Messi's Amazing Free Kick and the Greatest World Football Moments of the Weekend
Leo Messi scored in his sixth consecutive Barcelona game and enjoyed his 200th Blaugrana League win, per @MessiStats, in a 4-1 rout over Almeria at the Nou Camp.
The diminutive Argentinean provided a typical moment of magic, adding another beautiful free kick to his lengthy highlight reel.
This weekend's greatest moments also see a heated derby in Spain, goalkeeper calamity in Germany, a very angry manager in England and a lower-league golazo from Italy...
Alan Pardew Lost His Cool, Maybe His Job
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Newcastle Utd helped cement a top-four finish with a spirited 4-1 victory over Hull at the KC Stadium on Saturday, but the game—and every other Premier League game—was overshadowed by the touchline actions of Alan Pardew.
With less than 20 minutes to go, the Newcastle manager took exception to David Meyler shifting him out of the way to take a throw-in. The midfielder and coach squared up to one another before Pardew headbutted the player in the face. There wasn't a great deal of contact, but the Toon boss clearly showed violent intent.
Pardew was sent to the stands and has subsequently been fined £100,000 by the club, per The BBC. Many pundits believe the incident may lead to his resignation or sacking, with Alan Shearer suggesting on BeIN Sports that his days may be numbered (h/t The Guardian):
"Frankly I wouldn't be surprised, and I don't think anybody will be surprised at all, if Alan Pardew were to resign over this.
Even if he doesn't want to resign, the club might be saying to him – we might be doing you a favour – you resign, rather than us sack you, because that will have to be in his thinking also.
"
Pardew, who has form for touchline confrontation, apologised after the incident, but can expect to be the subject of an FA investigation.
Manchester City Triumphed in the League Cup Final
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Manchester City were beaten by relegation-threatened opposition in the last FA Cup final, and they have lost to Sunderland 1-0 in each of their past two meetings.
When the Citizens went 1-0 down to a Fabio Borini strike in the 10th minute, it looked as if they might be on course for a dramatic League Cup final loss.
However, Manuel Pellegrini's men rallied in a second-half fightback which began with Yaya Toure's stunning equaliser. A minute later, Samir Nasri created another moment of beauty with the outside of his foot, while Jesus Navas finally put the tie out of reach in the 90th minute.
City have now won the League Cup three times, while Sunderland's trophy dry patch continues since beating Leeds Utd in the 1974 FA Cup final.
Liverpool Moved to Second in the Premier League with a Victory at Southampton
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Thanks to Arsenal's loss at Stoke (more on that shortly), Liverpool moved to second in the Premier League table on goal difference with a 3-0 win over Southampton.
After failing to score in his past five matches, Luis Suarez broke the deadlock in the 16th miniute with a deflected shot. He then set up Raheem Sterling in the second half to double the Reds' advantage and won a penalty in stoppage time that Steven Gerrard converted—not a bad day at the office.
Suarez is now the leader in the Premier League goalscorer and assist tables, with 24 and 10, respectively, per Squawka. Considering he missed the first five games of the season, this is an incredible statistic.
Arsenal's Title Prospects Took a Dent at the Britannia
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Prior to the weekend, Arsenal had only recorded one victory at the Britannia Stadium in six attempts since it opened in 1997.
This statistic remains intact as the Gunners lost ground in the title race with a 1-0 loss in Staffordshire. In a game with relatively little goalmouth action—there were five total attempts on target and only seven corners, according to The Guardian—a late penalty from Jonathan Walters was enough to make the difference.
Both Goalkeepers Scored Own Goals in a Bizarre Bundesliga Match
5 of 9Saturday was a day to forget for the goalkeepers of Eintracht Braunschweig and Borussia Monchengladbach.
Their Bundesliga match finished 1-1 as a result of own goals from both shot-stoppers. In the first half, Braunschweig keeper Daniel Davari watched as an in-swinging corner from Raffael Araújo ended up in the back of the net via his own thigh.
Then, in the second half (1.35 in the video), Gladbach's Marc-André ter Stegen failed to control a simple back pass from defender Filip Daems, allowing it to trickle into his own net. Note how the ball would have rolled out for a corner if he had left it.
Ter Stegen is being heavily linked with Barcelona at the moment, per Yahoo/Eurosport, but the Catalan side will surely be aware that this own goal is an exact replica of the one he conceded in Germany's loss to the USA last summer.
Bayern Munich Trounced Schalke
6 of 9One team went into this game with an unassailable lead at the top of the Bundesliga, the other vulnerable from a 6-1 demolition at the hands of Real Madrid at the weekend. Predictably, Bayern Munich tore Schalke apart on Saturday.
The onslaught began after just three minutes when a David Alaba free kick took a cruel deflection, while a hat-trick from Arjen Robben and a powerful header from Mario Mandzukic sealed a convincing 5-1 victory for the Bavarians.
According to the BBC, Die Roten are now 20 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, which is a record after 23 games.
Ronaldo Rescued Real in the Madrid Derby
7 of 9Ateltico Madrid's La Liga title hopes were kept alive at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday with a thrilling 2-2 draw in the Madrid derby.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the third minute only for Jorge Koke to equalise.
Then, shortly before the break, Atleti captain Fernandez Gabi fired in a screamer from around 35 yards out.
Real remained resilient against their dominant city neighbours and eventually earned an all-important equaliser through the right foot of Cristiano Ronaldo in the 82nd minute.
Somehow, there were no sendings off in the feisty encounter, but Atleti assistant Mono Burgos was sent to the stands for confronting the referee, and Pepe showed some theatrics worthy of Oscar Sunday.
Lionel Messi Scored a Stupendous Free Kick
8 of 9Thanks to Los Blancos' draw with Atleti, Barcelona moved to within a single point of the top of La Liga with a 4-1 win over Almeria.
The highlight of the game was Leo Messi's excellent free kick in the 25th minute. Almeria keeper Suarez Esteban might have assumed the dead ball was heading wide before it bent beyond reach into the top left corner.
Messi has now managed 230 La Liga goals, with the Argentinean requiring four more to overtake Hugo Sanchez in second place in the all-time table, per @MessiStats.
An Incredible Golazo Was Scored in Serie B
9 of 9Let's finish up with a stunning goal you may not have seen in Serie B, brought to our attention by our friends at 101GG.
Ternana's Mirko Antenucci stunned the Spezia defence on Sunday by controlling a loose ball on his chest and firing home in acrobatic style from just inside the area. Tekkers!
