Houston – Liam Richner

Records tumbled at the NRG Stadium as Tom Brady inspired the Patriots to the most unlikely of victories.

Atlanta Falcons were 25 points to the good halfway through the third quarter of the 2017 Superbowl.

Never before had they ever won the Vin Lombardi Trophy, with their only previous appearance at the NFL mega-event coming way back in 1994.

Their opponents couldn’t have been more of a polar opposite. The New England Patriots had won the Superbowl four times previously, with this being their record ninth appearance at the spectacle.

Patriots quarterback Brady and head coach Bill Belichick both brought a lot of invaluable experience of this enormous event to the playing field. They had both been involved in each of New England’s Superbowl victories, but this time they looked helpless, as the Falcons overpowered them for almost an hour in Houston.

However, a costly fumble from Atlanta’s Matt Ryan proved to be the catalyst that sparked a quite remarkable comeback. Within a blink of an eye the game had gone from 28-3 to 28-28 (thanks to a 19-0 fourth quarter for New England) and as a result, the Superbowl went into overtime for the first time in its 50-year history.

Brady was now finding his range, and he consistently got the Patriots’ offence deeper into Atlanta territory. It was to be New England’s running back James White who eventually rushed in for the match-winning touchdown – making it 34-28 on the scoreboard. Victory sent the team, coaches and fans into raptures after most had been staring into the barrel of defeat not so long before.

The records had tumbled; no team had ever come back from such a deficit to win the Superbowl before. Brady became the first quarterback to win five Superbowls and the first ever NFL player to be awarded the Superbowl MVP award on four occasions. His passing yards of 416 were the highest ever recorded in the spectacle’s history and Belichick also became the most successful coach at the event, with five victories to his name.

I doubt any of those previous wins had felt sweeter than this one.

Brady had missed the first four games of the regular season whilst he served out the Deflategate suspension the NFL had imposed on him for his role in the infamous scandal, so this victory was the fairy-tale ending to a season that started like a nightmare for the 40-year-old.

Above all, victory in Houston further cemented the claim that the New England Patriots have had the best quarterback, the best coach and the best roster out of any of the NFL Franchises since the turn of the century.

Here is a round up of all the action on a busy Saturday in America’s top division.

It’s always common that a team improves dramatically when a manager comes in at a football club. Mike Petke and Real Salt Lake are no different.

On Saturday night, RSL made light work of Vancouver Whitecaps with a 3-0 win at the Rio Tinto Stadium.

Battling against the torrential snow, the home side finally went in front after Albert Rusnak ran into the box, cut in on his right foot, and fired the ball into the bottom left corner.

The 22-year old Slovakian then provided the assist for RSL’s second of the game when he picked out a free Yura Movsisyan. The striker curled his shot into the bottom right corner for his third of the season.

Rusnak claimed yet another assist when his corner was met on the volley by Luke Mulholland as the home side finally ended their longest winless run at home in the club’s history.

It was RSL’s first win at Rio Tinto Stadium in seven matches, and first in MLS for thirteen. You could sense the relief from the players and fans at the final whistle.

Petke, who took charge of the side following the sacking of Jeff Cassar earlier in the season, couldn’t be more proud of his team.

“We want to play for the supporters. The support they show this team is amazing. Tonight was a building block, a stepping stone,” he told RSL.

“I am very happy for the players. They showed they wanted it more in that second half when the conditions were almost unplayable.”

Pekte’s team would like to replicate the recent upturn in form of DC United, who made it two wins on the bounce with a 2-1 victory against New York City FC.

Lloyd Sam (who was making his 100th MLS start) opened the scoring, capatalising on a Frederic Brilliant mistake to slot the ball past Sean Johnson in the New York goal.

Sam almost got his second but his fierce shot was parried by Johnson, but Luciano Acosta did double the host’s lead when tapped in the rebound.

David Villa scored with a low shot into the bottom right corner to set up a nervy finish but it was Ben Olsen’s side that held on for all three points.

Goalkeeper Ben Hamid made some crucial saves when the score was 0-0, and he says that DC are now challenging their MLS rivals after a tough start.

“We’ve had to roll with the punches, and we got punched pretty hard in the beginning of the season,” he told the Washington Post.

“But we’ve now started throwing some punches of our own.”

DC are level on points with New England Revolution, after they defeated Houston Dynamo 2-0 at the Gillette Stadium.

Kei Kamara and Juan Agudelo grabbed the goals for the home side, who are now unbeaten in their last three MLS matches.

For the Dynamo their inconsistent form continues. Despite a 100% home record, the team from Texas are yet to pick up a point on the road this season.

Kelyn Rowe told the press after the game: “We knew we had to come out hard. They are a good team, but we were at home and we had to make a stand.

“We did a very good job defensively. We made sure they didn’t have any clear cut chances.”

Elsewhere, Chicago Fire defeated Coloumbus Crew 1-0, and LA Galaxy picked up a crucial 2-0 win over Montreal Impact.

Toronto FC and Atlanta United played out an entertaining 2-2 draw, whilst San Jose and Seattle shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw.

Portland won at winless Philadelphia Union 3-1 and FC Dallas picked up three points after defeating Minnesota United 2-0.

Tag: Houston

A memorable night in Houston for the New England Patriots.

MLS: Vital win for Real Salt Lake, back-to back victories for DC United, and defeat on the road again for Houston Dynamo.