As usual, there have been some great goals in the Premier League this season.
The most recent contender for "Goal of the Season" is Newcastle United's Papiss Demba Cissé, the Senegalese striker who scored this stunning, swerving goal to seal Wednesday's 2-0 win over Chelsea.
How about a back-heel flick to yourself followed by a bicycle kick? Pretty nice, especially since it was pulled off by teenager Nkosi Burgess during an Under-15 match in New York.
Here's Bubacar Kambi Njie, a 24-year-old Spanish striker who goes by the name of Bakari, scoring off a back-heel volley for the Espanyol B team against Montanesa in a fourth division match in Spain.
Players score on volleys quite often. But from their own half of the field? That's not something you see every day, which made Stefan Ishizaki's opportunistic, long-distance strike for Elfsborg in a Swedish Allsvenskan match against Orebro so impressive.
Similarly, it's not often you see a coach physically attack his own player. Yet Fiorentina manager Delio Rossi – now the former Fiorentina manager – didn't take too kindly to Adem Ljaijc's comments sarcastic applause after he was removed in the 32nd minute of Wednesday's Serie A match against Novara in Italy and went after the Serbian striker in the dugout. Fiorentina, which was down 2-0 when Ljaijc was withdrawn, rallied for a 2-2 tie and is 15th in the 20-team league. The league suspended Rossi for three months, even though the club fired him after the match.
And finally, this is the first – and I'm guessing last – video we'll be posting that is set on a barge in a canal. Former Ajax, Juventus, Fulham, Manchester United and Dutch national team keeper Edwin Van Der Sar took his spot between the posts in a goal floating on a barge in Amsterdam and faced shots from the shore, including some by current Ajax players, in this unique adidas event.
It's time for our semi-regular video tour around the soccer world.
A triple for Deuce
U.S. national team forward Clint Dempsey became the first American to score three times in a Premier League match, bagging a hat trick in host Fulham's 5-2 victory over Newcastle United at Craven Cottage.
Two weeks after scoring three goals in a 4-0 win over Charlton in an FA Cup third-round match, Dempsey found the net in the 59th, 65th and 89th minutes as Fulham scored all of its goals in the second half after trailing 1-0 at halftime.
Dempsey has a career-best 15 goals in all competitions this season and 52 since joining Fulham from Major League Soccer's New England Revolution in January 2007. His 42 goals in Premier League play are the most for an American, as he passed Brian McBride (36) earlier this season.
A cringe-worthy miss
On the other end of the spectrum, many are wondering if Robbie Findley already has wrapped up the miss of the year competition.
The American forward seemingly had to score for Nottingham Forest, standing alone inches in front of the goal with the goalkeeper down during Tuesday's FA Cup third-round replay against Leceister City. But his shot somehow sailed over the bar, and Forest went on to lose 4-0.
Laduma
Dempsey and Findley were teammates on the U.S. national team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which is the topic of the new documentary "Laduma" – the South African slang word for goal.
Philadelphia filmmakers Ashwin Chaudhary and Jon Korn tell two parallel stories in the film, one of the U.S. team's journey to the World Cup and the other of South Africa's journey from Apartheid to playing host to the world's biggest sporting event.
Here's an interview with Chaudhary and the trailer for the movie, which was renamed from its original title of "One Goal:"
Assisted throw-in
Benfica's Maxi Pereira and Axel Witsel got a little crafty with this throw-in last week, finding a sneaky way to restart play quickly.
As Pereira grabbed the ball, Witsel knelt down to tie his shoe. Pereira tossed the ball off his teammate's back and promptly whipped in a cross.
Last month, we told you that Sunday's match between Arsenal and Manchester United would be the first live telecast of a Premier League game on a major U.S. network.
Unfortunately, though, that won't be the case for soccer fans in the Milwaukee area.
WITI (Ch. 6) isn't planning to show the match live and instead will air it on tape delay at 12:30 p.m. The station will show "Discover Wisconsin" at 10 a.m., "Into the Outdoors" at 10:30 a.m. and infomercials from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
According to EPL Talk, Milwaukee is one of six cities among the nation's top 56 markets where fans won't be able to see the match live.
The rest of Wisconsin's Fox affiliates – WMSN (Ch. 47) in Madison, WLUK (Ch. 11) in Green Bay, WLAX (Ch. 25) and WEUX (Ch. 48) in La Crosse and Eau Claire and WFXS (Ch. 55) in Wausau – are scheduled to show the match live, with a pregame show at 9:30 a.m. and kickoff at 10 a.m.
Manchester United's visit to Arsenal on Sunday, Jan. 22, will be the first live telecast of a Premier League match on a major U.S. network.
Fox Sports will air the match at 10 a.m., preceded by a 30-minute pregame show. The network also will show the match between Chelsea and Manchester United live at 10 a.m. on Feb. 5 – Super Bowl Sunday.
Fox has aired three Premier League games this season on tape delay on Sundays before or after NFL games, and saw increased viewership from match to match. The most recent of those, Liverpool's 2-1 win over Chelsea on Nov. 20, drew 1.67 million viewers.
"We see a tremendous opportunity to broaden exposure in the U.S. for the world’s best soccer competitions," Fox Sports co-president and Chief Operating Officer Eric Shanks said in a news release. "We've broken viewership records with each subsequent Fox broadcast and we are thrilled audiences are responding as we make matches more widely available."
Fox holds the U.S. broadcast rights for the UEFA Champions League and all FIFA events from 2015 to '22, including the 2018 and '22 World Cups and the 2015 and '19 Women's World Cups.
Wisconsin's Fox affiliates are: Madison, WMSN Ch. 47; Milwaukee, WITI Ch. 6; Green Bay, WLUK Ch. 11; La Crosse/Eau Claire, WLAX Ch. 25/WEUX Ch. 48; and Wausau, WFXS Ch. 55.
Two weeks ago, Manchester United's 3-1 victory over Chelsea was the most-watched Premier League match in U.S. history.
Nearly 2.5 million people watched the match, either live on Fox Soccer or Fox Deportes or on replay on Fox Sports, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The second of three tape-delayed Premier League games scheduled for this season on Fox airs on affiliates across the country Sunday as Tottenham Hotspur plays host to Arsenal in the season's first installment of the heated North London Derby.
In Wisconsin, the match will air at 3:30 p.m., meaning it will be on at the same time as the Green Bay Packers' game against the Denver Broncos and the Milwaukee Brewers' National League playoff game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Fox plans to show the Chelsea-Liverpool match on Sunday, Nov. 20, a game that likely will be shown late in the evening in Wisconsin – as was the case with the Manchester United-Chelsea match on Sept. 18. That's because state Fox affiliates air postgame shows following Packers games that kick off at noon. Green Bay plays Tampa Bay at noon on Nov. 20.
The network also will show one Premier League match live, on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5. The matchup for that game hasn't been announced.
Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur Live: Fox Soccer, 10 a.m. Sunday Tape delay at 3:30 p.m.: Madison, WMSN Ch. 47; Milwaukee, WITI Ch. 6; Green Bay, WLUK Ch. 11; La Crosse/Eau Claire, WLAX Ch. 25/WEUX Ch. 48; and Wausau, WFXS Ch. 55
Fox Sports continues to bring top-level soccer to its main network in the U.S.
After showing the Champions League final on Fox the past two years, the company begins an experiment with Premier League matches this weekend.
Sunday's game between Manchester United and Chelsea will be shown on Fox on tape delay. In most markets across the country, the match will air either before or after the area's selected NFL game – but that won't be the case in Wisconsin.
That's because all five of the state's Fox affiliates will show the Green Bay Packers' game against the Carolina Panthers at noon, followed by a postgame show.
Wisconsin's Fox stations instead will air the match late Sunday night or early Monday morning. (See listing below)
Fox plans to show two more Premier League matches on tape delay this season: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal on Sunday, Oct. 2, which likely will be aired at 3 p.m., opposite of the Packers' game against the Denver Broncos; and Chelsea vs. Liverpool on Sunday, Nov. 20 – that match figures to face the same fate as this Sunday's match in Wisconsin, with the Packers playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at noon and the postgame shows to follow.
The network also will show one Premier League match live, on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5. The matchup for that game has not yet been determined.
Fox Sports reportedly has seen a 76 percent growth in its audiences from the coveted 18- and 34-year-old demographic grow for Premier League matches on Fox Soccer and Fox Soccer Plus.
Fox Soccer has broken its ratings record twice in the past six months, most recently drawing 954,000 viewers for the Gold Cup final between the U.S. and Mexico in June. Last spring Champions League final between FC Barcelona and Manchester United was watched by 2.6 million people.
"A few years ago games on Fox Soccer had between 50,000 and 70,000 viewers; now it's more like 100,000," Stephen Master, vice president of Nielsen Sports told the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch. "And they haven’t been doing this for too long – it takes time to build these names up and really build their brand among casual soccer fans."
Soccer season might be just about over in the U.S. – especially in the Midwest – but European teams are just hitting their strides midway through the season.
Here are a few great goals from the last few days to get you thinking about next year:
Samir Nasri, Arsenal, vs. Fulham (Premier League)
Eren Zahavi, Hapoel Tel Aviv, vs. Lyon (Champions League)
Could Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) be headed back to the Premier League?
The U.S. national team central defender reportedly has interest from Premier League clubs Everton, West Ham United and Stoke City along with Wolfsburg of Germany's Bundesliga.
The Daily Star, a London tabloid, had the original report today. English radio station talkSPORT then reported that Everton and Wolfsburg are DeMerit's top suitors.
DeMerit, 30, has been without a club since leaving Championship side Watford after six seasons by mutual consent at the end of the 2009-10 season. Watford played in the Premier League in the 2006-07 season – DeMerit scored the game-winning goal and was named Man of the Match when the Hornets won the promotion playoff final in May 2006.
Here's a very well done video that looks at one fan's night out at last week's Premier League match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in North London.
I think it gives a good perspective for those of us who have never been to such a game. Or if you have, maybe it's a nice reminder. Either way, it's worth a watch – even if you don't support Arsenal.
But the England and Portsmouth goalkeeper's saves are still amazing, considering the speed of the shots and the fact that he is blindfolded for the last four.
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