Weekend Highlights: Frankfurt's rapid destruction, Everton's resilience and the WSL record
Goal of the weekend
Michel Platini is long gone from the game; contemporary football fans associate him more with the corruption scandal. The 33-year-old Platiny, who plays for second-tier Portuguese side Maritimo, scored an awesome scissor kick this weekend. It was one of his two goals in a clear 4-0 win against Vilavardense. Extra points for not hitting a defender who went into the tackle with his head...
Underperformers of the weekend
The underdog has to be the man who was on the wrong end of this tackle. Taulant Xhaka, a long-time Basel player, was the "perpetrator" of a foul in the most sensitive of places. The red card he received was the 19th for the Xhaka brothers in their storied careers. Taulant and the better-known Granit, at Bayer Leverkusen, clearly have the biggest appetite for sharp tackles at the end of the year. Indeed, they have been sent off three times in December, no other month of the year saw so many of their transgressions.
Social media highlight
When 10 points are deducted from your team, sending you to the relegation places, many fans fall into misery and lay down their arms. At Everton, they don't have to, because they have a coach in Sean Dyche who is a specialist in rescuing doomed teams. The Toffees are on a three-game winning streak under him, and against big, ambitious teams - after a clear 3-0 win over Newcastle, they also beat Chelsea 2-0. A points deduction that would have broken others, but instead, it made Everton a team on the level of Brazil in their prime...
Statistics of the weekend
Manuel Neuer had one of his worst games in a Bayern jersey at the weekend. The stats for the match against Frankfurt speak of a mostly even game, Bayern's xG (expected goals) was even higher (1.98 vs. 1.61). But the real score says 5-1 to Eintracht. The latter scored all five goals in just an hour of play, the last time Bayern got beaten like was in 1975, and against the same team! The 24-year-old Egyptian Omar Marmoush has scored seven goals this season.
Story of the weekend
Perhaps the straight story of the season? Girona are still a LaLiga phenomenon, having lost just one game this season, to second-placed Real Madrid. Many predicted they would suffer defeat number two against Barcelona, only for the surprise leaders to clearly dominate the Catalan derby. The club, which belongs to the City Football Group, the group that owns Manchester City among others, beat the famous rival on its field 4-2. With a two-point lead, the side continues to nurture their hopes of being the "Spanish Leicester" and snatching the title. They would be the first time in 20 years that someone outside the trinity of Real, Barcelona and Atlético become champions. The last time Valencia did it was in the 2003/04 season.
Photo of the weekend
Arsenal experienced two different stories at the weekend. The men's team lost to Aston Villa and gave up top spot in the Premier League table to Liverpool. It was the women who did the work, beating rivals Chelsea 4-1, catching up to them at the top of the table and, more importantly, setting a new record for the WSL, the top women's competition in England. 59,042 spectators arrived at the Emirates Stadium to watch a dominant performance by Beth Mead and co.
