Week 3 Stats Pack
Friday night's game saw Dinamo Zagreb grab the away win in what was a close match in Turin. They won it with a goal of the season contender from Baturina. After his initial effort was blocked and with the ball rebounding behind him he reacted quickly and hit a superb effort on the turn, curling just enough to go in off the inside of the post right in the top corner. A goal worthy of winning any match. The game was a feisty affair with a lot of strong challenges going on in midfield. The worst of which has left Petrungaro out for 6 weeks. There were rumours after the game that Kazuki Ito was particularly disappointed he didn't get chance to referee this one.
Marseille almost completed a third clean sheet but were finally breached by a late Porto goal, scored by Moreira, who found himself with a tap in after a kind rebound from the initial chance. The Marseille manager has declared there will be wholesale changes as he looks to get his attack going. If it can perform anywhere near as good as the defence then they could climb the table quickly.
Bayern continue to misfire in front of goal, although Davies nearly joined Baturina in the goal of the season contenders with a lovely overhead kick that Girardot had to stretch to turn over the bar. Other than that though he and Zirkzee continue to be wasteful in front of goal. It was enough to cost them the points as Lyon, inspired by a great performance from Da Silva in midfield, scored two without reply.
Atalanta kept their 100% record with a 2-0 win away to Tottenham. However it was not as easy as the scoreline might suggest. De Bie in the Spurs goal made seven saves in the game but unfortunately for him and his team he spilt an easy one and Nivokazi was quick to pounce to put Atalanta ahead. A late header from Da Riva clinched the victory. There were some fierce tackles early on. First Babbi had to be taken off injured before Skipp went through the back of Traore leading to him being stretchered off as well. Then, a few minutes later, in what looked very much like retribution, Skipp himself was clattered and had to be taken off. Skipp came off worst and will be out for 8 weeks.
Season Report so far.
Atalanta and Lyon lead the way early on, both with a 100% record after three games. It's been far from plain sailing though and both have had games that could have gone either way. Both have some players who are performing at the top of their game at the moment; Da Silva and Matam for Lyon, Cortinovis, Gyabuaa, Babbi and Nivokazi for Atalant. But above all of them is Kulusevski who is on fire at the moment. Despite having to move out to LW during the last game after Traore went off injured, he still turned in a man of the match performance.
Porto sit in third on the back of two victories in a row and will be pleased with their start. Dinamo Zagreb sit fourth and have the top scorer at the moment with Baturina who followed up his brace from last week with a beauty this week. If they can get Marin to produce what he's capable of they can push on up the table.
In fifth sit Torino, who with Ibrahimi, have one of the standout players so far. They were unfortunate not to get anything this week and will still be looking up the table rather than down. Marseille are next with the stubborn defence that went almost three matches without conceding. Unfortunately for them their attack is just as keen to keep clean sheets for the opposition so far.
Holding up the table are two teams who it's fair to say have been rather unlucky so far. Both are misfiring in front of goal despite having some real talent up front. Both Bayern and Tottenham will be looking to get their season up and running as soon as possible and it might not be a great time to play them in the next couple of weeks.
Player Stats for the week.
