In the early morning of February 12, Beijing time, it was the third day of the lunar calendar, and the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga continued to stage many games.
Arsenal showed a strong attack, scoring six goals, and Manchester United and Milan also won three points, but Barcelona suffered a heavy defeat and were held to a draw by Granada in the relegation zone. At the same time, the Africa Cup of Nations was born, with Ivory Coast defeating Nigeria to win the title.
Arsenal showed strong momentum with a 6-0 win over West Ham. Heading into 2024, Arsenal are in good form and have narrowed the gap between the two sides after beating Liverpool in the last round. Against West Ham, who have beaten them twice, the Gunners unceremoniously played a tough game.
In the 31st minute of the first half, Rice assisted Gabriel to break the deadlock, and the game entered Arsenal's attacking rhythm. In the 40th minute, Saka was brought down by the attacking Areola, and the referee decisively awarded a penalty, and Saka himself doubled the lead. In the 44th minute, Rice assisted again and Saliba scored with a header, and in first-half stoppage time, Trossard received a pass from Odegaard and cleverly scored again.
The Gunners scored four goals in the first half, which was unceremonious! In the 62nd minute of the second half, Odegaard sent a through pass assist, Sane easily cut inside to get rid of Aguerd's defense, and scored a brace! The goal also took Saka's fourth consecutive season in which he scored in double figures in the Premier League.
In the next three minutes, Rice hit his old club goal with a kick from the periphery, and he didn't even celebrate after the goal. Arsenal won by six goals, the first time in 89 years that they have won four consecutive league games since the New Year, and are just two points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table.
Villa 1:2 Manchester United, the Premier League title competition is fierce, and the Champions League zone should not be underestimated. With Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal firmly in the top three, the competition for fourth place is also extremely fierce.
Sixth-placed Manchester United travel to Villa, and Hoylen continues to be in red-hot form, scoring in five consecutive league games, having been lacking in the first 14 rounds. Villa, who were behind, launched a series of attacks, but Onana made seven saves in a high and low block, and his post-game rating was as high as 83 points, the best player of the game.
Although Douglas Luiz equalised in the 66th minute, Manchester United's Scott McTominay was once again a hero, coming on as a substitute in the 86th minute to head home! Manchester United won 2-1 away and are still six points clear of fourth-placed Tottenham.
AC Milan beat Napoli 1-0.
Milan are eight points clear of Inter Milan at the top of the table and 10 points ahead of fourth-placed Atalanta this season, and the race for the league title seems hopeless. However, they managed to secure Champions League qualification, and that goal was already easy.
Against defending champions Napoli in this round, Milan relied on Te'o's goal and ushered in an eight-game unbeaten league run under the leadership of the only goal of the game. Next, Milan turned their attention to the Europa League knockout round. With the league title out of sight and the Coppa Italia out early, the Europa League is the only trophy still in contention for the title.
On the contrary, Barcelona were in trouble when facing second-to-last Granada, with a thrilling 3-3 draw. Originally, Barcelona broke the balance early through Yamal, but Granada quickly launched a counter-attack, and Ricard Sanchez equalised on 43 minutes.
In the 60th minute of the second half, Pellistri, who joined on loan from Manchester United, pushed an empty goal to overtake the score; Three minutes later, Lewandowski received an assist from Gundogan and volleyed to recover the difference. Unlike other big clubs, Barcelona experienced a rather dramatic rollover in this round of matches.
However, in the 66th minute, Granada headed in a relaxed cross that once again penetrated Ter Stegen's goal. At the crucial moment, the 16-year-old Yamal stepped up and cut off the ball at Callejon's feet in the 80th minute, shook off the angle and scored a world wave, scoring twice, and Barcelona struggled to draw 3-3 with their opponents.
Barcelona is already 10 points behind Real Madrid after this round of games, the league championship is basically hopeless, the Copa del Rey is out, the Super Cup is suppressed by Real Madrid, and Xavi's resignation is reasonable.
After Ivory Coast's 2-1 victory over Nigeria, they became the hosts of this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. After a twist and turn in the group stage, they eliminated Senegal and won against Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nigeria, on the other hand, won the first six games of the tournament and conceded only two goals, beating Cameroon, Angola and South Africa. In the 38th minute of the final, Ekong's powerful header gave Nigeria the lead.
In the second half, Adingra provided two assists to help Kessie tie the score in the 62nd minute. Alai, on the other hand, scored the winning blow in the 81st minute with a header as Ivory Coast won 2-1 and lifted the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time. It was also the first time since Egypt in 2006 that a host team won the Africa Cup of Nations.
Interestingly, Ivory Coast were on the verge of exiting the group stage and sacked their manager, but without a formal manager, they managed to reach the final and win the title.