Today in Football – Things You May Have Missed

Football never sleeps. During any of the 86400 seconds in a 24-hour day, somewhere in the world someone is doing something related to the beautiful game, whether that’s scoring a last-minute winner in a high-profile match, posting their expert take on social media or simply booting a ball against a wall with their mates.

It’s therefore impossible for any human being to keep up with everything that’s going on in the game, and it’s often those little yet most intriguing moments, like a fan’s alternative viewpoint of a penalty save, or a three-second yet incredibly telling interaction between two arch-rivals, or thread on X explaining why N’Golo Kante is the nicest man in professional sport, which make football so great.

GIVEMESPORT have created our live blog to help solve that problem, providing the best social media has to offer and the greatest football mini-stories from the last 24 hours.

February 14: Man City Troll Man Utd After Beating Salford City

Manchester City were able to make it to the fifth round of the FA Cup after beating Salford City this weekend. An own goal from Alfie Dorrington gave the home side a lead after just six minutes but it took until the 81st minute before Marc Guehi put the game to bed and made it 2-0.

The win would have been sweeter for Pep Guardiola and co as League Two side Salford are owned by Project 92 Limited, a consortium consisting of former Manchester United icons Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes. And after the win, City could not help aim a dig at the Red Devils.

Their social media account simply posted: “A win to mark our 41st game of the season.”

While many might miss the joke, it’s a reference to the fact that Man Utd will only play 40 games this season. This is because they went out at both the first round of the FA Cup and League Cup, and aren’t in Europe this season, meaning they will only have 38 Premier League games to worry about beyond the two cup defeats.

It will be the Red Devils fewest games played in a season since 1914-15. Unsurprisingly, the post caused a big stir online with over 400 comments on X, while it gained well over half a million views.

February 13: Laura Woods Mocks Richard Keys For Post After Forest Sack Richard Keys

Nottingham Forest made the decision to sack Sean Dyche on Thursday morning. The Englishman lost his job after his side drew 0-0 against relegation certainties, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Richard Keys is being mocked for his tweet, posted hours after Dyche had been sacked. Unaware that the 54-year-old had already lost his job, Keys wrote: “If Dyche goes today would anyone be surprised?”

Laura Woods has joined football fans in mocking the BeIN Sports presenter. She wrote: “If you keep saying managers are going to get the sack I guess eventually you’ll be right.”

February 11: Hansi Flick Savages Real Madrid Ahead of Copa del Rey Semi-Final

Hansi Flick has gone viral after savaging fierce rivals Real Madrid in his press conference ahead of Barcelona’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg clash against Atletico Madrid.

Flick was asked: “What do you think of those who downplay the value of this trophy or try to strip some of its importance because no top-tier team has been faced yet this year?”

The German thought about his answer for a few seconds and then responded: “Ask Real Madrid.” His answer drew laughter from inside the press room.

Real Madrid, of course, were knocked out by second tier side Albacete in the last 32. Barcelona went on to beat Real Madrid’s conquerors in the quarter-final.

Flick’s answer has gone down very well with Barca fans on social media. “You will just know he has been waiting to say that for long,” one said while another commented: “Dude is cooking Madrid on and off the pitch.” A third wrote: “No way he said that,” while a fourth said: “Give him a lifetime contract.”

February 11: Leeds Rattle Chelsea Fans With Post After Draw

Leeds United came from two goals down to pick up an unlikely draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening. Chelsea appeared to be cruising to victory when they led 2-0 going into the final 25 minutes of the match.

But Daniel Farke’s side fought back and managed to come away from west London with a point thanks to goals from Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor.

Leeds’ post after the match has gone viral. After they beat Chelsea in December, Leeds took to X to post an image of Pedro Neto closing his eyes and putting his fingers in his ears with the caption: ‘Us to all the Chelsea fans in the comments.’ That post drew 11k comments, with the majority being from angry Chelsea fans.

They took to X once again after the result on Wednesday, posting an image of Okafor celebrating alongside the caption: ’11k Chelsea fans reeling back their FT replies’.

One Chelsea fan wrote: “I will be the happiest man on earth when your relegation is confirmed in March, useless team,” while another said: “I will be back here after you get relegated mfs. I’m a very patient man.” A third commented: “You will be relegated this season! You saw it here first.”

Their tweet has drawn thousands of comments already, with the majority from livid Chelsea fans.

February 9: Man Utd Fan Reveals Plans For Haircut if They Beat Man Utd

Manchester United fan Frank Ilett, aka The United Strand, is just one win away from getting his long-awaited haircut. The supporter vowed not to get a trim until the Red Devils put together a run of five successive wins.

Michael Carrick has made that a real possibility by winning his first four matches since taking over from Ruben Amorim. Now all that stands in Ilett’s way is an away trip to West Ham United. If United overcome the relegation strugglers, he’s already decided the style he’s going for:

February 9: German Ref Who Proposed to Partner on Pitch Attacked in his Own Home

German referee Pascal Kaiser was attacked in his own home, just a week after proposing to his boyfriend during Cologne’s match against Wolfsburg on January 30, L’Equipe report.

Kaiser went viral on social media after he popped the question to his partner in front of 50,000 fans. Kaiser said in the stadium: “I don’t want to hide. I want to be visible. I want everyone to see that I love this person. A man. As a man. In football. Will you marry me?”

His proposal was accepted. Reports now claim that Kaiser has been attacked in his own home by three men that managed to break in.

L’Equipe report that Kaiser alerted the police after he received threats that mentioned his address. The police dismissed his concerns, though, saying there was no danger.

However, he was “violently attacked” by three men in his garden just 20 minutes later. Kaiser, who believes his proposal was the reason for the attack, has since shared a picture of his black eye with his followers on social media.

February 8: Santi Cazorla’s Tweet About the Premier League vs La Liga

Arsenal icon Santi Cazorla could not help but be blown away by the quality of football on show during Liverpool vs Manchester City. The Premier League encounter delivered plenty of entertainment as Pep Guardiola’s team won 2-1.

Dominik Szoboszlai scored a stunning free-kick before then getting sent off, as goals from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland saw the away team pull off a late comeback. Amid all the drama, Cazorla reflected that Spanish football had some way to go before it could be considered as good as the English top flight.

Taking to social media, he sent out the message, which quickly went viral. He wrote:

February 7: Al-Nassr Fans Show Whose Side They’re on in Ronaldo Dispute With PIF

Al-Nassr fans have shown their support for Cristiano Ronaldo during his ongoing dispute with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). The 41-year-old striker has missed the club’s past two games, going on strike over his dissatisfaction with recent transfer business in the Middle East.

Having seen Karim Benzema join league leaders Al-Hilal in the winter window, Ronaldo has threatened to leave Al-Nassr. The forward feels

as though PIF are not investing enough in his team. However, the Saudi Pro League have since released a statement warning that ‘no individual’ holds more power than they do.

In response to the ongoing dispute, Al-Nassr fans made it clear that they support Ronaldo’s position as they raised yellow no.7 cards in the seventh-minute of their 2-0 win against Al-Ittihad.

February 6: Frank Leao Releases Cristiano Ronaldo Song On His Birthday

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 41st birthday on Thursday evening. Rafael Leao’s father, Frank, has released a song dedicated to the football legend and it’s gone viral on social media.

The song is called ‘One of a kind’ and was filmed on Madeira, the island where Ronaldo spent his youth. It’s making waves online and you can view it above.

The song has been largely met with positive reviews. “The song is actually,” one fan said on X, while another commented: “This is the song of the year, you heard it here first.” A third wrote: “Ronaldo will be smiling watching this, this is a beautiful song.”

Fascinating Ref Cam footage has captured what went down during the recent huge brawl during Chelsea’s 2-2 comeback win over West Ham. The Hammers threw away a two-goal lead with Enzo Fernandez scoring a 92nd minuite winner.

The game erupted into chaotic scenes after the point as players from both teams clashed. Jean-Clair Todibo was ultimately dismissed for violent conduct, and the FA has since formally charged both teams for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.

New Ref Cam footage has given fans a wonderful insight into referee Anthony Taylor‘s perspective on the events. He can be heard talking to both his VAR team as well as a number of players, including Adama Traore, Cole Palmer and Tomas Soucek.

Palmer tells him to “check VAR”, while Soucek cheekily asks if it’s a possible penalty. This prompts Reece James to smile and say: “Come on Tomas…”

Before Taylor sends off Todibo, he can also be heard confirming that the West Ham defender grabbed Joao Perdo “around the throat”.