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European Roundup: Standout Games of the Week

There were 48 matches played across the five top leagues in Europe, with most games having an impact on the top and bottom ends of the points table. We take a look at the standout games with our roundup.

Premier League

Leicester City vs. Manchester City

Leicester City reminded England who the reigning champions are, demolishing the would be kings of the league 4-2 in a very enthralling game.

The Foxes raced out of the blocks in the first half and were 2-0 ahead as early as the 5th minute, courtesy of goals from Jamie Vardy and Andy King.

Vardy raced on to a through pass from Islam Slimani in the 2nd minute, before finishing past Claudio Bravo.

Two minutes later, Slimani was the provider again, cushioning the ball to King who curled the ball past Bravo from outside the box.

A brilliant counter attack saw Mahrez pick out Vardy who rounded the goalkeeper to make it 3-0.

Vardy completed his hat-trick in the second-half, intercepting an under-hit John Stones pass and scoring from the narrowest of angles.

Aleksandar Kolarov scored a tantalising free-kick to reduce the deficit before Nolito scored from close range to make the result respectable for the Citizens.

Manchester City players are struggling to adapt to their manager’s tactical desires, Paulo Zabaleta and Kevin de Bruyne especially struggling with their positional play throughout the game.

The result leaves Manchester City in 4th place, with only one clean sheet in the league this season, while Leicester climb to 14th place with what was only their 4th win in the league this season.

La Liga

Real Madrid vs. Osasuna

Real Madrid set a new club record of 35 games without defeat in a dramatic game beating Osasuna, by the odd goal in 5.

Real Madrid who were without the trio of Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema took the lead in the 50th minute courtesy of a spectacular Alvaro Morata strike from range.

Joselu turned the match on its head, scoring twice in two minutes, one from range and the other from close quarters to put Osasuna ahead.

Mariano Diaz levelled for the league leaders in the 84th minute, his first ever goal in the La Liga. The game looked to be heading for a draw before Sergio Ramos, famous for rescuing Madrid came up with the goods again.

The Madrid skipper powered home a Toni Kroos corner in the 92nd minute, to snatch all three points for Los Blancos. Sergio Ramos has now earned Real Madrid three points in the dying embers of the last two league matches.

The result guarantees that Real Madrid will end the year at the top of the league, as they head for the Club World Cup in Japan.

Bundesliga

Ingolstadt 04 vs. RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig’s unbeaten start to the league season was brought to a halt on Saturday, as they went down to bottom club Ingolstadt 04 1-0 in the upset of the weekend.

Both teams, separated by 27 points before kick-off, came into the game in contrasting form.

RB Leipzig were on a winning run of nine consecutive games, while Ingolstadt had one only one of their thirteen league outings.

Ralph Hasenhuttl who left Ingolstadt for Leipzig in the summer, had his homecoming ruined in the 12th minute, as de Oliveira Bernardo directed a free-kick into the back of the net.

It was RB Leipzig’s first ever defeat in the Bundesliga, and it sees them drop to 2nd position, behind leaders Bayern Munich on goal difference.

Serie A

Cagliari vs. Napoli

Napoli were in devastating form away at Cagliari on the weekend, winning the game 5-0 to record the highest winning margin in Europe’s top five leagues this week.

For the second time in four days, Dries Mertens was Napoli’s hero, scoring in the 34th, 69th and 72nd minute of the game to secure the match ball. Marek Hamsik and Piotr Zielinski were other goal scorers in the game.

The win extends Napoli’s unbeaten run to 8 games in all competitions.

Napoli remains in the hunt for the Champions League as they sit in 4th place, while Cagliari drops to 14th place.

Ligue 1

Nice vs. Monaco

The top of the table clash between surprise league leaders Nice and current holders PSG lived up to its pre-match billing, the teams sharing the points with a 2-2 result.

Nice were coasting at the end of the first half, with two well-taken goals. Wylan Cyprien opened the scoring with an elegant 25-yard finish before the in-form Alassane Plea made it 2-0 in the last meaningful action of the first half.

But PSG showed the character of true champions early in the second half, as Edinson Cavani scored immediately after the break.

The Uruguayan hitman then capitalised on a mistake from goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale and Dante to finish from close range and draw the game level.

The result was perfect for AS Monaco, who are now only one point behind Nice, and three points ahead of PSG.

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