Weekend Review: Haaland is Man City's cheat code; Mbappé is Mbappé again

Erling Haaland is practically a cheat code. It hardly seems fair that perhaps the most dominant centre-forward of the modern game just so happens to play for arguably the most peerless Premier League team in history. He almost signle-handedly turned a 1-0 deficit to Brentford into a 2-1 Manchester City win.

One player who might have something to say about the battle to be today’s greatest No. 9 is Kylian Mbappé. While he may have gotten off to a slow start in the Spanish capital, the France captain is beginning to look like the great Galactico signing Real Madrid have waited so long for.

Bayer Leverkusen have no such generational talent up front, but last year’s historic Bundesliga crown demonstrated that they didn’t need one. And after losing in domestic competition for the first time since May 2023, the German champions are again looking like title contenders, regardless of who leads their line.

What else happened around Europe this weekend? ESPN’s Weekend Review puts a bow on all the continental competition.

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Premier League

Top takeaway: It helps to have Haaland

While it’s true that Haaland has never scored for Manchester City in a semifinal or a final, he’s more than just a flat-track bully.

Pep Guardiola’s team were in a hole against Brentford on Saturday, losing 1-0 thanks to Yoann Wissa’s opener after just 22 seconds and looking like they were ready to concede more. Then up stepped Haaland. He scored his first from a chance that wasn’t even really a chance as the ball bounced around the penalty area, with his second coming from an impressive arrowed pass forward by Éderson.

Brentford — the last opposing team to win a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium in November 2022 — could have scored three or four during a frantic opening to the game. By half-time, though, Haaland had two, City were leading 2-1 and any doubt about the result had disappeared. As bright as Brentford were for the first 10 minutes, they barely crossed the halfway line after half-time.

The brace means Haaland now has nine league goals in four games to start the season, and has already reached 99 for City in all competitions in just 103 appearances. The numbers are incredible, but what shouldn’t be discounted is the importance of his goals. It might not have been a tournament final, but City wouldn’t have beaten Brentford without him.

Best match: Aston Villa 3, Everton 2

Everton have been involved in two fantastic games in the past two Premier League weekends. The only downside for Sean Dyche is that on both occasions his team were leading 2-0 only to lose 3-2. Two weeks after throwing away a two-goal lead against Bournemouth, Everton did it again at Villa Park. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the collapse against the Cherries but Jhon Durán‘s winner will still feel like a massive blow for an Everton team looking for their first point of the season.

Best goal: Hudson-Odoi gets Forest a famous win

If you’re going to win at Anfield for the first time in more than 50 years, you may as well do it in style, and Nottingham Forest did exactly that on Saturday. Callum Hudson-Odoi picked the ball up on the right, took a couple of touches inside, and whipped his shot into the far corner to hand Forest their first away win at Liverpool since 1969. What a goal, and what a day for Forest.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST LEAD LIVERPOOL AT ANFIELD. 👀

Callum Hudson-Odoi finishes off a clinical counter with a beautiful curler to the far post!

📺 Peacock | #LIVNFO pic.twitter.com/U1ZQvyZA68

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) September 14, 2024

MVP of the weekend: André Onana

Manchester United enjoyed a relatively comfortable day at Southampton, winning 3-0 in the early fixture to ease the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag. Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho got the goals, but Ten Hag had Onana to thank for a vital contribution in the first half with a penalty save from Cameron Archer. Southampton were on top at the time, but Onana’s intervention kept the scoreline at 0-0 and United slowly took over from there, scoring less than three minutes later and never looking back. — Rob Dawson

Top takeaway: Madrid’s Mbappé is finally the Mbappé

It’s taken five LaLiga games, but, as the Diario AS headline put it, “Mbappé is now Mbappé.” Real Madrid’s latest Galáctico put in his best performance for the club yet in their 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday. A brace against Real Betis before the international break had been a positive sign; this display was another step up.

It wasn’t about the second-half goal he scored from the penalty spot, although that was well taken. This was an exciting, non-stop 90 minutes, up against an impressive La Real who were the better team, on balance. And there were flashes of magic that were pure Mbappé, like the first-half trick that wrong-footed defender Jon Aramburu, and almost resulted in a goal, the shot flashing just wide.

“[Mbappé] looks fresher, more active on the ball,” Carlo Ancelotti said. “He’s improving. I liked his game a lot.” Mbappé agreed: “Every game I’m feeling better, I’m understanding what the team, the manager and my teammates need.”

It’s just in time for his Real Madrid debut in their favorite competition, one Mbappé has never won: the UEFA Champions League, as Madrid host VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday.

Best match: Espanyol 3, Alaves 2

You weren’t expecting to find Espanyol vs. Alavés here, were you? This was the most surprisingly entertaining LaLiga game of the weekend, though, featuring five goals, including a hat trick for Espanyol’s Javi Puado. The best of the lot was his second, making it 2-1 with a glancing, near-post header. It finished 3-2, with three priceless points for Espanyol.

Best goal: Navas soothes Sevilla suffering

Jesús Navas is 38 years old. He’s seen and won it all, but he still ended Sevilla’s 1-0 win over Getafe in tears, overwhelmed by emotion. His was the only goal of the game, a first-half, venomous rocket across goal, to give Sevilla their first victory of the campaign.

“I feel this more than anyone,” Navas said post-match. “The fans are suffering, and it’s hard for us. I try to give everything, for as long as I can.”

MVP of the weekend: Lamine Yamal

Barcelona‘s emphatic 4-1 win at Girona got on track with two inspired strikes from Yamal. The first was all his own work: stealing the ball from defender David López before applying a cool finish. The second was just as impressive, stroked into the bottom corner from just inside the box. Already a world-class talent, Lamine is now adding consistent end product to his game, every week. There’s no ceiling in sight. — Alex Kirkland

Bundesliga

Top takeaway: Leverkusen return to form

One week after Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first league defeat since May 2023, the defending champions needed to immediately bounce back — and they did just that on Saturday. In the end, their dominant 4-1 win at TSG Hoffenheim underlined that last week’s defeat was a slip-up, not a sign of their decline.

Leverkusen are basically playing the same way they did during their record-breaking campaign while Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have changed their respective styles significantly under new managers. Bayern boss Vincent Kompany wants his team to be aggressive in possession and play a high back line, while Dortmund’s Nuri Sahin intends to improve BVB’s ability to control the ball against any opponent. Both clubs won this weekend and look ready to make Leverkusen’s life tough.

Best match: Borussia Dortmund 4, Heidenheim 2

Friday night games at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund are usually magical, and the home team has a great record on Fridays. In front of a jam-packed crowd, Borussia Dortmund beat the previous table toppers Heidenheim 4-2. After a strong start by the hosts that yielded a 3-1 half-time lead, the game turned into an exciting back-and-forth as Sahin’s side held firm.

Best goal: Marmoush reminds Wolfsburg of his talents

Omar Marmoush showed no love for his former club, scoring twice for Eintracht Frankfurt at VfL Wolfsburg. The leadup to his opener can best be described as the perfect counterattack. Frankfurt broke through on the left side, with Hugo Larsson sending Hugo Ekitike bursting down the wing. The French forward then found Marmoush inside the penalty arena, but the 25-year-old did not simply try to fire the ball past Kamil Grabara, instead lobbing the ball elegantly over the onrushing goalkeeper.

MVP of the weekend: Karim Adeyemi

He has at times been accused of being a speed merchant due to his somewhat one-dimensional style, but he can deliver stellar performances when he is in form and confident. Friday saw him score twice and assist for Donyell Malen as Dortmund thumped Heidenheim. They’ll need more goals and more consistency from him moving forward if they’re to keep pace at the top of the table. — Constantin Eckner

What else you missed this weekend

Pulisic on the mark as Milan warm up in style for Liverpool’s visit

Tuesday night sees Liverpool come to the San Siro as the Champions League “league phase” begins in earnest, and while the Reds’ weekend defeat may have them feeling the pressure, the Rossoneri‘s 4-0 win over Venezia will have lifted it off manager Paulo Fonseca. Heading into the game, Milan were winless in Serie A after defeat to Parma and draws against Lazio and Torino, but Saturday brought no such stress. Theo Hernández opened the scoring inside two minutes following Jesse Joronen‘s underwhelming goalkeeping and Youssouf Fofana flicked in a corner just 10 minutes later to double the hosts’ lead.

United States international Christian Pulisic also dazzled, assisting on Fofana’s goal and then scoring a penalty to make it 3-0, with Tammy Abraham converting another spot-kick for Milan’s fourth, all inside the opening 29 minutes of the game. Game over, job done, roll on Liverpool. — James Tyler

Van Persie’s Heerenveen lose by eight

Robin van Persie’s start as a head coach has been somewhat underwhelming. He had won just one of his first three league games as the new Heerenveen boss, but things well and truly spun out of control on Saturday as his team lost at AZ Alkmaar 9-1.

Defensive disorganization and individual mistakes led Heerenveen to crumble in the second half after keeping the game competitive during the first 45 minutes. Despite his standing in his native Netherlands following a glittering playing career, Van Persie may soon find himself under pressure in the coming weeks. He is still an unproven commodity as a manager. — Eckner