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European Football wrap: Best player, biggest upset & more

Sport360 staff 23:42 01/04/2017

Wilfried Zaha rocked Chelsea as Crystal Palace breathed new life into the Premier League title race with a stunning 2-1 win over the leaders at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Second-place Tottenham Hotspur took advantage by winning 2-0 at Burnley to trim Chelsea’s lead to seven points.

Liverpool closed to within 10 points of Chelsea, albeit having played a game more, after sinking Everton 3-1 in the Merseyside derby.

But Manchester United lost ground in the race for top-four places following a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion.

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in Bayern Munich’s 6-0 thrashing of Augsburg on Saturday while Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored to secure a 1-1 draw away to Schalke.

Dimitri Payet scored a sublime free-kick to salvage a point for Marseille in a 1-1 home draw against Dijon in Ligue 1.

Angel Di Maria scored one goal and set up two more as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Monaco 4-1 to lift the French League Cup for the fourth successive season.

Edin Dzeko fired Roma to a 2-0 win over lowly Empoli that maintains the tension in the Serie A title race.

MOST DOMINATING WIN – BAYERN MUNICH

They needed just one goal to reach the 100 mark for the season. They ended up smashing six past Augsburg. With 66% possession and 21 attempts at goal, the Bundesliga giants could not have been more imposing.

BIGGEST UPSET – CRYSTAL PALACE

Chelsea have been an unstoppable force in the Premier League this season. Imagine their surprise when Sam Allardyce and his relegation battling side scored two goals in as many minutes to come back and win from 1-0 down. The fact that they did so at Stamford Bridge only makes the feat all the more impressive.

BEST CONTEST – LIVERPOOL VS EVERTON

The Merseyside derby lived up to its hype this time around. Although Romelu Lukaku didn’t turn up, the likes of Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho ensured that we were treated to some decent goals. It was a feisty encounter as well and even featured a goal on debut for Matty Pennington.

BEST GOAL – PHILIPPE COUTINHO

There were a few to choose from. Christian Benteke’s audacious finish against Chelsea, Dimitri Payet’s free-kick from range and Wilfred Ndidi’s thunderbolt for Leicester come to mind.

However, Coutinho’s sumptuous effort comes out on top. The Brazilian picked up the ball in midfield before driving into the Everton box, cutting onto his right foot and curling a beauty past Joel Robles.

PLAYER OF THE DAY – ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI

Never any doubt. The Polish striker was at his lethal best. His hat-trick takes him to the top of the goal scoring charts in the Bundesliga.

BIGGEST BLUNDER – HARRY ARTER

There wasn’t much to report about the snooze-fest that was Southampton vs Bournemouth. So after 79 minutes, Harry Arter decided to change that. The midfielder slipped during his run-up and skied his effort from the spot which could have given the visitors all three points.

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