Football Weekend Recap

Premier League Action



The race for the Champions League spots and the battle for Premier League survival had further spins and turns this past weekend in the Premier League. Brighton look like that will play Premier League football next season whilst sealing Norwich's demotion back to the Championship after the Seagulls beat the Canaries 1-0. Manchester United's front three were at it again keeping in the hunt for the top 4 after hammering Bournemouth 5-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday. Leicester's Jamie Vardy was back scoring goals as the Foxes beating Crystal Palace 3-0. He also joined the 100 club as he has now scored over a hundred goals in the Premier League. Cheslea are still 4th place after beating Watford 3-0 but Wolves have lost some ground over their top four rivals losing at home to Arsenal 2-0 with Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette scoring for the Gunners. This leaves Wolves 6th in the league table, five points behind Cheslea. Burnley and Sheffield United shared the points, West Ham United gained another point in their hopes of survival after a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United with goals from Michail Antonio and Tomáš Souĉek. Liverpool gained their first win since becoming champions with a 2-0 win against Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday. Manchester City, on the other hand, lost for the ninth time this season. They lost 1-0 to Southampton with Che Adams scoring his first goal for the Saints with a lovely strike from distance, catching Ederson off his line. This means that City will only gain a maximum of 81 points at the end of the season.

La Liga Action

 

Real Madrid kept their push for the La Liga title alive after a big win against Athletic Bilbao, winning the game 1-0. Sergio Ramos converted from the penalty spot, taking his goal tally to ten in La Liga this season. This makes him the first defender since Fernando Hierro in the 1993/94 season to score 10 in a La Liga season. Barcelona bounced back from dropping points in their recent games, beating Villarreal 4-1. Luis Suárez, Antonie Griezmann and Lionel Messi were able to play well together against the Yellow Submarines, with Suárez and Griezmann scoring while Messi created two assists. Leganes beat Espanyol in a relegation six-pointer which further takes Espanyol into the Segunda Division. Jonathan Silva scored for Los Pepineros in a 1-0 win which keeps their hopes of staying up alive. Atlético Madrid have built a gap between them and their top four rivals after beating Mallorca 3-0 with Álvaro Morata scoring a brace. Celta Vigo and Real Betis played a 1-1 draw, Real Valladolid beat Alavés 1-0 while Valencia dropped points against Granada with the final score 2-2.

Bayern Munich retain the DFB-Pokal

 

Bayern Munich played against Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal Final at the Olympistadion in Berlin on Saturday. Hansi Flick's side were heavy favourites going into the Final while Leverkusen were relying on their young stars in Kai Havertz, Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby to pull off a shock win. David Alaba opened the scoring for the Bavarians in the 16th minute from a free-kick before Serge Gnabry doubled Bayern's lead eight minutes later. This was the same story in the second half with Robert Lewandowski getting on the act as well. Bayern's number nine scored twice in the second half as he has now scored 51 goals in all competitions this season. Sven Bender and Kai Havertz scored for Leverkusen to lower the deficit as the game ended 4-2 to Bayern. This is a second successive league and cup double for FC Hollywood and their fifth in eight seasons, with the Champions League in the hunt as well. As for Leverkusen, this is a third appearance in the cup final this century and have lost it. They are also trying to keep hold on their prized asset Kai Havertz, who has been linked with a move away from the BayArena.

Serie A Action



There were some shock results in the Italian top flight this past weekend that has favoured Juventus in the title race. The Old Lady romped to a 4-1 win in the Derby della Mole against Torino. Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado and Cristiano Ronaldo were on the score sheet for the Italian champions before an own goal from Koffi Djidji compound Torino's day. Cristiano Ronaldo sealed another milestone scoring his first free-kick in Juve colours and becoming the first Juventus player to score 25 goals in a Serie A season in fifty years. Gianluigi Buffon also sealed a milestone of his own, becoming Serie A record appearance holder with 648. He overtook Paolo Maldini who had 647. Both Lazio and Inter Milan lost their games this weekend with Lazio losing 3-0 to AC Milan at home with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hakan Çalhanoglu and Ante Rebic scoring for the Rossoneri. Inter Milan lost 2-1 to Bologna as they are now 11 points behind Juventus with eight games remaining. Lorenzo Insigne and José Callejón were on target for Napoli, as they beat AS Roma 2-1. They are now level on points with Roma but are behind on goal difference.

Player of the Weekend - Bruno Fernandes




Manchester United swept Bournemouth aside 5-2 to keep the pressure on Chelsea and Leicester City. Midfielder Bruno Fernandes had a field day against the Cherries, opening their defence regularly to provide for their front three. The Portuguese scored a brillant free-kick and made two assists. According to whoscored, he made three shots (two on target), five key passes, 90 touches, 71 passes with a 80.3% pass accuracy. With his partnership with Paul Pogba, they look like the deadly duo.