Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo, midfielder Santi Cazorla and forward Gerard Moreno combined to score a goal of rare beauty on Sunday with the ball not touching the ground during the trio’s flowing move.
A Valencia clearance fluttered into Villarreal’s half, but Asenjo lumped it straight back at Los Che on the half-volley. That thump from the heavens was deftly met by a cushioned pass from Cazorla 20 yards out.
Despite Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Barcelona in El Clásico last weekend, everyone knew there’d be more twists to come in LaLiga, but nobody expected Real to hand control back to Barça just days later.
After watching Real Madrid defeat Osasuna earlier in the day, Barcelona knew it needed to escape the Benito Villamarín Stadium in Seville with a win to stay within three points of Real at the top of LaLiga. But it’s never easy against Real Betis, and Barcelona’s own fragility away from home was clear for all to see last Thursday when they were dumped out of the Copa del Rey in Bilbao.
The crowning achievement of Lionel Messi’s international career remains the gold medal he captured as a 21-year-old at the 2008 Summer Olympics. It was a loaded Albiceleste squad with further attacking firepower provided by Sergio Agüero, Ángel Di María and Ezequiel Lavezzi, but Messi and Argentina were hugely reinforced by the over-age inclusions of Javier Mascherano and Juan Román Riquelme.
Casemiro isn’t exactly known for his goal-scoring prowess. Before Saturday, the Brazilian defensive midfielder had scored 18 goals in 218 appearances for Los Blancos — about one goal every 12 matches.
Luka Jovic, meanwhile, has struggled since joining Real Madrid from Eintracht Frankfurt for $68.4 million over the summer. He came into the weekend with one goal and no assists in 13 LaLiga appearances.
And yet Jovic supplied what might be Real Madrid’s best assist of the season to set up Casemiro’s first of two goals in a 2-1 win over Sevilla on Saturday.
Maybe this is the answer for Argentina up top? Absolutely not, but still, Juventus’ Argentinean duo of Gonzalo Higuaín and Paulo Dybala combined (3x) for a mesmerizing goal on Wednesday to help the Old Lady stroll into the Coppa Italia quarterfinals after hammering Udinese 4-0.
With Cristiano Ronaldo missing out entirely due to illness, it was up to the front three of Higuaín, Dybala and Douglas Costa to produce the goods, and they all got on the scoresheet for Juve.
Kevin De Bruyne exited the pitch in the 63rd-minute of Manchester City’s victory over Aston Villa on Sunday with his side leading 5-0 and with two assists to his name. As the final scoreline of 6-1 suggests, it was pure perfection from City with Sergio Agüero (three goals, one assist), Riyad Mahrez (two goals, one assist), Gabriel Jesus (one goal, one assist), David Silva (one assist) and De Bruyne putting on a masterclass at Villa Park.
Australian tour de force Sam Kerr made her highly anticipated Women’s Super League debut for Chelsea on Sunday and provided an assist in the club’s 3-1 victory over Reading at Kingsmeadow in London.
A forward pairing of Kerr and Bethany England looked terrifying on paper ahead of the former Chicago Red Star striker’s first appearance, and that certainly proved the case on Chelsea’s opening goal in the 40th minute.
Wayne Rooney is back on the pitch in England and he’s already making an impact with new club Derby County.
The former Manchester United striker left MLS side D.C. United at the end of the 2019 season to become a player-coach for the English League Championship club. He’s been training with the team and coaching under head coach Phillip Cocu, but wasn’t eligible to play until the opening of the English January transfer window.