Reijnders, Perisić and Budimir scored: but how many expulsions. The weekend of the former Serie A

Between goals and red cards

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The Christmas atmosphere, with the lights, the holidays around the corner and a calendar that invites serenity, was not enough to ease the tension on foreign fields. The weekend of the former Serie A footballers playing outside the Italian borders explained a different story, made up of tense nerves, protests and a surprising number of red cards. A change of scenery compared to the last few weeks, so far characterized above all by goals and decisive plays, which however were not lacking this time either.

Between direct expulsions, avoidable second yellow cards and moments of tension that affected important matches, the referees were often protagonists, also involving well-known faces from our championship. But to counteract the exposed nerves were once again the goals, heavy and spectacular, to remember how the show, despite everything, always remains at the center of the tale.

PSV: from Perisić’s winning goal to Schouten’s dismissal

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Against Utrecht, PSV struggled more than expected, but still achieved yet another victory of their season. The match was broken by the hosts in the first half, but Ricardo Pepi took care of it in the second, with an assist from Sergiño Destto restore equality. The American is not the only former Serie A player to contribute to PSV’s victory, as he scored the winning goal in the seventy-sixth minute Ivan Perisic. At the end, it is also written in the referee’s notebook Jerdy Schoutenwho was sent off just before the ninetieth minute, former Bologna midfielder.

Day to forget for Romero and Tottenham

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The Argentine Christian Romero he has a sui generis way of defending: at times he is an insurmountable wall, he is granite, he masters the art of defending but at the same time he always gives the impression of being at the limits of regularity. Against Liverpool, however, the limit was crossed: the Tottenham defender earned two yellow cards, the second after kicking Konate in full injury time. The Tottenhamamong other things, even ended the match with nine men given that Xavi Simons was also sent off in the first half. The epilogue could not have been other than a victory for the Reds, who beat the Spurs 1-2.

Challenge between bombers: Jovic against Taremi

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Against Kifisias, Mehdi Taremi he found the seventh goal in the Greek championship with Olymoiakos. In Greece there are two former Serie A strikers competing for the title: Taremi on one side, Jović on the other, the latter wearing the Aek Athens shirt. The former Milan team is first with 37 points, while the Piraeus team has 36. Paok Thessaloniki also participates in the relay, completing the podium. Furthermore, also Jovic he scored last weekend, scoring the decisive goal in his team’s 2-1 win against Ofi.

Budimir overwhelms Alavés

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In the last match played by Osasuna he was a giant Before Budimir. The former Sampdoria and Crotone player was the star of the match against Alaves, which ended 3-0 in favor of his team. With the brace scored in LaLiga the Croatian striker not only gives himself a great Christmas present, but also rises to heights 6 goals in the Spanish championship; the eighth, among other things, this season with the Osasuna shirt.

Reijnders’ great goal

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Guardiola’s Manchester City wins and convinces. Against West Ham on Saturday, the Sky Blues won 3-0 over the hammers in a match that had no history. In goal, as always, Erling Haaland: the Norwegian cyborg scored a brace and the third goal was scored by the former Milan player Tijjani Reijnders. The goal comes following a beautiful move by the home team: started by Cherki’s play, passed through Haaland and finished in the best way by the Dutch midfielder.

Livaja, goal and expulsion. Rebić was also with him

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In the Croatian championship Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split they continue to put on a show, protagonists of a tight title race and without any real outsiders capable of entering. Hajduk’s last outing, against Vukovar, was emblematic of this ongoing tension. In just ten minutes everything happens. In the 70th minute Marko Livaja scores the 2-1 goal which seems to put the game on the right track, but four minutes later the balance is broken: Ante Rebićex Milan, receives the second yellow card for an elbow in midfield against an opponent and leaves his team numerically inferior.

The tension grows further and in the 77th minute it’s the turn of the match Livaja ending up in the locker room prematurely: first the warning for taking off his shirt after the goal, then the second for kicking the ball away in protest after a foul called in favor of Vukovar. Reduced to nine men, Hajduk gritted their teeth and resisted until the final whistle, taking home three points very heavy in the fight for the title, at the end of an evening as electrifying as it was nervous.

Icardi always scores

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Galatasaray are unstoppable. Against Kasimpasa he offered another top-level performance and once again confirms his extraordinary power. On Sunday he scored three goals: Akgun, Gabriel Gomes included in the scoresheet and, in the eighty-eighth, Mauro Icardi. The former Inter striker thus reaches nine goals in the Turkish championship. This, by the way, is the second in a row after the one scored last week against Antalyaspor.

Giannetti’s first goal

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The first goal arrives Lautaro Giannetti with the Antalyaspor shirtthe club he joined in the summer after his experience at Udinese. The Argentine defender found the net when the score read 1-0 in favor of their opponents, Kocaelispor. The draw, however, did not last long as after just 5 minutes the home team found the second goal with Bingol. A bittersweet evening for Giannetti, the first center in Türkiye but forced to suffer a defeat.