Top 10 Performances from Around the World After Weekend of Dec. 5-7
A big weekend of action in the football world saw records equalled and broken, trophies handed out and tension mounting the in final rounds of matches in some domestic leagues.
As ever, we've got all your essential reading for a catch-up on the weekend in world football, starting here with the top 10 performances from the past few days' games.
This time, we take in Europe's biggest leagues, such as La Liga and the Premier League, as well as everything from North and South America and all the way to Russia.
10. LA Galaxy
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We start Stateside, where the MLS Cup was handed out, with LA Galaxy defeating New England Revolution, 2-1, in the final after extra time.
It wasn't the best team display by a long shot; the final was tense for long stretches and lacking in final-third quality at times, with the occasion perhaps getting to both sides. But Galaxy ultimately created more clear-cut chances for their attackers and did enough to take the title.
While acknowledging it wasn't the greatest display, it would be churlish not to note that Galaxy did put in a performance that ultimately won them the biggest trophy in their domestic game, which is ultimately what counts the most.
9. Montpellier
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Over to Europe now and Ligue 1 in France, where the best result of the weekend was picked up by mid-table Montpellier, who routed top-five side Rennes by a 4-0 scoreline away from home.
Jonas Martin, Morgan Sanson, Lucas Barrios and Anthony Mounier all hit the target for the 2012 title winners. The victory, their first in three matches, was impressive because it came against a Rennes side that had won four in a row and were unbeaten in nine in all competitions.
MHSC are up to eighth with the win.
8. America
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Quick as a flash we're back across the waters, and this time to Mexico's Liga MX, where the Apertura stage has finished and the playoffs have reached their peak.
The first semi-final saw Tigres UANL go through to the final by virtue of a higher seeding after two 0-0 draws with Toluca. America, who topped the Apertura table, progressed after winning their semi-final 3-0 on aggregate.
America beat Monterrey, sixth in the Apertura, with two-goal Luis Mendoza the hero in the 3-0 first-leg victory. His team's cause was made easier after Monterrey went down to 10 men before half-time, but they were the stronger side and progressed as expected.
The final, America vs. Tigres UANL, sees the top two from the Apertura meet.
7. Schalke
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Back to Europe now and the Bundesliga in Germany, where Schalke 04 have responded to a hammering from Chelsea by winning back-to-back league games. On Saturday, they picked up a 4-0 win away from home against struggling Stuttgart.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was the hero, as he netted a hat-trick. He got started early—just one minute was on the clock when he flicked in a free-kick at the near post. A corner and a cross later, he had his treble—he was unmarked for each goal.
Schalke moved up to fifth with the win. Stuttgart went rock bottom.
6. Belgrano
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Our final trip back to South America this week takes us all the way to the final round of games in Argentina's Primera Division, where the Apertura title will be decided next weekend with the top-two sides' final fixtures.
Everybody else finished this weekend, and Belgrano picked up the most impressive win with their 4-0 defeat of Independiente.
Belgrano weren't in danger of finishing in the bottom few, but the unexpected win lifted them from 14th into 10th place on the final gameweek, beating the side that would have gone third had they ended on a win.
Julio Furch scored a hat-trick to take the plaudits, giving him eight for the Apertura campaign in total.
5. Barcelona
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Not too many of the very biggest sides in Europe are featuring on our list this week, but Barcelona's second-half performance in the Catalonia derby win over Espanyol makes them worthy of note.
After a quiet 44 minutes, during which they trailed 1-0 at home, Lionel Messi equalised just before the break. Barca proceeded to turn on the style after half-time, scoring twice more within eight minutes of the restart and going on to win 5-1, with a Messi hat-trick included.
If they had played that well throughout, they'd be much higher on our list—and would have also probably beaten Espanyol by about eight.
4. Stoke City
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To the Premier League now and Stoke City's hugely impressive performance and victory over Arsenal, whose struggles this term continued.
Stoke roared into an early lead and decimated Arsenal's defence with a three-goal haul in the first half, with Peter Crouch, Bojan Krkic and Jon Walters all scoring. Stoke had a fourth goal ruled out before a brief Arsenal resurgence was ended by a red card for Calum Chambers.
The Potters claimed a 3-2 win and moved to 13th in the table with the deserved victory.
3. Villarreal
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David Moyes' Real Sociedad kept three clean sheets in the three games after the Scot's arrival, but that streak was ended by a rampant and clinical second-half display by Villarreal on Sunday.
The home side dominated throughout and created hosts of clear chances, though they had to wait until after the hour mark for the opening goal. That opened the floodgates and La Real collapsed somewhat, with Villarreal eventually running out 4-0 winners.
Bruno, Denis and a Moi Gomez brace did the damage as Villarreal moved up to sixth.
2. Zenit
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Over to Russia now, where there was a top-of-the-table clash to enjoy—and Zenit proved far, far mightier than their rivals Krasnodar, defeating them 4-0.
Ezequiel Garay scored the opener, Axel Witsel doubled the lead after the break, before Danny and Igor Smolnikov scored quick-fire goals after the hour mark.
Krasnodar dropped to fourth at the top of the tight Russian Premier League, while table-topping Zenit are now seven points clear after 17 games. The league will not resume until March after a long winter break.
1. Newcastle United
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Top of our pile is Newcastle United, who inflicted the first league defeat of the season on Chelsea, who are still top of the Premier League in England.
Chelsea were 14 unbeaten from the start of the season until they visited St James' Park, where they have frequently had trouble under Jose Mourinho—and so it proved again, as the Magpies put in a very disciplined performance to frustrate the Blues.
It wasn't all about defence, though, as Newcastle countered with speed and numbers, with Papiss Cisse showing the clinical edge to score a brace and give his side a 2-1 win, despite finishing with 10 men. Newcastle rise to seventh in the table and top of our weekly list for their big performance.
