The football world was kind to offer lots of great picks for our first-anniversary edition of the Last Weekend column after a weekend filled with major finals, title deciders and season-concluders. As always, we have whittled everything down to the six biggest matches and results, so here they are.
By Neel Shelat
🏆 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final: Barcelona 3-2 Wolfsburg
Without question, Barcelona Femení have been the best team in Europe in recent years, so their failure to defend their UWCL crown against Lyon last year must have stung quite a bit. They did not slow down at all this season though, and found themselves in their third consecutive Champions League final.
Their opponents this time, in Eindhoven, were two-time champions Wolfsburg, who were looking to make up for their loss in the Bundesliga title race by winning Europe’s most prestigious club competition for the first time in a decade.
Die Wölfinnen got off to the perfect start, as Ewa Pajor opened the scoring less than three minutes in with a thunderous strike from outside the box. After defending for most of the subsequent half an hour and just about keeping Barcelona at bay, the Germans got a second goal after Pajor found the head of Alexandra Popp with a cross, which was only going to hit the back of the net thereafter.
So, Wolfsburg went into half-time with a two-goal lead despite attempting no more than three shots, one of which was from around the centre circle. Barcelona, meanwhile, failed to get anything to show for their 15 attempts, but they would not be denied for long.
A quickfire double from Patricia Guijarro brought them back level within five minutes of the second period, and from there on, only one outcome seemed inevitable. After some questionable defending, Fridolina Rolfö was the one who got the would-be winner for Barcelona in the 70th minute.
The Spanish champions comfortably held on thereafter, securing a deserved victory to lift the UWCL trophy for the second time in three years.
🇧🇪 Belgium: Genk 2-2 Royal Antwerp
For the first time since 1999, we had a three-way title decider on the final day in Belgium.
Royal Antwerp were in pole position because they finished the regular season on an even points tally (it’s a long story), so the equation was simple for them: win, and get your first league title since 1957. Their opponents Genk also had a chance to win the title by beating them, but they also needed Union Saint-Gilloise to drop points in the other game.
Antwerp also had the chance to wrap up the title in their last game against USG, but they conceded a late equaliser and only managed a draw to set up this decider. They seemed to have recovered from that disappointment, though, as they looked the better side and created the better chances in the first half.
But it was Genk who struck first on the stroke of half-time with their very first attempt of the game, which was scored by Toru Arokodare. So their fans were the happiest during the half-time break, but they received some bad news before the second half even kicked off. Union had scored seconds after the break in their game, jumping up to first in the table as things stood. Worse yet for Genk, Gyrano Kerk equalised in the 58th minute. The title remained in Union’s hands as things were, but there would be a lot of late drama.
Bryan Heynen put Genk back in front in the 75th minute, but they still needed a favour from Club Brugge. The outgoing champions had looked second-best all game, but they managed to grab an equaliser in the 89th minute to turn the helicopter carrying the trophy away from Brussels and send it towards Genk.
Indeed, the champions were decided in the Cegeka Arena, but it was not the hosts. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, local boy Toby Alderweireld picked out the top corner from outside the box to pull Antwerp back level, winning them the title because Union slipped up.
So, the great celebrations at the Bousilstadion kicked off as Antwerp won their first title in 66 years and sealed their first-ever league-cup double – something that seemed impossible just a few years ago when they were in the second division. Genk were left bitterly disappointed having watched the title slip away from their hands, while USG suffered such heartbreak for the second year in a row.
🏆 CONCACAF Champions League Final: LAFC 0-1 León (1-3 agg.)
A raucous BMO Stadium welcomed the two contestants of the CONCACAF Champions League final for its second leg on what was set to be a historic day, as one of them would lift their first-ever continental title.
Club León held the advantage from the first leg, but might have been a little disappointed with how it ended. They were two goals to the good at half-time and thought they’d scored a third at the end in stoppage-time, but it was ruled out by VAR. Just a couple of minutes later, LAFC went up the other end and pulled one back to not only halve the deficit but also get a crucial away goal.
For that reason, it was crucial for León to score again here, and they did. Lucas Di Yorio capped off a nice team move in the 20th minute to give the visitors the lead on the night, thereby forcing LAFC to score at least twice to stay alive in the tie.
The MLS champions went on to create a fair few chances with a couple of pretty good ones at that, but they simply failed to put the ball in the back of the net. So, they tasted defeat for the second time in a CONCACAF Champions League final, while León became the fourteenth different Mexican club to lift the trophy (in its various guises)
🏴 England: Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United
The scheduling of the FA Cup final drew much ire as it kicked off at the exact same time as the UWCL final, but anyone having a dilemma about which game to watch had all their confusion cleared up within 12 seconds.
Manchester City scored the fastest-ever goal in an FA Cup final to take the lead almost straight from kick-off, as İlkay Gündoğan’s volley hit the back of the net before Manchester United could even get so much as a solid touch on the ball. The Premier League champions were the clear favourites for this fixture, and having taken the lead so quickly, they were surely going to coast home.
Indeed, they controlled the match, but there was an unexpected twist just after the half-hour mark as Manchester United were awarded a penalty for a very contentious handball call against Jack Grealish. Bruno Fernandes stepped up to convert it, pulling his side level with their first shot on target.
The two sides emerged from the half-time break with the scores level, but they would not stay that way for long. A few minutes into the second period, a more scuffed Gündoğan volley right after a corner saw City retake the lead, which they did not let slip this time. As ever, they dominated the match right till the end and saw out a relatively comfortable win.
With their first FA Cup title in four years, Manchester City have won another domestic double. More importantly, though, this brings them within one step of winning a continental treble as they play in next week’s Champions League final.
🇪🇸 Spain: Real Valladolid 0-0 Getafe
We have been treated to an incredible relegation battle in LaLiga this season, where six teams risked finishing 18th on the final day! In fact, barring Mallorca, everyone in the middle of the table either had the chance to qualify for Europe or were in relegation danger on the final day.
The team occupying the final relegation spot going into the round were Real Valladolid, so they needed to get a result to spice things up. Their opponents, Getafe, were also among the relegation battlers, so this was as much of a six-pointer as any match has ever been.
Getafe’s biggest decision in their bid to stay up was to reappoint José Bordalás in April, hoping that his defensive magic would bail them out. It certainly worked, with Getafe winning three of his six games in charge heading into this one and never watching his team concede more than one goal in a game.
The Azulones knew that a clean sheet here would be enough to stay up, and that is what they played for. They set out in their staunch 4-4-2 block, mostly sat in their own half and thoroughly frustrated Valladolid. Despite keeping just 20% of the ball, the visitors only conceded 15 chances worth 0.9 xG altogether, so there were no high-quality opportunities in there.
So Getafe stayed up without much of a fuss in the end, but there was a lot more drama from the hosts’ point of view. A draw gave them a chance but not a guarantee, so they had to hope for some help elsewhere. They thought they had it when already-relegated Espanyol took the lead for the first time in their match against Almería, but Rubi’s side made it 3-3 from the spot in the 87th minute to stay up and send Valladolid down.
🇦🇺 Australia: Melbourne City 1-6 Central Coast Mariners
The A-League season drew to a close this weekend with the Grand Final, which was held in Sydney despite not featuring a team from the city after a widely-opposed decision made by the APL board. The two contestants were Premier Plate winners Melbourne City, who were playing on the biggest occasion for the fourth consecutive year, and Central Coast Mariners, the team with the lowest budget in the competition.
The Mariners had experienced the thrill of such an occasion in the past, but that was a decade ago. A lot had happened since then, as their success completely fell apart and they consistently finished at or close to the bottom of the table for the next few seasons. Their desperation probably peaked when they gave Usain Bolt a trial when he harboured hopes of playing football professionally and even offered him a contract, much to the ire of A-League fans.
They changed thereafter, though, adopting a much more youth-focused approach and investing in local talent. In the last few years, Mariners have always had the youngest squad in the league, and the kids have delivered for them. They have qualified for the finals in each of the last three seasons, even skipping the first round this time by virtue of finishing second in the regular season.
After getting past Adelaide United in the two-legged semi-final, the Mariners set up a David vs Goliath final against City Football Group-owned Melbourne City. The Premiers had steamrolled the league and naturally were the favourites to lift the trophy, but they were in for a big shock.
Mohun Bagan-bound Jason Cummings scored the opener in his last game for the Mariners in the 20th minute as their direct approach yielded rewards. The Edinburgh-born Socceroo set up the second for Samuel Silvera, but City pulled one back before the half-time break to firmly stay in the game.
The game-changer was Gosford-born substitute Jacob Farell, who won two penalties within ten minutes of coming on. Cummings converted both to not only score a hat-trick but break the seasonal goal-scoring record for CCM, after which Béni N’Kololo and Moresche beefed up the scoreline late on.
Central Coast Mariners’ success is a great story in what has been a difficult season for soccer in Australia due to the Grand Finals decision and its aftermath. As 2013 champion and now-manager Nick Montgomery told his players, they have not only galvanised a club, but a community, a region.
Cover Image from IMAGO