The all too familiar #ManchesterUnited of the last 3 years reared it’s ugly, boring head again as an insipid 1-0 loss away to #WestBrom compounded by the uncharacteristic and entirely reckless red card (2 yellows in 3 minutes?) to #JuanMata, leaving them in 6th on the table after a breathtaking fightback by #WestHam from a 2-0 deficit at 10-man #Everton to win 2-3 moved the Hammers up to 5th. While United were toothless and inferior from the sending off, the reality is that they looked no better while they had all 11 men on the field, with little in terms of energy and creativity. #Liverpool were quite unlike them as they came from 1-0 down and with 10-men at #CrystalPalace to win 1-2 thanks to a late #Benteke penalty, leaving them just 3 behind United in 7th. The energy and creativity that the 10 men of Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool showed, made #VanGaal’s men look especially bad as they just gave up after being reduced to 10. What is it about this game week – Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool and United all had a man set off, mostly from a genuine brain-fart.
With #Tottenham and 10-man #Arsenal sharing points in a 2-2 at the #Lane thanks to a late #Sanchez goal, the game week belonged to unlikely leaders #Leicester, who won away at #Watford 0-1, thanks to a brilliant strike by POY candidate #Mahrez, sending them 5 clear at the top and continuing favorites to pull off one of the miracles of the modern #PremierLeague. #ManchesterCity thrashed the utterly useless and relegation-bound #AstonVilla 4-0 at home and with a game in hand, still remain 10 points behind the Foxes.
The #Klassiker in the #Bundesliga was a fabulous affair in the first half and then fizzled into a 0-0 draw as leaders #Bayern kept their 5 point lead intact at #Dortmund, while in the #LaLiga both #RealMadrid and #Barcelona flexed serious goalscoring muscle as a 4-goal #Ronaldo helped Real to a 7-1 thrashing of #Celta and the usual #Messi / #Suarez goals gave #Barcelona a 0-4 stroll at #Eibar, while in the #SerieA the unbelievable come-back run by champions #Juventus continued unabated in a 0-2 win at #Atalanta, leaving them 3 clear of #Napoli.