Top 10 Performances from Around the World After Weekend of Nov. 29-Dec. 1
Whether heading toward a winter break, the end of the campaign or the busiest part of the season, wins in the winter period are vital as teams look to build momentum and give themselves a chance of success.
This weekend saw its usual glut of impressive performances around the world of football, whether from basement dwellers looking to pull themselves away from danger or those at the top end hoping to solidify their positions as title challengers.
Here are our top 10 performances from all the game's top leagues.
10. CSKA Moscow, Russian Premier League
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After three consecutive defeats in the Russian Premier League, reigning champions CSKA Moscow badly needed a positive result in their weekend game against Ufa—and came up with a big performance as well as a 5-0 win.
Bibras Natkho was once again heavily involved as one of their key players, netting the opening goal and claiming another assist—the midfielder is now the joint-top scorer in the Russian top flight.
Zoran Tosic also hit a brace as CSKA got back to winning ways and closed the gap on leaders Zenit to seven points.
9. Porto, Primeira Liga
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To Portugal now and the Primeira Liga, where Porto racked up an impressive 5-0 win over Rio Ave—thanks largely to an exceptionally strong finish to the game.
The home side had dominated throughout but only led 1-0 with 12 minutes left on the clock, before the late spate of goals was started by Jackson Martinez and continued with three goals in injury time, from full-backs Alex Sandro and Danilo, as well as loan midfielder Oliver Torres.
Porto are now seven without defeat in all competitions and are the only unbeaten team in the top flight in Portugal.
8. Manchester United, Premier League
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Manchester United recorded a comfortable and convincing 3-0 win over struggling Hull City to return to the Premier League's top four at the weekend, thanks to goals from Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.
The Red Devils have won three in a row in the league now and have given themselves a small cushion over top four challengers Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
It wasn't their biggest test of the season, but it was a second clean sheet in three games despite defensive concerns and keeps United ticking toward the top end of the table.
7. Fiorentina, Serie A
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Into Italy and Serie A now, where Fiorentina made it back-to-back wins with a 4-0 thumping away to Cagliari, moving back up to eighth place in the process.
Matias Fernandez was the big difference, scoring twice and controlling proceedings from his playmaking role, with Mario Gomez and Juan Cuadrado adding goals in the last quarter of the game.
It gives renewed confidence to La Viola, who were chasing a top three spot only a few weeks ago before a dip in form, ahead of a big game at home to leaders Juventus next time out.
6. Bayer Leverkusen, Bundesliga
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Bayer Leverkusen have shown good consistency this season, sitting third in the German Bundesliga after just two defeats all season.
They fell behind at home to Cologne early on at the weekend, but their strength of character as well as their quality endured before long and B04 racked up a 5-1 win.
Karim Bellarabi continued his starring role with a brace, with Josip Drmic netting the same. Hakan Calhanoglu showed his quality with another trademark free-kick just after the hour mark for the winner, leaving Bayer three points above fifth place.
5. Fluminense, Brazilian Serie A
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Heading outside of Europe for just one match this weekend, the Campeonato Brasileiro featured more high-scoring games than usual, including a big win for Fluminense as they overcame Copa Libertadores hopefuls Corinthians.
Corinthians—third in the table before play—took an early lead, only for Fluminense, who moved up to fifth with the win, to roar back and win 5-2 in a game of plenty of incidents.
Striker Fred scored two penalties, Ralf scored an own goal and Marlon was sent off for two bookings.
4. Stuttgart, Bundesliga
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Back to the Bundesliga and Stuttgart picked up their first win in four at the weekend, a 4-1 thrashing of Freiburg away from home to move off the bottom of the table.
Martin Harnik scored the first and last goals of the game to really close things up at the foot of the division: just two points separate the bottom five clubs. Stuttgart's win moves them up to 16th, the relegation play-off place, leaving Hamburger SV and Borussia Dortmund below them.
Next time out, Stuttgart face a resurgent Schalke side.
3. Manchester City, Premier League
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Manchester City faced a big test at the weekend as they played the team above them in the Premier League, Southampton, away from home.
If there was a train of thought that suggested City's title defence could be further derailed here, it was swiftly ended after a powerful and electric opening stage which City dominated. They had to wait until the second half for the lead to come, but they fully deserved the three points in the end.
A 3-0 win came courtesy of Yaya Toure, Frank Lampard and Gael Clichy, despite Eliaquim Mangala's red card. City moved up to second.
2. Sevilla, La Liga
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Over to Spain and La Liga now, where the top four race continues to really hot up and Sevilla took full advantage of other results this weekend.
While Valencia fell to a late defeat and Malaga and Celta Vigo both struggled too, Sevilla thrashed Granada 5-1 at home, with the likes of Carlos Bacca, Stephane Mbia and Vitolo all impressing.
Sevilla move up into fourth, two points ahead of Valencia, ending their recent run of three games without a win.
1. Saint-Etienne, Ligue 1
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The top performance of the weekend goes to French Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne, who combined defensive solidity with a clinical edge to their attack to overcome Olympique Lyonnais 3-0.
Lyon were unbeaten since August and in third place in the table before the game, but Saint-Etienne proved their betters to move to within a single point of their opponents after the win.
Forward Max Gradel was the big danger with his pace and movement, setting up two of the goals, while Lyon's defence were unusually mistake-ridden in the game, which aided the home victory.
