This weekend was no different and as many as 3 top players scored 4 goals each in a single match as they single-handedly dressed their teams for success.
Here, we take a look at 5 of the best individual performances from this past weekend. Let’s cut the chit-chat and get to it.
#5 Naby Keita (RB Leipzig): 1 goal, 1 assist vs Bayern Munich
Caught in the battle for UEFA Champions League qualification, RB Leipzig had to get a win against a dominant Bayern Munich side to stay within an arm’s length of Eintracht and Bayer Leverkusen.
But when they hosted the Bundesliga leaders on Sunday, they weren’t really expected to get the better of Jupp Heynckes men although going by what we have seen over the past couple of years, we shouldn’t have put it past them.
And it was largely down to one man. Naby Keita. Playing in a more advanced role than usual, the future Liverpool man channelled his creativity by constantly bugging the Bayern defence with his forays into the final third.
He equalized for RB Leipzig more than half an hour after Sandro Wagner had put Bayern ahead in the first half.
Keita then slid a measured through ball into the path of Timo Werner which the German youngster latched on to and dispatched clinically.
Naby Keita was immense on the night and created 4 chances which was more than what any other player could create on the day. Given that his contribution came against a classy Bayern Munich side, this is one performance that should definitely not go under the radar.
Jurgen Klopp has had a great weekend altogether and we’ll come to that in a bit.
#4 Ishak Belfodil (Werder Bremen): 2 goals, 1 assist vs Augsburg
Ishak Belfodil has been a divisive figure and had last scored a goal in December for Werder Bremen and that came against Mainz 05.
The Algerian international who is on loan from Standard Liege, came to the fore and took the game by the scruff of its neck and delivered blow after blow until Augsburg finally surrendered and bowed out against Florian Kohfeldt’s men.
Belfodil scored his first goal of the night in the 5th minute of the game after picking up a floated diagonal ball on the right flank and cutting in and beating a defender before leathering it past Marwin Hitz and into the far bottom corner.
There was a touch of good fortune about his second goal as the ball ricocheted off of him into the back of the net after Marwin Hitz saved his initial attempt by charging out and cutting the angles.
Belfodil then took control of the ball on the left side of the box and laid it off for Max Kruse to finish in the 82nd minute to put the game beyond any doubt.
For Werder Bremen, it was about time that somebody stepped up and rallied them on to better things and Ishak Belfodil did that and then some.
#3 Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan): 4 goals vs Sampdoria
The FIFA 2018 World Cup is fast approaching and it seemed to many that Mauro Icardi was not showing up enough to make the cut for the Argentina World Cup team which already has an incredibly talented frontline that boasts the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala (the list goes on and on and on)…
The young Inter Milan captain decided to call it a day on his goal drought and picked up his scoring boots on his way to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to give Sampdoria a thrashing they are not likely to forget for a while.
After Perisic put Inter Milan ahead with a looping header in the 26th minute, it was a one-man show. Icardi scored from the spot in the 30th minute before backheeling a stray ball past 2 Sampdoria defenders and the goalkeeper for his second in the very next minute.
He tapped in from a couple of yards after Emiliano Viviano parried a shot into his path in the 44th minute. You’d expect a striker to be done after laying his claim on the match ball but this week was such a delightful diversion from the norm.
Icardi scored his best goal of the night as he hit a first-time volley into the ground for it to bounce over Viviano and find shelter in the far post.
Mauro Icardi is definitely making a case for himself this season and it will be disappointing to see him miss out on the Argentina World Cup squad.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid): 4 goals, 1 assist vs FC Girona
When the king is on song, there’s nothing like it. I mean, how dare we wrote this man off after he struggled to ease into his groove in the first half of the season. He has scored a nearly unbelievable 20 goals in the last 11 games. What kind of stats are those?!
Against FC Girona, who had the beating of the European champions in the corresponding fixture in the first half of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo was at his clinical best.
The signs were there from the get-go as he tested Yassine Bounou from 20 yards out from a driven free kick in the 4th minute of the game. He then volleyed home with aplomb from a Toni Kroos cut-back in the 11th minute and wheeled away in celebration.
Girona equalised in the 29th minute but around 20 minutes later, the Portuguese forward doubled his tally for the night after dinking the ball over the goalkeeper after latching on to a threaded pass from Karim Benzema.
Ronaldo then teed up Lucas Vazquez unselfishly 10 minutes later before tapping into the open goal from 5 yards out after Bono parried a Benzema shot in the 64th minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo did not stop there and sidefooted into the far corner in the 91st minute to take his tally to 4 and Real Madrid’s tally to 6 on the night.
Cristiano Ronaldo now has 22 goals from 23 appearances. What was that about Ronaldo ageing and withering away?
#1 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): 4 goals, 1 assist vs Watford
After being on the receiving end of a considerable amount of flak for disappearing against Manchester United and apparently residing inside Ashley Young’s pocket for the entirety of 90 minutes, the ‘Egyptian King’ iterated that it was a one-off and got right back to his devastating best against a Watford side that will have nightmares for days to come.
Perhaps the second best left foot in all of Europe, Mo Salah tiptoed past 3 Watford defenders and even send one to the ground before slotting it past Orestis Karnezis to open the scoring for the Merseysiders.
He kicked on from there and tapped in from 6 yards out from an Andy Robertson’s cross in the 43rd minute to provide some sort of cushion for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
After teeing up Roberto Firmino for a delightful finish in the 50th minute, Mohamed Salah scored arguably the best goal of the night in the 77th minute as he led a pack of Watford defenders one way and then the other, flat footing a couple and bamboozling the rest before poking the ball to the far bottom corner past a host of bodies.
Hat-trick goals seldom come better than that. Then Salah said, ‘Might as well,’ in the 85th minute as he latched on to the ball inside the box after Bono parried Danny Ings’ shot into his path.
Mo Salah is leading the race for the Premier League golden boot with 28 goals and now has got a 4 goal advantage on Harry Kane.
If you don’t think Mo Salah is the signing of the season, we are not even going to have a conversation.
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