Phew! Catch your breath. It was a football weekend. Liverpool have dismantled Crystal Palace, Leicester City have beaten Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United have torn Leeds apart and Everton have seen Arsenal as the Premier League’s top 4 (as on Monday morning), all of them recorded big wins. Bayern Munich beat Bayer Leverkusen in a top-of-the-table clash to be crowned Kings of Winter. Again. Borussia Dortmund lost their rhythm again with a 2-1 loss to Union Berlin. AC Milan remain at the top of Serie A, but Inter Milan and Juventus have stayed close with victories of different comfort. The victories for Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid saw them end on Sunday 1-2 atop La Liga, Barcelona managed a draw in Valencia to remain fifth (ahead of Granada on goal difference).
So here are the best numbers from the action of the weekend:
premier league
3
Liverpool are the first team to take the top spot in the English table at Christmas for three consecutive years since making it themselves between 1978 and 1980 under Bob Paisley.
3
Scott McTominay is the first player in PL history to score twice in the first three minutes of a game.
3
Jamie Vardy became the first player in PL history to score away for a specific team in three different stadiums. He has now scored against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
4
Boy, is Jack Grealish dirty! Since the start of last season, Jake Livermore is the fourth player to receive a red card in the PL for a foul on Grealish (including the second yellow) – the most of all players at this time.
4
This is the first time in 482 PL games that Leeds United have conceded four goals in the first half.
6
This is the first time since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson that Manchester United have scored more than 6 goals in a PL game. In fact, the last time they did so was in August 2011, when they beat Arsenal 8-2.
It is also only the second time in history that they have scored 6 goals against Leeds United, the last being a 6-0 victory at Old Trafford in September 1959.
sept
It is the first time in their history that Liverpool have won a top-flight away game with a seven-goal margin. This is their first victory with a margin of seven or more goals since a 9-0 victory in September 1989 against… Crystal Palace.
14
Arsenal’s 14-point return from their first 14 games this season is their worst record at this point since the 1974-75 campaign (12 points, converted to 3 / win).
28
This is the first time that a club team led by Marcelo Bielsa has conceded six goals in a competitive game in 28 years. This last happened when his team Newell’s Old Boys lost 0-6 to San Lorenzo in the Copa Libertadores in February 1992.
29
Bruno Fernandes has scored 29 goals (17 goals, 12 assists) for the PL since his debut in the competition on February 1, 2020. He is the best player of this period, Mohamed Salah being just second (27, 20 goals, 7 assists) .
38
Jack Grealish has created 38 open play chances in the PL this season, the most players in any of Europe’s Big Five in 2020-2021.
45
Now for the eccentric stat of the week – Yerry Mina’s last four goals in PL were all scored in the 45th minute. Stranger still, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Chris Eagles scored four straight 90th-minute goals between 2007 and 2011.
127
No Liverpool coach has won as many PL matches as Jurgen Klopp. He recorded his 127th PL victory, surpassing Rafael Benítez’s 126. And what way to do it, eh?
the league
12
Karim Benzema has now been directly involved in 12 La Liga goals this season, no player has played more. The best French striker of all time, eh, Zizou?
17
Real Madrid continue their winning streak in every game Luka Modric scores. The count is at 17 now.
30
More goodness Benzema. It is the 30th time that Benzema has scored and participated in the same La Liga game. The only guy doing it more often for Real Madrid in the 20th century? Cristiano Ronaldo, who has done it 44 times. Of course he did.
series A
6,7
Rafael Leao’s opener for AC Milan against Sassuolo was the fastest goal in Serie A history, at 6.7 seconds.
15
Milan is certainly on the run. They have now scored more than 2 goals in 15 consecutive Serie A games.
25
More domination of Milan. They extended their unbeaten streak to 25 games in Serie A, dating back to June (18-0-7 WLD). They are the only undefeated team in the top five leagues since the restart
Bundesliga
1
Youssoufa Moukoko is the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history, at 16 years and 28 days old. Sixteen years!
Messi-Ronaldo Watch
Lionel Messi has scored once. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored twice. And with those goals came a few more steps.
33
Ronaldo has scored 33 Serie A goals in calendar year 2020, equaling Omar Sivori (who hit 33 in 1961) for third place on the list. The two who marked the most? Gunnar Nordahl in 1950 (36) and Felice Borel in 1933 (41).
450
Messi is now the second player to reach 450 goals in Europe’s top five leagues, after Ronaldo earlier this year.
643
No one has scored more goals for a single club than Lionel Messi has for Barcelona. He has now scored for them 643 times, tying Pelé’s club record for Santos.
(Statistics provided by ESPN Statistics and Information group)
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