The List | 10 Things We Learnt From This Weekend's Football - 4/11/2013 - Football News

Quite aptly for Halloween, there were some real treats and some unpleasant tricks for fans this weekend. Chelsea served up a real trick for their fans, whilst Gunners had a bag full of treats. Add to that a couple of La Liga thrillers and the question of Roma going eleven games on the bounce winning each one, and it was a cracking weekend.

Red cards, goals galore, a knock out (literally), and some stunning results all featured this week so with that in mind, we shall wait no longer, here are the ten things we learnt from football this weekend.



Joe Hart may have to get used to a spell on the bench – The keeper was deservedly dropped after an utter howler against Chelsea last week and may well have to make do with life on the bench for a little while longer. City seem to either be very very good, or very very bad, and had a huge win against Norwich. If backup Pantilimon performs in the Champions League as well, Pellegrini has a real choice to make.

Diego Costa is flying – The forward is wanted by the Spanish National team, and looking at his performances it is little wonder. He not only has a brilliant partnership with David Villa but can bang in the goals on his own as well. He has been a revelation this season and is a major reason behind the success of Atleti.



Atletico Madrid will be the premier side in their City – Diego Simeone’s outfit look head and shoulders above neighbours Real and their position in the table proves it. Last season they had the lead over them but in true Tottenham style blew it with a couple of months to go. This time around that does not look like happening.



Sanchez, not Messi has been Barcelona’s saviour - Leo Messi is well and truly off the boil at the minute and his Barcelona side are struggling just a little bit. As we all know, they have far and away enough talent to put games to bed and the star of the last couple of weeks had been Sanchez, who still doesn’t get the playing time he deserves.



Real Madrid cannot defend – Conceding five goals in the space of a week has been brushed under the carpet at the club, and when you consider the fact that they have scored ten in that same time, you can understand why. In the league, they may get away with such sloppy play at the back, but on their holy quest for La Decima? Not a chance. The club need to sort it out before away goals KO them.



Roma’s run finally came to an end – Sort of. On Thursday the club racked up a record 10 wins in a row. Yet this weekend were held to a draw. They still lead the pack in Serie A with Juventus and Napoli following close by, and an enthralling title race is on the cards.



United could actually be putting a run together – Maybe, just maybe David Moyes is finally finding his feet at Old Trafford. People are so quick to criticise and jump on the negative bandwagon, but his side are now going on a run of winning games. Chelsea and City are stalling at times, so things may not be as bleak as they once seemed.



Goalkeepers made the headlines – From the astonishing Asmir Begovic goal for Stoke, to the bravery (or stupidity) of Hugo Lloris wanting to continue against Everton, goalkeepers made the back pages this weekend. Joe Hart was finally dropped and Michael Vorm also made unwanted headlines after seeing red towards the end of the Wales derby with Angel Rangel taking his place in net and actually making a decent save!



Mourinho cannot win at St James Park – It has now been four visits to the ground for the Special One, and no wins. This weekend, his side looked absolutely ordinary, as they were dominated by Newcastle in every sense of the word, with the Magpies getting the three points, and deservedly so. Running away with the title? Not on that performance.



Arsenal can beat the big sides after all – Much had been made over the fact that Arsenal had only beaten one side in the top ten and that was their customary win over Spurs. That changed after they beat Liverpool and silenced the SAS to do it. However, given their rather abysmal showing against Chelsea a couple of days before, just how good they are is debatable. What is not is the fact they will challenge for the title.

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