Damien Kayat looks back at the weekend’s European football action as City thrashed United, Barca capitalised on a Real Madrid wobble to go top of LaLiga and more!
City humble ‘resurgent’ United
Yesterday’s Manchester Derby was a much-needed wake-up call to the army of United supporters who thought that Ten Hag had magically transformed a frog into a princess.
He has undoubtedly brought a greater work ethic to a side that was consistently run off the pitch under both Solskjaer and Rangnick. But their victories over Arsenal and Liverpool were smash-and-grab jobs not too dissimilar from the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer counterattacking playbook.
And you seriously had deluded fans putting five United players into a current combined Manchester eleven. Insanity. The United front three pressed in spurts, obviously uneasy about City’s ability to play around them.
But there were far too many instances of either Ake or Akjani simply sauntering 50 yards up the field unencumbered. There was no need for both Christian Eriksson and Bruno Fernandes to be on the pitch in that match.
It stank of hubris. They were never going to have the ball long enough to require two playmaking midfielders. Casemiro has been one of the preeminent holding midfielders in world football for five years and should have sat right in front of Varane and Martinez.
What can you say about City? That first-half performance was arguably the best 45 minutes of football I have seen all year. United were genuinely lucky to go in at half-time with a 4-0 deficit.
You almost get tired of waxing lyrical about the exploits of Erling Haaland. Honestly, he starts to test the old vocabulary after a while. He became the first man in Premier League history to score three consecutive home Premier League hat-tricks.
That’s all well and good, but what really impressed me yesterday was his link-up play. He, De Bruyne and Foden have struck up amazing chemistry in the space of 10 matches.
Grealish had one of his best matches in a City shirt, surging forward with more gusto than usual. And Silva just kept things ticking over with a tireless midfield display that went totally under the radar.
Arsenal may be riding the crest of a wave at present. But can they possibly keep pace with this juggernaut for an entire season? It remains to be seen.
Erling Haaland had no chill against Manchester United 💀
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 2, 2022
(via @ManCity)pic.twitter.com/0zSFOFWZ5i
Surreal Serie A Log
If Udinese pick up a result against Verona tonight, the Serie A top four will not include Juventus or either one of the Milan giants. That’s what makes this league one of the most compelling watches in world football.
Could this be the year that Napoli finally end their Scudetto drought? They were clinical this weekend, barely missing the injured Victor Osimhen in a comfortable 3-1 victory against Torino.
Atalanta and Lazio also picked up victories and currently occupy second and third place respectively. Defending champions AC Milan secured a scintillating last-gasp victory against Empoli. Four goals were scored in the final 10 minutes, with Rafael Leao scoring a delightful Messi-like chip in the dying embers of the game.
Perhaps the most high-profile match of the weekend saw Jose Mourinho’s Roma pick up all three points against Inter at the San Siro. It was a vital victory that kept them in touching distance of the top four.
It really was a study in Mourinho-ball, with Inter absolutely dominating large portions of the match. Inter took the lead through in-form DiMarco and looked nailed-on to take all three points.
But Roma were tenacious in defence and took their opportunities when they presented themselves. Pablo Dybala- who Inter snubbed in the summer transfer market- came back to haunt the Nerazzurri with a well-taken equalizer.
It was United forgotten man Chris Smalling who stole the headlines, heading in a late winner that heaped even more pressure on Simone Inzaghi’s slumping shoulders.
What a stunning finish/goal from Paulo Dybala @OfficialASRoma 👇 pic.twitter.com/njd2UTF2Yg
— Degeneral Mufasa (@Mr_Amo1) October 1, 2022
Barca seize lead as Real are held
Real Madrid were left to rue a string of missed opportunities yesterday, surrendering their 100% start to the LaLiga season with a 1-1 draw at home to Osasuna.
Carlo Ancelotti summed it up perfectly when he said that they played too slowly from back to front. I think that they certainly missed Modric in the heart of the midfield.
His ability to pick a defence-splitting pass is often the difference in these tight encounters. Barca now lead LaLiga courtesy of a workmanlike away win at Mallorca.
Striker extraordinaire Robert Lewandowski scored the only goal in an otherwise uninspired match. But It was the type of gritty 1-0 victory that Barca will need this season if they wish to wrestle away the LaLiga title.
And it was a good weekend for an Atletico side finally starting to click. They beat Sevilla 2-0 away from home, with European football nomad Alvaro Morata capping off an excellent personal week by the scoring the second goal.
Benzema missed a crucial penalty for Real Madrid! This is Benzema’s 15th penalty miss in his entire career.
— IG: DebatableFootballOpinions (DFO) (@DebatableFO) October 2, 2022
For more information, look up “Benzema 15” pic.twitter.com/n4fnaWjOjo
Bayern back to winning ways
Bayern broke their streak of four winless Bundesliga matches with a clinical 4-0 demolition of a struggling Bayern Leverkusen. I think it’s fair to say that Die Roten have struggled to consistently implement Nagelsmann’s fluid 4-2-2-2 formation.
At best, it’s a dynamic system that involves multiple lines of attack. At worst, it plays out as disjointed as it sounds. But they were excellent this weekend, overwhelming Leverkusen with wave after wave of attack.
Sadio Mane broke his five-match scoring duck with a timely brace. Leroy Sane is playing an increasingly integral part in Nagelsmann’s side and seems to be enjoying his football.
But it was 19-year-old wunderkind Jamal Musiala who stole the show. Everyone is constantly biggin up Haaland and Mbappe (and rightfully so). But I honestly think that this German teenager is every bit as talented as the aforementioned superstars.
He scored a goal and had two assists in an inspirational display. He was the glue that linked Kimmich and Sabitzer with the more advanced players.
Jamal Musiala can't stop scoring!
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 30, 2022
That's 11 goal involvements in 11 games for Bayern this season ⭐ pic.twitter.com/oU6fvwOvG1
Player of the Week- Timo Werner
I chose not to go down the obvious route with either Haaland or Foden. Messi also delivered a throwback masterclass against Nice.
I just feel so relieved that Timo Werner is banging in goals again. He seemed to spend his entire time at Chelsea in an offside position. And he was completely wasteful in front of goal on the rare occasion where he beat the offside trap.
But his return to RB Leipzig seems to have rekindled his goalscoring prowess. His brace against Bochum took his RB Leipzig goal tally to 101 in 169 appearances.
Not every move is going to pan out as expected. That’s especially true with Chelsea: just ask Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne.
The first ever player to reach 100 goals for RBL! Congrats, @TimoWerner ⭐ pic.twitter.com/4XGbDi32nU
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) October 1, 2022
