Gareth Bale's Long Ranger and the Greatest World Football Moments of the Weekend
Gareth Bale scored his 13th league goal of the season on Saturday, thanks to a terrible error from Real Sociedad's goalkeeper. In the future, Claudio Bravo will know not to kick the ball straight to the feet of the world's most expensive player from 35 yards out.
Elsewhere this weekend, Liverpool and Manchester City recorded wins in games with controversial goals, Bayern Munich's unbeaten streak came to an end and a few former Manchester United flops had some special performances.
Read on for the best moments of the weekend...
Leicester Earned Premier League Promotion Without Kicking a Ball
1 of 10Leicester City beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 on Friday night, putting them 20 points clear of third-place Derby.
To ensure promotion back to the Premier League for the first time in 10 years, the Foxes needed the Rams not to win and QPR to lose. Results fell in their favour, and without kicking a ball on Saturday, they earned one of the biggest pay days in world football.
Leicester defenderย Marcin Wasilewski took some video footage of his team-mates and friends learning of their promotionโthey were pretty happy about it.
Juan Mata Scored a Perfect Free Kick
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With no Wayne Rooney or Robin van Persie in the Manchester Utd lineup, Juan Mata took his opportunity to dominate the final third against an apathetic Newcastle side on Saturday.
The Spaniard opened the scoring in the 39th minute with a beautiful curling free kick, marking his second goal in as many games. Eleven minutes later, Mata doubled his tally, before treating St James Park to some outrageous showboating with his assist for Adnan Januzaj's goal.ย ย
Newcastle may not have provided stiff competition for the struggling champions, but United's second consecutive four-goal league outing will put them in good stead for this week's Champions League challenge. "We have more confidence for next week in Germany," said Mata to Sky Sports, despite the fact he will play no part in the game.
West Ham Scored a Controversial Equaliser Against Liverpool
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Liverpool climbed back to the top of the Premier League table on Sunday with a 2-1 win at West Ham, but the game did not pass without controversy.
In injury time of the first half, the Reds appeared to hit a stumbling block whenย Guy Demel equalised for the Hammers, despite the fact that Andy Carroll clearly appeared to foul Simon Mignolet.
The linesman flagged for the foulย and had a lengthy conversation with refereeย Anthony Taylorโand Liverpool's players implored him to watch a replay on the Upton Park big screensโbut the goal was still allowed to stand.
Thankfully, the goal held less consequence as Steven Gerrard converted his 11th penalty of the season in the second half.
Manchester City Were Gifted an Offside Goal
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Manchester City maintained pressure on Liverpool with a 4-1 victory over Southampton, but the Citizens' match also contained some controversial officiating. ย
Samir Nasri put City 2-1 up in first-half injury time, but David Silva's assist came from a blatantly offside position. The linesman let it pass, but Luke Shaw published a damning image on his Instagram feed,ย showing how poor the decision was.ย
Southampton will have deep concern for Jay Rodriguez, who picked up a knee injury, but will seek solace in Ricky Lambert's penalty. The journeyman forward has now scored 34 spot kicks from 34 attempts.
Bayern Munich's Unbeaten Streak Ended
5 of 10Bayern Munich's 19-game winning streak was interrupted by Hoffenheim last weekend, and now their record 53-game unbeaten streak has come to an end, thanks to a 1-0 defeat at mid-table Augsburg. Incredibly, the seemingly unbeatable German side are now winless in their past three games in all competitions!
In light of this week's Champions League clash with Manchester United, Pep Guardiola fielded a second-string side that featured the likes ofย Mitchell Weiser, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and Ylli SallahiโFranck Ribery and Arjen Robben didn't even make the squad.ย
Afterย Sascha Molders beat Manuel Neuer in a one-on-one in the 31st minute, Bayern fought hard to defend their unbeaten recordโand had several chancesโbut Augsburg held on for a famous win. Manchester United will be hoping for a similarly famous win on Tuesday.
Ivica Olic Hit the Bar Twice with One Shot Against Borussia Dortmund
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Borussia Dortmund came from behind to beat Wolfsburg on Saturday, thanks to yet another superb performance from Marco Reus.ย
Ivica Olic opened the scoring for Wolfsburg from close range in the 34th minute, but the Croatian striker had the chance to double his tally with a sliding shot that somehow managed to hit the bar twice.
Gareth Bale Punished a Goalkeeping Howler
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Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid all recorded victories at the weekend, meaning there was no movement in the tight race at the top of La Liga.
Los Blancos recorded a 4-0 win over Real Sociedad in which Bale profited from a terrible mistake by Bravo. Theย Erreala keeper attempted to kick the ball out to a team-mate near the touchline, but it landed straight at the feet of Bale, who powered it into the net from distance.ย
Bravo's error might not have been the biggest goalkeeping mistake of the weekend, thoughโtake a look at what Hamburg's Rene Adler let slip through his fingersย against Bayer Leverkusen.
Mattia Destro Scored a Crucial Hat-Trick
8 of 10Roma moved to within five points of Serie A leaders Juventus on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Cagliari. The win was inspired by 23-year-old striker Mattia Destro, who scored all three of the Giallorossi's goals (see them here).
This brings Destro's season total to 13 and his scoring average to once every 85.7 minutes, as per the Serie A official site.ย
Juve host relegation-threatened Livorno on Monday, but they may have one eye on Thursday's Europa League clash with Lyon.
Bebe and William Carvalho Scored Beauties in Front of Manchester Utd Scouts
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High-flying Sporting Lisbon visited Portuguese Liga-relegation candidates Pacos Ferreira on Saturday, with Manchester United loanee Bebe turning out for the hosts and potential Red Devils transfer targetย William Carvalho on the other side.
With a United scout watching from the stands, Carvalho opened the scoring with a lovely goal in the 14th minute.ย
Not to be outdone, Bebe made his mark in the 54th minute with a fantastic shot into the far cornerย from a tight angle. The former butt of all United jokes has now scored nine Liga goals this season and six in his last six gamesโthat's better form than any of David Moyes' men.
Sporting won the match 3-1.
Zoran Toic Scored a Golazo in Russia
10 of 10Bebe wasn't the only Manchester United reject to get on the score sheet this weekend.
CSKA Moscow beat Krylya Sovetov Samara 3-1 on Saturday, thanks to a brace from former Red Devil Zoran Tosic. The Serbian's second goal in the 55th minute was something special, as he curled the ball into the top corner from around 25 yards.
Perhaps if he had done that at Old Trafford, he might have made more than two first-team appearances. ย
