Football Weekend Recap

 Serie A

21 goals were in the Italian top flight this past weekend but only three games had three goals or more. One of those games was between league leaders Inter Milan and Genoa. The Nerazzurri had a comfortable 3-0 victory with Romelu Lukaku, Matteo Darmian and Alexis Sánchez. That's now five straight wins for Inter as they are still four points ahead of AC Milan. Speaking of their city rivals, they beat top-four hopefuls AS Roma 2-1 at the Olimpico on Sunday. Goals from Franck Kessié and Ante Rebić ensured the win for the Rossoneri, after losing back-to-back games. a 77th-minute equalizer from Antonín Barák meant the points were shared between Hellas Verona and Juventus. A blow in their chances of gaining ground on the Milan clubs, as they are six points behind Milan and ten points behind Inter, albeit with a game in hand. Atalanta moved into the top four following their 2-0 win over Sampdoria with goals from Ruslan Malinovskiy and Robin Gosens, who scored his seventh goal in Serie A this season, only two players in the Atalanta squad has scored more than the defender. Napoli closed the gap on the top four places with a 2-0 win over Benevento but will be without defender Kalidou Koulibaly for their next game as the Senegalese saw a red card. Goals from Ibrahima Mbaye and Nicola Sansone gave a 2-0 win over Lazio, which dents La Aquile's chances of finishing in the Champions League places. Two goals from Emmanuel Gyasi gave Spezia a 2-2 draw over Parma, Cagliari inflicted more misery on Crotone winning the game 2-0 while an 86th-minute goal from Ilija Nestorovski gave Udinese a 1-0 win over Fiorentina.

Bundesliga

31 goals were scored in the Bundesliga with only three teams failing to score over the weekend. The crunch fixture was RB Leipzig hosting Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday. Credit has to go to Leipzig for their fightback after going two goals down in the first twenty minutes, winning the game 3-2 with Alexander Sorloth scoring the winning goal late in added time, keeping Leipzig's title chances alive. Bayern Munich eased past FC Koln with a 5-1 victory, keeping two points ahead of Leipzig. Both Serge Gnarby and Robert Lewandowski netted a brace while Eric Choupo-Moting got on the scoresheet. Those two goals took Lewandowski's goal tally to 28, leading as the Bundesliga top-scorer and European Golden Boot, nine goals ahead in both charts. His closest rival for Bundesliga top-scorer André Silva got on the scoresheet. However, it was not enough for him and Eintracht Frankfurt as they lost 2-1 to Werder Bremen on Friday. Wolfsburg's great form continued following their 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday. A goal from Maxence Lacroix and an own goal from Lukas Klünter ensured a fourth win in five games for Die Wolfe but Marin Pongračić was sent off late in the game after receiving a second yellow card. Borussia Dortmund beat Arminia Bielefeld 3-0, closing down on the Champions League spots, now three points behind Frankfurt. Bayer Leverkusen lost points against Freiburg, losing 2-1 keeping them sixth in the table. Mainz remains in the automatic relegation places after losing to Augsburg 1-0, Union Berlin and Hoffenheim drew 1-1 while Stuttgart destroyed Schalke winning 5-1.

La Liga

It was a not so prolific weekend in La Liga with just 18 goals scored with only one team scoring more than two goals. That team was Getafe, beating Valencia 3-0 thanks to goals from Mauro Arambarri, Jaime Mata and Carles Alena. They did have an advantage in the game though as Valencia went down to 10 men when Mouctar Diakhaby received a straight red card early in the second half. That ended a seven-game winless run in what has been an underwhelming season for them. Goals from Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi ensured Barcelona a 2-0 win over Sevilla on Saturday. That was Messi's 19th league goal of the season, three goals ahead of Luis Suárez and keeps Barcelona second in the table, although they have played a game more than Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. Atlético Madrid got back on track with a 2-0 win against Villarreal with João Felix netting his seventh league goal this season. Athletic Bilbao and Levante played out a 1-1 draw with Bilbao going down to ten men late in the game with Iñigo Martínez receiving a straight red card. Following going through to the Round of 16 in the Europa League, Granada ended a six-game winless run with a 2-1 win over Elche on Sunday. For Elche, they remain in the drop zone, though they have a game in hand over their relegation rivals. Betis' rich vein of form continued with a 1-0 win over Cadiz with Junami scoring the winner in the 84th minute. Eibar and Huesca played a 1-1 draw, Osasuna beat Alaves 1-0 while Jeison Murillo scored a 94th minute to give Celta Vigo a 1-1 against Real Valladolid.

Premier League

The Premier League didn't many goals with just 17 goals over the weekend. The crunch game was between Chelsea and Manchester United on Sunday at Stamford Bridge. It was a bore draw with the game ending goalless with little high-quality chances from the game. West Brom got a 1-0 win over Brighton with a Kyle Bartley goal but the conversation of the game was referee Lee Mason who disallowed a goal from Brighton with Brighton defender Lewis Dunk voicing his disappointment over his officiating. Goals from Ruben Dias and John Stones ensured a 20th consecutive win for Manchester City, after beating West Ham United, extending their gap at the top to 12 points. Arsenal beat Leicester City 3-1 with goals from David Luiz, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pépé despite resting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka. Leicester City lost another key player in Harvey Barnes who was taken off for a suspected knee injury. An early goal from Anwar El-Ghazi ensured a 1-0 win for Aston Villa against Leeds United while Newcastle dropped points against Wolves on Saturday. Fulham had the better of Crystal Palace in their game at Selhurst Park but it did not translate into goals as the game ended goalless, keeping the Cottagers in the bottom three. Three points off safety. Liverpool ended their four-game losing streak, beating Sheffield United 2-0 with an own goal from Kean Bryan and a strike from Curtis Jones. Gareth Bale scored a brace in a rare start for him as Tottenham smashed Burnley 4-0 with Lucas Moura and Harry Kane.