Winners
David Martin
The son of West Ham and England great Alvin Martin made his Premier League debut for his father’s side in an emotional win at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham came into this match desperate for points and included the 33-year-old in the squad after a poor run of performances by Roberto – the side’s second choice goalkeeper.
Martin’s contribution was significant between the sticks, with his first half double save the pick of the bunch in keeping Chelsea’s prolific attack out.
It is expected he will hold the position until Lukaz Fabianski returns to injury – having already become a fan-favourite among the club’s passionate supporter base.
The debutant broke down in tears after the game and was seen hugging his dad in the stands on an afternoon he will never forget.
Yokohama F Marinos
Ange Postecoglou has not won anything yet – but my God he is close.
He is that close he can nearly touch it, with his Yokohama side brushing Kawasaki aside over the weekend to put them three points clear of next week’s opponents FC Tokyo.
Yokohama will have to lose by a margin of greater than four goals to not claim the title and while they did concede four in their meeting with Tokyo earlier this season – such capitulation seems unlikely with their current form.
Robbie Kruse
Melbourne Victory fans were left smiling after their match at AAMI Park on Friday.
Not only did they pick up their second win of the season, but finally saw Robbie Kruse, Ola Toivonen and Andrew Nabbout line-up together as part of the side’s front three.
A cagey opening half was brought to life after an aimless Nabbout cross across the goal found Kruse, who tapped in his first A-League goal since 2011.
Leigh Broxham described the match as a “line in the sand” and his teammates responded in the best possible way, easing the pressure on head coach Marco Kurz ahead of a busy December which features two local derbies.
Arsenal Women
At least Arsenal fans can find joy in watching their women’s side be one of the most dominant sides in English football.
They smashed a helpless Bristol City side 11-1 with Dutch forward Vivianne Miedema scoring six goals and providing four assists.
The Gunners sit equal with Manchester City on-top of the Women’s Super League – having scored 23 goals and only conceding four in eight games.
Losers
FC Tokyo
It felt as though the J-League attracted an additional 23 million viewers, as Australia was hanging for any news as to how both Yokohama and FC Tokyo were tracking in their respective matches.
While the race for the Japanese crown will still officially go to the wire, FC Tokyo’s failure to beat Asian Champions Urawa Red Diamonds has put a dagger in their title hopes.
There still may be a twist in the race for the title but seems unlikely as FC Tokyo has to put four goals past Yokohama while simultaneously keeping them from scoring – a challenge in itself considering Postecoglou’s side has scored 65 times this season.
Manchester City
Liverpool and the Premiership continue to slip away as a late Jonjo Shelvey equaliser saw City share the points with Newcastle United.
Not even Kevin De Bruyne’s wonder goal could get City over the line, as they slip to third on the league table after Leicester’s win over Everton sees the Foxes jump into second.
Adelaide United
Things turned sour pretty quickly for the Reds on Sunday.
Nikola Mileusnic’s goal of the season contender was quickly nullified as the Wellington Phoenix scored twice in four minutes to steal victory at Coopers Stadium – bringing Adelaide’s run of four consecutive wins to an end.
The penalty awarded to Liberato Cacace in the 70th minute may have been a contentious one, but lack of the creativity shown by the Reds after conceding would have left them disappointing after such a dominant month.
The Reds have the opportunity to rectify the loss when they host the Newcastle Jets next week.
