It's 1-1 late in the 1st Half.. Boca was beaten in the air by Honduran George Wellcome for Monaco's equalizer. Game is on Fox Soccer Plus
He was beaten, but the goal keeper made a mess of it. I wouldn't fault Blackmouth too much on that. Highlights for those that missed it: http://watchsocceronline.blogspot.com/2011/05/bocanegra-goes-distance-in-st-etiennes.html
Got a "5" from L'Equipe. Played in center right again - 60 touches, 10 balls lost. 36 out of 46 passes completed, won 2 out of 4 aerial challenges, committed 2 fouls, earned 1. http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/directs/Live198220.html PS. Welcome has 4 inches on the guy.
But Bocanegra's height had nothing to do with this goal. As YA said, the problem was Saint Etienne's Jon Busch-sized keeper.
And he's taller too! badumbum. enjoytheveal, tipyourwaiter, Imhereeverynight. seriously tho - brave goal. He just crashed and fought for position. Pretty amazing he outjumps the keepers hands.
OK, his height and his jumping ability were shared culprits. He may be short and he may have screwed up on his interception attempt but Janot is a solid keeper, rated as the 3rd best ASSE performer on the season with a "5.56" average (Bocanegra is 9th at "4.69"). Sure, he is no Peter Cech but he probably doesn't come out on that cross if Bocanegra was Zat Knight. And, if he stays in goal, that's a point blank header for Georgie boy. Welcome has half a foot on Janot but he also jumped way higher and got a gloved fist (no jokes, please) on the back of his head for the trouble. Monaco must have ... eh, welcomed the effort, however. With the tie, they're out of the relegation zone.
Maybe so, but that cross came floating in beyond the defense from barely inside the attacking third, all the way out at the touchline. You expect your goalkeeper to be able to prevent a point blank header under those circumstances. It's also worth pointing out that Saint Etienne's keeper would've gotten the ball if he hadn't tried a two-handed punch. On a play like that, just go up with one arm, extend your fingers, and tip it away. It may not look as impressive, but it gets the job done.
So that's what happened to Georgie Welcome. I remember him scoring that impressive game winning goal against us in the Olympic Qualifying Final and wondering where he'd eventually end up.
That depends on how dangerous the cross is. This one happened to be perfectly placed and paced. It looked like he wanted to get some power behind the punch, with a trailer ready to pounce on a weaker clearance. Since Janot was coming from the goal almost center, his left hand would have been closer but may not have gotten much of a punch on the ball coming from his left. So, from the purely technical POV, it's hard to blame him much. He just got beat to the punch, as it were. He just got there in the winter and only has 3 starts (with 2 goals, including this one).
I don't see any dangerous trailer. If he had re-directed the ball away from Wellcome, the guys in position to get onto it were his teammates. Really, it was a needless attempt to do too much. What's ironic is that you pointed out this guy's season-long L'Equipe rating but not his rating for this game ... he got a 4. L'Equipe rarely goes any lower than that for a keeper who only gave up one goal.
Just got a chance to watch this game from the DVR. I was really, really struck by how much the announcer talked about Bocanegra. I'm guessing that the English language audience for the game is primarily Yanks interested in Boca, and English interested in an ex-Fulham player. Either that, or Boca is one of their top performers and his match ratings severely underrate him.
