2016-17 is the season of the scorpion, apparently. The new year may be fewer than 12 hours old (on American shores), but the Premier League goal of the (calendar) year may have already been scored.
[ RECAP: Gunners grab 2-0 win, go 3rd ]
Step aside, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and make way for Olivier Giroud. Alexis Sanchez provided the cross, Giroud provided the scorpion-kick finish, and that’s really all that needs to be said about that.
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A handful of Mexicans abroad debuted with their respective clubs over the weekend, but none were at par with Rodolfo Pizarro’s.
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder scored on his fourth touch as an Inter Miami player, two minutes after coming off the bench. Pizarro’s right-footed strike proved to be historic, as it became the first official goal in club history.
Also on Saturday, in different regions of the United States, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Alan Pulido, respectively, made their debuts. Chicharito played 78 minutes in Los Angeles Galaxy’s 2-1 preseason loss to Toronto FC, while Pulido logged 61 minutes in Sporting Kansas City’s scoreless bout.
Qatar’s new marquee star, Marco Fabian, debuted in Al-Sadd’s hard-earned cup win.
Here is a list of several other Mexico national team affiliates making a name for themselves (or not) outside of Mexico this weekend.
Premier League
Raul Jimenez, Wolverhampton Wanderers — Jimenez started and played all 90 minutes in Wolves’ 0-0 draw against Leicester City. The forward registered four shots off target and one blocked.
La Liga
Hector Herrera, Atletico Madrid — Herrera was not called up by Diego Simeone for Atletico Madrid’s draw against Valencia on Friday.
Andres Guardado, Real Betis — Guardado dressed but didn’t take the field on Sunday.
Diego Lainez, Real Betis — The 19-year-old was is out after undergoing appendicitis surgery.
Nestor Araujo, Celta Vigo — Araujo played a vital part in La Liga’s most surprising outcome of the matchweek – Celta’s 2-2 draw with Real Madrid. The defender recorded eight clearances, one interceptions and two tackles throughout the 90 minutes.
Serie A
Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Napoli — Lozano, Napoli’s most expensive player in team history, was not called up by Gennaro Gattuso on Sunday. The 24-year-old and the Italian manager seem to be on different pages, and the situation doesn’t appear to be getting better with time. It might be time to panic for Lozano’s development in Italy.
Primeira Liga
Jesus “Tecatito” Corona, FC Porto — Tecatito started and played 84 minutes in Porto’s 2-1 victory over Vitoria, which was marred by racist abuse towards Moussa Marega by Vitoria supporters.
Eredivisie
Erick Gutierrez, PSV Eindhoven — Gutierrez played the final five minutes of PSV’s 3-0 thumping of AOD Den Haag.
Edson Alvarez, Ajax — After several weeks of little activity, Alvarez seems to be making his way back into Ajax’s starting lineup. On Sunday, the Mexican defender played his second set of 90 minutes in four days.
Jupiler Pro League
Omar Govea, Zulte Waregem — Govea played 76 minutes in Zulte’s 2-1 loss on Sunday.
Major League Soccer
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, LA Galaxy – In front of a semi-full Dignity Sports Park, Chicharito made his Los Angeles Galaxy debut. The storied forward, however, failed to score despite seeing a decent amount of chances. Galaxy open the MLS season against Houston Dynamo on February 29.
Rodolfo Pizarro, Inter Miami – It took two minutes for an Rodolfo Pizarro to score on his unofficial Inter Miami debut. Ironically, the brand-new MLS franchise has yet to announce the signing of the 26-year-old from Monterrey.
Alan Pulido, Sporting Kansas City – Pulido played 61 minutes in SKC’s scoreless, preseason draw against Real Salt Lake.
Elsewhere around the globe:
Ulises Davila, Wellington Phoenix – Davila played all 90 minutes in Phoenix’s 1-0 victory over Melbourne City. The attacker also managed to pick up a yellow card throughout the match.
Marco Fabian, Al-Sadd – Fabian debuted for Xavi’s Al-Sadd on Saturday, playing all 120 minutes in his team’s win via penalties.
Hector Moreno, Al-Gharafa – Moreno and Al-Gharafa were inactive this weekend.
Real Madrid’s draw against relegation-battling Celta Vigo highlights La Liga’s Sunday action.
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Real Madrid 2-2 Celta Vigo
Celta’s Santi Mina scored in 85th minute to give a depleted Celta Vigo a precious point at the Santiago Bernabeu, spoiling Eden Hazard‘s return to Real Madrid’s lineup after a notable absence.
Madrid’s eighth draw of the season moves champions Barcelona just one point behind Zinedine Zidane’s side.
Returning from ankle injury that kept his out of action for three months, Hazard returned to the pitch in fine style, leading all players on the field in chances created with three and earning a penalty that Sergio Ramos converted to put Real Madrid ahead.
Hazard – and all of his flair – left the field in the 70th minute, granting Vinicius Junior the final 20 minutes of the match.
Ramos’ sixth goal of the season builded on Toni Kroos’ left-footed strike early in the latter half of the match. Real Madrid, more or less, were cruising against Celta, who had a goal to their name following Fyodor Smolov’s early opener.
Celta, who had arrived in Madrid in 18th place and had lost their last seven at the host’s home, were destined to do the unthinkable. Denis Suarez and Mina – both utilized as substitutes – paired up for the equalizer with five minutes to go, spoiling Hazard’s return.
Elsewhere in La Liga
Sevilla 2-2 Espanyol
Leganes 0-0 Real Betis
Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Osasuna
LIBSON, Portugal — FC Porto striker Moussa Marega, who tried to walk off the field after being the target of racist slurs from fans, faced apparent attempts Sunday by his own teammates and opposition players to prevent him from leaving.
Marega, who is black and from Mali, was visibly angered by monkey noises targeting him after he scored Porto’s second goal in a 2-1 win at Guimarães in the Portuguese football league.
But when Marega started to walk off the field, several players from both Porto and Guimarães appeared to argue with him. Porto coach Sérgio Conceição also went on the field and spoke with Marega.
It took Marega several minutes to leave the field when he was substituted.
Marega held his thumbs down at the crowd as he went into the tunnel to the changing rooms. The crowd responded with loud jeers.
The attitude of the other players has drawn criticism on social media.
“We are indignant with what has happened. Moussa was insulted from warmups (before kickoff),” Conceição said after the match.
“We are a family. One’s nationality, color, or height does not matter. We are human beings. We deserve respect and what happened was despicable.”
Marega received a yellow card following his goal in the 61st minute when he appeared to respond to the slurs by pointing at his skin and by picking up a seat that had been thrown on the pitch.
Timothy Weah was back in action in Lille’s 2-1 loss to Marseille on Sunday after a 183-day absence.
The American attacker played the final 10 minutes of the defeat after being inactive since Lille’s second match of the season back in August 17 in which he suffered a “very bad hamstring tear“.
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80' 🔄 Tim Weah is on …
➡️ Weah
⬅️ Onana #LOSCOM 1-2— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN) February 16, 2020
Weah arrived at Lille in June on a $12 million deal from Paris Saint-Germain, placing high expectations on the 19-year-old son of Ballon d’OR winner George Weah.
Since, however, the U.S. men’s national team player has had little activity with the French side, accumulating less than 100 minutes over a three-game stretch.
Lille manager Christophe Galtier will likely ease Weah’s way into the a starting role moving forward – which is largely contingent on his performances at practice and in official play.
Lille, who’ve accumulated 40 points in 25 matches, are currently fourth in Ligue 1.