The weekend saw footballing action in various leagues and countries round the world.Ranging from Juventus tightening their grip on the Scudetto, to Ce
The weekend saw footballing action in various leagues and countries round the world.
Ranging from Juventus tightening their grip on the Scudetto, to Celta Vigo denting Barcelona’s title hopes. Football once again proved to be unpredictable as shockers were experienced across various leagues in the world. This article is a review of the weekends activities in the major leagues in the world.
GERMANY:
The Bundesliga came to an end having seen out 34 matchdays. Bayern Munich had already won the title few matchdays back with games to spare.
Werder Bremen salvaged a relegation lifeline after beating Cologne 6-1 to climb to 16th position at the expense of Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Borussia Monchengladbach secured the final Champions League spot and champions Bayern Munich scored their 100th league goal of the season, pummeling Wolfsburg 4-0.
Meanwhile, former Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric scored all four goals as Hoffenheim beat Bundesliga runners-up Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Signal Iduna Park. That win meant Hoffenheim leapfrogged Wolfsburg into European qualification places.
In the second tier, it was also final Matchday. Arminia Bielefeld had already sealed their qualification and status champions a few weeks back. Stuttgart also gained promotion back to the top flight despite losing 1-3 at home to Darmstadt. Legendary German striker Mario Gomez announced his retirement having played for Stuttgart all season.
Heidenheim will however take part in to relegation playoffs to determine their promotion to the Bundesliga while Hamburger SV missed out on that feat, losing 1-5 at home to Sandhausen.
Andrej Kramaric scored all four goals against 2nd placed Borussia Dortmund
ENGLAND
The FA Cup returned after more than 100 days for the Quarterfinals stage.
Manchester United needed a last gasp Harry Maguire goal to avoid penalty shootout against Norwich City. The Red devils had gone up through Ighalo’s strike, but that wouldn’t be enough as Todd Cantwell pulled a shot from outside the box that beat Sergio Romero in goal. It looked like it was heading to the lottery of penalties, but a last minute misunderstanding among Norwich defenders allowed Maguire to score, sending United to Wembley for the semifinals.
Manchester City had an easy win over Newcastle while Chelsea have Ross Barkley to thank for his winner against Leicester City. Dani Ceballos was the hero for Arsenal after scoring the winner with a minute left to play against Sheffield United.
Manchester United will face Chelsea while Arsenal square up against Man City in the Semifinals.
The Premier league saw actions at two match venues.
On Saturday, Leander Dendoncker’s second half strike against Aston Villa was enough to guide Wolves to three consecutive wins since returning from lockdown. It would also be a third consecutive clean sheet for Rui Patricio and his defense.
Southampton ram away 3-1 winners against relegation threatened Watford, thanks to a brace from Danny Ings and wonderful strike from James Ward-Prowse. An own goal from Bednarek provided a lifeline for Watford, but Southampton held steadfast to seal all three points on the road.
Harry Maguire scored in 119th minute to send Norwich out of the FA Cup
ITALY:
The Italian Serie A saw full action over the weekend.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on the score sheet as Juventus beat a depleted Lecce 4-0 in Turin.
Atalanta continued their fine scoring form, putting three past Udinese in a five-goal thriller, courtesy an early strike from in-form Zapata and a brace from Luis Muriel.
The race for the Scudetto proved tougher as Inter Milan came from a goal down to beat Parma 2-1 away from home. Lazio also beat close rivals Fiorentina 2-1 to close down the gap on leaders Juventus to 4pts.
AC Milan proved stronger than visitors AS Roma with a 2-0 win at San Siro.
Cristiano Ronaldo getting back to top form after a fine display against Lecce
SPAIN:
Real Madrid went two points clear at the top of the log with a 1-0 win over Espanyol on Sunday evening. A Casemiro strike following a piece of brilliance from Benzema just before halftime, was enough for Los Blancos to win the tie.
Barcelona’s tittle hopes were dented by a late equalizer from Iago Aspas freekick. The game ended 2-2 with Suarez getting both goals for Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid beat Alaves 2-1 to retain 3rd spot on the log while Sevilla had a Lucas Ocampos late equalizing penalty to thank, as they played 1-1 against Real Valladolid at Estádio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuan.
Casemiro’s first half strike was enough to take Real Madrid back to the top spot
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