Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Napoli remained top of their respective domestic leagues, while Manchester City, FC Barcelona, and Liverpool dropped points at home. We recap results from the weekend’s action in major European football leagues.
English Premier League
Chelsea extended their lead to three points at the top of the English Premier League with a 0-3 win over relegation-threatened Newcastle United. Full-back Reece James netted two goals in the space of 12 minutes, while Jorginho successfully converted a penalty after Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow brought down Kai Havertz inside the box. James tops Chelsea’s goalscoring charts in the league this season with four goals in seven appearances.
A three-goal win over Tottenham Hotspur saw Manchester United end their four-game winless run in the English Premier League and eased pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the first half. The Portuguese set up Edinson Cavani for the second goal in the 64th minute. Marcus Rashford, who came on a substitute, scored the third with four minutes remaining on the clock.
Crystal Palace inflicted ten-man Manchester City their first defeat at home this season. Wilfried Zaha gave Palace the lead in the sixth minute, and Conor Gallagher, who provided the opening goal, struck in the dying minutes of the second half. The English Premier League champions had to play the second half with ten men, as centre-back Aymeric Laporte received a straight red card for a challenge on Zaha.
A resilient Brighton came back from two goals down to snatch a point against Liverpool at Anfield. The Reds went up 2-0 inside the opening half-hour courtesy of goals from Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane. However, Enock Mwepu pulled a goal back before half-time. Brighton leveled the game through Leandro Trossard in the 65th minute. The Belgian also had a goal disallowed for offside.
Spanish La Liga
Vinicius Jr struck twice in Real Madrid’s victory over Elche on Saturday. The Brazilian drew the first blood from Mariano Diaz’s pass. Elche found themselves in trouble when midfielder Raul Guti, already booked in the first half, was shown a second yellow in the 63rd minute. Ten minutes later, Vinicius chipped the ball over the Elche goalkeeper to double Madrid’s advantage. The La Liga giants, who drew 0-0 with Osasuna earlier in their last league outing, bagged all three points despite a late goal from Pere Milla.
FC Barcelona played out a 1-1 draw with Alaves at Camp Nou. The Catalan side, who sacked their manager Ronald Koeman after the defeat against Rayo Vallecano, grabbed the lead four minutes into the second half through Memphis Depay. But Luis Rioja restored parity immediately. Barcelona picked up just one point in their last three games and remain ninth in the points table.
Yannick Carrasco and Joao Felix were on the scoresheet as Atletico Madrid beat Real Betis 3-0. The Belgian drilled home a left-footer to put Atletico ahead in the 26th minute. Betis defender German Pezzella nodded the ball into his own net to give the Spanish La Liga champions a 2-0 lead in the second half. Felix added Atletico’s third in the 80th minute. It was their first three points since the victory over Barcelona in the opening week of October.
Italian Serie A
A 61st-minute goal from Piotr Zielinski sealed all three points for Napoli against Salernitana. Both teams had a player sent-off in an eventful second half. Zielinski slotted the ball into the net from a close range to grab the all-important goal in the 61st minute. Salernitana midfielder Grigoris Kastanos received a red card for a dangerous tackle on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa in the 69th minute. However, seven minutes later, Kalidou Koulibaly saw a straight red card after he denied Simy Nwankwo a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Ten-man AC Milan defeated AS Roma and clinched a sixth straight win in Italian Serie A. Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted the opening goal for the Milan outfit, while Franck Kessie doubled their lead from the penalty spot. Milan left-back Theo Hernandez was sent-off for a second bookable foul in the 66th minute. But they clinched all three points despite a consolation goal from Stephan El Shaarawy in stoppage time.
Two lovely strikes from Joaquin Correa helped Inter Milan sink Udinese 2-0 at home. After a goalless first half, Correa broke the deadlock with a brilliant individual goal at the hour mark. He made it 2-0, hammering Denzel Dumfries’ cutback past the Udinese goalkeeper. Inter is third in the points table, seven points behind leaders Napoli.
Giovanni Simeone struck two goals in the opening 14 minutes as Juventus suffered a second straight defeat in Italian Serie A. Verona stunned the Old Lady 2-1 at home. Weston McKennie pulled a goal back for Juventus in the 80th minute. They have dropped to ninth in the points table with 15 points from 11 games.
German Bundesliga
Bayern Munich thrashed Union Berlin 2-5 in the tenth gameweek of the German Bundesliga. Robert Lewandowski completed his brace before the half-hour mark, while Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, and Thomas Muller registered their names on the scoresheet. Muller also grabbed a hat-trick of assists in Bayern’s thumping win. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund blanked FC Koln 2-0 thanks to goals from Thorgan Hazard and Steffen Tigges. It was their first clean sheet in the German Bundesliga 2021-22 season.
French Ligue 1
An 88th-minute goal from Angel Di Maria saw PSG grab all three points against Lille at Parc des Princes. Mauricio Pochettino’s men trailed to Jonathan David’s goal at half-time. PSG captain Marquinhos leveled the game for his side after tapping home from close range in the 74th minute. With two minutes left on the clock, Neymar, at the edge of the box, gave the ball to an onrushing Di Maria, who steered the ball past the Lille goalkeeper into the net. PSG, eight points ahead of Nice, were without injured Kylian Mbappe. Also, Lionel Messi went off at half-time due to a muscle injury.
Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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