Top 10 Performances from Around the World for Weekend of May 8-10
A big weekend in some of Europe's top leagues saw league titles all but clinched if not actually dished out, with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain doing the business to open up significant gaps at the top of their respective leagues.
There were plenty of other big results at both ends of the table in many countries, so we've taken our usual round-up of all the major leagues and produced our list of top performances, ranked according to result, opposition quality, how it affects the league table and other factors.
With a heavy French presence this week, here is our top 10.
10. Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv
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We start off with a dual mention for the top two in the Ukrainian Premier League, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv.
Both picked up huge away results, the end result of which has Dynamo still seven points clear at the top of the table with three fixtures left to play. Their game two weeks ago ended 0-0, but there was no shortage of goals this time out.
Shakhtar scored a minute into their game at Hoverla and ran out 7-3 winners, going three up before letting the home team draw level in a crazy 12-minute spell either side of the break. Top scorer Alex Teixeira netted the final goal from the spot as Shakhtar took control.
A day later, Kyiv battered Metalurh Donetsk 6-0 on the road, with Andriy Yarmolenko netting a brace and Artem Kravets scoring once. Those two share the top-scorer award at present with 14 apiece.
9. Bursaspor
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Over in Turkey, Bursaspor boosted their Europa League hopes with a smashing 7-1 win at home against Karabukspor, who stay in the relegation zone as a result with four games left to play.
The Super Lig's top scorer now, Fernandao smacked in four of Bursa's seven, including two from the penalty spot, to move to 22 for the campaign.
Bursaspor are a single point behind Istanbul Basaksehir, who lie fourth and occupy the Europa League spot.
8. Caen
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The first of four French teams to make the grade this weekend, Caen had a huge say on the title destination on Saturday as they scored three without reply against Olympique Lyonnais.
Lyon, title hopefuls, would have anticipated few problems in beating Caen, who were on a run of one win in eight games, but Nicolas Benezet scored twice within a few minutes before half-time, and Sloan Privat hit a sucker third late on.
Quite aside from basically ending Lyon's title charge, the three points were vital for Caen's relegation battle, moving from two points above the drop zone to five, and up to 13th in the table.
7. Saint-Etienne
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Right up the other end from Caen, Saint-Etienne had to keep winning to keep their own Champions League hopes alive—and certainly did that with a 5-0 home win over Nice.
Mevlut Erdinc and Max Gradel were both on the scoresheet as ASSE kept pace in the race for third place, with their impressive home record this term a key factor in that. This win means they have only lost two home matches all season in Ligue 1.
Saint-Etienne remain in fifth but are just two points off third.
6. Marseille
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Sitting nicely between Saint-Etienne and third place are Marseille, who started with difficulty and looked once more as though they'd be putting in a tired and mentally strained performance against Champions League rival Monaco...before a late turnaround saw Marcelo Bielsa's charges win 2-1.
Joao Moutinho scored after only a minute, and a resolute, organised Monaco looked to be headed for all-but-guaranteed third place, until Andre Ayew and Romain Alessandrini both scored in the last 11 minutes to send OM within two points of their opponents.
Away to Lille and home to Bastia are the last two games for Marseille, and they still likely need maximum points to make it a successful end to the season.
5. Milan
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AC Milan's dreadful season at least had a positive note this weekend, as they took a big 2-1 win over Champions League hopefuls AS Roma in Serie A.
Marco van Ginkel and Mattia Destro scored either side of half-time to give Milan an unassailable lead, despite a late Francesco Totti penalty. Milan move back into the top half with the win, 10th place, with three games to play.
Elsewhere in Serie A, Inter beat Lazio 2-1 on the road and Sampdoria beat Udinese 4-1 away from home; both are worthy of merit but just missed out on inclusion in our top 10.
4. New York Red Bulls
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Over to MLS now, and the much-anticipated first New York derby took place on Sunday night, with home side Red Bulls edging out new rivals City by a 2-1 scoreline.
A noisy atmosphere and intense game were largely well received on social media and certainly by the home fans, as last season's top scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips netted twice for Red Bulls to put them in control before City's late strike made things interesting. Red Bulls played around an hour of the game with 10 men.
A first win in four lifts Red Bulls to third in the Eastern Conference, while City are languishing in eighth after just one win from 10 this season.
3. Manchester City
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Our top three teams this weekend are all top-three teams in their respective domestic leagues too, starting with Manchester City in the Premier League.
Sergio Aguero and co. were in no mood to let Queens Park Rangers' attempts (feeble attempts, it's true) to avoid relegation get in the way of three points and swatted them aside with a 6-0 win on Sunday. Aguero hit three to move to 25 league goals for the season, with David Silva also amongst the goals.
City are three points clear in second place, challenged by Arsenal for the runners-up spot, while QPR were confirmed as having been relegated.
2. Paris Saint-Germain
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Our final Ligue 1 selection this weekend has to go to Paris Saint-Germain, who took a massive step toward the title with a 6-0 win of their own on Friday night—followed by that devastating loss for Lyon at Caen, of course.
Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick, Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit two and Maxwell got the other as Guingamp were run ragged and soundly beaten, giving PSG a seventh straight Ligue 1 victory to surge them toward a third successive title.
PSG are now six points clear with two games to play. Montpellier away and Reims at home are their last games.
1. Borussia Monchengladbach
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Top of our rankings this week is German Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, who continued a phenomenal run of form by beating direct rivals for a Champions League berth Bayer Leverkusen by a 3-0 scoreline.
No defeats in 12 BuLi games, with fixtures against Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and now Leverkusen in that time, leave BMG in third place and with a five-point buffer down to fourth, almost guaranteeing a group-stage place in next season's top Continental competition.
Max Kruse is ending the season with some huge goals for his team—despite having sealed a move to Wolfsburg for next term—and scored the opener here. Leverkusen remain in fourth, but 'Gladbach are finishing this term in an extremely impressive way.
