What should have been the marquee game of the Bundesliga weekend turned out to be anything but. The pre-match talk was focused on how Pep Guardiola’s decision to join Manchester City next season impacted Bayern’s players. There were rumours of player dissent and all sorts of disharmony within the squad. How much of this is …
Author Archives: Wasim Parkar
Southampton 1 West Ham 0
Southampton were deserved winners in this clash of upwardly mobile teams. In simple terms, Saints were the better team, while the Hammers were quite poor. The visitors never really got into their stride, even when they were playing against ten men for more than half an hour. Southampton are now only two points behind West …
Angers 0 Lyon 3
The result of this game was never in doubt once Thomas Mangani was sent off in the 16th minute. For the first time this season, Lyon have strung two dominant wins in a row. Winning 3-0 against both Bordeaux and Lyon puts Bruno Genesio’s men right back in contention for Champions League qualification. Such is …
Tottenham 1 Watford 0
Was this match the most dominant 1-0 win ever? It certainly felt like that. 65 % possession. 25 shots to 3. Heurelho Gomes deservedly won man of the match. Qique Sanchez Flores graciously admitting that Tottenham were just superb. By every indicator, tangible and intangible, Spurs were clearly the superior team. Not many teams have …
Atletico Madrid 3 Eibar 1
In most La Liga seasons this matchup would be considered a gimme for Atletico Madrid. However, this Eibar team are a different beast altogether. The Basque team made Diego Simeone’s men sweat for the three points and ultimately the result was decided on the prowess of Koke’s set piece delivery. The three points were crucial …
Schalke 3 Wolfsburg 0
A true confidence-boosting win for André Breitenreiter and Schalke 04. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finally got on the scoresheet again, the defence kept a clean sheet and the Royal Blues are now in the all-important fourth spot, just two points behind Hertha Berlin in third. In my opinion however, the bigger story here is Wolfsburg. Dieter Hecking …
Hertha Berlin 0 Borussia Dortmund 0
A game pitting third against second that simply failed to ignite. Pal Dardai’s Hertha Berlin have been one of the most amazing stories in European football this season. Coming into the game with only defeat in their last nine matches, Hertha were in unchartered waters at third in the table. However, there are signs that …
Monaco 1 Nice 0
For the first time in ages, the Derby de la Côte d’Azur had a lot riding on it in terms of league position and points. In a season where PSG have just run away with the league, Monaco and Nice have come closest in terms of establishing some sort of consistency. It’s not often that …
Manchester City 1 Leicester City 3
Great analysis on the brilliant Football365 as always. I think Matt Stead has made some great observations on the match in this piece. Finally, the tide has turned. Each previous Leicester victory had passed with disbelief, but qualified disbelief: ‘They will fall away eventually’, ‘wait until they play the big teams’, ‘Leicester won’t win the …
Serie A State of Play Post Round 22
Some thoughts after an exciting round of Serie A games filled with glorious goals and enterprising play. Top two pull away It was only a few rounds ago that everyone was claiming this to be the most exciting Serie A season in modern times as the top five were separated by just three points. …
The Through Ball 