Football weekend in France, Portugal, the Netherlands and Russia

French Ligue 1

Montpellier HSC 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain
Olympique Marseille 2-2 OGC Nice

It was a heart-pounding clash for PSG as they played this match without their key striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was sidelined due to a serious foul on the Saint-Etienne’s goalkeeper last week. Moreover, Mamadou Sakho was given early marching orders after pulling Charbonnier’s shirt. But nevertheless, Brazilian defender Maxwell opened the scoring for PSG in the 37th minute. Remy Cabella equalized in the 59th minute preventing the leading champions to stretch their lead to three points. PSG still remains on the top spot leveling on 23 points with Olympique Marseille but leading on goal difference. The current holders Montpellier are not as persistent as the previous year and mire in the middle of the league table.
Marseille, meanwhile, missed their bite at the cherry to snap up the lead from PSG by drawing 2-2 with lowly Nice. They took the lead twice during the match via goals from Ayew and Valbuena but the visitors equalized both times.

Dutch Eredivisie

Vitesse 0-0 FC Twente
PSV 5-1 sc Heerenveen
Feyenoord 5-2 Roda JC Kerkrade
PEC Zwolle 2-4 Ajax

The league giants Twente ended in a lack luster draw in Arnhem this Sunday. The result is not so dismal for Twente who retains the leadership on 29 points but is quite dispiriting for Vitesse who lose position to PSV and now trail the leader by 4 points. PSV, bullied by Heerenveen’s early goal (6 minutes into the match), didn’t feel it hard to make a thrilling 5-1 thrash of the visitors via goals from Narsingh, Mertens and Wijnaldum and terrific late brace from Matavz. The team leapfrogged to the second position with 27 points, just 2 points behind the leader. Ajax and Feyenoord are leveling on 21 points after beating Zwolle and Roda respectively.

Portuguese SuperLiga

FC Porto 2-1 Académica Coimbra
Rio Ave FC 0-1 Benfica
Sporting Lisbon 1-0 Sporting Braga

The leaders Porto continue their unbeaten path in the league edging Académica 2-1. They maintain the place at the SuperLiga summit with 23 points. However, struggling Benfica breath down their neck having the same number of points after beating Rio Ave 1-0, losing only point on goal difference. Lisbon’s striker Van Wolfswinkel scored an early 3 minutes opener which eventually earned the victory to the team depriving Braga of three precious points.

Russian Premier League

Lokomotiv Moscow 1-1 Anzhi Makhachkala
Kuban Krasnodar 1-3 CSKA Moscow
FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod 1-2 Zenit St. Petersburg

CSKA cemented their place at the top thrashing Krasnodar 3-1 via brace from Nigerian forward Ahmed Musa and a splendid goal from Rasmus Elm. Anzhi lost their second position after drawing with Lokomotiv Moscow. The opener from Carcela-Gonzalez in the 72d minute seemed to become the winner for Guus Hiddink’s men but Lokomotiv’s forward Dame N’Doye scored a late equalizer ending the visitors’ hope to win three necessary points. Meanwhile, Zenit St. Petersburg broke down Nizhny Novgorod 2-1. It would have been a goalless loss for the hosts if not for Ilya Maksimov equalizer in the dying minutes of the clash. Zenit is now the second on 33 points, 3 points behind the leader.