The world of football celebrated Easter weekend with some big fixtures and results including a big derby in a final in Brazil, a potentially decisive fixture between two eternal rivals in the Greek Super League title race, and many more. As ever, we have picked out six of the best in our weekly column.
By Neel Shelat
🇧🇷 Brazil: Fluminense 4-1 Flamengo (4-3 agg)
The final of the Campeonato Carioca was the Fla-Flu derby between Rio de Janeiro rivals Flamengo and Fluminense. Both of these teams play their matches at the Maracanã Stadium, so both legs of this final were held at this legendary venue.
Flamengo won their designated home leg 2-0, so they held the advantage going into Sunday’s second leg. They seemed primed to take the regional title off the defending champions, but Fluminense had other ideas.
Although the match might seem quite even based on the possession stats and shot counts, one team looked more imposing and threatening. Indeed, Fluminense created the better chances and crucially converted them as well, staging a memorable turnaround.
A strike from legendary ex-Real Madrid left back Marcelo set them on their way, after which a brace from Argentine hitman Germán Cano on either side of half-time put Fernando Diniz’s side in a commanding position. Alexsander Gomes’ goal in the 65th minute added a buffer to their lead, which proved handy when Ayrton Lucas pulled one back for Flamengo deep into stoppage time.
Elsewhere in Brazil, Palmeiras poured cold water over Agua Santa’s fairytale dreams, while Atlético Goianiense and Atlético Mineiro also made additions to their trophy cabinets.
🇬🇷 Greece: Panathinaikos 2-0 Olympiacos
Four rounds into the championship play-offs in the Greek Super League, the title race is as close as it gets. Defending champions Olympiacos’ three-season streak is under real threat, as their eternal rivals Panathinaikos are looking to win their first league title since 2010.
The two faced off in what could well prove to be the most decisive fixture of the season, as Panathinaikos hosted Olympiacos. There was a somewhat new face in the away dugout, as sporting director José Anigo was taking charge of his second match for the visitors after Michel’s resignation on Monday.
Olympiacos started this match three points behind their rivals, so they were within overtaking range if they managed to come away with a win. Of course, the hosts had a very different idea of how they wanted this match to go, and it was they who prevailed.
Their Slovenian striker Andraž Šporar gave them the lead before the half-hour mark. A few minutes later, an own goal from Olympiacos’ frontman Youssef El-Arabi made the task all the more difficult for them, and they never looked like coming back from that. Panathinaikos were able to see out the win, pulling six points clear of their great rivals.
Ivan Jovanović’s side still do not have any room for slip-ups if they wish to win the title, because they are level on points with AEK Athens. Each of the top three will play each other again before the end of the season, so you can expect many more twists and turns in this title race.
🏴 England: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Chelsea
It’s been a busy week at Chelsea, to say the least. Last Sunday, Graham Potter was sacked a couple of days after a loss at Aston Villa saw them slip into the bottom half of the Premier League table. Then, on Tuesday, Bruno Saltor took charge of their goalless draw with Liverpool. Frank Lampard watched that match from the stands, but he found himself on the touchline for the next one.
He was installed as the club’s caretaker manager until the end of the season on Thursday, exactly 800 days on from his sacking from the club in January 2021. This time, it appears that he has simply been brought in to steady the ship until the end of the season while the board carefully assess their next long-term pick. Nevertheless, he would obviously have been keen to impress with his side’s results and performances to perhaps throw his hat into the ring.
Unfortunately for him, things have not gotten off to a good start at all. The ex-Everton manager took his side to the Molineux Stadium on Saturday afternoon, where they faced relegation battlers Wolverhampton Wanderers. Matheus Nunes scored the only goal of the match just after the half-hour mark with a thunderous strike from a relatively tight angle, which also happened to be his first goal in a Wolves shirt.
Chelsea’s performance was quite disappointing and they never really threatened to equalise, so they failed to take anything away from the match yet again. That means they now have more defeats (11) than victories (10) in the Premier League this season, so it should be no surprise to see them on the second page of the standings.
Wolves may only be a couple of places behind them in the table, but the relegation battle is so tight that they still are only four points above the drop zone.
🇪🇸 Spain: Real Valladolid 3-3 Mallorca
There were a couple of managerial debuts in Spain as well this weekend. Luis García’s first match in charge of Espanyol ended in a defeat against Athletic Club, so our focus will be Paulo Pezzolano and Real Valladolid.
Valladolid are largely owned by Brazilian legend Ronaldo, who undoubtedly had a significant role to play in this appointment. Pezzolano’s last job was in Brazil at Cruzeiro, who were recently acquired by Ronaldo and won Serie B last season under Pezzolano, who was the first manager of their era with O Fenômeno at the helm.
He left the club in mid-March, presumably with the knowledge that the Valladolid job would be available soon. One match later, that proved to be the case as Pacheta departed after a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid, and in came the 39-year-old Uruguayan.
In his playing days, his only stint in LaLiga was a brief loan spell at Mallorca. As fate would have it, they would be his first opponents at the start of his managerial career in Spain. They would pose a tough test too, taking a two-goal lead in the first 15 minutes of the second half which Valladolid managed to overcome with what they thought was a winning goal in the 86th minute.
But, there was more drama in store for us in stoppage time. Canadian striker Cyle Larin conceded a penalty with a handball in the box, allowing Vedat Muriqi to equalise and rescue a point for the visitors. Valladolid will certainly be disappointed to not come away with the win, but they should take heart from their performance and the fact that they still are a couple of points above the relegation zone.
🇺🇸 MLS: Houston Dynamo 3-0 LA Galaxy
There is no relegation in MLS, which should be good news for 5-time winners LA Galaxy given their terrible start to the season. Having played six fixtures, they find themselves second from bottom in the Supporters’ Shield standings having failed to win a single match.
Their loss to Houston Dynamo was emblematic of their issues in some ways, as they caused their own problems with extremely silly decisions. The turning point of the match came in the 63rd minute when 36-year-old centre-back Martin Cáceres saw a second yellow card for bothering the referee mid-VAR review. The referee went on to award a penalty for the initial foul as well, allowing the hosts to add to their lead and comfortably see out the win.
This result not only adds pressure to the position of LA Galaxy manager Greg Vanney, but perhaps more importantly club president Chris Klein. Fan protests against him have strongly intensified this season, with all five fan groups uniting against him, and many boycotting matches too.
Given the Galaxy’s performances and results over recent years, fan dissatisfaction is quite understandable. They have only made the playoffs once in the last five seasons – their worst run since MLS’ inception in 1996. Supporters feel administrative decisions are to blame, but the tipping point came when Klein was suspended for the most recent transfer window after LA Galaxy were found guilty of violating financial rules in 2019. He faced no repercussions from the club, simply resuming his role as president when the season started.
The fact that almost every LA Galaxy fan has the same opinion of Klein should speak volumes of his popularity at Dignity Health Sports Park, so this is a situation worth keeping an eye on.
🇵🇹 Portugal: Benfica 1-2 Porto
Benfica did not enjoy a good Friday evening against their old rivals Porto, as O Clássico was the headline act in Portugal this weekend.
The Estádio da Luz was celebrating initially, not least because Benfica carried a 10-point lead at the top of the table into this game. The hosts also struck first as they took the lead in the 10th minute when Gonçalo Ramos’ header struck the crossbar but went in off the back of a flailing Diogo Costa.
Benfica could not hold that lead to the break, though, as a driven effort to the bottom corner from Mateus Uribe brought Porto level in the 45th minute. They then thought they had turned it around again before the break when Wenderson Galeno scored, but VAR ruled that goal out after finding an offside of a 6-centimetre margin.
Porto were undeterred by that call, as they went and completed the comeback less than 10 minutes into the second period through Mehdi Taremi. Sérgio Conceição’s side were able to keep things tight at the back thereafter and secured the win in a match of very few chances.
This was Benfica’s first defeat in 17 matches, but it most likely will not have a major impact on their season. They still have a seven-point buffer at the top of the league with as many fixtures left, so a first Primeira Liga title in four years remains within their reach.
Cover Image from IMAGO