Celta Vigo pulled off the shock of the season, absolutely thrashing treble-winners Barcelona 4-1, as the Catalans suffered their biggest La Liga defeat under Luis Enrique. Rafa Benitez will be a relieved man, after his side survived a tricky contest against Athletic Bilbao, with Karim Benzema scoring one either side of Sabin Merino’s equaliser. Robert Lewandowski sent records tumbling, as the half-time substitute scored an incredible five goals in a matter of 9 minutes, to rescue his team from a losing position.
Barcelona had a horror outing at the Balaidos, as Celta Vigo went all guns blazing against their superior rivals. Ex-Barcelona reserve player Nolito broke the deadlock against his former club, when he collected an overhit cross at the edge of the box and caressed a right-footed curler, grazing Ter Stegen’s arm on the way into the back of the net. A few minutes later, Gerard Pique horrendously gifted the possession to Celta at the half-line, before former-Liverpool man Iago Aspas embarked on a solo run towards goal, chipping the ball over Ter Stegen to double his side’s lead.
Aspas was at it again, when he latched on to Nolito’s pass and left Dani Alves for the dead, with an outrageous piece of skill and galloped through the Barcelona half, before coolly slotting the ball past the hapless Ter Stegen. Neymar reduced the deficit in the 80th to keep hopes for a comeback alive with a shot from a tight angle but their hopes were dashed a couple of minutes later, when John Guidetti was left unmarked following some shoddy defending in the box and the Swede smashed the ball past Ter Stegen to compound Luis Enrique’s misery.
Real Madrid sit atop the La Liga table following a nervy 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, while Ronaldo was left frustrated following another goalless game. Karim Benzema opened the scoring from close range when he pounced on Mikel San Jose’s dreadful back pass to ‘keeper Iraizoz in the 19th minute. Sabin Merino made matters level with a glancing header in the 67th minute, effectively ending Keylor Navas’ 5-match clean sheet streak. But the visitors regained their lead a few minutes later, when Karim Benzema poked in Isco’s teasing cross past Iraizoz.
Robert Lewandowski shattered a host of records after his stunning blitz against Wolfsburg at the Allianz Arena. Daniel Caligiuri fierce shot from the edge of the box gave Wolfsburg the lead at half-time and in an attempt to maintain their unbeaten start to the season, Pep Guardiola brought on Polish striker Robert Lewandowski after the interval. Lewandowski repaid his manager’s faith 6 minutes after he brought on, with a calm finish from close range. But it was only the beginning for the Pole, as he doubled his tally a minute later with a right-footed shot into the bottom corner. Lewandowski hit his third in the 55th minute over two Wolfsburg defenders, after he struck the post with his initial shot, subsequently scoring the quickest-ever Bunesliga hat-trick (3 minutes and 18 seconds). The former-Borussia Dortmund increased his tally when he thumped in Douglas Costa’s cross from 12 yards. Undoubtedly, Lewandowski’s fifth and final one was the best of the lot, when he unleashed a riveting scissor-kick from the edge of the 18-yard box to the first ever Bundesliga substitute to score 5 goals, etching that record in a mere 9 minutes! The goals were scored in the 51st, 52nd, 55th, 57th and 59th minutes, as Bayern ran out 5-1 winners.
Capital One Cup Third Round results:
Hull City 1-0 Swansea
Aston Villa 1-0 Birmingham
Leicester City 2-1 West Ham
Fulham 0-1 Stoke City
Middlesbrough 3-0 Wolverhampton
Sunderland 1-4 Manchester City
Preston 2-2 Bournemouth (2-3 Penalties)
MK Dons 0-6 Southampton
Newcastle 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Tottenham 1-2 Arsenal
Liverpool 1-1 Carlisle (3-2 Penalties)
Walsall 1-4 Chelsea
Crystal Palace 4-1 Charlton
Norwich 3-0 West Brom
Manchester United 3-0 Ipswich
Tags: Barcelona Celta Vigo
