The final international break of 2023 is officially history as we are back in league action all across Europe with mouthwatering performances and surprise results happening amongst the major leagues.
In England, we saw Manchester City unable to extend their lead atop the Premier League in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool and we also witnessed Kai Havertz snatch the headlines with Arsenal defeating Brentford 1-0 and become the new league leaders.
In France, we saw PSG dispose of AS Monaco with ease in a 5-2 win to continue their reign top of Ligue 1. In Spain, Barcelona failed to secure all three points in a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano, which didn’t allow them to close the gap to the three teams above them in LaLiga. And finally in Germany, Harry Kane continues to make history in Bayern Munich in their 1-0 win over Cologne.
Here is your look back at all the fun from this weekend so far.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
SATURDAY REVIEW
The lead: Man City fail to preserve Premier League top spot
Jurgen Klopp says he won’t talk about Liverpool’s title chances until the last few months of the season but he might not be able to keep it quiet for much longer. For all the preseason talk of Arsenal being Manchester City’s main challengers, Liverpool have quietly gone through their first 13 games with just one defeat — and even that one at Tottenham involved one of the worst VAR disasters.
They deserved a point at the Etihad Stadium, even if Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s second-half equaliser came out of nothing, and they might have gone away with more had Alisson had a better game.
The Brazilian goalkeeper was at fault twice for City’s goal — first when his weak kick out went straight to Nathan Aké and then when Erling Haaland‘s shot smashed through his hands. He was also lucky that Chris Kavanagh decided he had been pushed by Manuel Akanji when he dropped a cross at Rúben Dias‘ feet to tap into the net. VAR Stuart Attwell agreed with Kavanagh but it looked soft.
Despite Allison’s nervous afternoon, there wasn’t much between the two teams and, whether Klopp wants to admit it or not, it should give Liverpool confidence that they’re capable of matching City over the course of the season. Klopp probably doesn’t have the squad depth that Guardiola enjoys but if he can keep everyone fit, and deal with the distraction of the Europa League, there’s no reason when Liverpool shouldn’t be in the title race come April and May. Maybe then Klopp will even talk about it. — Rob Dawson
Dembélé stars in exciting top of Ligue 1 clash
There was nothing better that Ligue 1 could offer to come back from the November international break than this mouthwatering PSG vs. AS Monaco match on Friday evening under the lights at the Parc des Princes. And it didn’t disappoint, even without the likes of Warren Zaïre-Emery and an injured Marquinhos on the Paris side and suspended Youssouf Fofana for the visitors. It was an intense, open, and spectacular top-of-the-table clash between the league leaders Parisians and third-place Monégasques.
PSG won 5-2, a score probably a bit too harsh considering how good Monaco still performed, but it was great publicity for Ligue 1. PSG were outstanding with the ball at times and the best player on the night was undoubtedly Ousmane Dembélé. The French international scored his first goal for PSG with an incredibly tight finish after a wonderful first touch.
All evening long, he created chaos on his right wing with his dribbling, his pace, and his partnership with Achraf Hakimi. As always, he didn’t always make the right decisions and he had zero successful crosses but he made such a difference, including in the build-up play. Luis Enrique has made him a key part of his plans and he is indispensable. PSG are now six points ahead of Monaco, probably their toughest rivals for the league title this season, even more so than Nice.
For Adi Hutter’s team, they will rue their missed chances but they played some really good stuff at times while Folarin Balogun and Aleksandr Golovin have demonstrated so much talent. But on Friday night, they just came a bit a bit short against the reigning champions. — Julien Laurens
Americans Abroad: Balogun strikes in mixed day for USMNT players
In France, AS Monaco were unable to close the gap between them and league leaders PSG as they fell 5-2 at the Parc des Princes. Balogun’s fourth goal this season wasn’t enough for Monaco on Friday, but it was a return to form for the striker after failing to hit the net in either of the two matches against Trinidad and Tobago in the Concacaf Nations League last week.
Meanwhile, in Germany, we saw an all-American clash as Giovanni Reyna‘s Borussia Dortmund took on Joe Scally‘s Borussia Monchengladbach as the hosts looked to continue to stamp their authority in the Bundesliga race. Scally played the full 90 minutes, while Reyna came on at half-time, and it was the latter who got the last laugh as Edin Terzic’s side snatched a 4-2 comeback win after going down 2-0 inside the first 28 minutes to go to fourth in the table, 10 points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
In Italy, on a night where we saw Francesco Camarda become the youngest player to play a Serie A match, AC Milan snatched a 1-0 win over Fiorentina with both Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah starting as Stefano Pioli’s side remain in the Serie A title race and remain third, six points behind league leaders Inter.
Finally in the Netherlands, we saw three Americans take to the pitch as PSV were able to beat FC Twente 3-0 with Ricardo Pepi, Sergiño Dest, and Malik Tillman all featuring with Tilman getting the assist for the final goal thanks to Johan Bakayoko and to remain top of the Eredivisie. — Roberto Rojas
News of the day
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino slammed his side’s performance following their 4-1 loss to Newcastle United, which left him “very angry” and disappointed, calling it their worst of the season. “We were soft in every single challenge. We did not compete. We did not show we were playing for something important,” Pochettino said. “It was tough to be in the stands. We cannot complain about the result, we did not read the game from the beginning.”
And finally, on Saturday …
Harry Kane continues to make history in Germany. After scoring the only goal in Bayern Munich‘s 1-0 win over Cologne, Kane was able to break numerous new records as he continues to shine for the Bavarians in just his first season. Among the records that the striker has been able to get is becoming the first Bundesliga player to score 18 goals in the first 12 matchdays and breaking Jadon Sancho‘s record of 17 goals to become the highest goalscoring Englishman ever in a single Bundesliga campaign.
What’s even more insane is that when Robert Lewandowski broke the single-season record for most goals in a Bundesliga season with 41, his tally after 12 matchdays was 15. Kane has already scored three more at the same time Lewandowski did when he eventually broke the record so if he keeps his form up, he might be on pace to break the Polish striker’s record as well.
The former Tottenham striker is on red-hot form as he stands atop everyone else as no one else has more goals in Europe’s top five leagues, with 22 in all competitions. That being said, even though Bayern Munich are still unbeaten in the league, they are still in second place and firm in the Bundesliga race being only two points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
If Bayern are going to continue to chase an unprecedented 12th straight league title, it’ll all depend on whether Kane will be able to continue his hot form for Thomas Tuchel’s side and finally give one of the best strikers of his generation long-awaited silverware. — Rojas
