Quote:
Originally Posted by wc1934
What misery!!!!!! Szczesny's save on Allan's shot early on may have been the game changer. The first half was terrible. Ancelotti made some nice changes at half. Needless to say, the 3 last minute pick ups (Manolas, Lozano and Di Lorenzo) saved the day.
Allowing Higuain to score was bad enough. But then to come from 3 down only to loose it in extra time was a killer. I hope those 2 points dont come back to haunt us in May. Poor Koulibaly. I was saying that he isnt great with the ball at his feet, but is exceptionally good - maybe just a shade below van Dijk.
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oh man. at first i thought he was let down by his own teammate, as the cross went in seemingly uncontested. Then i realized that it was from a set piece. I don't know if van Dijk would have fared better had he attempted to kick the ball.
Perhaps he should have headed it up, but I doubt being better ball-playing CB would have helped. The commentators, however, noted that the person whom he was defending was offsides. Alas, the rules of the game screwed him (and defenders in general). They all have to make a play on the ball, b/c they are told to play to the whistle (not to mention that they'd look bad if they didn't try). Had an attacking player directed it in, the goal would have been chalked off. But as long as an attacking player hoovers around but don't make an active play at the ball, a defender has to pretend that the attacking player were on-side and make an active play, and any mistakes that would arise therefrom would not be offset by the fact that the whole reason the defender made an attempt was due to the presence of an offside attacking player.
I hope you guys sock it to Juve. They look quite porous, tbh.
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Also, Xhaka, he and Luiz sure make for a helluva comedic pairing...