Top 10 Performances from Around the World for Weekend of Oct. 31-Nov. 2
Our usual look at the biggest performances of the weekend sees us cast our net far and wide, with the top leagues in Germany, Spain and France being joined by the likes of the Russian Premier League and MLS this time around.
Some leagues are still in their opening stages, while others drew to a close for their season, but top team displays and big results are important regardless.
Here's our Top 10 for the weekend; feel free to add your own considerations below.
10. Wolfsburg
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We start in Germany, where Wolfsburg continued their excellent start to the campaign with a 4-0 drubbing of Stuttgart.
It was a fifth straight league win for Wolfsburg and pushed them up into second place in the Bundesliga in the process, where they sit four points behind the leaders, Bayern Munich, with a four-point buffer of their own between themselves and Bayer Leverkusen in fifth.
Ivan Perisic started and finished the scoring, with Kevin De Bruyne and Robin Knoche netting in between.
9. New England Revolution
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To MLS and the play-offs now, where New England made the best possible start to the semi-finals by beating Columbus Crew 4-2 away from home—and with away goals now a factor, the importance of such a result cannot be understated.
Charlie Davies scored twice as the Revolution took control of the tie, beating the side who finished third in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, just one place and three points below the Revolution.
The second leg takes place in New England on November 9.
8. Zenit
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To Russia now, where the big Premier League game of the weekend saw second vs. first, reigning champions vs. league leaders: CSKA Moscow vs. Zenit.
It was the away side who came out on top, winning by a single goal, with a resolute display seeing them take all three points and maintain their unbeaten run this season—it's now 12 games and no defeats domestically.
Javi Garcia scored the only goal in the 1-0 win.
7. Lyon
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Lyon have been steadily improving since the second half of last season, but even so, this term has seen a big step up in results.
Four wins on the bounce were sealed with a 3-1 win away to Nice this weekend, despite Lyon going a goal down after half-time and still only being level with 10 minutes to play before top scorer Alexandre Lacazette took matters into his own hands with a brace.
Lyon are up to third in Ligue 1 and play Guingamp next weekend.
6. Palermo
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Palermo started their first season back in Serie A since 2013 with some difficulties, but their recent form (three wins in four) has propelled them out of the relegation zone and into the lower mid-table region.
This weekend, they took on AC Milan at the San Siro and won, thanks to a sparkling first-half display, during which they pressed Milan in midfield and swarmed over them with a fast attack.
Aided by some weak set-piece defending, Palermo took a deserved 2-0 win and sit 13th in the table, six points clear of the relegation zone.
5. Sampdoria
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Staying in Italy, Sampdoria have emerged as a big challenger to Napoli for third place in Serie A and got back to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina on Sunday.
It was the first win in four for Samp and keeps them in third place, some six points off the pace at the top—but a Champions League place is their aim this season, not the title itself.
Angelo Palombo, Luca Rizzo and Eder were all on the scoresheet.
4. Fenerbahce
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To Turkey now, where Fenerbahce have recovered from their damaging loss to Galatasaray to win both matches since and move to the top of the table.
Their place at the top of the league comes courtesy of beating the side who sat there before them: Besiktas, a team who were unbeaten until a week ago but have now lost back-to-back games.
Fenerbahce were ahead within three minutes through Emmanuel Emenike. Moussa Sow sealed the win late on after Besiktas, playing at home, went down to 10 men.
3. Napoli
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Napoli's demise under Rafael Benitez seems to have been reported rather prematurely, for they have now lost just once in nine games in all competitions and are unbeaten in seven in Serie A.
The weekend's win over Roma—second last season, second this—was the clearest indication yet that Napoli have plenty left to say in this season's title fight, with the three points moving them back up to fourth in the table, four points behind Roma and a further three adrift of Juventus.
Jose Callejon and Gonzalo Higuain scored in a 2-0 win.
2. Dynamo Kyiv
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Almost at the top but not quite, we turn to Ukraine and the Premier League, where there was another top-two battle going on—in which the away side once again emerged victorious.
Dynamo Kyiv were trailing Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk by two points ahead of the weekend clash, but fully exerted their authority on the game and deservedly won 3-0 thanks to goals from Jeremain Lens, Andriy Yarmolenko and Artem Kravets.
Kyiv go back to the top of the table as a result, unbeaten this season, while Dnipro drop to second after their first defeat.
1. Real Madrid
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The performance of the weekend goes to undoubtedly the most in-form side in Europe right now, and given they are the reigning Champions League holders, we can fairly label them simply the best side around.
Real Madrid gave Granada a pasting for an hour or so in La Liga on Saturday, racing into the lead after less than 100 seconds and going on to score three before the hour mark; each goal was a brilliantly crafted effort in different ways and, had they not taken their foot off the pedal, the scoreline could easily have approached seven or eight.
There are bigger challenges ahead, though, and Real Madrid eventually settled for a 4-0 win that saw them move to the top of La Liga—and the top of our weekly performances chart too.
