata’s goal, the second for Chelsea, the recent struggles over Tottenham persisted with a disappointing final result.
In Spain things remained much like they were previously. Real Madrid settled the claims of the title slipping out of their hands with an impressive midweek 4-1 win against city rivals Atletico Madrid which saw a hat trick from Ronaldo. Madrid followed up this performance with another impressive 3-1 victory on the weekend at home to Sporting Gijon. Elsewhere, Barcelona picked up a difficult away win at Levante after going down in the first half. Two second half goals from Leo Messi where enough to secure the three points for the away side. The results confirmed that if Barcelona are to have any hopes of regaining the title, they will need to get the three points when the two teams clash next weekend in Barcelona.
Unfortunately in Italy this week we were struck with another tragedy that transcends way beyond just the sport. Similar to the horrific accident Fabrice Muamba suffered only a few weeks ago, Piermario Morosini of Livorno in Serie B suffered what is presumed to be a heart attack and collapsed on the field. However unfortunately, unlike Muamba, Morosini did not survive the tragic accident. No games in Italy were played in response to such a tragedy and it is moments like these that remind us that soccer is just a sport. Furthermore, they reshape our perspective in showing that no matter how much we care and obsess over the game, there are many things in our lives whose significance extends far beyond just the sport. As with Muamba, the support from the global, not just soccer, community has been terrific. When it be through news outlets or social media outlets like Twitter, there have been numerous messages supporting Morosini and trying to keep strong to overcome such a tragedy. Certainly our thoughts are with the family and friends of Morosini and I hope that we can all continue to send our best wishes to those people.
(image courtesy of AP)
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