As we approach the World Cup in November, many summer leagues are drawing to a close. Elsewhere, the big games are continuing to come thick and fast in the big winter leagues around Europe. We will be rounding up all the major action from the last couple of days in this edition of Last Weekend.

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By Neel Shelat

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🇦🇷 Argentina: Racing Club 1-2 River Plate

After 26 games, the Liga Profesional title race boiled down to the final matchday. Boca Juniors were leading the league but had a tough test against Independiente, whose local rivals Racing Club were one point off the top spot. Funnily enough, they were facing Boca’s arch-rivals River Plate, for whom Marcelo Gallardo was overseeing the final match of his long and memorable tenure.

The tension was palpable at La Bombonera and El Cilindro de Avellaneda, which heightened the drama as both title race protagonists were playing at home. After a cagey first half-hour in both matches, Racing fans began to celebrate an Independiente goal for probably the first and only time in their lives. By the time word reached every spectator in the stadium, though, Boca had already equalised. So, we went into the half-time break with level scores in both matches.

Just five minutes into the second period, substitute Sebastián Villa whipped a free-kick into the top corner for Boca, but soon thereafter, Racing won a penalty, which was converted by Matias Rojas. As it stood, though, that goal meant little because Boca were winning too. Hope slowly began to fade at the Cilindro as we entered the last 15 minutes of the match, and Racing’s title hopes suffered a huge setback when Miguel Borja equalised in the 80th minute.

No more than a minute later, the Racing fans started urging their players on with renewed vigour because Javier Vallejo equalised for Independiente, so Racing needed to win their match to lift the title. They were given a golden chance to do just that when they won another penalty in the dying stages of the match. Rojas had been substituted off, so Jonathan Galván stepped up to take it. His effort was incredibly tame, so Franco Armani was able to keep it out after diving the right way.

To add insult to injury, Borja scored a last-minute winner for River Plate, but the difference between a draw and a loss was as good as nothing for Racing in this context. So, in the most incredible circumstances, River Plate effectively won the title for Boca Juniors.

You’d do well to write a script as good as that.

🇮🇹 Italy: Roma 0-1 Napoli

The big Serie A match on Sunday night saw league-leaders Napoli visit the capital, where they faced the only side in the division with a better xGD (Expected Goal Difference) than them. Luciano Spalletti’s side were on a six-match winning streak domestically going into this game, yet Milan were level on points with them after their win over Monza earlier in the weekend.

It was a typically staunch defensive performance from Roma, who were happy to cede possession as long as it meant they could better protect their goal. As a result, there were no clear-cut chances to speak of in the first half, so the match was goalless at half-time. As the match wore on in the second period and crossed the hour mark, Napoli began to fashion some openings by capitalising on lapses from the tiring Roma defenders.

Their star striker Victor Osimhen was back in the starting line-up for the first time since he sustained an injury against Liverpool in early September, and although Napoli coped very well in his absence, he showed just how important he can be in this match. The direct threat that he poses with his runs in behind led him to get on the end of a gilt-edged chance in the 70th minute when he went through on goal on the right, but he dragged his finish well wide of the far post. Still, he persevered, and 10 minutes later, he was in behind at a much tighter angle, but this time he superbly struck the ball across the face of goal and into the far corner, putting his side in front in the process.

That was enough for Napoli to take home all three points and put an end to Roma’s unbeaten record in the league, so now they are the only side that can boast of that. It is safe to say that their victory was deserved too.

In his last column, our Serie A expert Matteo Bonetti explored Napoli’s chances of finally lifting the Scudetto this season, and they seem to be getting increasingly better with every passing week. They still have a long way to go, but we might start calling them favourites at this stage.

🇵🇹 Portugal: FC Porto 0-1 Benfica

The weekend’s action in Portugal kicked off with O Clássico, where the top two faced off at the Estádio do Dragão with three points separating them. Benfica were leading the way this season, but having gone three years without a league trophy, this was set to be a real test of their title credentials.

The home side looked the stronger of the two early on, but the match changed in the 27th minute when Stephen Eustáquio picked up a second yellow card in the span of three minutes. Benfica were then able to get a stronghold on proceedings, but Porto did defend admirably for the rest of the first half.

Roger Schmidt made some crucial decisions at half-time as he made three substitutions that saw three booked players come off, while their replacements helped make Benfica more attack-minded. Their endeavours were finally rewarded in the 72nd minute when Rafa Silva found the back of the net with a goal that was initially flagged for offside, but later given by VAR.

With that, Benfica earned a deserved victory in this Clássico – their first in over three years – and remained the only side in the Portuguese top flight with an unbeaten record. The title charge is very much on for them.

🇧🇪 Belgium: Standard Liège 3-1 Anderlecht

It has been an intense week of Jupiler Pro League action, where some big midweek clashes added to the talking points ahead of the weekend’s fixtures. Last season’s top two squared off on Saturday night, this season’s top two kicked off the action for Sunday, but our focus will be on the Belgian Clasico between a rejuvenated Standard Liège and a struggling Anderlecht.

Standard had been regular European challengers since the turn of the century, but they had a torrid time last season when they finished 14th. They were taken over by 777 Partners heading into this season, and they brought in New York City FC’s most recent title-winning manager Ronny Deila to start the rebuild.

Anderlecht, on the other hand, finished third last season but were always a good distance away from the title race. Head coach Vincent Kompany left at the end of the season, making way for Union Saint-Gilloise’s miracle-mastermind Felice Mazzù to replace him. Mazzù had a great track record of success at ‘smaller’ clubs like Union and Charleroi, but his last ‘big’ job at Genk did not end well.

Things were already rocky for him going into this match, as Anderlecht came on the back of a three-match losing streak in all competitions that saw them fall out of the top two of their Europa Conference League group, and drop out of the European spots in the league after losses to rivals Club Brugge and bottom-club Zulte Waregem.

The travelling fans finally had something to celebrate just three minutes into this match as Yari Verschaeren opened the scoring, putting Anderlecht on course for what would just be their second win in their last six competitive fixtures. They were soon derailed from that course, though, as Standard Liège scored twice in the space of seven minutes before the half hour through Nicolas Raskin and Marlon Fossey.

As the away side’s supporters began to grow disgruntled in the second period, Philip Zinckernagel added a third for Standard, and that proved to be tipping point. Flares were thrown onto the pitch from the away section and the match had to be suspended and eventually abandoned. Anderlecht’s players could only leave their dressing room two and a half hours after that due to security concerns, and their drive back to Brussels must have been made even less enjoyable by the broken glass at the back of their bus.

Besides the visitors getting fined for their fans’ actions, Standard were of course awarded the 3-1 win which takes them all the way up to fifth. Anderlecht, meanwhile, are down in 12th and have a whopping 21-point deficit to Genk, but are just five points ahead of Zulte Waregem at the foot of the table.

On Monday, Anderlecht announced that they had parted ways with Mazzù, for whom this looks to be a repeat of his experiences at Genk. The next head coach will have quite a job on their hands.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Liverpool

The Premier League also gave us some great action this weekend including Manchester United’s visit to Stamford Bridge, Tottenham’s loss at home to Newcastle, Arsenal’s draw with Southampton and Manchester City’s win over Brighton & Hove Albion, but the most shocking result came in the first match of the weekend.

Last-placed Nottingham Forest welcomed a depleted, yet in-form Liverpool, who had beaten Rangers, Manchester City and West Ham in the previous ten days, although they lost Diogo Jota and Darwin Núñez to injuries in those fixtures. Still, they would have been expected to make light work of a newly-promoted side that had one of the league’s worst defences.

The visitors created some good chances in the first half but largely looked uninspired, while Forest’s disciplined defending in their 4-5-1 formation was deserving of a goalless half. Steve Cooper’s side knew that they needed a one-off chance like a set-piece to cause further problems to their opponents, and they made the most of just that in the 55th minute when former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi scored the rebound after initially hitting the post.

Liverpool naturally began to push harder for an equaliser as the full-time whistle got closer, but Forest were also able to fashion a number of chances to double their lead. Both goalkeepers produced some spectacular saves as big chances were missed at both ends, but on the balance of play, Forest were good value for their win.

Nottingham Forest are still at the foot of the table, but their second win of the season means that they are now level on points with the other two sides in the relegation zone, and are just two points away from safety. Liverpool, on the other hand, are down in 8th and 12 points behind league-leaders Arsenal, while their injury issues do not seem to be getting resolved anytime soon.

🇫🇷 France: Lille 4-3 Monaco

One of the more entertaining matches of the weekend was Lille’s win over Monaco in a seven-goal thriller. It featured superb attacking, poor defending and sloppy goalkeeping in equal measure.

Alexsandro Ribeiro opened the scoring 22 minutes in with a header from a set-piece, but Monaco were back level just over 10 minutes later when Lucas Chevalier let Caio Henrique’s seemingly harmless free-kick slip through his hands. It was 2-2 within the next 10 minutes, as Rémy Cabella put Lille back in front after some great work by Jonathan David but Axel Disasi equalised from a corner soon thereafter.

The away team took the lead for the first time in the match on the other side of the half-time break through Wissam Ben Yedder, but Lille made a comeback after the hour through goals from Cabella and Jonathan Bamba, which proved decisive when the full-time whistle was blown.

While it was a very fun spectacle for the neutral viewer, this match really summed up the two sides’ seasons so far. Both Lille and Monaco have shown sparks of brilliance going forward, but their defences have been pretty shaky, as is highlighted by their goal records of 25-21 and 23-18 respectively. Entertainment is good, but it does not always lead to success in football.

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Cover Image from IMAGO