Fans had a lot to talk about over the weekend. Erling Haaland hit the 10-goal mark in just six appearances, AC Milan won over Inter, Manchester United ended a win streak by Arsenal, and more. Real Madrid's trust and investment in their youngsters is paying off as Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga all delivered solid performances. - Weekend Review: A new king of Milan, VAR controversy in Prem
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Jump to: Ten Hag's tough calls, Barcelona's newfound rhythm, City held by Villa, and more.
The ability to come back into games is a part of Milan. After going down to a goal in the derby, they did just that, first exploiting Hakan Calhanoglu's mistake and then riding the brilliant form of RafaelLeao. Milan is picking up where they left off last season: intense, determined, hard-working, able to find the sparks of quality when it matters. Many of Pioli's starters had rough rides.
From Charles De Ketelaere, who made a mistake for Inter's opener, to Fikayo Tomori, who could have done better on most goals, to the likes of TheoHernandez and Junior Messias, who had quiet games. One of the hallmarks of Milan is that. Even on off days, most of the players still contribute with their work off the ball and set a platform for others to make a difference. On the day of the game, it was Maignan in goal, as well as Tonali and Bennacer, who were in the middle of the park.
The report shows that Milan won over Inter.
It will be interesting to see how the club's new owners approach locking him up. The previous regime had a hard time accepting take-it-or- leave-it offers for free agents. The jury is out on Kessie as it's only been a few weeks.
You're tempted to despair at Inter's defensive errors and the fact that they had a rough time with Leao, but that's old news. The big man came on and scored, and Simone Inzaghi waited more than an hour to make his substitution. I don't have a problem with Inzaghi's choices. It's not a good idea to start a player at 36 in a big game with Romelu Lukaku out.
The back line's job was made harder by the fact that Nicolo Barella and Calhanoglu were overrun in the middle of the park. Inter can't do any worse now. This defeat would have been a draw or even a win if it weren't for Maignan's saves late in the game. They're just two points off the top in the race for the title, and it's going to be a very close one.
Ten Hag's big calls pay off as United stop Arsenal's winning runAntony got off to a good start with a goal for Manchester United.
The man has guts, say this for him.
For those keeping score at home, it's now four straight appearances on the bench for Casemiro after he was benched for the third straight game. Of the three moves, Antony's inclusion was the most unexpected. The Brazilian hadn't played a game in three weeks due to his attempts to force a move away from the Dutch club.
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These types of calls can make you angry. Antony opened the scoring in the first half after giving away some eye candy. He gave more than a glimpse of what's to come. Many expected Ten Hag to be more pragmatic, but he is. When things get tough, there's a realpolitik that informs most coaches' actions. This has meant a United that looks nothing like the one we saw at Amsterdam.
The numbers show that this is true. The Eredivisie had an average possession rate of 62%. The four wins were 42% for United. The number of passes per defensive action is a good measure of how much a team presses. The two teams were near the bottom in terms of counter-attacking shots. It's like hiring a world- renowned sushi chef and having them serve you a burger that's not as good as you expected.
The elephant in the room is whether United can keep getting results playing this way. Logic suggests not. Unless you score first, the squad isn't built for it and the risk is that you end up drawing a lot of games. How he handles that transition into a more proactive, front-foot team will determine how the season goes. It will not only depend on Ten Hag giving them different instructions, but also how well his players adapt to what will essentially be, tactically speaking, a handbrake turn.
They played well for most of the game but paid a price for individual errors. I don't think it's a case of them being naive so much as they make mistakes in the wrong places. Mikel Arteta may have gotten too worked up with that triple substitution. I understand that he was chasing the game, but turning his team inside out when they were a goal down seemed a bit rash with hindsight.
There are a lot of positives for Arteta to take from this game and you hope the confidence will only increase. Mental errors are not the type of mistakes that come from not being good enough. That is an important message for Arteta to convey. There is a parallel universe where Gabriel Martinelli's goal can stand. I don't know why it took so long to work it out, but I thought it was a foul.
It was good to see another side to Barcelona. Julen Lopetegui sent his troops out to try to shock Barcelona from the beginning. It worked for a short time. At one point Sevilla had 70% of the possession. When you play like that, you expose yourself to the counter, and after weathering the early onslaught, Barcelona scored two goals before the break to put the game out of reach.
The Barcelona players hit an impressive rhythm.
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Robert Lewandowski scored again and ter Stegen looked to be on his way back to top form. The willingness of Barcelona to hunker down when they needed to was striking. It doesn't fit the stereotype, but it gives them a whole new way of seeing things. There is a word on Jules Kounde as well. He said that he likes playing in the middle. He played the first half on the right before moving to the center of the pitch in the second, which will be his long-term home. He was able to give a luscious assist to the man. You can play whenever you want.
Manchester City was held to a hard fought draw.
The Manchester City boss didn't cut his hair because he didn't want to make a big deal out of the situation. Not just because there isn't a lot there. They had chances to score but didn't, he said.
Manchester City is upset by Villa.
The truth is that City would be top with three points. For all of City's dominance, they looked less sharp, especially in front of the back four, than they normally do. There is good news. The understanding between Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland has grown and the big Norwegian is now in double figures with 10 goals. If that guy is going to get better, there's no reason to be concerned.
Another week, another draw, this time on the road against Union Berlin, who, despite being the feel-good outsider from the capital, are still level on points with the league leaders. The script was the same as it was against Monchengladbach. We saw a defensive error, a ton of shots, and an opposing keeper making some unbelievable saves, as well as a defensive error, a ton of shots, and an opposing keeper making some unbelievable saves.
It was the second draw in a row for the team.
Bayern had more xG, more shots, and more possession, and I think there's no reason to be concerned. The team's energy levels were down compared to earlier outings, but that's not always a bad thing. Maybe he has a point. With hindsight, dropping Thomas Muller probably didn't help: he's a different kind of player. At some point, they need to let Muller go.
Dale Johnson believes there is still a long way to go for people to trust the referees in the premier league.
It's possible that Thomas Tuchel mixed things up for the game against West Ham to give some guys a break before the group stage of the competition. Kai Havertz and Mason Mount were moved to the back to make room for Christian Pulisic and the new kid on the block. In the first half, they didn't manage a single shot on target, and for the entire game only cobbled together an xG of 0.77.
The business picked up after Ben Chilwell came on the scene, but the turning point came when Havertz came on. You can either praise Tuchel for making the right substitution or wonder why he made it in the first place. It was fortunate for them to get all three points. Michail Antonio hit the woodwork at the end of the game, and Maxwel Cornet's goal was not allowed because of the incident between the two men.
The VAR calls are going to be reviewed by the premier league.
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I wouldn't be scandalised if it had gone either way, since we're judging whether or not Bowen made enough of an effort to avoid Mendy. The only way Andy Madley could have called for the on-field review was if he didn't see that the trailing leg made contact with Mendy. If he saw it and didn't think it was a foul, I don't see how the VAR can tell him it was a foul.
We would all be better off if the conversation between VAR and referee were made public. At least we would know what happened.
It's not unusual for a player to start every game of the season for Paris Saint-Germain, so it's not surprising that they sent him away for the last half hour. I don't think he has started that many games in a row in Paris.
Two goals for the former and two assists for the latter were scored by Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. It was aided by the fact that Nantes went down to ten men after 24 minutes, and perhaps also by the fact that Paris Saint-Germain were not going to run up the score. In the last few games, he did it. They could prove to be crucial in their pursuit of the European trophy.
A man points a finger at a player after a game.
The intensity of the derby was not as good as it could have been, with the more talented side slipping to the level of the opposition. The game could have been a lot worse for the Reds if they hadn't hit the woodwork three times. On a different day, with a different referee, it's possible that the Dutch defender was sent off.
Pickford shines as the reaction drops more points.
In terms of points, this is the worst start to the career of the man. The performance is more important than how we keep scoring. The weak spot is in the middle of the park, where Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson are absent.
This probably wasn't the right role for the man to try out for. There is a tough and fixture-congested period ahead. It's possible that it's Arthur, who came on loan from the Italian club. We haven't seen a lot of what he can do in the three tough seasons he's come from. It's already a plus if he just gives them minutes and a body. Gravy is anything more than that.
LaLiga's only other perfect side, Real Madrid, came back to the Bernabeu to face Betis and won 2-1. The men were able to get the breaks, but they were not good enough. Rodrygo and Vinicius, both of whom scored, as well as Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga, were in the middle of the park when he came on.
Real Madrid continue to win.
On a day when Modric and Benzema were quiet, it was important for the rest of the team to step up. There is no quality alternative to Benzema. If you looked closely, you could see that his nose was growing a little bit.
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Monday, Sept. 30 It was 5.
• Valladolid vs. Almeria (3 p.m. ET)
• Middlesbrough vs. Sunderland (3 p.m. ET)
There is a Tuesday in September. It was 6.
• Canada vs. Australia (5:35 a.m. ET)
• Santos Laguna vs. Necaxa (7:30 p.m. ET)
There is a wednesday in september 7 is the number.
• U.S. Open Cup final: Orlando City vs. Sacramento Republic (8 p.m. ET)
It's hard to say what's more disappointing, the fact that Luka Jovic missed his penalty or the fact that it was a draw. Was it the fact that they didn't score after the 28th? He sent on a defender at half-time for Angel Di Maria. Is it the fact that Dusan Vlahovic stayed on the bench?
Is it because the average positions of the wingers and the fullbacks were different? The players were told to slow things down and defend the draw. He said it wasn't about Paris Saint-Germain and the game they needed to worry about was against Benfica.
If Atalanta wins away to Monza on Monday night, the Italians will become four points off the lead. They have had a lot of injuries. Allegri's vibes are so negative that they feel out of step with the current game. He needs to make people feel better.
After beating Cottagers, the Spurs looked exactly like Antonio Conte's squad.
It makes sense for a guy who's so big on chemistry and muscle-memory to not like rotating a lot. When there was no European football for his team or when they were knocked out before Christmas, some of his greatest recent success was in seasons when there was no European football.
The man can read a fixture list. Load management needs to be done because of the fixture congestion between now and the World Cup. He believed that Richarlison could fit in any of the front three roles. In the win over Cottagers, we saw Clement Lenglet and Richarlison make their debuts, while Ryan Sessegnon came back in place of Ivan Perisic.
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Spurs played well and could have scored more, but the finale was too tense. The yellow card Richarlison received for celebrating a goal that was later disallowed is a fun footnote for the neutral. He will get plenty of minutes even though he isn't the first choice.
Few young newcomers this side of Erling Haaland have had such an immediate impact on a league, but I don't know if Khvicha Kvarats Khelia can continue playing at this level. He and Victor Osimhen ripped Lazio to shreds on the road and the young Georgian displayed his full potential in a compact package.
The Lazio boss made a lot of comments about the officials after the game. He was angry that Mario Rui wasn't sent off, but then he doubled down, saying it was either incompetence or bad faith, and talking about how someone told him in the tunnel before.
It seems obvious that there needs to be an investigation. It's not possible to make accusations like that without back up. Next time, how about making sure you put together more than 0.37 xG at home?
He is a coaching genius. He let himself down with his post game comments.
One of their better performances of the season came against Real Sociedad. It was a tough game against an opponent that can blow hot and cold, but is often a tough place to play. Both sides had chances, but Atleti had the better one and will rue not killing off the game after taking an early lead.
The current state of the game and the club are reflections of the folly of the previous Barcelona regime. In a desperate attempt to get their star player off the books, Barcelona sent him to Atleti Madrid on a two-year loan. If he plays more than a certain amount of minutes, the deal becomes permanent and he has to pay Barcelona 40 million dollars.
The report said that the draw was held because of the limited playing time of Griezmann.
The exact conditions haven't been disclosed and reports vary on what those conditions are, but it appears that the club are limiting his minutes. They don't want to have to pay Barcelona 40m for a guy who will be 32 next summer. They would rather negotiate a lower fee with Barcelona than keep him.
In a World Cup year, the victim is himself. How match-fit he'll be when he's rested in November remains a question.
In their 4-3 victory against Fortuna Sittard, Bas Dost scored the winning goal. He is on the verge of scoring 38 goals in the Eredivisie and has four goals in five appearances. This is the last part ofBasDostWatch.
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