Europe is in full swing now with the first round of matches after the group stages of the Champions and Europa League.
Weekend of September 17:
France:
Lyon, Lorient and Toulouse were the big winners in round six of the Ligue 1 season while erstwhile leaders Montpellier, defending champions Lille and favourites PSG were all held. As a result, a new leader in Lyon sits atop the standings. Their triumph over Marseille in the late game on Sunday coming courtesy of goals by Bafetimbi Gomis and Michel Bastos. Marseille are having a terrible start to the season, and now sit bottom of the standings with just three points from their six games.
Montpellier slipped to second with a 2-2 draw at Brest; while Lille could not get past Souchaux at home, also managing a 2-2 draw despite taking the lead twice. Lorient moved up to sixth with an emphatic 3-0 win over St. Etienne, while bottom side Valenciennes showed they're not just going to roll over and get relegated with a solid 4-0 thrashing off visiting Dijon. Promoted Evian took a 2-0 lead over visiting PSG before being held to a 2-2 draw as the favourites dropped points in their race with Lyon. Elsewhere, Toulouse continued their good start with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 win over Bordeaux at home. The purple spotted Girondins a 2-0 lead before storming back to claim all three points. Nice were also big winners, seeing off promoted side Ajaccio 3-0 at home. In the other games, Rennes drew 1-1 with Nancy and Auxerre hosted Caen to a 1-1 draw.
Marseille and Valenciennes are separated by Nancy in the drop zone while Lyon, Montpellier and Toulouse round out the top three. Former Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere (Lorient), Oliver Giroud (St. Etienne), Luciano Monzon (Nice), Cheick Diabate (Bordeaux) and Gregory Pujol (Valenciennes), one of last season's top performers, all scored doubles this round. Headliners Eden Hazard, Javier Pastore and Brazilian wingback Michel Bastos also netted.
Alain Traore still sits atop the scoring charts with five goals while Giroud, Gomis and Sammaritano all tied for second with four goals each.
---
Germany:
Stuttgart continued their push for a champions league spot with their second win in a row, beating Freiburg 2-1 away in the early game on Friday. The rest of the action saw seven games on Saturday and two more on Sunday. Hannover maintained their good early season form, beating the defending champions, Dortmund, 2-1 at home; while leaders Bayern Munich swept aside Schalke 2-0 with some ease at Gelsenkirchen. Bayern continues to lead the league while Hannover and Stuttgart remain fifth and sixth respectively.
On Saturday, Cologne hammered Leverkusen 4-1 at the Bay Arena, Gladbach edged Hamburg 1-0 in the Northern Saxon city while Hoffenheim, another early season front runner, stayed fourth with a 3-1 win over Wolfsburg. Hertha and Augsburg (2-2) and Werder at Nurnberg (1-1) both drew their matches as Christian Tiffert inspired Kaiserslautern to a 3-1 win over Mainz. Martin Harnik, for Stuttgart, Robert Firmino, Hoffenheim and Lukas Podolski, for Cologne, all scored doubles.
Freiburg and Augsburg join Hamburg in the cellar while Bremen and Gladbach sit tied on points in second and third behind leaders Bayern. Mario Gomez leads the scoring charts with eight goals.
---
England:
On Sunday, United broke free to power two points clear of the English Premiership with a forceful 3-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford. With the marque matchup of the two most successful teams of the last six years an early test for both, United started and finished the stronger with goals from Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney, rendering a first goal from Fernando Torres this season irrelevant. Rooney even had time to miss a penalty as his streak of consecutive hat-tricks ended at two but his goalscoring streak kept going for another round. United remain perfect with five wins from five to remain in first with 15 points and a goal difference of +17.
Their nearest contenders and crosstown rivals Manchester City stumbled at Fulham, drawing 2-2. Also on Sunday, Tottenham threw the form book out the window with a 4-0 thrashing of Liverpool at White Hart Lane as the visitors were cruelly exposed by the pace of Spurs' attack and then destroyed altogether once Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel had both been dismissed.
Their nearest contenders and crosstown rivals Manchester City stumbled at Fulham, drawing 2-2. Also on Sunday, Tottenham threw the form book out the window with a 4-0 thrashing of Liverpool at White Hart Lane as the visitors were cruelly exposed by the pace of Spurs' attack and then destroyed altogether once Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel had both been dismissed.
In Saturday's games all three promoted teams won, in a healthy fillip for parity and the Championship. Swansea beat West Brom 3-0 at home while Norwich and QPR won on the road, beating Bolton, 2-1, and Wolves, 3-0, respectively. After Wolves and WBA's losses left the Black country in despair, Villa could do only a little better, drawing 1-1 with Newcastle. Despite an early season mired in transfer woe, fan depression and an indifferent outlook, Everton won their second game of the season, beating Wigan 3-1 with a very youthful team. The upset of the weekend however was Arsenal's defeat at Blackburn, 4-3, with the Gunners scoring two own goals in the loss. The irony of the defeat coming after manager Arsene Wenger had defended Rovers boss Steve Kean, in the pre-match buildup, cannot have have been lost on the Gunners faithful. In the remaining game on Sunday, Sunderland hammered Stoke 4-0.
Emmanuel Adebayor scored a double in Spurs' rout, as did Aiyegbeni Yakubu in Rovers' win. Argentine superstar Sergio Aguero scored the opening two goals in City's draw. He still trails scoring leader Rooney, eight goals to nine.
---
Spain:
Spain watched another bipolar round of results for the big two, with Barcelona hammering visiting Osaunsa 8-0 and Real slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Levante. While rumours of Barcelona's demise have been largely exaggerated, Real's trip-up at a team whose starting back four average over 32 years in age was a hilarious shock. Although the two teams are separated in the table by just a point, the early leaders are the impressive duo of Valencia and promoted Betis, both of whom won again. Valencia made it three wins from three with a 1-0 win at Gijon while Betis also remained perfect with an entertaining 3-2 win at Bilbao.
Lionel Messi scored a hat trick, David Villa, a double and Francesc Fabregas and Xavi also notched, in the Catalan giants win while Osasuna's Roversio put through his own net to do his team no favours. Aruna Kone scored the winning goal for Levante in their win over Real whose unbeaten streak ended early this year. In the other games, Rayo Vallecano edged Getafe 1-0 in a Madrid Derby, Zaragoza saw off Espanyol 2-1 and Sevilla made it two in two for the city with a 1-0 win over Sociedad. Atletico Madrid scored an impressive 4-0 hammering of Santander with Radamel Falcao scoring a hat trick.
On Saturday, Granada upset visiting Villarreal 1-0 while Malaga scored an close 1-0 win at Mallorca. Zaragoza's Luis Garcia joined Barcelona's Villa in scoring a double while Javi Lopez completed a unique trifecta of picking up a card of each colour and getting dismissed after scoring a goal for Espanyol.
Lionel Messi and Roberto Soldado, who scored for the third game in a row, lead the scoring with five strikes apiece.
---
Italy:
Napoli laid down a marker in their impressive 3-1 win over defending champions Milan at home in the late game on Sunday. After Alberto Aquilani scored the opener for the visitors, Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick to claim the points and send the San Paolo faithful into raptures. It's early season yet but the Neopolitan pretenders seem like genuine contenders for the title.
Udinese were also big winners, beating Fiorentina 2-0 at home while Juventus continued their good start under new manager Antonio Conte, beating their promoted loan side Siena 1-0 away. On Saturday, Inter and Roma played out a goalless draw while Cagliari edged promoted Novara 2-1.
In the remaining games on Sunday, Atalanta beat Palermo 1-0, Lecce beat Bologna 2-0 and Catania saw off Cesena 1-0 thanks to a Maxi Lopez strike. Parma got all their scoring from Sebiastian Giovinco, who scored his second and third goals of the season, in their 2-1 win over Chievo and then got sent off for taking his shirt off while Genoa stunned Lazio 2-1 at the Olimpico in Rome.
Napoli, Juventus, Udinese and Cagliari remain perfect with two wins out of two. Having started the season with a six point deduction, Atalanta are now at -2. Cavani's treble takes him into the scoring lead.
---
Scotland:
The big game in Scotland went Rangers way as they beat Celtic 4-2 in the Old Firm Derby on Sunday at Ibrox. The home side had taken the lead through Steven Naismith before goals from Gary Hooper and Badr El-Kaddouri put the Hoops in the lead. Nikica Jelavic, Kyle Lafferty and then Naismith again, then scored three in a row as Rangers wrested back the advantage to run away with the game. The result gives Rangers an early lead in the Championship race, as they now for points clear of second placed Celtic with seven games gone.
Early leaders Motherwell lost again, falling 3-0 to St. Johnstone at home while St. Mirren lost 2-0 at Hearts. In the other games, Dundee beat Inverness 3-1, while Dunfermline and Hibs and Aberdeen and Kimarnock both drew their respective games 2-2. Motherwell remain in third but Hearts and Kilmarnock are now breathing down their necks.
Naismith, with his double, retakes the scoring lead from Paul Heffernen, six goals to five. The latter scored in Killie's draw with the Dons.
---
Holland:
Another big weekend featuring the two biggest clubs in the league squaring off - the Dutch Eredivisie saw its two domestic heavyweights PSV and Ajax battle to a 2-2 draw. Tim Matavz and Georginio Wijnaldum had twice put the Eindhoven giants in the lead only for Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Dmitry Bulykin to draw the Amsterdam club level each time. Ajax remain three points ahead of PSV with 14 to 11, but drop to third behind Twente and AZ, who both won.
Twente bounced back from their defeat last weekend with a 5-2 hammering of ADO Den Haag with Luuk De Jong scoring a double. AZ also won, and like leaders Twente, for the fifth time in six games, seeing off Waalwijk 2-1 away. Feyenoord and Vitesse also won large, with the former crushing Roda 5-0 and the latter hammering Graafschap 4-0. Heerenveen won at VV Venlo, 3-0 while Groningen beat Excelsior at home 2-0. In the remaining fixture on Sunday, Heracles and Utrecht drew 2-2.
Feyenoord split the big two in fourth place, tied with Ajax on 14 points. Marc Janko and Dries Mertens still lead the scoring charts, tied for first with seven goals each.
---
Belgium:
Club Brugge and Anderlecht eased to the top of the table this past weekend with workmanlike victories on the road. While Brugge remain unbeaten and sit atop the standings with 15 points from their seven games, they were made to work every inch of the way for their 2-1 win at Lokeren, who are now third from bottom. A late goal from Bjorn Vleminckx, back in his homeland after a couple of decent seasons in Holland, sealed the win for the league leaders. Anderlecht were also run close, only edging fourth place Gent after an early penalty convesion from Matias Suarez. They rise to second with 14 points.
The big game this weeked however was the tussle between defending champions Genk and one of Europe's big names, Standard Liege. While Liege were in the top five at the start and Genk were mid table, the current title holders shrugged off any midweek hangovers from the Champions' League by easing to a decisive 3-0 win at home. Elianiv Barda and Jose Nadson had put the hosts 2-0 by the hour before a late goal from Jelle Vossen completed the scoring. Genk have now won two on the trot and rise to sixth after an indifferent start. Standard were tepid and drop to eighth in the 16 team division.
Elsewhere, Mons and Cercle Brugge maintained their good starts to the season. Mons hammered early front runners Mechelen 5-1 on Saturday while Cercle remain in touch eith the leaders despite a goalless draw with Lierse. With 10 points from their last four games Cercle are just a point behind city rivals Club, but below Anderlecht in the table on goal difference. In the other games, there was a spate of 2-0 wins with Kortrijk winning again over Leuven, Beerschot defeating Warengem and Westerloo over bottom side Sint Truilden.
Leading scorer Jeremy Perbet scored a hat-trick for Mons in their win while Rachid Bourabia scored a brace. Shlomi Arbeitman also bagged a couple for Westerlo.
---
Portugal:
Stop the press, Porto didn't win a game and more shockingly, failed to score, in a goalless draw at Feirense on Sunday. The setback allowed Benfica to draw level at the top of the standings with 13 points from five games, as they promptly dispatched a hitherto impressive Academica side 4-1 with Catalan striker Nolito scoring twice. The forward, highly rated after a stellar season for Barcelona B last year, has four goals this year.
Setubal and Nacional both won 1-0, over Beira Mar on Sunday and Pacos Ferreira on Saturday, respectively. Maritimo moved upto fourth and 10 points with a 3-1 defeat of Uniao Leiria away with Papa Diawara scoring a double. Friday's game had seen Olhanense and Gil Vicente draw 1-1. Porto still lead Benfica on goal difference +9 to +8 while Braga, Maritimo and Academica round out the top five.
On Monday, Braga drew 1-1 at Guimares and Sporting Lisbon, won a thrilling game 3-2, at Rio Ave, to complete round five. After Stijn Schaars and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel had out Sporting up 2-0, Rio Ave replied through Christian Atsu and Yazalde Pinto to draw level. Lisbon finally sealed the points with a late strike through Oguchi Onyewu to move upto sixth place.
With his double, Diawara moves to the top of the goals table with five goals, ahead of Eder, Oscar Cardozo and Nolito who have four.
With his double, Diawara moves to the top of the goals table with five goals, ahead of Eder, Oscar Cardozo and Nolito who have four.
---
Russia:
Zenit put back some breathing room between themselves and second place with a hard fought 3-2 win at Rubin Kazan, the 2010 Russian Champions. After Bibras Natkho, with a penalty and Sergey Kislyak had shot Kazan into a 2-0 lead, goals from Roman Shirokov and a double from Portuguese striker Danny tilted the game back in Zenit's favour. The timely road win keeps Zenit in first on 49 points, but now two points clear of Dinamo and CSKA, in second and third respectively, who both have 47 apiece.
While Dinamo continued their good form with a third straight win at home over Amkar Perm, CSKA slumped to a 1-1 draw at Rostov. On Saturday, the two games ended with a 4-0 win by Krasnodar at Tomsk and a 1-0 win by Volga over Nalchik. Krasnodar won for the second game in a row to remain in ninth but closing on Rubin in eighth.
The other Krasnodar club, Kuban, also won for the second successive game, edging moneybags club Anzhi 1-0 at home. They are now sixth on 40 points, just two points behind the lower two Moscow clubs, Lokomotiv and Spartak, who are fourth and fifth respectively. Spartak saw off the challenge of Krylya 3-0 while Lokomotiv went one better hammering Terek 4-0 in Grozny.
Nalchik, Sovetov and Tomsk remain in the bottom three while Zenit leads the four Moscow clubs, Dinamo, CSKA, Lokomotiv and Spartak in that order. With his goal at Rostov, Seydou Doumbia is back in the scoring lead, with 14 goals, ahead of of Zenit's Alexander Kerzhakov, who has 13.
No comments:
Post a Comment