In the final weekend before the March international break, the players took to the pitch again to express themselves while also focused on their respective club’s priorities.
In Europe top five leagues, we’ve again selected the best in each of these leagues, comprising hat-trick hero Alessane Plea and other standout players in the other four leagues, below is a narrative of how heroes were made.
Standout performers in each of the top 5 leagues during the weekend
English Premier League: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United
The Portuguese continues his redhot form by registering three goal involvement in his side’s 3-0 win at Leicester City, taking his goal contribution in the Premier League this season to 17.
Fernandes, who scored a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Real Sociedad Thursday in the UEFA Europa League has become a consistent performer in the attacking third for the Red Devils, most especially of recent, registering seven goals contributions in his last six games.
Leicester City, whom United had already beaten three times this season, with their Portuguese captain scoring three and assisting two across those games, had lost six consecutive Premier League home games heading into the game, and it was to get worse at full time.
The visitors took the lead just before the half hour mark, with Rasmus Højlund scoring to end a run of 21 game goal drought across all competitions after being teed up by Bruno Fernandes. The Denmark international took his time to set himself up before firing his shot into the bottom corner.
United eventually get their second of the night at the start of the final quarter, after Alejandro Garnacho had had goal disallowed for offside. The Argentine winger was quick to reach to a Bruno Fernandes touch inside the box and fired his shot to the near post for 2-0.
Fernandes, who assisted the first two goals then scored with a first time shot from the edge of the box following a Diogo Dalot low cross to seal a 3-0 win, as Manchester United sealed their fourth win over the Foxes this season.
The Manchester United captain has now been directly involved in 31 goals across all club competitions this season, already more than in all but one of his previous seasons at the club.
He is the Premier League player of the weekend by some distance, in a gameweek where the goals hardly flow, and only a few standout.
Spanish LaLiga: Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid
Real Madrid had a lot to worry about ahead of their meeting with Villarreal on Saturday, and this wasn’t only because of their poor history at the Ceramica.
Los Blancos had not won in their previous seven LaLiga trips to the Villarreal ground, with their last victory coming in a 3-2 win in February 2017 and headed into the game on the back of a tiring week after playing 120 minutes against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
Carlo Ancelotti expressed concerns, and that the club pleaded with LaLiga to have the fixture moved to Sunday but no positive results. They were dealt further blow as the host took the lead less than seven minutes into the game through Juan Foyth following a corner.
Kylian Mbappé however, stepped up and delivered a masterclass to help the defending champions turn the game around and end a run of seven winless in Villarreal.
Ten minutes after they had fallen behind, the French attacker restored parity for Madrid, firing his shot inside the box as the ball fell kindly to him, after Villarreal Goalkeeper, Diego Conde had denied Brahim Diaz, who was himself set up by Mbappé.
Five minutes later, Mbappé completed the comeback with a shot to the goalkeeper’s near post after connecting with a Lucas Vazquez cutback.
Even though the goals came in early, it was enough to secure a crucial win for Carlo Ancelotti’s charge, as they remain level on points with Barcelona who also has a game in hand.
Mbappé has now scored 31 goals across all competitions this season, with only three players having more, while he was also able to close the gap on Robert Lewandowski in the race for the Pichichi to two, after the Pole striker scored one in Barcelona’s comeback win in Atléti.
He is our player of the weekend in LaLiga and will hope to do enough to catch up with Lewandowski in the race after the international break, while Real Madrid will also be hopeful to see him continue to replicate such performances in the run-in.
Italian Serie A: Fabio Miretti of Genoa
The Juventus loanee was hyped on Friday night as his spectacular brace helped Genoa to a 2-1 win over Lecce, who has now lost in each of their last five visits to the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genova.
Genoa, who had not record a win in their previous three games with a glimmer of hope, knowing their opponents had also not win in five and had lost all their most recent three games.
Fabio Miretti, who last and only goal for the club came in a 2-2 draw at home to Cagliari in November opened the scoring in sensation fashion before the 16th minute.
The young midfielder made a great run into the penalty area and was spotted by Ruslan Malinovsky, whose peach of a pass was connected and volleyed home spectacularly by Miretti.
The duo combined again in the final minute of added time in the first half. Malinovsky played the ball to Miretti in the box, the Italian turned before changing the direction of his shot, and again finding the back of the net to double the host’s advantage.
Miretti has now scored three goals for Geona, one more than he had for Juventus in more games. His brilliant display against Lecce, who got a consolation from the penalty spot in the second half, was the brightest in the Italian topflight during the weekend.
Although Juventus themselves were exposed by another one of their loaned players in Nicolo Fagioli, they can be proud of the progress of their players, who may yet return to their boyhood club in the summer.
German Bundesliga: Alessane Plea of Borussia Monchengladbach
The Franco-Malian attacker was at the peak of his powers as Gladbach continues their impressive away from, extending to four consecutive wins on the road, even at a time when they struggle at home.
Plea was directly involved in all four goals as Gerardo Seoane’s charge sealed an impressive 4-2 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon, thereby moving up to seventh on the Bundesliga standing at full-time.
Gladback, who last completed a league double over Bremen in the 2020/21 season was looking to repeat their achievement again having won the reverse fixture 4-1 at the Borussia Park in Gladbach back in November.
Plea, who opened the scoring on that day, stepped up to give the visitors an early lead in the seventh minute from the penalty spot, after Milos Veljkovic was penalized for a foul on Robin Hack in the box 18 two minutes earlier.
The goal was Plea’s first since the turn of the year, ending a run of seven games without one across all competitions. His afternoon got even better two minutes before the half hour.
After Nathan Ngoumou’s header was denied, the ball fell kindly to Plea, who reacted quickly and put the ball into the bottom corner with a left footed shot to double the visitor’s advantage.
Unfortunately, his hardwork was undone just before the interval, as Werder Bremen hit back thanks to a Romano Schmid’s free-kick and an Andre Silva’s penalty to level the score at 2-2.
However, Alessane Plea restored Gladbach’s lead less than two minutes after the restart, connecting with a Robin Hack through ball before sending his effort into the back of the net, expertly guiding it past the goalkeeper.
Plea set up Tim Kleindienst, who assisted three of Gladbach’s four goals in the reverse fixture, to make it 4-2 with nine minutes of normal time to play, completing a masterful performance before his withdrawal three minutes later.
The 32-year-old has now been directly involved in 15 goals this season, surpassing his tally in the last two seasons and with his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season.
Plea has also now scored 66 goals for the club, overtaking Rainer Bonhof and moving up to 16th in the all-time list.He is our pick as the player of the weekend in the Bundesliga, and such performance on a consistent basis will be so much decisive for Gladbach in the Bundesliga run-in.
French Ligue 1: Georges Miktautadze of Lyon
The Georgian striker needed just 13 minutes to help Lyon conquer a stubborn Le Havre in the Groupama stadium as the host overturned a 2-1 deficit to win 4-2 and move into the top five.
Lyon, despite taking a 1-0 lead through an Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty at the end of the first quarter, finished the first half behind as the visitors struck twice through Abdoulaye Toure and Josue Casimir.
With Lyon struggling to get back into the game, Paulo Fonseca introduced Miktautadze for the final 13 minutes, and it was a chance that paid huge dividends.
Just a minute after coming on, Miktautadze made instant impact, by threading a through ball to Malick Fofana. The youngster winger did well to convert the chance and level things at 2-2.
Miktautadze then found the back of the net himself four minutes later to give Lyon a 3-2 lead and deep into added time, he set up Thiago Almada for his first Lyon goal since his loan move from Botafogo RJ in January.
Three goal involvement off the bench, the most from a single player in the Ligue 1 during the weekend sees Georges Miktautadze emerge as our player of the weekend in the French topflight.
The 24-year-old has now contributed to 20 Lyon goals across all competitions this season, six of which have come in his last two games.It is a form Georgia will relish if he can replicate it in their UEFA Nations League double header with Armenia later this month.
Ultimate Player of the weekend
Hat-trick hero Alessane Plea is without a doubt the pick of the bunch. The Borussia Monchengladbach star stand out amongst peers with direct involvement in four goals.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
