Juventus made easy work of this weekend’s Derby della Mole in a 3-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino. Gianluigi Buffon’s side have struggled matches following Champions League ties this season, but a brace from Gonzalo Higuaín and injury time goal from Miralem Pjanic ensured Juve’s continued dominance at the top of Serie A.
Champions League heroics aside, Petr Cech has saved none of the last 13 penalties he has faced in the Premier League. While that may have put Stoke ahead at the Emirates, it didn’t last long as the Gunners went on to score 3 themselves to keep hold of second place in the Premier League.
Serie A’s first game of the weekend was arguably it’s most thrilling - a penalty scored, a penalty missed, 2 players sent off and a Gianmarco Ferrari winner just 1 minute after Pescara equalised. After failing to win their first 4 home games in Serie A this season, Crotone have lost just 1 of their last 4 at Stadio Ezio Scida. With their win this weekend they are just 2 points from safety.
Bayern Munich have never lost a Bundesliga match in which Thomas Müller has scored. In fact, they’ve won 68 and drawn just 4 times when he’s found the back of the net. Müller scored the 4th goal in a 5-0 win over Wolfsburg this weekend. It was the first time since September that the Bavarians won 3 consecutive league matches.
Former Manchester United and Chelsea man, Falcao, scored his first hat-trick in a competitive fixture in four years, when he put 5 past Deportivo La Coruna. The Colombian has now scored 10 goals in Ligue 1 this season, twice as many as he managed in his 36 Premier League appearances.
Waiting even longer for an elusive hat-trick was Jamie Vardy, who put 3 past Pep Guardiola’s side on Saturday. It was his first hat-trick for Leicester, and the first he’d managed since February 2012 in Fleetwood Town’s 6-2 win over Ebbsfleet United. Anticipating the occasion was Michael Oliver who opted for a ‘special’ haircut to oversee the match and Vardy’s return to scoring of any sort.
Sergio Ramos may not have graduated from dab university, but he can do what he wants when he continues to pop up in injury time with goalscoring heroics. A week after heading in the equaliser against Barcelona, the defender secured the winning goal against Deportivo La Coruna in the 92nd minute. Ramos has now scored 76 goals for club and country.
Diego Costa has had a direct hand in more than half of the goals Chelsea have scored in the Premier League this season, including the only goal in yesterday’s 1-0 win over West Brom to keep the Blues firmly at the top of the table. The Brazilian born Spanish striker has scored 5 goals from his last 6 shots on target for Chelsea.
Theo Walcott will be getting a coffee maker from his wife for Christmas after keeping his promise to score 10 goals by Christmas for the Gunners. The opening goal against Stoke this week saw the caffeine aficionado mark a landmark 100 club goals (95 Arsenal, 5 Southampton).
Nicklas Bendtner got on the scoresheet this weekend. Unfortunately for Forest fans, it was Derby County’s opener. Forest have now scored an own goal in 2 of their last 3 trips to Pride Park.
