Higuain Seals Juventus Win Against Roma

The top-table clash between Serie A leaders Juventus and second-placed Roma was decided early on by Gonzalo Higuain's brilliant goal as Juventus now sit with a comfortable seven-point lead at the top of the table. The Argentine had looked dangerous with an early chance saved by Szczesny, and on the fifteen-minute mark he managed to steal possession from Daniele De Rossi before dribbling past the Roma defence and blasting the ball into the net.

It was a tough blow for Roma as the lead let Juventus sit and defend comfortably. Luciano Spalletti's choice of starting with Gerson instead of Mohamed Salah soon proved to be a failed experiment as the giallorossi were ponderous in possession. Having ex-Roma playmaker Miralem Pjanic run the clinical one-touch passing of the Juventus counter-attacks only highlighted Roma's lack of midfield spark.

Spalletti replaced Gerson with Salah at the start of the second half but Massimiliano Allegri's halftime team talk had clearly revved up his players for a strong start to the second half. Alex Sandro had a few good runs on the left side after his fairly muted first half, and Mandzukic was proving to be a large a nuisance for the Roma defence. While in the 50th minute Pjanic had to be substituted by Cuadrado due to a thigh problem, Roma was constantly giving possession away with poorly placed passes.

Spalletti eventually took De Rossi off for El Sharaawy in the 72nd minute, shifting to a much more attacking 4-3-3 in a desperate attempt to grab a late equalizer. Roma pressed high up into Juve's half with Naingolann and Strootman cleaning up any Juventus attempts to counter, and the rest of the team working hard as Juventus players tired in the later stages of the match. Roma began to create chances but couldn't find a goal: Perrotti failed to beat Buffon after a nice setup by Salah and Manolas was only inches away from an unsavable diving header.

In the end, the best chances of the second half came for the Juventus midfielder Sturaro but Szczesny was imperious in stopping the Italian's shots. The first chance came when the midfielder was served a pass into the box by Mandzukic's brilliant backheel, and the second was also provided by the Croatian who headed the ball into Sturaro's path towards goal. While Roma finished the second half strong, Spalletti's experiment of leaving Salah out along with Higuain's early goal were both enough to give Juventus the victory.

Now with a seven-point lead ahead of Roma and a nine-point lead ahead of AC Milan, it looks like Juventus might run away with the scudetto yet another season. While the bianconeri performance wasn't perfect, Allegri's team yet again managed to do just enough to win when it really mattered.

Argentina win 4-1 and Greece comeback against 10-man Nigeria

Two great matches, finally it seems like the World Cup is lighting up with some goals and attacking play. We'll have to wait and see if Mexico - France is also an attacking match, but these two results are great anyways.

Here's how Group B looks after these two results:

Argentina            (6)
Korea Republic   (3)
Greece                 (3)
Nigeria                (0)

Argentina - Korea Republic


A great match in which Argentina continued to do what they do best, light up the stage with a brilliant Messi supported by a powerful attacking force. Veron didn't start, but Argentina had few problems creating goals, they caused an own goal after just 15 minutes. Messi's free kick swung in, and Park Chu-Young thought that the defender in front of him would hit it out, instead the ball was missed and it bounced off Park Chu-Young's foot into the back of the net.

Higuain had the second goal, a center-forwards perfect goal, heading it past the keeper after Burdisso's flick gave Argentina a 2-0 lead. It was right before halftime when Korea Republic scored with Lee Chung-Yong stealing the ball from Demichelis who was just unaware of the player behind him.

In the second half, Argentina continued to push and found the third, Messi's run finished with him hitting the post and Higuain tapped the rebound in from the far post. The fourth came in the 80th minute with Higuain completing his hat-trick with a nice header to bury Korea Republic at 4-1.

Greece - Nigeria


A must-win match for both of these teams, Nigeria showed to be a bit more solid against Argentina, while Greece looked like they'd have trouble after the loss to South Africa. Nigeria started the scoring with Uche, swinging the free kick in for the cross, but it was left untouched as it bounced into the net, a complete goal-keepers error by Tzorvas.

Disaster struck for Nigeria in the 33rd minute for Nigeria, Kaita received a direct red card in the 33rd minute after getting into a bit of a scrap with Torosidis. The Nigerian had kicked the Greek on the thigh to receive the direct red and send his team spiraling into chaos.

Greece got the equalizer right before halftime thanks to a deflection off of Salpingidis's shot which looped over to the opposite side it was heading for before. After that Greece pushed for the winner and eventually found it with Torosidis, the man fouled by Kaita. The Greek scorer picked up a rebound from a fizzing shot and neatly tucked it away for an epic win.

Inter Lose to let AC Milan Close in at -1 while Messi Hat-Trick keeps Barca latched to Real

A weekend which includes a revitalized Serie A, Messi showing why he's number 1, and Rooney continuing his fantastic form. Not only all this, but in the Eredivisie a fantastic match between Ajax and PSV ended 4-1 for Ajax after some fantastic goals, especially a rocket shot by Emanuelson that went into the top right corner. This allows Steve Mcclaren's team FC Twente to remain 5 points ahead of PSV in first place in the Eredivisie, while Ajax is just one point from second-place PSV.

In Italy, Inter lose to Catania 3-1 after a disappointing display from the champions, Sulley Muntari was the main cause of their loss, after being substituted on he was sent off within 70 seconds letting Catania score the winners. AC Milan draw close to Inter after a 1-0 win over Chievo, everything seemed square until a rocket shot by Seedorf in the 90th won the game for the rossoneri. Juventus drew 3-3 against Siena, after going 3 up in the first 10 minutes thanks to a brace from Del Piero and a wonder shot from Candreva, Siena fought back for an important draw. Bari defeated Lazio 2-0 as they continue to rise, and Lazio continue to fall just two points from the relegation zone, if you want more info on Lazio and Bari check out this Serie A Talk article.

In Spain, Barcelona seem to be in great form before their Champions League match against Stuttgart, a 3-0 win over Valencia was thanks to a fabulous Messi hat-trick, and a great performance by Henry. Real Madrid have no problem rising back up against Valladolid after being kicked out of the Champions League by Lyon, Cristiano Ronaldo started the scoring with a fantastic free kick, but then it was the Higuain show, the Argentinean netted a hat-trick (with all the goals being somehow provided by a brilliant Ronaldo), and Valladolid were only able to cause an unfortunate own goal by Raul Albiol.

In England, Pavluchenko continues his fantastic form for Tottenham, scoring two in their 3-1 victory over Blackburn, Bolton crush Wigan 4-0, and Stoke City and Aston Villa drew 0-0. Arsenal grabbed a last gasp win over Hull City thanks to Nicklas Bendtner, and Chelsea pummeled West Ham 4-1 after a fantastic performance by Malouda who provided three great assists for Alex and twice for Drogba, and also netting a pretty nice goal himself. Rooney has no trouble continuing his goalscoring run after scoring two in Manchester United's 3-0 win over Fulham, Berbatov scored the other and also provided Rooney with an assist. Sunderland and Manchester City drew 1-1, it seemed to be a good win for Sunderland, but a beautiful curling shot into the top left corner by Sunderland supporting Adam Johnson let Manchester City grab a point.

What do you think of this week's action? Comment below!