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From England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany, we scouted the matches that took place across Europe’s big five leagues with a handy pair of binoculars to see who shone the brightest from the weekend’s action.
Here are the weekend’s heroes – the individuals/teams who provided the best highlights from all of the games.
Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba of Juventus celebrates victory at the end of the Serie A match between Juventus and SSC Napoli at Juventus Arena
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Juventus welcomed Napoli to Turin in a clash that presented the winner an opportunity to go joint top in Serie A with early leaders Roma after their slip up earlier in the day. And the defending champions dished out a 3-0 thrashing to the side from Naples. Much of it had to do with the excellent work of Juve’s midfield trio of Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba.
The Frenchman was, in fact, the standout performer on the night with the highlight being the third Juve goal. The old master Pirlo had already stroked a beautiful free-kick past Pepe Reina to give Juve a 2-0 lead, but Pogba’s effort bettered that – he received the ball from Carlos Tevez in the centre of the park and looped it up with his right knee before unleashing a sizzling right-footed volley from 30 metres out that crashed into the net past the helpless Reina, clattering the inside of the post on the way.
Tim Krul the Newcastle United goalkeeper makes a save under pressure from Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United at White Hart Lane
The praises poured in from all quarters for the Dutch keeper after his stupendous display in goal for Newcastle United against Tottenham Hotspur yesterday. Even from opposition manager Andre Villas-Boas.
“It was one of the best goalkeeping performances I’ve seen, he answered almost everything. It was an unbelievable performance.” said his manager Alan Pardew.
“I think Tim Krul was the key to the game. He made the difference.” said AVB.
In a game where Tottenham managed 31 shots, out of which 10 were wide of the mark, seven were blocked and 14 of them were on target. Tim Krul saved those 14 attempts, some of which were just outstanding.
Krul himself was pretty pleased with the effort and said that it was probably the best performance of his career.
“This was a highlight of my career,” Krul told Sky television after the game. “It doesn’t happen very often, this type of game.”
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid celebrates after scoring during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on November 9, 2013 in Madrid, Spain
Ronaldo’s performance on Saturday, when his Real Madrid team blitzed Real Sociedad 5-1 at the Bernabeu, was described as “out of this world” by his manager Carlo Ancelotti. It was Ronaldo’s 23rd hat-trick for Ronaldo in Madrid’s colours and took his tally to 16 goals from 13 games and into pole position in the top scorer’s race, and nine of those goals have come in just the last four matches.
If Ronaldo was already in thundering form, then Sepp Blatter’s uncalled for jab at Ronaldo during a press conference in Oxford, seems to have driven him on further and Madrid’s opponents have been forced to face the full brunt of it. The Santiago Bernabeu in appreciation of their star man’s efforts wasted no time in venting out who they thought should get the Ballon d’Or as they sang ‘Ronaldo Ballon d’Or’.
The man himself when asked about it chose to concentrate on his work: “I don’t want to talk about the Golden Ball, I just do what I do out on the pitch; the decision is not up to me.”
Cesc Fabregas
Barcelona’s midfielder Cesc Fabregas (R) celebrates with his teammates after scoring his second goal during the Spanish league football match Real Betis vs FC Barcelona at the Benito Villamarin stadium in Sevilla on November 10, 2013
Barcelona fell a goal short of matching rivals Real as they ran out 4-1 winners over Real Betis. Neymar once more got on the score-sheet scoring the opening goal, but it was Cesc Fabregas who ran the show for Barca with a top-class performance that whoscored.com rated 10/10.
He scored two goals and had one assist as Barcelona quietly went about dismantling a struggling Betis side even with Lionel Messi forced off after an injury scare. Fabregas has really been relishing the new start under Tata Martino and will no doubt press his case for a starting spot at next year’s World Cup for Spain.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Paris Saint-Germain’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nice at the Parc des Princes in Paris on November 9, 2013. PSG won 3-1.
The hat-tricks are flowing – Zlatan after the magnificent four-star performance against Anderlecht, netted a hat-trick against Nice to ensure that Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) emerged 3-1 winners and consolidated their position at the top of Ligue 1.
The goals may not have been as stunning as some of his other strikes of late, but Zlatan has been demonstrating why you cannot discount him from the conversation when it comes to listing out the best footballers in the world.
And of course, he’s got the Zlatan swagger to go along with it!
Sunderland
Sunderland’s English born Scottish striker Steven Fletcher (L) celebrates with English born Scottish teammate defender Phillip Bardsley during the English Premier League football match between Sunderland and Manchester City at Stadium of Light in Sunderland, northeast England on November 10, 2013. Sunderland won 1-0.
Perhaps more than a game against Crystal Palace or Hull City, a home test against Manchester City was exactly what Sunderland needed.
Having won this fixture the last two times with a 1-0 margin, Sunderland decide to make it a three-peat as City and Manuel Pellegrini’s troubles away from the Etihad Stadium this term continued.
The entire Sunderland team put in a very worthy performance and definitely exhibited more energy than the Citizens.
It was quite ironic too, that two former United boys, Wes Brown and Phil Bardsley, had a hand in the decisive goal that condemned City to their fourth loss of the season, all of which have been away.
Phil Bardsley rightly was named man of the match for his game winning goal as well as a top notch defensive effort.
Wayne Rooney of Manchester United in action with Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal the Barclays Premier League Match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford on November 10, 2013 in Manchester, England.
If you were to take all the energy expended by Wayne Rooney in yesterday’s game against Arsenal, and use it to create electricity, you could possibly light up an entire village. The England striker was up for it from the get go and chased down every ball, got back to defend when required, drove the attacks forward from the front and overall covered so much of the Old Trafford pitch, that you would understand if he retired the pair of boots that he wore yesterday from action.
His corner found his partner Robin van Persie for the all-important goal that inflicted just a second defeat on league leaders Arsenal and helped bump United up the table to fifth, just five points behind the Gunners.
It didn’t seem likely that Rooney would be playing in a red shirt this season after news of him wanting a move to Chelsea emerged in the summer, but credit must be given to David Moyes for not only managing to keep Rooney at Old Trafford, but also get the best out of the talismanic striker.
Luis Suarez of Liverpool in action during the Barclays Premier League Match between Liverpool and Fulham at Anfield on November 9, 2013 in Liverpool, England
FACT – Luis Suarez missed the first five games of the season due to suspension. FACT – Luis Suarez has scored 8 goals in 6 games since returning. FACT – Luis Suarez is now joint top scorer with Sergio Aguero and Daniel Sturridge, who have both played more games.
The only way to try and explain that is by saying that Suarez is a genius and a striker who is in the peak of his career. It is no surprise that Real Madrid and Arsenal wanted to prize him away from Anfield. Sturridge may have scored goals in Suarez’s absence to help fire Liverpool into the upper reaches of the table, but with Suarez in the side, Liverpool are a completely different animal.
At his current scoring rate, he could definitely go on to claim the Golden Boot which he missed out on last season.
Adam Lallana
Adam Lallana of Southampton celebrates after scoring during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Hull City at St Mary’s Stadium on November 9, 2013 in Southampton, England
There are ways to celebrating a call-up to play for your country, and there are ways to celebrating a call-up to play for your country!
Adam Lallana, picked by Roy Hodgson in his squad for England’s two upcoming friendlies, put on a man of the match performance for the Saints against Hull City which included a delightful individual goal that lit up the entire weekend and one that stands a good chance of going into the Goal of the Season contender bucket.
He has been Southampton’s best player of the season and with big games against Arsenal and Manchester United coming up over the next month, Southampton and Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping that Lallana can maintain the same sort of form.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich’s German striker Thomas Mueller (R) celebrates his goal with Bayern Munich’s French midfielder Franck Ribery and Bayern Munich’s Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben during German first division Bundesliga football match FC Bayern Munich vs FC Augsburg in the southern German city of Munich on November 9, 2013
They worked like a ‘well-oiled machine’ is an oft repeated cliché to describe systems and teams that produce results with ruthless efficiency and unfailing consistency. Bayern Munich come very close to defining that ‘well-oiled machine’.
There was talk that Pep Guardiola’s arrival would mean that Bayern would start playing like Barcelona. It is not entirely untrue, for Guardiola has introduced a system of play where Bayern are keeping possession a whole lot more. But Guardiola is a smart man, and hasn’t mindlessly gone about re-jigging the entire system at Bayern.
He has built on the strong foundations set up by Jupp Heynckes and the ingrained solidity in the team and added a touch of Spanish La Masia football school to it.
Bayern beat Augsburg 3-0 over the weekend to register to make it 37 games without a loss in the Bundseliga breaking the previous record of 36 set by Hamburg. Relentless.
Son Heung-Min
Leverkusen’s South Korean striker Heung Min Son reacts after the German first division Bundesliga football match Bayer Leverkusen vs Hamburger SV in the German city of Leverkusen
It was a weekend for hat-tricks as Bayer Leverkusen’s Korean striker Son also scored a hat-trick to power Leverkusen to a 5-3 win in a crazy game that saw eight goals.
The Korean striker was in fact poached from their opponents on the day, Hamburg, in the summer and he came back to haunt his old side with a well taken hat-trick.
Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard of Chelsea scores the equaliser from the penalty spot during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge
The Belgian was dropped for Chelsea’s midweek Champions League fixture by Jose Mourinho for missing training due to some carelessness on his part and what a moment it was when it was the Belgian who stepped up to take a penalty that would go on to prevent Mourinho’s perfect home record as Chelsea manager from being destroyed.
Hazard slotted home coolly from the spot to bring Chelsea level, and putting aside the somewhat fortuitous nature of the penalty, was Chelsea’s best player in a game where the Blues outfit looked average at best.
