Arsenal takes the lead, Real Madrid stops, Union Berlin surprises again
Premier League: Arsenal have fun with Nottingham Forest and regain the lead
After topping Manchester City on Saturday, Arsenal thrashed red-light Nottingham Forest (5-0) on Sunday to claim first place in the Premier League. With 31 points, two days before the “World Break”, the Gunners are two points ahead of the current champion.
Mikel Arteta’s men owed their supporters revenge after a very poor performance, losing to PSV (2-0) in the Europa League on Thursday. They led the way with almost 70% possession and 24 shots on 10 targets, against a player who remained in the win over Liverpool (1:0) but was completely crushed in this match.
From the 5th minute, the Londoners found fault with Gabriel Martinelli’s header from Bukayo Saka at the near post.
Unfortunately for Arsenal and England, less than two weeks before the announcement of Gareth Southgate’s squad for Qatar, Saka limped off with an ankle injury in the 27th minute. But his replacement Reiss Nelson shone in a devastating start to the second half as his side added three goals in 12 minutes.
Nelson offered himself a double (2-0, 49th and 3-0, 52nd) before Thomas Partey fired into the top corner for 4-0 five minutes later. Twelve minutes from the end, after a good collective sequence, Martin Odegaard widened the gap (5-0, 78th).
The next match, next Saturday, will be on a completely different level with the London derby against Chelsea (5th) at Stamford Bridge. But little by little, the ambition at the Emirates could improve to see Arsenal play for the title throughout the season, especially since, unlike many of their direct rivals, there won’t be many players heading to Qatar.
Bundesliga: Union Berlin beat Gladbach
Union Berlin, the surprise and unexpected leaders of the Bundesliga, overcame Borussia Mönchengladbach in extra time on Sunday to win 2-1 and retain their top spot in the German championship after 12 days.
Trailing 1-0 on the half hour mark to Nico Elvedi’s goal, Urs Fischer’s players came back level with ten minutes to go thanks to Kevin Berens (1-1) and scored the winning goal in the seventh minute of added time. Thanks to Danilho Doekhi in the last corner of the game (2-1).
Thanks to this success, Union Berlin maintains the lead seat with 26 points, which is ahead of Bayern Munich (25), a huge win over Mainz at the Allianz Arena the day before (6-2) and temporarily sitting in the lead.
“Freiburg” (21 points) will go to the lawn of the red light “Schalke” (6 points) on Sunday (at 17:30) and on Saturday, “Borussia Dortmund” (22 points) can continue its place on the podium temporarily. Thanks to the victory in Frankfurt (2-1).
League: “Real” hosted the promoted “Girona” at home
Wait at the Bernabeu! Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by promoted Girona on Sunday in matchday 12 of La Liga, but took control of the table ahead of FC Barcelona, who won in Valencia on Saturday (1-0). ).
Madrid’s error was found in the 70th minute by Vinicius, who cut down Fede Valverde’s center on the right, but ten minutes later conceded a penalty converted by Cristhian Stuani after a controversial handball in the area by Marco Asensio. The Santiago Bernabéu erupted in the 89th minute when Rodrigo believed he would have restored the lead to his nation… but the referee disallowed the goal after the ball was controlled by the opposing goalkeeper. But hope was lost when Toni Kroos was sent off with a second yellow card in extra time (90+2).
A bitter draw for the Merengues five days after conceding their first defeat of the season in the Champions League at Leipzig (3-2). This second draw in 12 La Liga matches comes at the worst time for Real: Real Madrid are still without their favorite centre-forward Karim Benzema, who is still suffering from pain in his left thigh, and were also without France international Aurelien Tchouaméni. on Sunday at the last minute due to a muscle strain in one of his legs.
Rodrygo, who suffered from vomiting overnight from Friday to Saturday, started well on Sunday but failed to capitalize on the few chances he had. Conversely, his compatriot Vinicius was decisive again for the third game in a row after two assists in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Sevilla and a goal in Leipzig on Tuesday.
The misstep comes three days before Celtic host Glasgow in a crucial Champions League top-of-the-table match where Carlo Ancelotti will need to find Tchouamé and possibly Benzema.
It’s a day of glory for Girona: the Catalans drew there for the 4th time of the season and escaped the red zone by averaging 10 points ahead of Sevilla.
