PSV go nine months unbeaten in Eredivisie

SERIE A

This weekend in Serie A was highly anticipated as we saw all of the sides in the top six, heading into the weekend, face off against one another. Atalanta vs Napoli, AC Milan vs Fiorentina, and Juventus vs Inter Milan. Both Napoli and AC Milan were victorious by a one goal margin. Eljif Elmas scored with ten to go to win it 2-1 for Napoli, while a Theo Hernández penalty was the only goal as AC Milan won 1-0. Juventus hosted Inter Milan as the top two clashed, the game finished all square at 1-1 after goals from Dušan Vlahović and Lautaro Martínez. The side from Turin would’ve wanted more from the game after going ahead, as they had the chance to leap frog Inter into top spot. They’ll be hopeful they’ll have that opportunity again soon with Inter having a few tough fixtures ahead of them, including Napoli and Udinese sandwiched between their final two Champions League group games.

Although the game of the weekend for me came when Empoli hosted Sassuolo. Heading into the game just two points separated the teams with Empoli sat seventeenth and Sassuolo sat fifteenth. The game finished 4-3 to Sassuolo after Domenico Berardi found the back of the net in the ninety-second minute to ruin Empoli fans’ day. Meanwhile, Cagliari picked up a point vs Monza to send Empoli into the relegation zone. A tough day at the office for Aurelio Andreazzoli’s side. Let’s not forget to appreciate the respect paid to those who suffer from domestic violence, as players and managers across Serie A wore red marks on their cheeks to signal a red card against violence.

BUNDESLIGA

With Bayer Leverkusen leading the pack, the job for everyone else is to keep winning and not fall further behind. That’s exactly what Bayern Munich have been doing and continued to do on Friday as they picked up their sixth consecutive win thanks to yet another goal from Harry Kane, who now has eighteen Bundesliga goals in twelve games. Mental, I know! Leverkusen also continued their excellent form as they beat Werder Bremen 3-0 away from home. Both wing-backs, Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong, scored as they continue to impress. 

Union Berlin picked up their first point in eleven Bundesliga games after a 1-1 draw with Augsburg. Stuttgart won again to stay third while Wolfsburg picked up a surprise 2-1 win over RB Leipzig which saw Marco Rose’s side drop out of the top four after Borussia Dortmund came from two behind to win 4-2 over Borussia Monchengladbach. It was an impressive turnaround, especially with Marcel Sabitzer and Niclas Füllkrug scoring two in two minutes to level the score right after Monchengladbach had grabbed their second.

LIGUE 1

AS Monaco travelled to the Parc des Princes this weekend as they faced PSG in a clash between first and third. It was a very busy game! Thirty shots between the two teams, eighteen which were on target, as well as a lot of fouls – especially from Monaco. PSG came out victorious in the end. Leading 2-1 going into the break thanks to goals from Gonçalo Ramos and Kylian Mbappé, and there were more to come. The game finished 5-2, keeping PSG top of the table, now six points ahead of Monaco in third but only one ahead of Nice who again won this weekend. 

Nice picked up another three points as they won 1-0 over Touolouse thanks to a goal from Terem Moffi. Francesco Farioli’s side remain unbeaten and have kept clean sheets in their last eight games, incredible defensive work from the French side! The record for least goals conceded in the French league is nineteen, if Nice can continue their defensive form they would average around ten goals conceded this season! Just before the international break Lyon picked up their first victory of the season, however they failed to grab another one as Lille defeated them 2-0 thanks to goals from Jonathan David and Tiago Santos. This leaves Lille only a point behind Monaco while it leaves Lyon at the foot of the table, five points from safety.

LA LIGA

Xavi’s Barcelona came back from the international break a man down as Gavi suffered an unfortunate ACL injury which will inevitably put an end to his season. Their misfortune continued as they faced Rayo Vallecano. Trailing 1-0 for most of the game they managed to at least get a point from the game after Florain Lejeune’s own goal in the last ten minutes, however this was a game which for Barcelona was a must win. Real Sociedad faced Sevilla this weekend, winning 2-1 after an outstanding strike from Umar Sadiq. Sevilla completely lost it at the tail end of the game, with both Sergio Ramos and Jesus Navas receiving red cards, this could be more detrimental than people may think considering Sevilla are only four points away from the relegation zone!

Elsewhere both Madrid sides picked up victories as they won 1-0 and 3-0 respectively, Antonine Griezmann getting Atletico’s only goal in their win. Rodrygo starred for Los Blancos in their win, scoring two and assisting one as he was involved in all Madrid’s goals. Carlo Ancelotti’s side went top of the table with their win with Girona still to play on Monday night. Girona hosted Athletic Bilbao who managed a 1-1 draw versus Michel’s side thanks to a goal from Iñaki Williams cancelling out Viktor Tsygankov’s opener. Girona remain comfortably in the Champions League qualification spots, ten points ahead of fifth placed Athletic Bilbao.

ELSEWHERE

PSV continued their unstoppable season as they won 3-0 vs FC Twente courtesy of an own goal and strikes from Joey Veerman and Johan Bakayoko. Peter Bosz’s side have now won thirteen Eredivisie games on the bounce this season and haven’t lost to a Dutch team since January! In their current form it wouldn’t surprise me if they carried this on for an entire year. The record points tally in a season in the Eredivisie is eighty-eight points out of a possible one hundred and two, I can see PSV beating this. There’s seven points between PSV and second placed Feyenoord, that’s the same points difference as bottom placed Vitesse and eighth placed Ajax currently in the Eredivisie!

Over in Scotland both Celtic and Rangers dropped points in 1-1 draws with Motherwell and Aberdeen. This keeps the gap between the two at eight points, Celtic the ones ahead of Rangers. It was a quiet weekend on the goals front in Scotland as only one game, Dundee vs Hibernian, saw more than two goals. Hibernian picked up the win in that game which finished 2-1 thanks to goals from Jair Tavares and Lewis Miller.