The weekend’s football action across the different European Leagues promised a lot of action, and duly delivered, with some shocking results for some of the title favourites, and some reassuring victories for the underdogs.
Who performed and who underperformed this weekend?
English Premier League
Top: Bournemouth
The Cherries delivered an unforgettable performance in the Premier League on Sunday, coming back from 3-1 down to defeat high-flying Liverpool 4-3.
Saido Mane and Divock Origi opened the scoring for the visitors before Calum Wilson scored from the penalty spot after James Milner had fouled substitute Ryan Fraser. Emre Can restore the two-goal lead in the 64th minute, and the three points looked destined for Anfield.
Ryan Fraser scored his first Premier League goal in the 76th minute, before going on to assist Steve Cook, who levelled the scores in the 78th minute.
The game was heading for a draw until Nathan Ake completed the dream comeback in the 3rd minute of added time, bundling the ball over the line after Loris Karius had spilt Steve Cook’s fault.
The result propelled Bournemouth to 10th position on the log, and it was also the first time Liverpool were suffering defeat in 12 Premier League games.
Flop: Manchester City
The Citizens made it four home games in the Premier League without a victory, as they slumped to a humbling 3-1 defeat at the hands of league leaders Chelsea in the Premier League’s football action.
The Manchester team had taken the lead on the stroke of half-time courtesy of an own goal from Gary Cahill. They could have been out of sight by the 60th minute with Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero missing gilt-edged chances.
Diego Costa had equalised in the 60th minute before Willian raced past the City defence to put Chelsea ahead. The in-form Eden Hazard put the result beyond doubt in the 90th minute to make it eight consecutive victories for the Blues.
The result sees Chelsea extend their lead at the top of the standings to 3 points, while Manchester City drops to 4th place.
Spanish La Liga
Top: Granada
Relegation threatened Granada recorded their first win of the 2016/17 league season, defeating high-flying Sevilla 2-1 in an entertaining game in the weekend’s La Liga football action.
Andreas Pereira scored in the 27th minute of the match finishing with aplomb from close range. David Lomban doubled their advantage in the 56th minute, tapping in from a few yards out after Sevilla had failed to deal with a corner.
Wissam Ben Yedder scored from the penalty spot with virtually the last kick of the game, as excited Granada fans danced to their first win of the season.
The victory moved Granada off the bottom of the standings to 19th place, while Sevilla remains in 3rd place, 1 point adrift of 2nd placed Barcelona.
Flop: Osasuna
Osasuna’s woes in the La Liga were compounded on the weekend, as they lost to fellow strugglers Sporting Gijon 3-1.
It was an impressive performance from Sporting as they held Osasuna at length throughout the game.
Carlos Carmona found the back of the net twice, once in the 43rd minute, and again in the 78th minute, while Pereira Douglas scored in the 56th minute. The consolation goal, from Miguel Flano, was scored in the 86th minute, by which time the game had already been lost.
Osasuna now have a paltry 7 points from their 14 games this season, with a goal difference of -16.
German Bundesliga
Top: Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim’s excellent start to the season continued this weekend, as they hammered FC Cologne 4-0 to remain in touching distance of the league leaders.
Sandro Wagner opened the scoring for the hosts in the 8th minute before Jeremy Toljan raced onto a through ball in the 39th minute to make it 2-0. Wagner scored his 2nd of the game midway through the second-half before Mark Uth compounded the woes of his former club with an 89th-minute goal.
Hoffenheim currently occupies 4th place in the standings, proudly unbeaten in the league this season.
Flop: Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg wrote a new chapter in their season of woe on Saturday, losing 3-2 at home to record their 7th league defeat in the last ten matches.
Wolfsburg led twice in the game, courtesy of goals from Borja Mayoral and Paul Seguin, both goals were cancelled out by strikes from Marvin Plattenhardt and Alexander Esswein.
It was a forgettable three minutes for Wolfsburg right at the death; Paul Seguin was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence in the 87th minute before Salomon Kalou scored the winner for the visitors in added time.
The result leaves Wolfsburg in 15th place, 3 points above the relegation zone.
Italian Serie A
Top: Napoli
Napoli delivered a sucker punch to Inter Milan’s Renaissance, with a comprehensive 3-0 thrashing on Friday.
The Partenopei raced out of the blocks and were two goals ahead as early as the 5th minute. Piotr Zielinski finished off a knock down from Jose Manuel Callejon, then turned provider for Marek Hamsik, who powered an excellent shot to make it 2-0.
Inter Milan huffed and puffed but struggled to find cohesion, before Lorenzo Insigne made sure of the points early in the second half.
The wins see Napoli climb into 4th place, while Inter Milan remain in mid-table.
Flop: Lazio
Lazio produced a poor performance in the Rome derby, as they went down 2-0 to bitter rivals Roma. This was Roma’s 4th consecutive victory in the Rome derby.
Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman put the visitors ahead in the 64th minute, robbing a Lazio defender, before slotting past the goalkeeper. Radja Nainggolan scored in the 77th minute with a beautiful drive from outside the box to seal the win.
The result is a huge blow for Lazio’s Champions League ambitions, as they slump to 5th place, 4 points behind 3rd placed Milan.
French Ligue 1
Top: Nice
OGC Nice continued their fairytale start to the season, as they played our a comfortable 3-0 victory against Toulouse.
Alassane Plea scored his 9th goal of the league campaign as he broke the offside trap before finishing to give his side the lead.
Younes Belhanda doubled his team’s advantage, before Jean Seri scored in the 65th minute, to give Nice their 12th league win in 16 matches.
The win will give the underdogs confidence going into their next game against title favourites PSG.
Flop: Paris Saint-Germain
The title favourites were shocked 3-0 by the struggling Montpellier on Saturday. The defeat was PSG’s 3rd defeat in the league this season.
Montpellier who came into this game with one victory in their last five games, took the lead in the 42nd minute, as Paul Lasne dinked the ball over the goalkeeper. Ellyes Skhiri scored a beauty three minutes into the 2nd half to compound PSG’s misery.
Ryad Boudebouz rounded up a fine victory with an excellent goal in the 80th minute to give Montpellier only their 3rd league win of the season.
The result means PSG are now 4 points behind league leaders OGC Nice, going into the top of the table clash this weekend.