Column: Decisive Days across Europe
It proved to be a decisive weekend in some European leagues while certain individuals continued to impress across the past 7 days; and there was the small matter of deadline day across Europe...
Deadline Day somewhat passed by without too much drama around Europe last week, despite a lot of stories which promised for a somewhat more exciting day.
In England, only a handful of deals happened, while PSG were one of the busier European clubs, but in reality most clubs had got their business done earlier.
Alessia Russo, Katie McCabe et al stayed put, while Vicky Losada left Manchester City for Serie A league leaders AS Roma, a lead Alessandro Spugna’s impressive side extended over the weekend, thanks to a narrow 1-0 win vs Como on Saturday.
That lead was further emphasised – to eight points in fact – when Juventus fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to AC Milan on Sunday, and it looks like there’s a very good chance Roma will seal their first domestic title.
Elsewhere in Italy, Tabitha Chawinga’s 13th goal of the season kept her top of the scoring charts and helped Inter Milan to a 3-0 win over Sassuolo.
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One of the most dramatic days of action came in England where both Arsenal and Manchester United dropped points in 0-0 draws against West Ham United and Everton respectively. That allowed Chelsea to open up a gap at the top with a hard-fought 3-2 win at Tottenham, via some Lauren James brilliance, and Manchester City to close up with a 2-0 win at Leicester City.
It wasn’t just in the top league there was a slip up either, as Bristol City drew 0-0 at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, allowing London City Lionesses to extend their gap in the promotion race with a 3-1 win over Sunderland.
Elsewhere in Europe, Barcelona and Real Madrid enjoyed impressive weeks and extended their gaps over the rest of the pack, though Barcelona continue to look uncatchable with striker Asisat Oshoala at the heart of things.
Oshoala scored once in midweek as Barca overcome Valencia 4-0, and fired in a hat-trick on Sunday in a 7-0 win over Real Betis, a game which saw Keira Walsh score her first goal in Spain since leaving Manchester City.
Real Madrid put in two impressive performances to beat Real Sociedad 4-1 and then Valencia 6-1, with Caroline Weir scoring a hat-trick in the latter, while Esther Gonzalez was also in good form across the two games.
Sociedad played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Madrid CFF while Atletico Madrid won 3-1 at Sporting Huelva, but it was Oshoala’s week in Spain, becoming just the fourth Barcelona player to surpass 100 goals for the club after Jenni Hermoso, Alexia Putellas and Sonia Bermudez.
It was a similar story with France’s top two, but the gap between Lyon and PSG is much closer, just one point in fact. Lyon beat Rodez 5-0 as Amel Majri scored her first goal since returning from giving birth, but PSG responded with a 3-1 win over Le Havre thanks to Lieke Martens, Kadidiatou Diani and Laurina Fazer.
Stade de Reims fell to a surprising 2-0 defeat at Guingamp, Montpellier beat Bordeaux on Friday night while there were wins for both high-flying Paris FC and Fleury 91.
Wolfsburg were able to extend their lead in Germany as Turbine Potsdam vs Bayern Munich was postponed, Alexandra Popp and Ewa Pajor both among the scorers in a 4-0 win vs Freiburg. Hoffenheim put in one of the performances of the weekend beating Duisburg 7-0, with all three of Jana Feldkamp, Nicole Billa and Julia Hickelsberger-Fuller scoring twice.
Fenna Kalma continued her impressive form in the Netherlands, taking her tally to 25 for the season and keeping FC Twente top of the league, but Ajax kept up the pressure with a late 2-1 win at PSV thanks to Lisa Doorn’s stoppage time goal.
With the NWSL still out of season and several more leagues outside of Europe about to return to pre-season, there was little key action outside of the continent’s shores, but Mexico’s Clausura continues and Kiana Palacios was in top form, scoring four goals in a 6-0 win for Club America against Necaxa last week.
Renae Cuellar was also in the goals, scoring a hat-trick in a 4-1 win for Tijuana against Puebla, while Pachuca stayed top with a narrow 1-0 win in a feisty game against Leon which saw both sides end with 10 players.
Mia Fishel continued her good run of form in a 2-0 for chasing Tigres, and across the other side of the world in Australia, the W-League continues to grow a strong audience and there’s plenty of drama with both the two top sides losing over the weekend.
Western United fell to a 3-1 defeat at home to Perth Glory, but Melbourne City couldn’t close the gap and allowed third-placed Sydney FC to close up to both as the latter won 3-0 against their rivals.
Off the pitch, one of the biggest stories of the past week was the news FIFA would allow ‘Visit Saudi’ to sponsor the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
For obvious reasons, the news hasn’t gone down well among supporters around the world, and while major players and individual nations are yet to speak up, the two host nations Australia and New Zealand have written to FIFA to express their disappointment that they weren’t consulted on the decision.
Watch this space.