Weekend Review: Pulisic lights up Milan derby, Haaland reaches 100 goals

Another topsy-turvy weekend of European football action is in the books, with Christian Pulisic instrumental as AC Milan pipped Internazionale 2-1 in the Derby della Madonnina. His goal, combined with Matteo Gabbia‘s late header, secured a crucial victory for Milan, easing pressure on manager Paulo Fonseca and ending Milan’s six-game losing streak in the rivalry.

In the Premier League, Manchester City‘s feisty 2-2 draw with Arsenal saw Erling Haaland notch his 100th goal for Pep Guardiola’s side. Aston Villa‘s 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers was a terrific game, while Darwin Núñez added another worldie to his highlight reel.

LaLiga saw Atlético Madrid drop points in a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano, falling further away from Barcelona and Real Madrid in the process. In Germany, VfB Stuttgart thrashed Borussia Dortmund 5-1, increasing pressure on new coach Nuri Sahin, while Schalke 04 sacked yet another manager after a poor start in the German second division.

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

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Top takeaway: Haaland the centurion

On top of watching a Manchester City-Arsenal match for the ages, with so much controversy and talking points, it was also a special day for Erling Haaland. The City striker scored his 100th goal for the club in all competitions, in just his 105th appearance.

It’s an incredible achievement only matched by one Cristiano Ronaldo, who put up exactly the same numbers at Real Madrid. Haaland is cut from the same cloth than the Portugal legend. Time will tell if he will reach the same heights but, at 24, Haaland is certainly already writing his own history at City and in the Premier League.

The Norway striker’s goal against Arsenal, his first in four games against them, is already his 10th this season — in just five league matches. How many will he have at the end of the campaign? Can he beat his own Premier League record of 36 goals netted in 35 matches two seasons ago? That’s the challenge.

Best match: Aston Villa 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Really, the answer is Manchester City-Arsenal but because we have already addressed it, let’s switch to Aston Villa-Wolves because with the Villains this season, it’s never boring. After coming back from two goals down against Everton last week, Unai Emery and his players overcame a one goal deficit in Saturday’s derby against Wolves, scoring three goals in the last 15 minutes of the game.

Emery’s changes and tactics worked a treat. Jhon Durán commented his super-sub status (four goals off the bench in five league games this season), while Ollie Watkins scored again, and Morgan Rogers showed why the future is so bright for him.

Best goal: Darwin makes the difficult look easy

It could be Riccardo Calafiori‘s amazing strike or Ezri Konsa‘s spectacular finish, but Darwin Nunez is the winner this week. The Liverpool striker started his first game of the season and scored a beauty. First his flick towards Mohamed Salah for the one-two, and then coming inside onto his left (and wrong) foot to curl a perfect shot into Kepa Arrizabalaga‘s goal. Once again, the Uruguay international made a difficult skill and goal look easy. It’s a shame that he is not as clinical with easier chances.

Every angle. On repeat. 🔁 pic.twitter.com/zalt2ohwKi

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 22, 2024

MVP of the weekend: Nicolas Jackson

This one is not even close! Jackson was outstanding for Chelsea on Saturday lunch time at West Ham United. Two goals with two clinical finishes, one assist for Cole Palmer, another big chance created for his No. 10, he was a constant threat for the Hammers defence. The former Villarreal man confirmed his really good form of the moment. It’s not perfect, and he still misses some chances, but he is getting better game by game. — Julien Laurens

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Top takeaway: Gallagher scores, but Atléti lose ground

Conor Gallagher struck for the second time since joining Atlético from Chelsea in the summer, but the England midfielder’s goal was only enough to rescue a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday. Atléti remain unbeaten through six LaLiga games this season, although three of those have now ended in stalemates and they lost ground on Barcelona and Real Madrid this weekend, two teams who were bailed out by their stars.

Braces from Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha helped Barça to a 5-1 win at Villarreal, but there were moments when the home side, unbeaten in LaLiga before this game week, looked capable of claiming a point. Barça’s win was tainted by a potentially season-ending injury to goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. It is the latest in a string of injury setbacks suffered by the Catalan club, but, so far, they have overcome most hurdles placed in front of them under new coach Hansi Flick.

“The team has good character,” Flick said after the victory. “The attitude is unbelievably good. I love it, every day, the mixture between very focused and also enjoying playing football. This is what we like.”

After registering six wins in their first six league games, Barça have a four-point lead at the top of the table, clear of a Real Madrid side who had to come from behind to beat Espanyol 4-1 on Saturday thanks to the impact of Vinícius Junior off the bench in the second half. Of Madrid’s 13 league goals this season, just one has come in the first half, but they remain unbeaten in 38 LaLiga games and are closing in on Barça’s league record of 43.

Atlético, meanwhile, are now fourth, six points adrift of Barça and two points back from Madrid, who they host next weekend in the Madrid derby at the Cívitas Metropolitano.

Best match: Villarreal 1-5 Barcelona

Barça’s winning margin at Villarreal only tells half the story. Villarreal more than played their part in an exhilarating, end-to-end game which could easily have ended 6-4. Marcelino’s side had three goals ruled out for marginal offsides, thumped the bar and looked capable of getting back into the game until Raphinha’s brace sealed the points for Barça, who also missed a penalty through Lewandowski. That the game was such an entertaining affair should come as no surprise: Barça won 4-3 at the Estadio de la Cerámica last season and Villarreal won 5-3 at the Olympic Stadium.

Best goal: Lukebakio curls one in

In a weekend of good goals but not great ones, Dodi Lukebakio‘s strike, coming in from the right wing and bending into the top corner, was perhaps the pick of the bunch. Unfortunately, for Sevilla, it meant nothing as they were beaten 2-1 by Alavés to leave them just one point above the relegation zone after one win in six games. New coach García Pimienta is already under pressure.

MVP of the weekend: Vinícius Júnior

When Vinícius came on in the 55th minute on Saturday, Madrid trailed Espanyol 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu. What followed was a cameo which proved his worth to the team — as if it was needed. A brilliant assist with the outside of his boot set up a goal for Rodrygo, and he then found the net himself, latching on to a Kylian Mbappé through-ball as Los Blancos racked up a big win. — Sam Marsden

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Top takeaway: Sahin under early pressure

Both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund went into this campaign hoping that they would turn things around from the last season, where they, for the most part, underdelivered. While Bayern under Vincent Kompany remain unbeaten and have scored 29 goals in the first six games of the season — a new record for a Bayern manager — Dortmund suffered a huge setback on Sunday.

The Black-and-Yellows lost 5-1 to VfB Stuttgart. Previously, players and officials were concerned with the way the team played against the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart during the 2023-24 season. Much of the blame was put on previous boss Edin Terzic, but it’s now his successor, Nuri Sahin, who will face significant criticism for Sunday’s humiliating result.

Best match: Bayer Leverkusen 4-3 VfL Wolfsburg

Sunday’s game between Leverkusen and Wolfsburg quickly turned into an exciting back-and-forth affair. Wolfsburg were, somewhat surprisingly, leading 3-2 at half-time. But Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side became the latest victim of Leverkusen’s comeback qualities. After scoring the equalizer in the 49th minute, the Werkself were able to secure another win in stoppage time thanks to Victor Boniface.

Best goal: Doan unleashes unstoppable strike

Freiburg beat Heidenheim 3-0 on Saturday, with Ritsu Doan scoring an absolute screamer for the lead in the 54th minute. The Japan international received the ball from Eren Dinkci on the wing before moving towards the middle where Doan managed to shoot the ball from the edge of the penalty area perfectly, with the ball hitting the inside of the post.

MVP of the weekend: Enzo Millot

France youth international Millot shone in Stuttgart’s 5-1 win over Dortmund on Sunday. He scored Stuttgart’s third goal of the day and assisted another two goals. After a slightly unfortunate performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, as Millot missed a few major opportunities to score at Santiago Bernabeu, the playmaker was a major factor in Stuttgart’s destruction of Dortmund. — Constantin Eckner

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What else you missed this weekend

Milan triumph in Derby della Madonnina

There was drama in the Milan derby as Matteo Gabbia’s late header earned AC Milan a shock 2-1 win against reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan on Sunday. United States international Christian Pulisic had given Milan an early lead at the San Siro but Federico Dimarco‘s goal drew Inter, who were the home side, level before the break. However, Simone Inzaghi’s team didn’t kick on as expected in the second half, setting the stage for Gabbia’s 89th-minute winner to ease the pressure on Paulo Fonseca.

With just one win in five games in all competitions this season, there had even been speculation that Fonseca, appointed in the summer, could lose his job if Milan’s six-game losing streak in the Derby della Madonnina was extended on Sunday. Instead, the Rossoneri are now level with Inter on eight points after five games, with just three points separating leaders Torino from the two Milan sides in sixth and seventh. Juventus and Napoli are among the teams wedged in the middle after playing out a dour goalless draw on Saturday. — Marsden

Sorry Schalke sack another boss

Schalke 04 have sacked their manager once again. After a disastrous start with only two wins in seven games across competitions, Schalke decided to part ways with manager Karel Geraerts and sporting director Marc Wilmots. Geraerts, who had previously coached Union SG in the Belgian Pro League, was hired in October of last year to develop a team that could achieve the promotion to the Bundesliga. But right now, the second largest club in Germany in terms of the membership base is wallowing in 16th place in the second division.

Another unsuccessful year in the second tier of German football may hurt Schalke significantly financially. At the same time, after yet another managerial change, the eighth since 2021, Schalke’s board is under pressure to find someone who is available, affordable and able to build a promising team with limited resources. — Eckner

Galatasaray hand Mourinho his first derby defeat

Fenerbahce and Galatasaray will face off in plenty more Istanbul derbies this season but, if they are all like the first one of the campaign on Saturday, we are in for a treat.

First, the array of former stars on display was something else: Edin Dzeko, Fred, Allan Saint-Maximin, Dusan Tadic, Sofyan Amrabat on one side; Victor Osimhen, Dries Mertens, Lucas Torreira and Davinson Sánchez on the other (not to mention Mauro Icardi and Michy Batshuayi on the bench!).

Then the game itself was spectacular (four goals including a worldie from Torreira), open (37 shots in total), end-to-end viewing. In the end, Fener missed too many big chances and Fernando Muslera in the Gala goal was almost unbeatable. It was a famous 3-1 victory for the champions and a defeat for José Mourinho in his first derby since taking the managerial job at Fenerbahce. “The Special One” was even trolled by his neighbours, who labelled him “The Crying One” on social media after the game. Galatasaray have now won all six of their Super Lig games so far this season and are already five points clear of their rivals. — Laurens