Derby delight for Manchester City, Bayern Munich moved four points clear at the top, while Liverpool, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid had a gameweek to forget. We recap results from the weekend’s action in major European football leagues.
English Premier League
Manchester City outclassed Manchester United in a one-sided derby at Old Trafford. Eric Bailly put the ball into his own net to give City the lead in the seventh minute. Bernardo Silva pounced on a Luke Shaw error and gave his team a two-goal advantage at the stroke of half-time. The visitors controlled the possession and United goalkeeper David De Gea pulled off some outstanding saves. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men had only one shot on target in the match. With seven wins in 11 games, City have climbed to second in the points table.
Matej Vydra struck late to deny Chelsea three points against Burnley on Saturday. Kai Havertz put his team 1-0 up in the 33rd minute. The German nodded the ball home past Nick Pope from Reece James' cross. Chelsea had their chances in the second half but failed to double their advantage. With 11 minutes left on the clock, Jay Rodriguez teed up Vydra, who tapped home the equalizer for the relegation-threatened side.
Liverpool suffered their first defeat in 26 games across all competitions after West Ham United beat them 3-2 at London Stadium. Alisson's mistake from a corner saw West Ham take the lead in the fourth minute. Trent Alexander-Arnold restored parity with an excellent goal from a free-kick. But goals from Pablo Fornals and Kurt Zouma put West Ham in the driving seat. Divock Origi, who replaced Diogo Jota in the second half, pulled one back for Liverpool in the 83rd minute. The Reds came close to level the match when Sadio Mane’s injury-time header went wide of goal.
Spanish La Liga
Real Madrid grabbed a thrilling 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano at Santiago Bernabeu. Toni Kroos put Madrid ahead early in the match. The goal was ruled out for offside by the linesman, but VAR overturned the decision. Karim Benzema tapped home from close range to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute. The second half saw Madrid missing a flurry of chances. At the other end, Rayo midfielder Bebe hit the woodwork, and, a minute later, Radamel Falcao grabbed a goal back for the visiting side. Kroos made a goalline clearance, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois tipped a long-range attempt over the crossbar in stoppage time as the Spanish giants held on to three points.
FC Barcelona let slip a three-goal advantage in the 3-3 draw against Celta Vigo. Goals from Ansu Fati, Sergio Busquets, and Memphis Depay gave them a comfortable three-goal cushion at the break. However, Iago Aspas pounced on a poor clearance and opened Celta's account seven minutes into the second half. Nolito headed the ball into the net to pull another goal back for the home side. In the sixth minute of added time, Aspas beat Ter Stegen with a beautiful left-footer from the edge of the box.
Atletico Madrid conceded twice in the second-half stoppage time and settled for a point against Valencia in a six-goal thriller at Mestalla. The Spanish La Liga champions led at half-time courtesy of a Luis Suarez strike in the 35th minute. An own goal from defender Stefan Savic helped Valencia level the match early in the second half. However, Atletico struck twice in the space of two minutes to take a 3-1 lead at the hour mark. As Diego Simeone's men headed towards a comfortable win, Hugo Duro stunned them by netting a brace in stoppage time.
Italian Serie A
AC Milan and Inter Milan played out a thrilling 1-1 draw in the Milan derby at San Siro. Both goals came in the first half. Hakan Calhanoglu gave Inter the lead early from the spot. Milan midfielder Franck Kessie brought down Calhanoglu inside the box. The Turkey international sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. Milan leveled the game after Stefan de Vrij headed the ball into his own net from a free-kick in the 17th minute. Inter received another penalty when Fode Ballo-Toure tripped Matteo Darmian. However, Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu denied Lautaro Martinez with a fine save. The two teams had plenty of opportunities in the second half, but it remained 1-1.
Italian Serie A leaders Napoli had to share points with Verona at home. Giovanni Simeone opened the scoring for Verona in the 13th minute. Napoli drew level shortly through Giovanni Di Lorenzo. They were unlucky not to take the lead as Victor Osimhen’s left-footer hit the post. Dries Mertens, too, struck the woodwork from a free-kick in the second half. Meanwhile, Verona's Daniel Bessa and Nikola Kalinic received a second yellow card in the closing minutes.
A 90th-minute goal from Juan Cuadrado steered Juventus to their first win in four matches in the league. The Old Lady beat Fiorentina by a solitary goal. Alvaro Morata and Federico Chiesa came close to breaking the deadlock in the second half. The Italian hit the woodwork and had another attempt saved by the Fiorentina goalkeeper. The referee showed Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic a second yellow for a foul on Chiesa. In the opening minute of added time, Cuadrado sent a powerful strike into the net, much to the excitement of home fans.
German Bundesliga
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund endured mixed fortunes in the German Bundesliga 11th gameweek. The Bavarians edged past SC Freiburg thanks to goals from Leon Goretzka and Robert Lewandowski. Freiburg scored a consolation goal in the third minute of the added time. RB Leipzig inflicted Erling Haaland-less Borussia Dortmund their third defeat in the German Bundesliga this season. Marco Reus equalized for Dortmund, who trailed at half-time. But Denmark international Yussuf Poulsen netted the winner for Leipzig in the 68th minute.
French Ligue 1
Kylian Mbappe and Neymar inspired PSG to a victory over Bordeaux. The Brazilian netted a brace, while the 22-year-old set up both the goals for Neymar and scored PSG’s third in the second half. Though Bordeaux scored two goals late in the match, PSG managed to cling to their lead. Lionel Messi didn't feature due to injury. The Parisian outfit, who picked up 11 wins from 13 matches, have a ten-point advantage over second-placed Lens.
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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