Plot twists and upsets came to the fore this weekend as Premier League leaders Arsenal and second-placed Manchester City both lost to Everton and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Manchester United clawed back the gap with a nervy, incident-packed win over Crystal Palace, while Newcastle United dropped points in the top four race as well. Barcelona's 3-0 win over Sevilla saw them extend their lead at the top of LaLiga to eight points after Real Madrid's loss away to Mallorca.
Lionel Messi's stunner saw PSG extend their lead atop Ligue 1 to eight points after Marseille and Lens stumbled in their chase. Over in Italy, Napoli continued their romp to the title with a 3-0 win over Spezia, while Inter's 1-0 win in the Milan derby saw them keep the gap to thirteen points. Bayern Munich ended their winless run with a 4-2 victory over Wolfsburg, keeping them a point ahead of Union Berlin and three clear of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga title race.
By The Numbers has the best stats from the weekend action:
PREMIER LEAGUE
200 and 267
Harry Kane's goal against Manchester City was not just a winner, but also a record-breaking strike, going past Jimmy Greaves as Tottenham Hotspur's all-time record goalscorer (267 goals) and bringing up his 200th Premier League goal.
0
It was a fairly nightmarish game for Manchester City with striker Erling Haaland failed to attempt a shot on goal -- the first time in any game for the club, and the first since September 2020 against MSV Duisburg while playing for Borussia Dortmund.
0
Tottenham have won all their games in their new stadium against Manchester City -- a run of five straight games -- without conceding a single goal. Pep Guardiola's side took 84 shots in that span. The run of five straight away losses is also Guardiola's worst against any opponent in his managerial career.
4
Manchester City suffered their fourth PL loss of the season, more than the three losses they endured during the entirety of last season. It was the first time in six years that City lost three straight away games (all comps).
1
Casemiro earned the first ever red card of his career in Europe - after 336 games for Real Madrid and 30 for Manchester United.
4
Marcus Rashford has double-digit Premier League goals in a season for the fourth time in his career. The only Manchester United players with more numbers than him are Wayne Rooney (11), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (5) and Andy Cole (5).
Marcus Rashford has scored as many goals in 2023 (8) as Liverpool and Chelsea combined (8) �� pic.twitter.com/Bq7R0cgSdC
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 5, 2023
2
Sean Dyche became just the second manager to beat a league leading opponent in their first Premier League game in charge of a club, after Alan Curbishley's West Ham beat Manchester United in December 2006.
1
For all his positive records this season, Mikel Arteta grabbed an unwanted one -- becoming the first manager in Arsenal history to lose three consecutive PL games away to Everton.
200 and 7
Mo Salah made his 200th Premier League appearance against Liverpool, but it turned out to be an unhappy affair with Liverpool suffering their largest loss (0-3) against Wolves since 1980 (1-4). It also meant Jurgen Klopp's side lost more Premier League games this season (7) than they did during the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons combined.
4.2%
Chelsea have taken 72 shots in their last six Premier League games, scoring from only three of those (4.2%). It's especially notable since they have the highest percentage of shots within the box (76.4%) than any other PL club in that span, which includes three scoreless games.
64
It's no wonder then, that Graham Potter has been tinkering with his lineup - his 64 changes are the second-most by any PL manager in history over their first 15 games. The most? Thomas Tuchel with 66.
LALIGA
Barcelona have yet to concede a league goal at home from open play this season ��
An unbreakable wall in the back ✋�� pic.twitter.com/KKSUCkZANb
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 5, 2023
8
The last time Barcelona led LaLiga by eight or more points was the final match day of 2018-19 season when they won the title with 87 points, 11 above Atlético Madrid (Real Madrid finished third with 68). This was also Barcelona's seventh straight win across all competitions, their longest such streak since the 2019-20 season.
8
Raphina has started 2023 with a bang -- his eight goal involvements (4G, 4A) are the most of any player in LaLiga since the New Year. Quite a turnaround for the Brazilian, who has five goals in his last 12 games after starting the season with one goal in 17 matches for Barcelona (all comps).
19
Sevilla have not won away to Barcelona in their last 19 visits (three draws, sixteen losses). Their last win at the Camp Nou came in 2002 (3-0), a game current Barca boss, Xavi, featured in.
10
Vinicius Jr. suffered 10 fouls against Mallorca -- the most of any player in LaLiga this season. He's also tied in second -- suffering seven fouls twice. Madrid's loss to Mallorca was a fairly dirty game to say the least -- 43 fouls overall -- the most of any LaLiga game this season, but short of the league's record since 2010 (59, Sporting Gijon vs Real Sociedad in 2010).
1
Oihan Sanchet's hat trick for Athletic Bilbao was the first in La Liga this season - the latest into any season in history. A day later, Pere Milla scored a hat trick for Elche (the first for the club in LaLiga since Mario Finarolli in 1977).
19
That Pere Milla hat-trick resulted in Elche's first win of the season (3-1 vs Villarreal). It's the second-longest winless start in LaLiga history, tied with Levante last year. The longest was Sporting Gijon with 23 in the 1997-98 season, where they finished with a record low points total (13), the most losses (29) and fewest wins (2) ever, as well as becoming the first team in LaLiga history to be relegated in March.
21
Atletico Madrid extended their unbeaten streak against Getafe to 21 games, going back to 2012. It's joint second with their streak against Granada, while the 23 unbeaten games against Malaga between 1954 and 1979 remains the club's longest against any opponent in LaLiga.
3
Enes Unal's penalty for Getafe meant only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more from the spot against Atletico than him in the 21st century. Not exactly difficult, considering Jan Oblak's 11% saves against penalties over the last two La Liga seasons is the third-lowest in the league.
SERIE A
7
Lautaro Martinez and the Derby della Madonnina once more -- Inter's Argentine striker scored his seventh goal against AC Milan, his second-favourite opponent after Cagliary (8 goals). He also is Inter's second-highest scorer in the Milan derby after 50s Hungarian great Istvan 'Stefano' Nyers, who scored 11.
4
AC Milan lost their fourth game in a row in all competitions, their worst such streak Vincenzo Montella was in charge between January and February 2017.
16
With 16 goals after 21 games, Victor Osimhen is only the fourth player in Napoli history to do so since Luis Vinicio (1955/56), Edinson Cavani (2012/13) and Gonzalo Higuaín (2015/16).
LIGUE 1
7
PSG earned their seventh straight win against Toulouse, having outscored them 18-3 in that span. Twelfth-placed Toulouse have scored 36 goals all season... while Messi, Kylian Mbapp and Neymar Jr. have totalled 35. Only six teams in Ligue 1 have scored at least 35 goals this season.
5493
Bradley Barcola and Ryan Cherki scored for Lyon, making it the first time two U-20 players scored in a Ligue 1 game since Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema on 23 January 2008 against Lorient, 5493 days ago.
BUNDESLIGA
1
The best first of them all. Sebastien Haller scored his first goal for Borussia Dortmund, returning after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in July 2022, on World Cancer Day. The club had a nice touch with the centre-circle before the match as well.
Before the match and during the half-time break, a bulge that symbolizes a testicular tumor will be added to the center circle to raise awareness for testicular cancer.
It's never too early to get a cancer screening and please do it regularly! ��#WorldCancerDay pic.twitter.com/URwBcuT77D
- Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) February 4, 2023
19
Randal Kolo Muani has contributed to 19 goals this Bundesliga season (9 goals & 10 assists). Only Erling Haaland (28) and Neymar (22) and Lionel Messi (20) have contributed to more goals across Europe's top five leagues this season.
14
Bayern Munich have scored 14 goals in the first 20 minutes of league matches this season, the most of any team in Europe's Top 5 leagues.
RONALDO MESSI WATCH
Something about that number 10 �� pic.twitter.com/w2zCNRZ3Hc
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 5, 2023
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi found the net this weekend, with the former's injury time strike earning his side a point, while Messi scored the winner in PSG's 2-1 win over Toulouse.
499, 820 & 1
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Al Nassr, which was his 499th league goal in his career. It came via a familiar route - his 147th goal from the penalty spot (for both club and country) - which means 18% of the 820 goals he's scored have come via a penalty.
796 and 10-10
Lionel Messi scored his 796th goal for club and country, and also saw him tie Federico Valverde for the most goals from outside the penalty area in Europe's top 5 leagues (all comps). Messi also went into double-digit league goals for the season (10G, 10A), joining Neymar (12G, 10A), Khvicha Kvaratshkelia, Kolo Muani and Serge Gnabry as the only players in Europe's top 5 leagues with double-digit goals and assists.