There was a lot of action in European football in this past weekend of matches. Footballers made their return to their respective clubs as some giant match-ups took place all over Europe. For Argentinians, the weekend of action got started on Saturday in the Premier League.
Manchester City was dominant on the day, kicking the scoring off in the 17th minute as Sergio Agüero found the back of the net. City went on to score four second half goals to put themselves on top of the table with 23 points.
Both teams struggled to take control of this game at the London Stadium. A goal just before half time by Erik Lamela made the difference in this London derby. Lamela was arguably the best player on the pitch as he brought his goal tally to five in all competitions.
Watford continued their strong start to the season as they traveled to the Molineux Stadium. Roberto Pereyra’s 21st minute strike put Watford up 2-0, the lead proved to be too much for Wolves as the match finished at 2-0. Pereyra finished the game with 88% pass success and had three shots.
La Liga
In Spain, six Argentinians featured in La Liga on the weekend. Ezequiel Garay for Valencia as they continued their struggling start by tying Leganes 1-1 at La Mestalla. Angel Correa came on as a second half sub for Atlético Madrid in their 1-1 tie to Villareal but failed to make an impact on the match.
On Sunday, Oscar Trejo featured for Rayo Vallecano as they lost 2-1 to Getafe. Trejo was sent off in the 90th minute after picking up two yellow cards in the final 5 minutes of the match. Pablo Piatti came on as a second half sub for Espanyol as they beat Huesca 2-0 to put them in 2nd in La Liga.
The big story of the weekend was at the Camp Nou as Barcelona took on Sevilla.
Lionel Messi had a brilliant start to this match with an assist to Coutinho in the 2nd minute of the game to put Barcelona up 1-0. Minutes later he continued his antics by scoring a goal in the 12th to put Barcelona up 2-0.
The big news of the day was Messi’s day getting cut short in the 26th minute as he went down awkwardly and fractured his arm. The injury is going to put him out for El Clasico this weekend and Barcelona’s Champions League match against Inter.
On the other side, Ever Banega played all 90 for Sevilla and had a solid day finishing with an 88% pass success (68 of 77) and four key passes. Barcelona came away with the three points on the day finishing with a 4-2 victory.
Ligue 1
In France, Argentinians had a productive weekend starting with PSG taking on Amiens.
Angel Di Maria had a great first half, the Argentinian winger had two assists on PSG’s first two goals as they went up 2-0 at half. Di Maria was subbed off in the 59th minute but finished the day with his two assists and two shots on target. PSG went on to take all three points with a dominant 5-0 victory.
Argentinian striker Emiliano Sala scored a hat trick as Nantes won the match 4-0 over Toulouse. Sala continues his hot start to the season, the striker is in the top five for scoring in Ligue 1.
The game of the weekend in Serie A featured three Argentinians. At striker for both teams, Mauro Icardi for Inter and Gonzalo Higuain for AC Milan along with Lucas Biglia.
Both teams had their share of chances throughout the game but went into stoppage time all tied up 0-0. Icardi came through again with late game heroics as he headed in from close range to give Inter the 1-0 in stoppage time.
Three Argentinians were in the starting lineup for Atlanta United. Franco Escobar, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and Ezequiel Barco all made the starting XI. Escobar scored the opening goal in the 10th minute. Atlanta won the match 2-1 and tied the MLS regular season points total record (69) with one match left.
DC United continued their hot streak as they secured a playoff spot with a 3-1 victory. Luciano Acosta had the assist on the opening goal to Rooney and scored a goal of his own in the 24th.
Elmer Plasencia is a Peruvian living in Columbus, Ohio. Spending nearly the first decade of his life in Trujillo, Peru and Mar de Ajo, Argentina he fell in love with all things football. Moving to Ohio in 2000 he has become a fan of Major League Soccer, particularly Columbus Crew SC. Making a living working as a product specialist in Corporate America. Elmer spends his free time watching, playing and writing about the beautiful game. He pays special attention to River Plate, Barcelona and West Ham United.
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