Review of top European Leagues games

The top clubs in the European leagues lived up to expectations as expected, barring a few of them as a flurry of goals were recorded last week , especially in the English Premier League..

Let’s take a look at how the event went over the weekend.

English Premier League

Leicester City vs Chelsea

A fine individual goal from N’Golo Kante against his former club helped Premier League leaders Chelsea to a 3-0 win over Leicester City at King Power Stadium.

The visitors, now four points clear at the top, went 1-0 up in the 14th minute when Antonio Rudiger headed in from a corner, delivered by another ex-Leicester player, Ben Chilwell.

Kante scored Chelsea’s second on 28 minutes when he collected Reece James’ pass and drove forward before firing in brilliantly from outside the box.

Kasper Schmeichel superbly denied Chilwell after half-time as Chelsea continued to dominate.
Leicester improved, with substitute James Maddison and Daniel Amartey drawing fine saves from Edouard Mendy.

But Christian Pulisic sealed Chelsea’s win on 71 minutes, slotting in after a skillful assist from fellow substitute Hakim Ziyech.

Chelsea are now unbeaten in six outings and have 29 points from 12 matches. Leicester’s defeat keeps them 12th with 15 points.

Watford 4-1 Manchester United

Watford moved four points clear of the bottom three as a 4-1 win over 10-man Manchester United gave Claudio Ranieri a first home win as head coach.

It looked like it might not be their day as Ismaila Sarr was twice denied when Watford won an early penalty. His first spot-kick was converted on the rebound by Kiko Femenia but a retake was awarded due to encroachment, with David De Gea diving to his left a second time to thwart the Senegalese.

But Watford took a 28th-minute lead as Joshua King turned in an Emmanuel Dennis cutback from the left.
Sarr made it 2-0 on 44 minutes with a brilliant finish after being teed up by Femenia.

Donny van de Beek, one of two half-time changes, took only four minutes to pull a goal back as he tapped in after Cristiano Ronaldo headed Jadon Sancho’s ball back across goal.

But the visitors’ hopes of a fightback were hit when Harry Maguire was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Tom Cleverley.

Ronaldo was brilliantly denied an equaliser by Ben Foster before stoppage-time strikes by substitute Joao Pedro and Dennis sealed a Watford victory.

Man Utd drop to seventh place with 17 points, 12 behind leaders Chelsea and six off fourth-placed West Ham United after 12 matches.

They are four paints ahead of 16th-placed Watford.

Liverpool vs Arsenal

Liverpool kept up the pressure on leaders Chelsea with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Arsenal at Anfield.

The hosts had the better of the early chances, with Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in fine form.
But Ramsdale was unable to prevent Sadio Mane from heading in a Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick six minutes before half-time.

Diogo Jota doubled Liverpool’s lead in the 52nd minute. He capitalised on a mistake from Nuno Tavares before leaving Ben White and Ramsdale on the ground with two dummies and slotting into an empty net.

Jurgen Klopp’s side then added two more goals in the space of five minutes. First, Mohamed Salah scored after being teed up by Mane from close range on 73 minutes, before substitute Takumi Minamino converted Alexander-Arnold’s cross at the back post.

The win moves Liverpool into second place with 25 points, four off the top and two ahead of Manchester City, who face Everton on Sunday.

Arsenal are fifth on 20 points.

Manchester City vs Everton

Raheem Sterling, Rodri, and Bernardo Silva were all on target as Manchester City beat Everton to leapfrog Liverpool into second in the table.

City dominated the opening 45 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, Bernardo being denied one-on-one and Ilkay Gundogan heading on to the bar after 27 minutes.

Sterling eventually broke the deadlock a minute before the interval, latching onto Joao Cancelo’s exquisite outside-of-the boot pass to fire past Jordan Pickford on the half-volley on his 300th Premier League appearance.

Rodri doubled the lead 10 minutes after the break with a wonderful strike, driving the ball powerfully into the top-left corner from 25 yards out.

Pickford denied Sterling his second before Bernardo wrapped up the victory with a close-range finish.
Back-to-back victories take City’s points tally to 26, three fewer than leaders Chelsea.

Everton are 11th with 15 points.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Leeds United

Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to claim a 2-1 victory over Leeds United as Antonio Conte secured his first Premier League win as the club’s head coach.

Stuart Dallas and Adam Forshaw both sent long-range efforts narrowly wide for the visitors before Dan James broke the deadlock with his first Leeds goal on 44 minutes, tapping in after skillful wing play from Jack Harrison.

The second half started frantically, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min both having shots deflected onto the woodwork either side of a Hugo Lloris save from James.

Spurs’ pressure eventually paid off when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg swept the ball into the bottom-right corner just before the hour.

The turnaround was completed 21 minutes from time, with Sergio Reguilon reacting quickest when Eric Dier’s deflected free-kick come back off the post, scoring his first Spurs goal.

Having ended a run of three league matches without victory, Spurs climb to seventh on 19 points.

Leeds stay 17th with 11 points and were the only side in the bottom seven not to claim points this weekend.

Spanish La Liga

Granada vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid cruise to a 4-1 victory over 10-man Granada. Asensio broke the deadlock in the first half, with Nacho firing in a second off the bottom of the crossbar before Asensio saw another effort cleared off the line.

Suarez pulled one back with a deflected shot just before the break.

Vinicius scored a tap-in to make it 3-1 before Monchu was shown a straight red for a poor tackle on the Brazilian which also resulted in Robert Moreno being sent off. Mendy then wrapped it up late on with a great finish.

That win takes Madrid top of the table ahead of Real Sociedad’s game later on today, and they’re now unbeaten in their last seven outings in all competitions.

They face Sheriff in the Champions League next time out. Granada drop into the relegation zone with that loss, and they have Athletic Bilbao next week.

Barcelona vs Espanol

In Xavi’s debut game in charge, Depay’s second-half penalty gives Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Espanyol.

In the first half, Depay, Gavi, and Busquets all had chances saved, but the points were won early in the second.

Depay won a penalty and easily placed it home less than a minute after the break.

Espanyol pressed on, as De Tomas missed two late chances to equalise for his team, hitting the crossbar with a free-kick and an unmarked header.

Barcelona has moved up to sixth place as a result of this victory.

In the table, and they’ve gone four games without losing and in all competitions, Benfica is their next opponent in the Champions League.

Espanyol has bottled the opportunity to jump ahead of their opponents at the table remaining in 11th place The next match is against Real Sociedad.

Atletico Madrid vs Osasuna

What a thrilling finale to the game; it didn’t appear that either side would emerge victorious.

Felipe sprang up at the near post to head home a crucial goal for Atletico Madrid, keeping them firmly in the title chase.

Osasuna gave it their all and had some of the better chances, but Atlett’s talent won out in the end, ensuring that the Wanda Metropolitanal kept all three points.

It’s difficult to look past Yannick Carrasco as the match’s standout player in what was a bleak contest for lengthy stretches. The Belgium winger put up a world-class performance with four shots, five vital passes, including the assist for the goal, and three successful crosses. Outstanding.

Neither side moves up or down the table following this game, but Atleti are now just two points off new La Liga leaders Sevilla, who drew 2-2 with Alaves concurrently to this match to move above Real Sociedad on goal difference.

Osasuna remain eighth, and can take positives from this performance if they’re to continue with their strong start to the season.

Italian Serie A

Napoli vs Inter Milan

Inter secure the victory they need to reduce Napoli’s lead at the top to four points. Inzaghi’s men have edged an absorbing encounter that looked over once Martinez put them 3-1 up.

Mertens’ lovely goal gave Napoli hope, but a great Handanovic save and Mertens’ skied effort at the death have allowed Inter to squeak an important win.

Inter stay third in Serie A behind Napoli and Milan, but this victory will remind that pair that the champions are still very much breathing down their necks Napoli stay top on goal difference.

They had six shots to Inter’s four in the second half, so despite Mertens’ late miss it was their meek first-half display that cost them.

Napoli still lead the Serie A title race then but Inter are not too far behind. There’s still plenty of time for the champions to catch up.

Lazio vs Juventus

Following a concerning spell of form just before the international break, Juventus will be pleased to have edged a drab, procedural affair in the capital, thanks to two expertly taken penalties from their captain.

On both occasions he was asked to step up to the mark, Leonardo Bonucci slotted home the decisive spot-kicks, which were fair reward for a resilient showing by the Bianconeri.

Lazio, meanwhile, looked bereft of ideas without main man Ciro Immobile and were unable to live up to their reputation as one of Serie A’s top scorers.

As a result of today’s win, Juve joins their hosts on 21 points from 13 league games but still have a mountain to climb to get back in the Scudetto race.

They meet Chelsea and Atalanta in the coming week, so there will be no easy points on offer there. Lazio next travels to Moscow, before returning to Italy for a clash with league leaders Napoli.

French Ligue 1

PSG vs Nantes

Despite being down to ten men in their Ligue 1 match, PSG defeated Nantes 3-1 to avoid disappointment.

When Kylian Mbappe deflected a Leandro Paredes effort past Alban Lafont, the home side took the lead.

PSG, on the other hand, were frustrated in their attempt to extend their lead due to Lionel Messi’s wastefulness in front of goal.

When Keylor Navas was sent off for a cynical challenge on Ludovic Blas, those misses appeared to be costly, but Randal Kolo Muani equalised with a backheel.

When Dennis Appiah’s attempted clearance from Messi’s through ball went over Lafont and into the net, fortune smiled on Mauricio Pochettino’s side. With a precise finish, Messi snapped his Ligue 1 goal drought and earned all three points.

PSG’s next Champions League match is on the road against Manchester City on Wednesday. Nantes will have a week to heal from their loss before facing Lille.