PSG, Bayern & Newcastle's Unbeaten Streaks Come to an End
This weekend saw some of the significant unbeaten streaks across Europe’s top five leagues come to an end. WhoScored’s regular weekly round-up highlights PSG’s shock home defeat to Nancy on Sunday evening, with the big-spending Ligue 1 leaders slipping up for the first time in thirteen games.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich lost at home to champions Dortmund, with Jupp Heynckes’ side tasting defeat at the Allianz Arena for the first time since the opening day of the season, while Man City are now the only unbeaten team in the Premier League after a 3-1 home victory over Newcastle.
Pastore at Fault as PSG Flounder - Match Report vs Nancy
The major upset of the weekend occurred in the French capital- PSG were overwhelming favourites against a Nancy side that had picked up just one point away from home all season. PSG had won six in a row at home and hadn’t been beaten since the opening day of the season but, despite all their efforts, could not find a way past opposition keeper Guy Assembe.
PSG had complete domination of the game- typically, they average 58.5% of possession at home but this time they had 70%, with Nancy down from their usual 35.4% away possession to 30%. The hosts had an incredible 27 shots at goal, bettering their home average of 16, with Nancy managing just 8 efforts. Wayward shooting from the home side meant both teams had 7 shots on target, though.
The visitors showed plenty of battle, though, making 28 tackles in a defiant performance in the face of adversity. Their stand-out defensive performer was Jean Calve - up against Nene, the right-back broke up PSG’s attacking forays time and again, making 5 tackles, 7 interceptions and 5 clearances, Calve also scored the game’s only goal - no surprise he was man of the match, then, with a WhoScored rating of 8.83.
PSG only have themselves to blame, though one player in particular failed to live up to his billing - Javier Pastore. The Argentine had 7 shots, more than any player, but only 2 were on target. Pastore failed to make a single key pass all game, too - compare this with Nene, who made an incredible 13 key passes, and produced 3 shots, with 2 on target, and it’s obvious just how lacklustre his performance was.
Nene’s outstanding creative display earned him a match rating of 8.69, with the left winger highly unlucky to get no reward for his brilliance on the flank - Nancy had him down as a marked man, fouling Nene 10 times as they struggled to halt him when in possession.
Kevin Gameiro continued his recent goalscoring drought up front. He had 4 shots, with every one missing the target, and has now gone four matches without finding the net. With Montpellier winning this weekend, PSG’s lead at the top is now only down to goal difference and with a tricky trip to Marseille next weekend, they could potentially slip off the top if Pastore and co don’t improve sharply.
Poor Finishing Costs Bayern - Match Report vs Dortmund
Bayern came into the home clash with Dortmund on the back of six straight home wins. After an indifferent start to the season, the visitors had finally shown the form that saw them clinch the Bundesliga title last time round, with five wins and a draw in their previous six games prior to Saturday evening’s match.
As expected, Bayern dominated possession- they have averaged 67.1% possession at home so far this season and continued in the same vein, with 64% of the play against the champions. The visitors strong work ethic saw them make 25 tackles to Bayern’s 24, though; Dortmund’s average of 25.9 away from home is the third best in the Bundesliga and demonstrates their will to win.
They had double the number of shots, 16 to Dortmund’s 8, but some unusually woeful shooting saw them manage just 3 shots on target all game. Franck Ribery and Mario Gomez were the main culprits, with 4 and 3 shots respectively, they managed just 1 each on target. Mario Gotze had 4 of Dortmund’s 8 attempts and found the net with his only shot on target to clinch a crucial 1-0 win.
Dortmund were missing their key centre-half Neven Subotic but his replacement, Felipe Santana, was exceptional at the back, making 4 tackles, 9 interceptions and 8 clearances in a superb defensive display. With 3 saves and 3 good claims, it was Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller that picked up the man of the match award, with a rating of 7.78. Bayern, on the other hand, missed the presence of Bastian Schweinsteiger substantially- Heynckes tried Toni Kroos in the double pivot alongside Gustavo and although Kroos (7.6) was the their best player with 4 tackles, 3 interceptions and 3 key passes, his contribution came to nothing in the end.
Despite their wealth of attacking talent, Bayern are struggling to get the better of their rivals at home- they also lost to MGladbach at the Allianz, meaning they have tasted defeat in front of their own fans to the second and third-placed teams in the division.
City Too Strong for Newcastle - Match Report vs Man City
Newcastle’s eleven match unbeaten run finally came to an end at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon, as Roberto Mancini’s side cruised to a 3-1 win. City have averaged 56.5% possession at home so far but far exceeded this, with 64% of the play against Alan Pardew’s side.
Newcastle’s strong work ethic is shown by their 21.3 tackles per game on the road but this dropped to 17 at the weekend. The loss of Cheik Tiote was clearly crucial- the Ivorian’s ball-winning ability in the centre of the park has been a key part of their season, with 3 tackles and 3 interceptions per game, but he missed out again with a knee problem. City, on the other hand, upped their work-rate, winning 23 tackles compared to their home average 18.3- it’s a rarity for Newcastle to be out-fought and an example of their hosts’ all-round superiority.
City had 14 shots to Newcastle’s 9- given they normally average 20 shots every home fixture, it hints at the fact they were quite happy to maintain possession and make Newcastle do the chasing when they had the ball and didn’t over-exert themselves. Ahead of a crucial Champions League game at Napoli, they could even afford to bench David Silva, with the Spaniard coming on for a late second half cameo.
Although Micah Richards picked up the WhoScored man of the match award, Gael Clichy stood out defensively. Newcastle attacked down the City left flank 46% of the time but Clichy was up to the task of nullifying any threat- he made 5 tackles, 6 interceptions and 6 clearances in a stand-out full-back performance. Richards’ goal, in addition to 2 tackles, 2 interceptions and 4 clearances, earned him 8.07, just edging out Mario Balotelli (8.06).
For the visitors, Ryan Taylor had a game to forget. The left-back gave away a penalty and made a crucial error that led directly to Richards’ goal- as a result, he was awarded 4.15 for a display he will want to quickly forget. Unfortunately for Newcastle, they have a trip to Old Trafford next week to look forward to. They can take some solace in the threat of Demba Ba, though; the forward fired 4 shots at goal at the weekend, joint-top with Balotelli, and far superior to his season average of 2.5.
