This week’s edition of the Euro Football Weekend Rundown will take a look at the current situations in France with Lyon claiming top spot after PSG falters; in England, Man City are now leading the way after Man U and Chelsea were defeated; and in Italy, Stephan El Sharaawy and Inter president, Massimo Moratti are currently in the spotlight for completely different reasons albeit entertaining.
4) PSG lose, Lyon rise to the top
With money-bags Paris Saint-Germain in the spotlight with big name players and high expectations, everyone has forgotten about falling stars Olympique Lyonnais, aka Lyon. Lyon has quietly climbed the ladder in the Ligue 1 and is currently sitting top of the table with 25 points and a game in hand which will be against Marseille.
Confidence is growing in Lyon as France international striker Bafetimbi Gomis suggested Monday that his side is among the Ligue 1 title contenders. At the weekend, the former French champions hammered Stade de Reims 3-0 with an own-goal by Anthony Weber, Gomis and Lisandro Lopez scoring for the home side.
On the other side of the fence is PSG who lost 2-1 against Stade Rennes at the Parc des Princes stadium. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended, coach Carlo Ancelotti was forced to revamp the attack with Ezequiel Lavezzi, Jeremy Menez, and Javier Pastore up front. The attack, of course, is quite different without the tall Swede as the side struggles to score goals without him even after Stade Rennes had Benoit Costil and Jean Makouin expelled. PSG is very Ibra-dependent and should focus on finding a valid replacement come January should the Ballon d’Or candidate go down with injury, otherwise, Carlo Ancelotti will be in very deep trouble.
Lyon lead the league with 25 points. PSG drops to third with 23 points.
3) Man United and Chelsea slip helps Man City leap frog into first place
The Citizens have overtaken top spot in the Premier League with the help of the Red Devils and the Blues losing their respective encounters. Manchester United suffered a shocking defeat to Norwich City 1-0 with Anthony Pilkington slotting home the winner in the 60th minute. Chelsea temporarily drew level with Eden Hazard at the 39th minute after Shane Long opened the scoring for the home side after 10 minutes. West Brom took the lead and claimed the eventual three points with Peter Odemwingie bagging the winner, 2-1. Manchester City laid a 5-0 beat down on Aston Villa with David Silva opening the account while Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez added a double each with each Argentina scoring a penalty.
Manchester City lead the way with 28 points. Manchester United follow with 27 points. Chelsea are in third with 24 points.
Up-date from the Blues camp: Chelsea defender David Luiz confirmed that an outbreak of loud voices occurred in the dressing room after the match with West Brom. BBC Radio Five Live reports that manager Roberto Di Matteo, staff and players could be heard in the nearby home dressing room and the corridor outside as players, believed to include goalkeeper Petr Cech, voiced their anger about the defensive frailties that led to the defeat. It seems that the London-based side was shattered after this loss and this row certainly hinders the atmosphere around Stamford Bridge. Di Matteo’s club will need to get over this quickly as they travel to Turin to take on the reining Italian champions, Juventus, at the Juventus Stadium. This is the most important game of the season for both teams as a loss here would be detrimental to the hopes of qualifying for the next round of the Champions League.
2) The ‘pharaoh’ is alive and well in Italy
Stephan El Sharaawy is a prodigy and is AC Milan’s life source in the beginning stage of this current season. He is only 20 years of age and is leading the Serie A with 10 goals. He also scored in the Italy v France friendly which ended 2-1 for Les Bleus.
On Saturday, the Rossoneri took on Napoli at the San Paolo and it was an exciting match in which Massimiliano Allegri’s men showed great determination to comeback to collect a point. The Partenopei took a two-goal lead with Gokhan Inler and Lorenzo Insigne putting the home side ahead. Before the half time whistle blew, the Egyptian-Italian wonder gave the Diavoli a life line by cutting the lead in half by scoring a cracker of a goal from outside the box that dipped over Morgan DeSanctis. With eight minutes remaining, Robinho threaded through for the ‘pharaoh’ once again who side-footed the ball for the equalizer.
With the future in mind: AC Milan, although not performing well on a consistent basis, is thinking for the future and is regularly fielding youngsters such as Stephan El Sharaawy, Bojan Krkic, Kevin Prince Boateng, Mattia De Sciglio, and Francesco Acerbi. Lately, there have been reports of interest in Mario Balotelli who is a lifelong AC Milan supporter and is currently seeking a new adventure and a return to the Serie A. He might be able to find refuge at the Via Turati club. It will take time, but the Rossoneri will eventually rise to the limelight of the Italian League once again.
1) Inter causing a ruckus after non-sanctioned PK against Cagliari
Cagliari provided stern competition for Inter on Sunday as the Sardinia side drew 2-2 at the San Siro. The Nerazzurri were fortunate to bag the equalizer with eight minutes remaining off a Davide Astori own-goal. As a result of increasing self-belief in obtaining the crucial three points to cut the lead at the top to one point, Andrea Stramaccioni’s men began to pour pressure with moments left in the game. As a result of the siege laid on by the Milan-based club, the Interisti are complaining about an ignored penalty after Astori seemed to have fouled Andrea Ranocchia on the line of the box. After looking at images and video replay, it does seem to be a penalty as the Cagliari defender made contact with Ranocchia on the inside portion of the line. The non-sanctioned PK sparked a fire within the Inter coach who was then ejected from the match for protesting in a rather heated way.
After the match, Inter owner Massimo Moratti expressed that his side has suffered injustices in the last three games and thanked God for having beaten Juventus despite the Bianconeri’s controversial opener.
He continued on by criticizing Italian referees suggesting that they are incompetent and unable to correctly direct a game in the Serie A. Moratti also made subtle references to the ‘Calciopoli’ scandal of 2006 hinting that the Old Lady may have a hand in these recent controversial events. During that time, the Bianconeri were relegated to Serie B but have since returned to the top of the standings after having won the Scudetto last year. Juventus responded by publishing a statement that reads, “No comment”, on the club’s official website. However, attached to the statement is a file that outlines the Italian Federation’s (FIGC) ruling that Inter had also been involved in the Calciopoli scandal. Stefano Palazzi, FIGC prosecutor, explains in the document that Inter could not have been punished in July 2011 as the statute of limitations had expired.
Inter are currently in second place with 28 points, four shy of the league leaders.
Opinion: Inter has reason for complaining this week for this foul, even though again, the action in soccer is so fast that sometimes referees can make errors – let’s just call it ‘human error’. However, the references made to Juventus and Calciopoli are ridiculous and completely unnecessary. I’m glad to see that Juventus is a club with class and decided not to hit back but did provide an interesting piece of information stating, and providing evidence, that the Nerazzurri were also involved in the Calciopoli scandal. What I don’t understand is why the case could not have been reviewed seeing that Inter also deserved some sort of punishment for their involvement. If a man is accused of murdering a woman with no evidence being provided to support this accusation, then I can understand that the man walks scot-free. But even after some time has elapsed, if evidence all of sudden appears, wouldn’t it be just that the man is sentenced with a suitable punishment? This is exactly the case here. So on behalf of Juve fans all over the world, I would like to pass on a message to the Nerazzuri and their faithful: just shut it and play your game! Thanks.
