Top 10 Performances from Around the World for Weekend of Feb. 13-15
Welcome to another Monday morning round-up of the weekend's football action, where we take a global look at the events of the past few days and pick out the biggest results and best performances from all the major leagues and competitions.
This time around, we span two continents and six different nations in our quest to unearth the big-hitters of the weekend, from the FA Cup and the Liga MX to the Eredivisie and the biggest European leagues around.
We're judging the top selections based on result, performance during the game, quality of opposition, recent form and impression made on the league table (or cup competition).
Here are our top 10, with a nod of appreciation to the handful of sides who just missed out this time around.
10. West Bromwich Albion
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We'll start off in the FA Cup, with West Bromwich Albion progressing to the last eight thanks to their most complete performance so far under new boss Tony Pulis.
WBA have gone from being predictable and easy to beat to being, well, predictable and hard to beat. But they also showed against West Ham United that they have the forwards in place to trouble sides who are not on top of their game, as was the case with the Hammers.
Brown Ideye scored twice to continue his remarkable rise at the club as the Baggies won 4-0.
9. Club America
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To Mexico now and our first visit since the start of the Liga MX Clausura campaign, and winners of the Apertura stage, Club America, are our side to watch.
They hadn't really hit top gear yet under new coach Gustavo Matosas, winning only two of his first five games, but they found a new level at home to Chiapas this weekend and ran out 5-0 winners, by far their most impressive display all-round.
Oribe Peralta scored twice in the second half, while new signing Dario Benedetto also scored his third of the season.
8. Ajax
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To the Eredivisie now and the title race is still just about alive, after Ajax came from behind to run out impressive 4-2 winners over Twente this weekend.
A fast start from the away team put them ahead after six minutes, but Ajax were in front by half-time after a rousing response. Twente equalised just after the break and then looked stronger for a period, before Ajax's superior firepower and lightning ability on the counter-attack made all the difference, with two goals for Ricardo Kishna.
The Dutch champions still trail PSV by some 12 points, but served notice of their enduring ability to outscore opponents and keep going until the points are theirs.
7. Bradford City
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Back to the FA Cup in England, which keeps throwing up the surprise results in 2014-15. League One outfit Bradford City had already knocked out Premier League leaders Chelsea in the last round—and this time dispensed with another top-flight opponent, Sunderland, with a 2-0 home win.
An early own goal by John O'Shea set the tone and Jon Stead wrapped up the win, with the striker claiming the win was "comfortable" and better than the last round, per BBC Sport.
"This tops the Chelsea win because of the expectation on us. It's ended up, dare I say, a comfortable victory. The fans were magnificent and we made things hard for Sunderland right from the off, getting in their faces.
Of course, I wanted to get a goal today but I wasn't thinking about having scored in every round. I was just pleased that our second goal gave us a little bit more of a cushion. My spell at Sunderland wasn't in my thoughts. The Sunderland support was fantastic, they stuck around to clap us off.
"
6. Wolfsburg
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To the Bundesliga now and second-placed Wolfsburg kept up their fantastic form near the top with a helter-skelter, back-and-forth, goal-laden victory over fellow Champions League hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen.
A last-minute strike settled the nine-goal thriller as Wolfsburg beat Bayer 5-4 away from home, with Bas Dost—now with seven goals in four games since the Bundesliga restarted after the new year—netting four of those.
We can't really put die Wolfe any higher than sixth on account on conceding so many, but no mistake, this was a huge victory for their hopes of finishing in the top two and a superb show of endurance, belief and attacking ability.
5. Palermo
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To Serie A now, and our performance of the weekend in Italy comes from Palermo, where the mid-table side defeated the perennially third-place Napoli by a 3-1 scoreline.
Palermo had only won one in five before this fixture, while Napoli had won six in a row and 10 from 12, so the result was as much of a complete reversal in fortunes as it was an unexpected occurrence.
The in-demand Paulo Dybala wasn't on the scoresheet this time, as Achraf Lazaar, Luca Rigoni and Franco Vazquez hit the target instead to move Palermo up to eighth.
4. Celta Vigo
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To La Liga and a big result in the title race, as Atletico Madrid slumped to defeat at Celta Vigo just a week after crushing Real Madrid in the derby.
Celta won 2-0 thanks to goals from Nolito and Fabian Orellana, incredibly the first time Celta netted more than once in a league game since October. Despite their long, poor run, Celta are still in the top half and this result bumps them up to ninth.
European hopes are gone for the season, but they can wish the result signifies a return to a positive run and improvement over the remainder of the campaign.
3. Barcelona
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Barcelona keep racking up the goals and wins; another impressive performance at the weekend saw them beat Levante 5-0 in La Liga, an 11th straight win in all competitions.
Lionel Messi again grabbed the headlines with a hat-trick and a fantastic all-round display, while Neymar and Luis Suarez also ensured the forwards continued in perfect tandem, providing and scoring as they go.
Barcelona remain second, a point off top spot, with out-of-form Malaga to come next.
2. Blackburn Rovers
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Back to the FA Cup. Our third and final side from that competition is Blackburn Rovers, who did not so much produce a giant-killing act as severely wound the giant (their second after Swansea last time out), run salt into said wounds, then kill it and scatter the remains about with total disdain.
Rovers fell behind to Stoke City early on but roared back with conviction to take a 4-1 victory, thanks in no small part to a Josh King hat-trick.
Stoke were down to 10 men and a goal behind by the break despite their early lead, and Blackburn went on to ensure that half of the numbers in the hat for the quarter-final draw will feature sides outside of the Premier League.
1. Bayern Munich
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Not for the first time, our weekly rankings are topped by German giants Bayern Munich, who crushed Hamburger SV by a huge 8-0 scoreline this weekend, an exhibition in attacking football and clinical, relentless drive.
A brace apiece for Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze and Arjen Robben were added to by Robert Lewandowski and Franck Ribery scoring once each as the attackers in Bayern's side ran riot against what had previously been one of the best defences in the Bundesliga.
Bayern are still eight points clear at the top and looking in great shape ahead of the resumption of the Champions League.
