Weekend Highlights: A giant in trouble, touching Dutch stories and United's crumbled fortress
Goal of the weekend
Bayern Munich's match against Darmstadt was packed with stories. Manuer Neuer returned to goal after almost a year, the Bavarians scored all eight of their second-half goals, plus three red cards were thrown. But they were all overshadowed by Harry Kane (30).
The English cannonballer has often heard from critics that he is a "finisher" who scores all his goals from the penalty area. The truth is that the England captain has a refined technique, which he showed when he beat goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen (30) with a pinpoint shot from his own half of the pitch. In short, magnificent.
The underdog of the weekend
From the eight-goal thrashing and goalscorer Kane, we move on to someone who is suffering tremendous bad luck in front of goal.
Juventus striker Moise Kean (23) scored his last league goal in April against Hellas Verona. When the same opponent visited the Allianz Stadium on Saturday, the forward was hoping to break the six-month wait for a goal against them. He almost got his wish twice, but both shots were scratched by VAR.
The first of which was due to a strange offside... Keane's only entry on the stat sheet was a yellow card.
From social media
We all probably know a man for whom football, and more specifically his favourite club, means everything in the world. One such fan is the source of a touching story from the Netherlands.
The last wish of a man suffering from a terminal illness was to see his beloved Vitesse once more. He watched the match against Zwolle, in which the team from Arnhem saved a 1-1 draw at the end, from his hospital bed, accompanied by his family.
Weekend statistics
Old Trafford is the Theatre of Dreams, but it's also an impregnable fortress. At least that was true when Manchester United was run by stern boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The legendary Scotsman led the Red Devils for an incredible 26 years, and during that time he knew home league defeat just thirty-four times. That's the same number of Premier League defeats United have recorded at Old Trafford in the last 10 years, since the iconic coach retired. Worse still, the 34th loss came in the Manchester derby against reigning champions City, who outclassed the rivals in red jerseys in every respect.
The story of the weekend
When captain Dusan Tadic (34) announced in the summer that he wanted to terminate his contract with Ajax early due to the lack of quality in the playing squad, many did not understand.
After all, the most famous Dutch club can't be that bad, right? However, the Serbian ace turned out to be a prophet.
The side from Amsterdam is now in total disarray, having dropped to last place in the league after losing 5-2 to leaders PSV Eindhoven. Incidentally, they are led by Peter Bosz, who, until a few years ago, was the coach of Ajax).
With five points and only one win in eight games, it has never been this bad in their 123-year history. Sporting director Sven Mislintat, who has brought in a number of poor quality reinforcements, and coach Maurice Steijn have already left the club.
New coach John van't Schip will have his hands full trying to salvage a disastrous season and probably won't be able to reach into the vaunted academy for help. Jong Ajax, a youthful B team, is also in last place in the second league...
Photo of the weekend
We stay in the Netherlands for the third time. Experienced striker Bas Dost (34) drove Nijmegen's win over AZ Alkmaar with a goal and an assist, but instead of fighting for points, he may have been fighting for his life when he suddenly collapsed on the pitch late in the game.
Many fans will have been reminded of the situation at the European Championships when only the quick intervention of the medical team and considerate teammates saved the life of midfielder Christian Eriksen (31). Fortunately, Dost's story also has a good ending.
The Nijmegen and AZ players, though visibly shocked, formed a circle around the striker - just as the Danes did around their teammate that day. The medical team, surrounded by the support of all the players, could do their job 100% and Dosta was taken care of.
The tall striker sent a positive message from his hospital bed the same evening. "The help I received on the pitch was fantastic. I'm in hospital now and I'm feeling good," he posted via Nijmegen's social network X (formerly Twitter) profile.