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Good Monday morning, everyone. As we begin another work week lets take a minute to reminisce on the weekend that was and long for the comfort of next weekend. In the Fall, the weekend means two things. Football and Football. Here in the South, almost everyone is focused on American football whether it's college, pro, or even high school.
However, the world's football is just starting to kick into high gear as well. All the top European leagues are hitting their 4th or 5th weeks, while Major League Soccer is at its most pivotal point. To avoid any confusion, lets be American for brevity's sake and call it soccer. Here's all the soccer action you missed this weekend:
Europe
Chelsea return, Arsenal remain Arsenal [We Ain't Got No History]
Chelsea defeated their bitter rivals Arsenal, 2-0, early Saturday morning. Diego Costa was up to his old tricks being a menace (dirty) and getting Arsenal center back Gabriel sent off. Eden Hazard and Kurt Zouma scored for the champions to restore some order to the early start of their season.
Southampton 2-3 Manchester United match report - Anthony Martial shines [The Busby Babe]
The world's most expensive teenager Anthony Martial has done it again. Scoring a brace in his full Premier League debut helping United beat Southampton and lift the Red Devils up to second in the table. Juan Mata added a third goal and some late heroics by David De Gea saved the three points.
Man City 1-2 West Ham [BBC Sport]
BPL leaders Manchester City fielded the most expensive starting eleven in league history and still managed to get shocked at home by West Ham United. Despite having 72% possession and 27 shots, City could not overcome an first half two-goal deficit.
Barcelona remain perfect with convincing win over Levante [Barca Blaugranes]
Lionel Messi does what Lionel Messi does and scored a brace and recorded an assist to help the champions of everything stay unbeaten this season. While the reigning player of the year showed a glimpse of being slightly human by missing a penalty, he restored his supernatural status minutes later with a typically brilliant Messi goal:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Does a brilliant Messi goal like this really surprise anyone anymore? No but still absolutely amazing every time. <a href="https://t.co/I78Y23cvci">https://t.co/I78Y23cvci</a></p>— Cristian Nyari (@Cnyari) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cnyari/status/645694397896523776">September 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Bayern Munich roll over Darmstadt [Bavarian Football Works]
Kingsley Coman and Arturo Vidal notched their first Bundesliga goals for Bayern to help their club cruise to a 3-0 win over Darmstadt. Vidal's goal was truly spectacular:
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MLS
New York Red Bulls cut down Portland Timbers to clinch playoff spot [Once a Metro]
Along with clinching a spot in the playoffs, the Red Bulls also moved into first place in the Supporters' Shield race with a convincing 2-0 away win over the Portland Timbers. Two must-see highlights from this one include a thunderstrike from Felipe Martins and an unbelievable double-save by Luis Robles:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WATCH: <a href="https://twitter.com/FeliMartins23">@FeliMartins23</a> from downtown. 2-0 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PORvNY?src=hash">#PORvNY</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RBNY?src=hash">#RBNY</a> <a href="http://t.co/NUYlS4k7yW">pic.twitter.com/NUYlS4k7yW</a></p>— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorkRedBulls/status/645720491890577408">September 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Double the saves, double the fun. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PORvNY?src=hash">#PORvNY</a> <a href="https://t.co/JwxxsEHcDC">https://t.co/JwxxsEHcDC</a></p>— Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLS/status/645736283046678528">September 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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World
Say a prayer tonight for this Liga do Brasil defender. He was taken from us way too soon.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don't know who this defender is but I'm already mourning him <a href="https://t.co/DfsIW3iWwN">https://t.co/DfsIW3iWwN</a></p>— Zeets! (@_Zeets) <a href="https://twitter.com/_Zeets/status/645700789487296512">September 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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What's happening in The A?
Falcons 24, Giants 20 final score: Atlanta wins another thriller in Week 2 [The Falcoholic]
The Falcons came from behind to beat the New York Giants behind the arm of Matt Ryan and an incredible day from Julio Jones.
Braves sweep Phillies after A.J. Pierzynski's walk-off hit [Talking Chop]
The Braves swept the Phillies killing their chance at the first pick in next year's MLB draft. SMH.