Tag: Aston Villa

Man City apologizes after Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen assaulted by fans

Steven Gerrard was furious upon witnessing his goalkeeper be attacked during a pitch invasion

Manchester City has been forced to apologize to Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who was assaulted by fans during a pitch invasion after Sunday’s title-clinching win for City.

City produced a dramatic three-goal comeback to snatch the Premier League title out of Liverpool’s hands, defeating Villa 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.

After the final whistle fans stormed the pitch to celebrate their club’s fourth league title in five seasons, producing chaotic scenes.

Amid that chaos, Villa’s goalkeeper fell victim to an assault and City has now vowed to find the perpetrator and bring them to justice.

“Manchester City would like to sincerely apologise to Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who was assaulted after the final whistle at today’s match when fans entered the pitch,” read a statement from the club.

“The club has launched an immediate investigation and once identified, the individual responsible will be issued with an indefinite stadium ban.”

Gerrard furious after Olsen assault

Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard was understandably upset upon witnessing the assault, and directed questions over the incident to City head coach Pep Guardiola and the club.

“My goalkeeper was attacked,” Gerrard said in his post-game press conference. “I think you should ask Pep and Man City those questions.”

“We’re going to see how he is now.”

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Soccer fans roasted Liverpool after shocking 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa

What. Just. Happened.

Sunday was one of the strangest days in recent soccer memory, with Manchester United first giving up six straight goals after scoring against Tottenham.

That was a bit bizarre. What made things even more bizarre, however, was that then Aston Villa went and scored seven (!!!!) goals against league champions Liverpool, winning 7-2 in a game I still can’t believe happened.

It felt like a bizarre fever dream.

Aston Villa barely avoided relegation last season. They added a striker from the Championship, Ollie Watkins, and they took on Ross Barkley from Chelsea. This isn’t some massively overhauled side. They’ve looked good this season, but they’re Villa.

And they hung seven on Liverpool. Watkins had his first Premier League goal, which he quickly turned into his first Premier League hat trick. Jack Grealish scored a few. Ross Barkley got in on the fun.

What was looking like a day of embarrassment for Manchester United fans was quickly forgotten, because Liverpool went and outdid them.

And hoo buddy did Soccer Twitter have fun with it.

Christian Pulisic scored the tying goal in his first Chelsea appearance since January

Captain America is back.

The English Premier League made its return earlier in the week as “Project Restart” went in full swing, and come Sunday, it was Christian Pulisic’s turn to take the pitch for the first time in six months.

Despite Chelsea dominating the opening 45 minutes of its Sunday match against Aston Villa, the Blues went into half down, 1-0. In the 55th minute, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard brought on the USMNT star — who had last appeared for Chelsea on Jan. 1 since suffering a hip injury — off the bench.

And, well, Pulisic’s impact was felt immediately.

Less than five minutes after coming in as a substitute, Pulisic scored on a left-footed volley off a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta.

It was Pulisic’s seventh goal of the season with Chelsea. And just two minutes later, Olivier Giroud provided Chelsea with the go-ahead goal for the 2-1 win.

With a huge match upcoming against Manchester City on Thursday, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise to see Lampard have usual attacking starters like Pulisic and Tammy Abraham come off the bench. Following the match, the Chelsea manager had rave reviews for the 21-year-old American.

Via nbcsports.com:

“I hope so. He was hungry. I know that. I felt for him, as I’ve felt for the players with long term injuries. Ruben is in the same position. I know Christian was very hungry. He’s trained well and the ability he has got to arrive in the box, it is a big thing I’ve spoken about with him all season.

“The difference between being a very good attacking player off the side or the players at the real top level of the game who arrive and score in the six yard box and hit big numbers yearly. I really think Christian can do that. I was really pleased with him and the impact he had when he came on. He will start games for us, of course, and I think he’s going to be a big player for us. Not just in this run-in but obviously going forward.”

We can expect to see a lot more of Pulisic in the coming weeks as Chelsea looks to hold onto a Champions League spot.

Referee robs Sheffield United of an obvious goal after goal-line technology malfunctions

What in the world …

For the first time in 100 days, the English Premier League was back in action. And it didn’t take long for the officiating to be the talk of English soccer’s return.

During Wednesday’s match between Aston Villa and Sheffield United, Oliver Norwood took a free kick for Sheffield and sent the ball towards goal. Aston Villa goalkeeper Orjan Nyland hauled in the cross as it curved towards the net but had his momentum (and a bump from a teammate) push him beyond the goal line.

Again, the ball was clearly across the line. I mean, Nyland was grabbing onto the net for balance a good three feet beyond the goal line with the ball past the post. Yet, no goal was given.

That isn’t even close. It’s an obvious goal.

As Sheffield players argued with referee Michael Oliver, the referee pointed at his watch to signal that goal-line technology didn’t alert him to the goal. He didn’t want to consult VAR either. None of that sequence made any sense at all.

There’s a chance that Nyland falling behind the goal confused the goal-line technology system as it tracked the ball because otherwise something went wrong there.

But we can’t be too upset. It feels great to have an in-game sports controversy back in our lives.

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Premier League players wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ jerseys, kneel before game

The Premier League returned on Wednesday, and players showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Premier League resumed its season on Wednesday following a three-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic, and players took the opportunity to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement amid worldwide protests against injustice.

All Premier League teams will wear patches recognizing Black Lives Matter and the National Health service on their jerseys. Some teams have also replaced the names on the back of the jerseys with “Black Lives Matter.”

At the kickoff of the Aston Villa vs. Sheffield Wednesday, all 22 players dropped to one knee at the start of the game and paused for a few seconds before play began.

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