There might be a winter break in the English Premier League with games stretched across weekends, but there are still plenty of talking points happening in Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and more.
On Saturday, we saw Bayer Leverkusen‘s fairytale season continue with a stoppage-time winner against RB Leipzig, Ivan Toney return to action for Brentford, and Arsenal edge Everton in the Women’s Super League. Meanwhile in Italy, Daniele De Rossi secured his first victory as manager of Roma after José Mourinho was sacked by the club earlier this week. Can the club legend turn things around in the second half of the campaign?
Here’s what you missed in European soccer on Saturday.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
SATURDAY REVIEW
The lead: Leverkusen keep unbeaten streak alive with another last-minute win
Bayer Leverkusen are seemingly making a habit of scoring last-minute winners. The Bundesliga leaders and fourth-placed RB Leipzig clashed in an exciting back-and-forth game on Saturday which saw Leverkusen snatch a precious 3-2 win thanks to a Piero Hincapié goal in stoppage time.
Leipzig made an explosive start, with strikers Loïs Openda and Benjamin Sesko, both running at Leverkusen’s back three time and time again. The returning Dani Olmo and Xavi Simons provided the necessary creativity and were both involved in the early go-ahead goal, as Simons juggled the ball inside the box and slotted home left-footed past Lukas Hradecky.
While Leverkusen were attempting to control the ball and advance down the field methodically, as they have done in so many games previously, they faced the constant threat of conceding another goal through a Leipzig counterattack, with Openda and Sesko usually lurking tight to the offside line.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN’S FAIRY TALE CONTINUES!
LEVERKUSEN 3-2 LEIPZIG! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cNeuoevcja
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 20, 2024
Bayer experienced another setback at the half-hour mark when wing-back Jeremie Frimpong sustained a knee injury, prompting manager Xabi Alonso to make a substitution. Nathan Tella was brought on in his place. The 24-year-old Nigerian international arrived from Southampton during the summer for a transfer fee of €23m and had thus far not shown many convincing performances for Bayer. But it was Tella who finished a fast-paced sequence after the half-time break, beating David Raum at the back post to convert Alejandro Grimaldo‘s cross for the equalizer.
In an unusual display of negligence, Leverkusen subsequently permitted Leipzig to regain the lead after an ill-advised decision to direct a corner kick towards the edge of the penalty area. Simons intercepted the ball, initiating a counterattack that resulted in Openda scoring the 2-1 shortly before the hour mark. At that stage of the game, it was evident that Leverkusen would need an iron will to keep their season-long unbeaten streak intact.
They not only did that but also took home three vital points by scoring two goals following corner kicks towards the back post. In both cases, Lukas Klostermann and Xaver Schlager were not in position to defend effectively against Jonathan Tah and Hincapié, respectively. With another win in the bag, Leverkusen are now seven points ahead of perennial champions Bayern Munich who host Werder Bremen on Sunday. — Constantin Eckner
Saturday talking points around the leagues
Ivan Toney scores on return
It took just 19 minutes for Ivan Toney to remind Brentford — and his possible suitors in the transfer market — what they’ve been missing by scoring in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Toney’s first appearance in 266 days after serving a ban for admitting 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules ended just as he imagined earlier in the day.
“I manifest things like this,” he said at full-time. “Before the game, before I left my house I thought ‘yeah, we’re winning today and I’m scoring’. And I made it happen, so it’s good.” Danilo had given Forest a third-minute lead with a brilliant strike before Toney lined up a free-kick just outside the box which he expertly bent around the wall — after moving the ball a fraction to his right to improve the angle — to equalise.
Ben Mee put Brentford in front early in the second half before Chris Wood drew Forest level only for Neal Maupay to land the decisive blow on 68 minutes, swivelling superbly with one touch before firing a left-footed volley into the far corner.
But all eyes were on Toney, who has attracted interest from Arsenal and Chelsea this month although both clubs are so far deterred by Brentford’s valuation in excess of £80m. Toney has flirted with a move away in several interviews conducted while he was suspended and he showed little signs of rustiness in a typically combative display which helped Brentford win for the first time in six games.
1 shot, 1 goal ⚽️
2 chances created ✨
7 aerial duels (Most on the pitch) 🙌
5/5 Ground duels won 👊
Man of the Match 🏆Welcome back, Ivan Toney 👑 pic.twitter.com/YP8lVEQO4U
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) January 20, 2024
Brentford boss Thomas Frank described Toney as “impressively good… he doesn’t feel the pressure. He’s still a human being, of course there were a little extra normal nerves, butterflies in the stomach but when they kick off, boom, he switches on and plays the football he loves.”
Toney added: “I’m grateful to be back playing with the lads. I missed it so much. The fans, everyone. Yeah, I’m back. I’m back.”
He certainly is. — James Olley
Arsenal claim win but questions remain
Things could have turned ugly in Borehamwood after the Gunners’ opening goal, the hosts smothering the Toffees from the first whistle and Caitlin Foord’s ninth-minute effort suggested a long afternoon for the travelling side.
Everton, to their credit, managed to pull themselves into a more cohesive shape and with their second foray into the Arsenal half, pounced on some static defending to pull themselves level through Katja Snoeijs. Yet all of their hard work was undone in first-half stoppage time when Beth Mead met Lia Walti’s neat cross with a thumping header to score the deciding goal in a 2-1 win.
Arsenal continued to show their ability to dominate the ball in the second half but by then Everton had found more resilience in their own shape and did well to stem the flow, with Courtney Brosnan once again starring between the sticks for the Toffees. Indeed, with Arsenal unable to put the game to bed, they left the door open for Everton’s [very] late flurry as the visitors amped the pressure, looking for a stoppage-time point.
The Gunners managed to hold out and claim the deserved three points to keep themselves in the title race, but, with Arsenal head and shoulders above Everton on paper, there will be more questions around why the win was far from comfortable. Jonas Eidevall has asked his squad to be more efficient with their chances, but again they fell into familiar patterns of struggle in breaking their opposition down once Everton had managed to locate their self-belief. — Sophie Lawson
Winning start for De Rossi and Roma in post-Mourinho era
We don’t know yet if Daniele De Rossi will become a great manager or not, but history will forever remember that he won his first game in charge of his beloved Roma. The former Giallorossi midfielder took over for José Mourinho after his sacking on Tuesday and got a wonderful reception from a packed Stadio Olimpico. And the Roma fans would have loved what they saw in the first half.
With a back four and a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation, in contrast with Mourinho’s 3-5-2, De Rossi’s team played on the front foot and produced some good football. They scored two goals by Romelu Lukaku and Lorenzo Pellegrini and created more chances.
De Rossi promised attacking football and his team delivered. However, it was a different story after the break when Hellas Verona were the better team. Roma rode their luck when Milan Djuric missed a penalty after an hour and held firm to win 2-1 and come back into 5th place in the table.
After three games without a win in all competitions, Roma has the perfect start under the new manager. He will now have nine days to prepare until their next Serie A game against Salernitana — who sit bottom of the table — on Jan. 29. Then Roma will be at home to strugglers Cagliari before a trip to Inter Milan. So De Rossi has two winnable games on paper to make even more of an impact on his team. He will want to see more of their first-half football on Saturday than what they delivered in the final 45 minutes. — Julien Laurens
