Short takes
• Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri was fired just nine months after leading his team to the most improbable league title in English history. The Foxes have not scored a league goal in 2017 and lost 1-0 to third-division Millwall in the FA Cup. Leicester could be the first English team since 1938 to be relegated the season after a title.
• Speaking of coach firings, it’s hard to see how Club América manager Ricardo La Volpe survives much longer. He was already on the hot seat at a club that goes through managers like the Steinbrenner-era Yankees. Then, during his team’s rivalry matchup with Chivas, he actually stepped onto the field and tripped an opposing player who had the ball.
• The “magic of the FA Cup” was at full strength last week. Lincoln City, a fifth-division team, went on the road against Burnley, a Premier League side, and won 1-0, courtesy of a last-minute goal. It made Lincoln the first non-League team (only the top four divisions are part of the Football League) to qualify for the FA Cup quarterfinals since 1914.
