teams would have gauged their weakness and try to strengthen before time runs out. Enjoy PLAYS OF THE WEEK.
FLOP OF THE WEEK: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle).
Has been touted as on of the bright stars in Europe and he has talent as well, but he has a bit of a rash attitude that dent's his game from time to time. The Newcastle striker tried to challenge for a ball and opened his studs up which caught Francis Coquelin. Many say the challenge was not intentional but he(Mitrovic), should know the rules and control himself. He let his team down, and this cost them 3 points as they (Newcastle) lost 1-0 to Arsenal last weekend. Do not write him off though, at 20 years of age he is still learning the game, remember a certain Wayne Rooney.
GOAL OF THE WEEK: James Rodriguez (Real Madrid).
The colombian was making his first start for Madrid and has become and was vital in his teams 5-0 win over Betis in their LA LIGA fixture. Madrid were in total control of this game, with their tip-tap direct passing saw Marcelo on the left side were he drilled a cross into the box which was cleared by the Betis defense. The clearance fell to Toni Kroos who found James in the box, James flicked the ball up with his left-foot then followed it up with an over-head kick which found the back of the Betis net. Classy
SAVE OF THE WEEK: Tim Howard (Everton).
No one really expectes a 0-0 draw when Tottenham and Everton are on show, but the main reason why Spurs did not score was because of the United States veteran Tim Howard. Moussa Dembele robbed the ball off Bryan Oviedo and fed Ryan Mason who looked up to hit the perfect ball for Harry Kane who beat the Everton offside trap that made him 1-on-1 with Howard. Howard was quick off his line to make himself big as Harry Kane tried to put the ball at the back of the net but Howard stretched his legs out to keep the ball away from his goal. No wonder he has made more saves than any other goalie in the league
MATCH OF THE WEEK: Chelsea V Crystal Palace (Premier League).
London derbies are always a thunderbolt of a match and that is exactly what Chelsea and Crystal Palace gave us.
First half was all about cancelling each other out as both teams were conservative and attacking at balanced pace. Chances were limited at both post as Cabaye and Fabregas pulled out saves from Courtois and McCarthy respectively. First half finished 0-0
Second-half was more entertaining and surprisingly Palace looked more likely to score and it happened in the 65th minute when Sako reacted to a Bolasie cross which his first shot was blocked but at the second attempt he thumped it in over Courtois to make it 1-0 to Palace.
Jose Mourinho reacted to the goal by throwing Falcao in for Willian, but there was still no breakthrough for Chelsea as Palace dealt with all the pressure. Also Jason Puncheon was in control of the midfield as he dictated play all through.
79th minute Fabregas found Pedro on the wide right and he(Pedro) whipped in a delicious low cross and on stepped Falcao with a diving header to hit the equaliser. 1-1 it was at this stage and momemtum should have been with Chelsea but 2 minutes later Palace took the lead. Sako sent a cross-field pass to Yannick Bolasie who hit a 1-2 with Connor Wickham, got to the byline and sent a far-post cross which found Sako who squared the ball surprisingly for Joel Ward who headed the ball into the net from about 2 yards out. 2-1 Palace lead.
Chelsea tried their best to get another equaliser but it was to no avail as Palace soaked up the pressure and dealt with all the Chelsea blows. Great win for Palace.
MANAGER OF THE WEEK: Alan Pardew (Crystal Palace).
Slowly Slowly becoming a force to reckon with in English football and this weekend he has put new lines kin his CV. Pardew set up his Crystal Palace team to play 4-2-3-1 against Chelsea, and that got him and the team's second league win at Stampford Bridge since 1982. Pardew has given his team confidence and are ready to attack any team in the league for the on go. We think Palace could finish in the Europa League places. Also made his team wear black arm bands in memory of Yannick Bolasie's father and just to wrap it up he is the first manager to win 3 games in a league against Jose Mourinho (I.E all the leagues Jose Mourinho has coached in).
TEAM OF THE WEEK: AS Roma (Serie A).
The rome club put a statement on the title chase as they beat league favourites Juventus 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
COMBINED TEAM OF THE WEEK: 3-5-2
GK: Tim Howard (Everton).
Big performance from the United States veteran as he made key saves for Everton to salvage a point in their 0-0 draw against Tottenham
RCB: Joel Ward (Crystal Palace).
Was brave to get into the Chelsea to score the winner for Palace as they went on to beat Premier League champions Chelsea at the bridge.
CB: Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona).
Malaga were resolute on the day, but the center-halve stepped up to score the winner which was his first goal for the team after an injury ramped season last term. He has been a shinning light in recent weeks.
LCB: Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace).
The big center-halve was top notch for Palace on the day and didn't give Diego Costa a blade of grass to cover. The Palace captain lead his team perfectly and hardly got a foot wrong.
CM: Jonjo Shelvy (Swansea).
Since this season started Jonjo has focused on his game and is pulling strings like he hasn't before. His touches and crisp passing in Swansea's win against Manchester United was above average as he helped his team to a 2-1 win. Reward for all this, an England National Team call-up. Congrats and let's hope he has thrown his hot-head in the bin.
CM: Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace).
Was like a Libero in the middle of the park, dictacting play in the midst of Fabregas and Matic. Chelsea were mainly focused on Cabaye and this gave Puncheon freedom to operate at will and cause problems for the Chelsea back-line.
LW: Marco Reus (Dortmund).
Scored a hat-trick for his team as he helped them to thrash Odd Grenland 7-2 (11-5 on aggregate) to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League. He was also influential in Dortmund's win over Hertha Berlin over the weekend.
AM: James Rodriguez (Real Madrid).
He scored what we picked as our Goal OF THE WEEK, and was instrumental to Madrid's success over the weekend. James was involved in all the goals practically as he copped a brace of goals and assists in their 5-0 win over the weekend.
RW: Gareth Bale (Real Madrid).
Still trying to prove his greatness with Madrid, and he made a statement as he copped a brace of goals and assists in Real's 5-0 win over Betis.
ST: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich).
Mr reliable is what we've tagged him, scored a brace as Bayern thrashed title pretenders Bayern Leverkusen 3-0 in their Bundesliga fixture over the weekend.
ST: Nabil Fekir (Lyon).
The french forward, was involved in all goals scored by Lyon as they thrashed Caen 4-0 in their French Ligue1 fixture over the weekend. Fekir scored a hat-trick and assisted the 4th in what should be his best peformance in a Lyon shirt.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Nabil Fekir (Lyon).
The 22 yearold french international put his name on the map last season with extraordinary performances for Lyon. He was named Ligue1 young player of the season during, and has started this season brightly capping the performance last week. He's surely one to look out for in the future.
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