Weekend Highlights: Celebrating promotion too soon, farewelling a legend and title parties
Goal of the weekend
Teji Savanier was the star of Montpellier's trip to Toulouse. The experienced midfielder is the driving force of Montpellier, he has recorded an excellent record so far this season with nine goals and seven assists.
He opened the scoring in Toulouse with a beautiful volley which goalkeeper Guillaume Restes had no chance to save. Montpellier won 2-1 despite the fact that Savanier managed to get a red card in addition to his goal, restricting his team to 10.
Fail of the weekend
What's the saddest thing about promotion celebrations? When you realise they were premature and unnecessary... Fans of Dutch second division side Roda stormed the pitch after their win over Cambuur and started celebrating because they thought their main rival Groningen had lost to Telstar.
However, Groningen had equalised late on so the celebrations were pointless. But to make matters worse, the announcer at the stadium reported that Telstar still scored to make it 2-1 and Roda fans started celebrating again.
But then he had to clarify that he was wrong, the goal had not actually happened at all, Groningen had actually tied the game and Roda would have to wait for promotion.
Who will join Willem II as the second direct qualifier to the Eredivisie will be decided on Friday. The schedule couldn't have gone better, as Roda and Groningen will face off for promotion in the last round.
Social media highlight
Getafe celebrated Mother's Day in an interesting way on Friday. Instead of children, the players' mothers, wives or partners played the role of mascots when they took the field.
Unfortunately, the family connection didn't help much, Getafe lost 2-0 to Athletic Club with Mason Greenwood missing a penalty at the end of the match.
Statistic of the weekend
One of the biggest stories of the weekend, and indeed of the season, has been the sensational run of Ipswich Town, who strode to outright promotion to the Premier League.
It looks like British football has found another interesting young coach in The Tractor Boys' boss. Kieran McKenna, a London native who grew up in Northern Ireland, learned his trade in the youth academies of Tottenham and Manchester United and arrived in senior football in December 2021.
First appointed at Ipswich when the club was still down in League One (the third tier), McKenna lifted the team out of trouble to a mid-table position. The very next season (his first full one) they were promoted to the Championship and the very next one to the Premier League.
Just how successful his tenure at Portman Road is evidenced by the fact that since his arrival in December 2021, no one has won more points than him in the top four English leagues. Not even Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Story of the weekend
Marco Reus has announced he will leave Borussia Dortmund after 12 seasons. The icon, who has mainly started from the bench in the current campaign, made what may well have been his last appearance at Signal Iduna Park in the match against Augsburg. And it was a stylish farewell. Reus scored a goal in the 5-1 win, made two more assists and enjoyed a beautiful thank you with his loyal fans.
Photo of the weekend
The weekend was also a weekend of celebration in Portugal. And the Sporting fans did it in style. We picked Ruben Amorim's giant championship party for the squad in Lisbon as the picture of the weekend. Scenes!
