Bayern: emphatic as usual – a 5-1 win at Leverkusen, and Bayern are showing no signs of taking their feet off the pedal anytime soon.
Manchester City: routine 2-0 home victory over Burnley keeps the chase alive! The Citizens remain 2 points behind leaders, Chelsea, and are enjoying a consistent string of good results so far, after a rather below-par start to the season. Kelvin De Bruyne sealed the victory after Bernardo Silva’s early opening strike, keeping things rosy for the blue side of Manchester
Chelsea: Mendy, a hero as hard-fought victory keeps blues ahead of the pack. The Chelsea shot-stopper denied Brentford a late equaliser from a spectacular bicycle kick, which he tipped over the crossbar. This was in addition to the many great saves he made to deny Brentford, who in a late spell of heavy pressure, hit the crossbar the second time. A Chelsea-dominated first half saw them take the lead right on the verge of halftime – thanks to a fine Chilwell half-volley. But Brentford began the second period as the brighter side and piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser.
Thanks to stout defending from the back three of Trevoh Chalobah, Andreas Christenson and Malang Sarr, Chelsea stood their ground and saw the match through. The win keeps them top of the EPL standings, a point ahead of closest rivals Liverpool.
The reds are in red-hot form! It was another brilliant Liverpool display as Roberto Firmino starred in an emphatic 5-0 victory over Watford on Saturday. The Brazilian skipper netted a hattrick, becoming the 1st Brazilian to score two EPL hattricks. In a remarkable performance, Mo’ Salah reproduced another stunning solo effort, dribbling past 3 defenders before calmly curling the ball beautifully into the opposite side of the net. Sadio Mane also clinched a century of EPL goals, opening the scoring from an outside-the-boot cross from Mo’ Salah. Liverpool are now 20 games unbeaten in all competitions, from last season.
Man Utd vs Leicester – Were the ‘red devils’ dismal or was Leicester simply sublime?
It could not have been a more frenzied end to a pulsating encounter, as Leicester rallied to a deserved 4-2 win at the Kingspower stadium. The red devils raced into the lead early on after a brilliant Mason Greenwood strike beat a helpless Schmeichel. Before the break, Youri Tielemans levelled scores, finding the top corner with an equally beautiful effort. Leicester edged ahead in the 78th minute through Caglar Soyuncu – the goals had just started pouring in! United responded within 5 minutes, Marcus Rashford smashing home from close range.
Leicester’s response was also immediate through Jamie Vardy before an injury-time goal from substitute Parson Daka wrapped things up, ending United’s 29-game unbeaten streak away from home in the EPL. The result – continuing United’s poor run of form – leaves a lot of questions in the hearts of the Old Trafford faithful – is the expensively assembled United squad worth the hype? Is it too early to conclude that Ole hasn’t gotten it right yet with his squad? Perhaps, the fans will have to wait a little longer for a complete renaissance at Old Trafford – for the glory days to truly return!
Barca’s victory over Valencia calms frayed nerves at Camp Nou. Ansu Fati starred in a wonderful comeback victory for Barcelona, with Memphis Depay netting from the Spot and Coutinho also registering his name on the score sheet. The goals came in for the Cules after things appeared to have gone sour, with Gaya’s brilliant stunner pegging the hosts back within just 5 minutes.
The win eases the pressure in troubled manager Koeman, who can breathe easy, his job safe in the meantime. Focus turns to their UCL tie against Dynamo Kyiv, a must-win.
Arotiba Seunara
