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Cape Town - Sport24's Baden Gillion highlights FIVE talking points from the weekend's soccer action across the PSL and international leagues.
1. Mourinho shushes his critics
Jose Mourinho silenced his critics with a 1-0 win over fellow title rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday at Old Trafford. In a tightly contested affair, Mourinho again gave a tactical masterclass in nullifying his opponent by matching up in formation to Spurs. The game was in the end decided by two errors with Eric Dier’s costly mistake punished by substitute Anthony Martial. At the final whistle Mourinho turned to the cameras and made a shushing gesture after being heavily criticised following a recent away draw to Liverpool at Anfield.
Jose Mourinho to his haters pic.twitter.com/3MS8DrebWL
— Troll Football Media (@Troll__Footbal) October 28, 2017
2. Sundowns in mid-season crisis
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane’s prediction that his side were in for a bumpy ride was proven accurate when Masandawana were knocked out of the Telkom Knockout at the first hurdle by Chippa United in a 1-0 defeat. The loss now makes it three defeats in a row while also being knocked out of the CAF Champions League. Playing non-stop soccer for the past three years seems to be finally catching up to The Brazilians with Mosimane finding it tough to explain in the post-match interview.
Pitso Mosimane!?????? pic.twitter.com/yDjsq0Rplt
— Mukanda Mukumela (@I_Am_Exo) October 29, 2017
3. Real Madrid out of La Liga title race?
Real Madrid find themselves already eight points behind rivals Barcelona in the La Liga title race after suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to newly-promoted Girona on Sunday night. Manager Zinedine Zidane said there was no reason to panic as his side could still "turn it around". Yet only three teams in La Liga history have been crowned champions after trailing by eight or more points with Madrid not being one of those teams.
Real Madrid fans:
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 29, 2017
Good news—it's been done before ??
Bad news—you've never done it ?? pic.twitter.com/XAoqNRwScC
4. Michail Antonio shows what NOT to do to when seeing out a game
One has to feel sorry for West Ham United manager Slavin Bilic after The Hammers threw away a 2-0 lead to be held by Crystal Palace thanks to a last-minute Wilfried Zaha equaliser. West Ham’s Michail Antonio had possession deep in the Palace half in the 95th minute with mere seconds to go but instead of taking the ball to the corner flag naively tried to find a team-mate with a cross that was easily gathered. You immediately knew what was going to follow with Palace going straight up the other side of the pitch ending with a Zaha equaliser that was virtually the last kick of the game. Bilic was left ruing his luck while dropping to his knees in disappointment.
Don't get me wrong, I want him gone, but I do feel sorry for Bilic. Pathetic from Michail Antonio, robbed us of two points. pic.twitter.com/r7gT76Nab8
— West Ham Stuff (@WestHamStuff) October 28, 2017
Michail Antonio's stupidity that cost West Ham at Palace was inexplicable...gave the ball away in the 96th minute. So unprofessional #WHUFC
— Kevin Palmer (@RealKevinPalmer) October 28, 2017
5. Craziest final minute end to a game
Finally, the craziest final minute of a game you're likely to see over the weekend came from the 9th tier of English soccer when Padiham FC came from 3-1 down to score twice in the final minute to salvage a point against Widness FC. In a pulsating passage of play involving end-to-end action from certain doom to heroics with goal-line clearances and two goals in 30 seconds.
You’ll have to watch the video below to believe how this one ended.
A couple of people struggling with the link earlier - this should work now. Here’s the last minute again for those who couldn’t get the link pic.twitter.com/whVFiZGpbz
— Millbour Productions (@MillbourVideos) October 29, 2017
