This was the final weekend of club football action before the 2022 World Cup. As most domestic leagues wrapped up for a winter break, there was lots of interesting action and some surprising results, including Arsenal’s win over Wolves, newly-crowned champions in Ecuador and much more.
By Neel Shelat
🏴 England: Wolves 0-2 Arsenal
There were eight Premier League matches played on Saturday so there was a lot going on, but let us focus on Arsenal’s trip to Wolverhampton.
After Manchester City’s dramatic late defeat against Brentford in the early kick-off, the Gunners knew that a win in this game would take them five points clear at the top of the table heading into the World Cup break. Their hosts were a couple of points adrift at the bottom of the table, and this would be Steve Davis’ last match as their interim manager as Julen Lopetegui is set to take over after the World Cup.
Wolves delivered a fairly admirable first half performance as they defended well and restricted Arsenal’s chances, while also getting into threatening positions through counterattacks, although their end product was mostly lacking. They were made to rue their wasted chances 10 minutes into the second period, as Martin Ødegaard turned in Fábio Vieira’s ball across the box at the end of an intricate team move.
Ødegaard went on to score a second in the 70th minute to effectively seal the result and cement a sizeable lead at the top of the table for Arsenal in the World Cup break. Their fans will surely start believing in their title chances now, although Manchester City will still probably be considered favourites. The underlying numbers do suggest they still are the best side in the league, but Arsenal are not far off them at all.
🇪🇨 Ecuador: Aucas 0-0 Barcelona (1-0 Agg.)
We are off to Ecuador next, where there was a very significant result on Sunday night. The second leg of the Liga Pro final was being held in the capital, Quito. The record champions, Barcelona SC, had a one-goal deficit to overturn against Aucas, who had never lifted a major title in their 77-year history.
The way the Ecuadorian league works is that it is divided into two stages with 15 matches each. The sides that finish at the top of the table in either stage qualify for the final (as well as the Copa Libertadores), where the winner is crowned after two legs.
This match was, as one might expect, quite a tense affair, but there were a good few chances at both ends. The biggest of the lot fell to Barcelona, who were awarded a penalty in the second half, but the effort was saved by the feet of Hernán Galíndez. That meant Édison Vega’s goal in the first leg was enough for Aucas to lift their first-ever league trophy. A major achievement for a small but well supported and historic Ecuadorian club (their badge alone should have you interested)
🇩🇪 Germany: Freiburg 4-1 Union Berlin
As the Bundesliga wrapped up for the calendar year of 2022, the very last match between Freiburg and Union Berlin offered the winner the opportunity to head into the winter break in the runners-up spot.
Union were, of course, the shock leaders early on in the season, but their massive xG overperformance was always a cause for concern. That seems to be properly catching up to them now, as they had just one win in their last four league games heading into this fixture.
Things did not get much better for them in Baden-Württemberg, where the match was all done and dusted within 20 minutes. Freiburg already had a two-goal lead within six minutes as Vincenzo Grifo scored two quickfire goals, including one from the penalty spot. Union missed a great chance to halve the deficit in the 10th minute as Robin Knoche failed to convert a spot-kick, and about 10 minutes later, they gave one away at the other end again. This time, Diogo Leite was sent off for the foul, while Grifo netted again to complete his hat-trick.
On the stroke of half-time, Michael Gregoritsch added a fourth for Freiburg. Substitute Sven Michel did pull one back for the visitors late on, but that was little more than a consolation goal. So, it is Freiburg who are currently second behind Bayern in the Bundesliga, while Union are down in fifth. It is all very tight in the race for Europe at the moment, but Freiburg should think that they have a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time ever at the end of this season.
🇮🇹 Italy: Atalanta 2-3 Inter
The big matches keep coming thick and fast in Italy. After Napoli’s trip to Atalanta, Derby della Capitale and Inter’s visit to Juventus last weekend, the headline fixtures of the final round before the World Cup included Atalanta vs Inter and Juventus vs Lazio.
The match in Bergamo was the early kick-off on Sunday, and it was an entertaining game. The hosts looked better in the opening exchanges, for which they were rewarded in the 25th minute when Ademola Lookman scored his third goal in his last three starts from the penalty spot. The scores were back level just over 10 minutes later, as Edin Džeko redirected the ball from close range after Lautaro Martínez helped on a cross to him.
Džeko scored again 11 minutes into the second half to give Inter a lead which was doubled soon thereafter by José Luis Palomino’s own goal. The defender did later find the right net to bring his side back into the game, but they could not equalise to salvage a point from this fixture.
It might surprise you to learn that this was the first time this season that Inter came away with points against a side currently in the top eight, but that really sums up their issues this season. They have been able to dispatch lesser opposition with relative ease, but have really struggled in big games. Still, with the sides around them faltering too, they are just three points away from second place. Atalanta had occupied that position for a good deal of time as they were the early pace-setters alongside Napoli, but have dropped back significantly now.
🏴 Scotland: St. Mirren 1-1 Rangers
There is a sizeable gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership as we enter the World Cup break, and while Celtic have remained steady, Rangers have dropped quite a few points of late, damaging their title chances significantly.
Including this disappointing draw at St. Mirren, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side have won just two of their last five league matches, which were against the five sides currently directly below them in the table. St. Mirren are the lowest-placed of the lot down in the bottom half, but they too were able to take something away from last season’s Europa League finalists.
This performance was symptomatic of Rangers’ issues, as they dominated possession with 74% of the ball but struggled to create too many noteworthy chances. They conceded a fairly avoidable goal from a long throw, needing a late penalty from James Tavernier to come away with a point.
The underlying xG numbers point to this problem as well. Rangers’ defensive numbers are comparable and even marginally better than Celtic’s, but there is a big gulf in their chance creation, which is why Celtic seem to be able to dispatch their opponents with much greater ease.
🇫🇷 France: Lille 1-0 Angers
We have mostly covered the happenings close to the top of various leagues so far, but let us now move over to the other end of the spectrum in the French top flight, where Angers are having a very tough time.
Their loss to Lille this weekend made it seven defeats on the bounce going into the World Cup break, which has left them rooted to the bottom of the table. That is a relatively unfamiliar position for them to be in, as they have never really been greatly involved in a relegation scrap since their most recent promotion in 2015.
Luck has not been on their side, as was evident this weekend when they had a goal ruled out by VAR for a contentious offside in the 34th minute, before conceding from a corner just two minutes later. Obviously, their performances have not been great either, as is shown by their underlying numbers which depict a negative trend since the start of the season.
Cover Image from IMAGO