The Warm-Up: Emre Can gives one second of magic amid 89.59 of dross
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Updated 02/05/2017 at 07:27 GMT
Plus: the EFL gives Orient another shoeing, plus a 44-yr-old goalkeeper scores against his own club in the 93rd minute
Emre Can of Liverpool scores the opening goal during the Premier League match between Watford and Liverpool at Vicarage Road
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
CAN CAN (give Liverpool a better chance of qualifying for the Champions League)
The hardy souls who ventured to Vicarage Road on Monday night, or even those who bothered to turn on their televisions to watch Watford v Liverpool, were rewarded with 89.59 minutes of utter dross, and one second of exceptional excellence.
Liverpool’s 1-0 win put them four points clear of fifth place, but it almost feels gauche to talk about such vulgar things as league points when a thing of such beauty as Emre Can’s goal was the only thing worth remarking upon.
Can’s quite extraordinary overhead kick in stoppage time of the first-half was so at odds with the rest of the action it almost felt unfair that the game should possess it. It was as if Can had decided that everyone needed something to reward them, so he tried the most audacious thing possible. A cross from Lucas Leiva skimmed into the box and Can, relatively unmarked, flung his right foot into the air and sent the ball rocketing into the top corner, leaving everyone astonished and delighted.
Watford nearly stole a point right at the end, when a Sebastian Prodl shot smacked against the bar (“I told the players, if you want to kill me, this is how,” said Jurgen Klopp afterwards), but Liverpool held on and secured the victory.
The EFL gives Orient fans another kicking
Just when you thought the English Football League couldn’t have more contempt for the fans of Leyton Orient, a club driven into the ground by an owner who doesn’t care as the authorities whistled and clacked their collective tongue, but did little, they go and surprise you by adding another layer of terribleness.
At the weekend thousands of Orient fans protested at the treatment of their club by owner Francesco Becchetti and the authorities by invading the pitch near the end of their game against Colchester. An announcement was made over the PA that the game had been abandoned, only for the players to come out two hours later and play the 10 minutes remaining, in a pointless eff-you to those protesting fans, who feel they have been left with little other way to voice their objections.
Now, the Football League have backed a proposal by Blackpool, a team with their own unpopular owner, Karl Oyston, to suspend ticket sales to Orient fans for the last game of their season, on Saturday.
“The EFL’s objective will always be to ensure that fans of both clubs are able to watch the match live,” said the EFL in a statement. “But, in seeking to achieve this, we are required to consider all the contributing factors, to ensure that the safety of everyone at the game is not put at risk.”
In removing their only remaining form of protest, the authorities have given one last kicking to Orient fans, as they disappear into non-league, possibly disappear completely. Thanks, guys.
Muntari sets the example
If we were Sulley Muntari, and we had suffered racial abuse on the pitch as he did while playing for Pescara against Cagliari at the weekend, as he has presumably done for many of his years in professional football, there’s no way we’d have his patience and grace.
“There was a little kid doing it with his parents standing nearby,” said Muntari, after identifying the boy who had directed this latest volley of abuse at him. “So I went over to him and told him not to do it. I gave him my shirt, to teach him that you’re not supposed to do things like that. I needed to set an example so he grows up to be nice.
“[The referee] told me I should not talk to the crowd. I asked him if had heard the insults. I insisted that he must have the courage to stop the game. The referee should not just stay on the field and blow the whistle, he must do everything. He should be aware of these things and set an example. I am not a victim. But if you stop the matches I am convinced that these things won’t happen any more.”
IN OTHER NEWS
Everyone loves a goalkeeper scoring, right? Well how about a 44-year-old goalkeeper, scoring in the 93rd minute to earn a draw for Pachuca against Cruz Azul in Mexico, while technically on loan at Pachuca from Cruz Azul, for whom he made 500 appearances? Enjoy.
HAT TIP
The clubs had been on a relatively even kilter, but Tottenham finished 15th in the ’93-94 season, avoiding relegation by three points, while fourth-placed Arsenal won the European Cup Winners’ Cup. But the summer brought renewed optimism to Spurs in the form of new signings Jurgen Klinsmann from Wenger’s Monaco and Romanian pair Gheorghe Popescu and Ilie Dumitrescu. All three had starred at the 1994 World Cup in America and supporters flocked to Tottenham’s Cheshunt training ground, which then had a stand beside the main pitch, to see their new heroes.
ESPN’s Dan Kilpatrick speaks to a few of the men – including one Jurgen Klinsmann – who played for Spurs the last time they finished above Arsenal, back in 1994/95.
RETRO CORNER
Big one tonight – it’s the Champions League semi-final between Atletico and Real Madrid, so let’s go waaaaaaaaay back to 1959, when the two played each other at the same stage of the European Cup. Real won the first leg 2-1 and Atletico the second 1-0, but because away goals were not yet a thing back then, the tie was decided by a playoff. Real won that one 2-1, thanks to goals from old favourites Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas.
COMING UP
That’s your lot, really. But, y’know, Real v Atletico in the Champions League semi-final is quite enough to be going on with. Unless you fancy tracking down the Ireland League Cup quarter-final between Shamrock Rovers and Longford Town. But probably stick with Real v Atletico, yeah?
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by Alex Chick, who actually will be watching Shamrock v Longford.
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