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Last Weekend: Haaland’s hat-trick of hat-tricks, xG finally catches up with Union Berlin and more

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Club football returned in the men’s game after the final international break before the World Cup, which means there will be no time for anyone to catch their breath between now and mid-November. The return of Europe’s top leagues brought lots of big results and important storylines such as the Manchester derby and Union Berlin’s first loss of the Bundesliga season – just two of the fixtures we will be covering in this edition of Last Weekend.

By Neel Shelat

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United

There often is talk of an unstoppable force facing an immovable object, but have you ever wondered what happens when an immovable object possesses an unstoppable force? Well, you don’t have to wonder any longer, because Manchester City have been providing the answer to that question after signing Erling Haaland.

What was already the best team in Europe became significantly more threatening in attack with arguably the most clinical striker around, and he has simply refused to stop scoring goals. His hat-trick in the Manchester derby this weekend preserved City’s record as the only unbeaten side in the Premier League this season, and in the process, he also became the first player in the history of the league to bag three goals in three consecutive home games – a hat-trick of home hat-tricks.

The Norwegian international is quite simply in a league of his own. With 14 goals in eight league games, he has twice as many goals as the man in second place in the goalscoring charts, a certain Harry Kane.

The scariest part is that he assists too, as the ex-Salzburg man set up two of Phil Foden’s three goals with a couple of intricate passes after some tidy footwork. All of that adds up to a mere 20 goal involvements in his last 10 competitive appearances in club football.

Haaland has been making records tumble at a weekly rate since moving to England, and he does not look like he’s going to stop any time soon. If he manages to stay injury-free this season, Alan Shearer’s Premier League era-record of 34 goals in a season is about to be obliterated.

🇩🇪 Germany: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Union Berlin

We attempted to introduce the concept of xG to Union Berlin a few weeks ago, but they didn’t listen. We certainly have their attention now, though, because the East Berlin-based club suffered their first league defeat of the season at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ironically enough, this was a rare instance where they actually had a greater xG tally than their opponents in a match, so they were given a taste of their own medicine by the Eagles.

This was the first time since mid-August that Union failed to find the back of the net in a league match, but it had been coming. Heading into this fixture, Urs Fischer’s side had scored 15 goals from an xG tally of just 6.5, which was the second-lowest in the entire division.

A title charge was always unlikely for Union Berlin, but they will need to work on their attacking production if they are to secure Champions League qualification too. They remain first for now, but with just three points separating the top six, they could easily slip down the table with a bad result or two.

🇪🇸 Spain: Athletic Club 4-0 Almería

Barcelona and Real Madrid are quite clearly set to be the two protagonists in Spanish title race this season, but the battle for the best of the rest spot will be equally intriguing. The early frontrunners for the final podium spot appear to be Athletic Club.

They climbed up to third in the table after a convincing 4-0 win against Almería on Friday night, which saw the Williams brothers Iñaki and Nico link up and score a goal each, while Oihan Sancet and Mikael Vesga got on the scoresheet too. That made it three wins in their last three league games, with an aggregate scoreline of 11-3.

Athletic Club’s run of form is no fluke, as they have been transformed after the return of head coach Ernesto Valverde. The 58-year-old tactician has them playing a very attractive brand of football in a 4-2-3-1 formation, and the results are clear to see both on the league table and while looking at their impressive underlying numbers, which mark their defence as the best in the league so far.

Athletic Club will face Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Villarreal in three of their next five fixtures, so we will find out how legitimate their apparent charge for Champions League football really is.

🇮🇹 Italy: Lazio 4-0 Spezia

Another team that won 4-0 this weekend and made it three wins on the bounce was Lazio, who got the better of Spezia in Serie A’s early kick-off, on Sunday.

Ciro Immobile missed an early penalty and squandered the chance to break into the top 10 of the all-time scoring charts in Serie A, but goals from Mattia Zaccagni and Alessio Romagnoli, and a second half brace from Sergej Milinković-Savić ensured that the home side came away with the three points anyway.

That means Lazio are up in third place now, with a three-point deficit to leaders Napoli and Atalanta. Their quest for a second Champions League qualification in eight seasons has gotten off to a good start.

🏆 Copa Sudamericana: São Paulo 0-2 Independiente del Valle

The Copa Sudamericana final was held in Argentina on Saturday night. It featured two sides that had won the trophy once each in the past – São Paulo in 2012 and Independiente del Valle in 2019. The Brazilian side are by far the more decorated of the two teams as they have six league triumphs and three Libertadores titles to their name, while Independiente only achieved their first-ever promotion to the Ecuadorian top-flight in 2009, and their Sudamericana success in 2019 was their first-ever major title.

Since arriving in the Ecuadorian Serie A, Independiente have gone on to make a name for themselves as a club with one of the best youth academies in South American football. Moisés Caicedo, Ángelo Preciado and Piero Hincapié all rose up the ranks of Independiente’s youth academy, and are now senior internationals for Ecuador who will likely be featuring in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Their youth academy is not the sole basis of their success, though. In this Copa Sudamericana final, there were just four Ecuadorians aged 24 or younger who started the match for Independiente, and none of them got on the scoresheet. That is because the defending Ecuadorian champions also have a great scouting set-up that unearths underrated players from around the continent.

Among the goalscorers in this match was 24-year-old Argentine forward Lautaro Díaz, who is on loan (with an option to buy) from Club Atlético Estudiantes, a side in the second division of Argentine football. He went on to set up the second for Lorenzo Faravelli, who is also from Argentina, and has previously played for the likes of Newell’s Old Boys and Gimnasia La Plata.

São Paulo’s players rather lost the plot late on as they finished the game with nine players on the pitch, as Independiente celebrated what is just the third major trophy they have won in their 64-year history. With such continental success and a top-class youth academy, the future is looking bright for the Ecuadorian side.

🇫🇷 France: Strasbourg 1-3 Rennes

We have had a look at a number of overachievers in this column so far, but one side who are doing the opposite are Strasbourg. Following Ajaccio’s first win of the season on the previous Ligue 1 matchday, they were left as the only winless side in the division this season, and that unfortunate record continued after their loss to Rennes.

This weekend’s result was justifiable because Gerzino Nyamsi was sent off within the first half-hour, about 10 minutes after his side had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside. Goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Martin Terrier and Amine Gouiri helped Rennes race to a three-goal lead around the 60th minute, so the match was done and dusted by then.

That leaves Strasbourg down in 19th place, and their underlying numbers suggest that they deserve to be there. All of this is quite a turn for the worse after last season, when they narrowly missed out on European football by just three points. On the basis of that, Julien Stéphan is not under serious pressure of losing his job, but in a season where four teams are set to be relegated from Ligue 1, he will need to turn things around soon.

The good news for him is that Strasbourg are well within touching distance of safety as the sides around them are struggling too, so they just need a run of a few good results to alleviate relegation fears.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Last Weekend: Haaland’s hat-trick of hat-tricks, xG finally catches up with Union Berlin and more

Club football returned in the men’s game after the final international break before the World Cup, which means there will be no time for anyone to catch their breath between now and mid-November. The return of Europe’s top leagues brought lots of big results and important storylines such as the Manchester derby and Union Berlin’s first loss of the Bundesliga season – just two of the fixtures we will be covering in this edition of Last Weekend.

By Neel Shelat

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United

There often is talk of an unstoppable force facing an immovable object, but have you ever wondered what happens when an immovable object possesses an unstoppable force? Well, you don’t have to wonder any longer, because Manchester City have been providing the answer to that question after signing Erling Haaland.

What was already the best team in Europe became significantly more threatening in attack with arguably the most clinical striker around, and he has simply refused to stop scoring goals. His hat-trick in the Manchester derby this weekend preserved City’s record as the only unbeaten side in the Premier League this season, and in the process, he also became the first player in the history of the league to bag three goals in three consecutive home games – a hat-trick of home hat-tricks.

The Norwegian international is quite simply in a league of his own. With 14 goals in eight league games, he has twice as many goals as the man in second place in the goalscoring charts, a certain Harry Kane.

The scariest part is that he assists too, as the ex-Salzburg man set up two of Phil Foden’s three goals with a couple of intricate passes after some tidy footwork. All of that adds up to a mere 20 goal involvements in his last 10 competitive appearances in club football.

Haaland has been making records tumble at a weekly rate since moving to England, and he does not look like he’s going to stop any time soon. If he manages to stay injury-free this season, Alan Shearer’s Premier League era-record of 34 goals in a season is about to be obliterated.

🇩🇪 Germany: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Union Berlin

We attempted to introduce the concept of xG to Union Berlin a few weeks ago, but they didn’t listen. We certainly have their attention now, though, because the East Berlin-based club suffered their first league defeat of the season at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ironically enough, this was a rare instance where they actually had a greater xG tally than their opponents in a match, so they were given a taste of their own medicine by the Eagles.

This was the first time since mid-August that Union failed to find the back of the net in a league match, but it had been coming. Heading into this fixture, Urs Fischer’s side had scored 15 goals from an xG tally of just 6.5, which was the second-lowest in the entire division.

A title charge was always unlikely for Union Berlin, but they will need to work on their attacking production if they are to secure Champions League qualification too. They remain first for now, but with just three points separating the top six, they could easily slip down the table with a bad result or two.

🇪🇸 Spain: Athletic Club 4-0 Almería

Barcelona and Real Madrid are quite clearly set to be the two protagonists in Spanish title race this season, but the battle for the best of the rest spot will be equally intriguing. The early frontrunners for the final podium spot appear to be Athletic Club.

They climbed up to third in the table after a convincing 4-0 win against Almería on Friday night, which saw the Williams brothers Iñaki and Nico link up and score a goal each, while Oihan Sancet and Mikael Vesga got on the scoresheet too. That made it three wins in their last three league games, with an aggregate scoreline of 11-3.

Athletic Club’s run of form is no fluke, as they have been transformed after the return of head coach Ernesto Valverde. The 58-year-old tactician has them playing a very attractive brand of football in a 4-2-3-1 formation, and the results are clear to see both on the league table and while looking at their impressive underlying numbers, which mark their defence as the best in the league so far.

Athletic Club will face Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Villarreal in three of their next five fixtures, so we will find out how legitimate their apparent charge for Champions League football really is.

🇮🇹 Italy: Lazio 4-0 Spezia

Another team that won 4-0 this weekend and made it three wins on the bounce was Lazio, who got the better of Spezia in Serie A’s early kick-off, on Sunday.

Ciro Immobile missed an early penalty and squandered the chance to break into the top 10 of the all-time scoring charts in Serie A, but goals from Mattia Zaccagni and Alessio Romagnoli, and a second half brace from Sergej Milinković-Savić ensured that the home side came away with the three points anyway.

That means Lazio are up in third place now, with a three-point deficit to leaders Napoli and Atalanta. Their quest for a second Champions League qualification in eight seasons has gotten off to a good start.

🏆 Copa Sudamericana: São Paulo 0-2 Independiente del Valle

The Copa Sudamericana final was held in Argentina on Saturday night. It featured two sides that had won the trophy once each in the past – São Paulo in 2012 and Independiente del Valle in 2019. The Brazilian side are by far the more decorated of the two teams as they have six league triumphs and three Libertadores titles to their name, while Independiente only achieved their first-ever promotion to the Ecuadorian top-flight in 2009, and their Sudamericana success in 2019 was their first-ever major title.

Since arriving in the Ecuadorian Serie A, Independiente have gone on to make a name for themselves as a club with one of the best youth academies in South American football. Moisés Caicedo, Ángelo Preciado and Piero Hincapié all rose up the ranks of Independiente’s youth academy, and are now senior internationals for Ecuador who will likely be featuring in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Their youth academy is not the sole basis of their success, though. In this Copa Sudamericana final, there were just four Ecuadorians aged 24 or younger who started the match for Independiente, and none of them got on the scoresheet. That is because the defending Ecuadorian champions also have a great scouting set-up that unearths underrated players from around the continent.

Among the goalscorers in this match was 24-year-old Argentine forward Lautaro Díaz, who is on loan (with an option to buy) from Club Atlético Estudiantes, a side in the second division of Argentine football. He went on to set up the second for Lorenzo Faravelli, who is also from Argentina, and has previously played for the likes of Newell’s Old Boys and Gimnasia La Plata.

São Paulo’s players rather lost the plot late on as they finished the game with nine players on the pitch, as Independiente celebrated what is just the third major trophy they have won in their 64-year history. With such continental success and a top-class youth academy, the future is looking bright for the Ecuadorian side.

🇫🇷 France: Strasbourg 1-3 Rennes

We have had a look at a number of overachievers in this column so far, but one side who are doing the opposite are Strasbourg. Following Ajaccio’s first win of the season on the previous Ligue 1 matchday, they were left as the only winless side in the division this season, and that unfortunate record continued after their loss to Rennes.

This weekend’s result was justifiable because Gerzino Nyamsi was sent off within the first half-hour, about 10 minutes after his side had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside. Goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Martin Terrier and Amine Gouiri helped Rennes race to a three-goal lead around the 60th minute, so the match was done and dusted by then.

That leaves Strasbourg down in 19th place, and their underlying numbers suggest that they deserve to be there. All of this is quite a turn for the worse after last season, when they narrowly missed out on European football by just three points. On the basis of that, Julien Stéphan is not under serious pressure of losing his job, but in a season where four teams are set to be relegated from Ligue 1, he will need to turn things around soon.

The good news for him is that Strasbourg are well within touching distance of safety as the sides around them are struggling too, so they just need a run of a few good results to alleviate relegation fears.

Cover Image from IMAGO