Weekend Recap: 10/25 - 10/27

A Man-of-the-Match performance from Giovani Dos Santos and the return of Chicharito the Supersub highlight the action of Mexicans in Europe this last weekend:

Liga BBVA

In La Liga, Giovani Dos Santos' & Javier Aquino's Villarreal took on Andres Guardado's Valencia (although Guardado did not play).  Aquino was subbed on at 73' when the game was firmly in Villarreal's control.  However, Giovani Dos Santos was the main attraction here, as he started and had a monster game for Villarreal CF as they defeated Valencia 4-1.  Dos Santos atoned for a missed penalty at 47', when on the ensuing corner kick he managed a ridiculous backheel goal in front of net.  Forty minutes later, Dos Santos added another golazo with a 20-yard strike past the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper.  Dos Santos also provided a brilliant cross to Ikechukwu Uche for Villarreal's first goal, and was unlucky to hit the post on a difficult, close-range header midway through the game.  This was easily Dos Santos' finest game as a Submarino.

 

Elsewhere in La Liga, Carlos Vela's Real Sociedad got back in the win column with a solid 3-0 victory over Almeria.  Vela did not start, but was subbed on at 81' after playing 90 minutes in the Champions League loss to Manchester United earlier in the week.  Also, Nery Castillo started at Forward and played 63 uninspiring minutes in Rayo Vallecano's 0-3 loss to Valladolid.  Rayo sits just one spot out of the relegation zone in the La Liga table.

In injury news, Jonathan Dos Santos will miss about 6 months due to a knee ligament tear suffered in practice.  This will more than likely end any hope that the younger Dos Santos might have had in representing Mexico in the World Cup in Brazil (if, indeed, Mexico makes the World Cup), and might mark an end to his Barcelona career (a career which never got off the ground, to be honest).

Last, Hector Moreno had a rough week for Espanyol.  Starting his third game after missing time with a hamstring injury, Moreno not only had to endure Espanyol's 0-3 drubbing at the hands of Levante, he was also booked with a yellow card at 57' and then left the game with a quadriceps injury at 59', which might cause him to miss this Tuesday's match against Malaga.

English Premier League

Chicharito scored the gamewinner in United's win

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez was substituted at 68' into Manchester United's home match against Stoke City and helped to make an immediate impact.  United were struggling in attack with a Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie strikeforce, shockingly losing to the lowly Potters 2-1 and looking very sluggish in midfield.  So manager David Moyes moved Rooney to midfield and Chicharito to striker and saw an immediate improvement to his squad.  Rooney scored with an excellent header to tie the game at 78', and Hernandez scored just 2 minutes later with a nice header past goalie after losing his marker.  It was Chicharito's first Premier League goal this season, and second overall for the club after scoring in the Capital One Cup against Liverpool earlier this year.

Primeira Liga

The top two teams in the Portuguese Primeira Liga squared off as Hector Herrera's FC Porto took on Sporting CP at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto.  Herrera received a vote of confidence from Porto manager Paul Fonseca as he was handed the start after his infamous double yellow card during Porto's 0-1 Champions League loss to Zenit St. Peterburg earlier in the week.  Herrera played 67' before being subbed off with the score Porto 2-1 Sporting.  Porto went on to win the match 3-1.

Elsewhere, Diego Reyes started and played 90 minutes as Porto B suffered a 1-2 defeat against Chaves in the Portuguese second division.

Ligue 1

Guillermo Ochoa had a rough time in front of net as Ajaccio was defeated 2-1 by Guingamp for their third consecutive defeat.  Ochoa allowed two goals in the final 5 minutes after keeping a clean sheet for the majority of the match.

Eredivisie

Jesus "Tecatito" Corona was subbed on at 63' in FC Twente's 2-3 loss versus ADO Den Haag in the Dutch League.  Corona played inspired minutes as his team managed to pull the match to a draw after being down 0-2 when he was called on.  Twente came back to tie the game before Den Haag scored at 88'.

Back to Liga MX for El Cubo?

MLS

Erick "Cubo" Torres' Chivas USA was completely embarrassed by the Portland Timbers 0-5 in the last (mercifully) game of the season for the squad.  Torres ended the match with 3 shots on target but could not get one past the goalie.  Cubo's loan spell to Chivas USA now comes to an end, and it remains to be seen if he will end up back at Guadalajara at the start of the Liga MX Clausura.