To sum up this weekend’s round of fixtures of top five teams (barring West Ham’s 0-0 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor), the highlight reel will be full of, penalties ! In fact all four games were separated by penalties. Let’s break ’em down one by one and get devour 😋
League leaders Man City had a tricky assignment when Wolves came to Etihad after a narrow 1-0 loss to title contenders Liverpool last weekend. After a sloppy double yellow red card for Raul Jimenez, second one for blocking a free kick in the space of 31 seconds (this I will never understand, especially after just being booked), City’s record signing Jack Grealish missed a sitter before Raheem Sterling converted from the penalty spot.
Similar fortune broke open for Liverpool when they welcomed, club and world football legend, Steven Gerrard, albeit as an Aston Villa manager. Liverpool had been knocking on the door and came very close couple of times before Tyrone Mings sent Salah tumbling in the box and league’s top scorer (Mo Salah, now on 14) lasered one past Martinez from the penalty spot.
One penalty wasn’t enough in the London where Chelsea hosted Leeds United in a fiery fixture. Leeds took the lead with Raphinha converting a penalty before brilliant finish from Mason Mount made it 1-1. Jorginho made it 2-1 from the spot before Joe Gelhardt made it 2-2 and set up an anxious last ten minutes ! And yes, you guessed it right, a 94th minute penalty by Jorginho gave Chelsea a 3-2 win as they managed to keep pace with Liverpool and Man City at the top of the table.
A lot of expectations were riding on Manchester United’s new interim manager, Ralf Rangnick, after encouraging performances in his previous game against Crystal Palace. But Norwich City (the Canaries) had other plans. It stayed an even game, both possession wise and shots wise, but the deadlock was broken in the 74th minute with a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. Still some work needs to be done but the clean sheets are an encouraging sign for the United faithful.
Elsewhere around the globe, New York City FC win their first ever MLS Cup by beating Portland Timbers, 2-4 on penalties ( more penalties 😜). Barcelona continue to slide following their mid-week embarrassment (a 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich sending Barca to the Europa league) with 2-2 draw against tenth places Osasuna. Atletico Madrid narrowly qualified for the Champions League with a win over Porto in the mid-week and took on their cross-town rivals, Real Madrid. Real currently enjoys a 5 point gap from Sevilla at the top of the La Liga table.
Bayern Munich continues to pull away from Borussia Dortmund (a story we have heard far too many times now) in Germany while PSG are already 10 points clear of Marseille atop the Ligue 1 in France. Stay tuned for more updates as we enter the ever-busy Christmas football hotchpotch of games ! Will one of the three leaders in the Premier League pull away and create separation? Or will this be a nail biter until the end ! Check in next week as we move one step closer 😇
Ball in the Net 