A health scare overshadows Sergio Aguero’s record-breaking turn for Argentina, but there’s better news for two other big-ticket strikers, Romelu Lukaku and Alexandre Lacazette.
Fellow forward Alvaro Morata gets the night off for Spain and Eden Hazard is also rested for Belgium, while an injury to Ruben Loftus-Cheek spoils his otherwise excellent international break with England.
Here are the notes from a busy night of action packed with incident and talking points.
Aguero scores and scares
Sergio Aguero’s second goal of the international break took him to third on Argentina’s all-time scoring list, only for a half-time health scare to overshadow the milestone.
The striker ended up in hospital after feeling dizzy during the break of his side’s 4-2 loss to Nigeria in Russia.
Initial reports suggesting that he had blacked out seemed over-dramatic, with the Argentine Football Association declaring on Twitter that Aguero:
“…presented symptoms of fainting and for that reason he was taken to have routine studies done as a precautionary measure.”
Man City then issued a statement downplaying the incident further.
“Sergio never lost consciousness and was taken to hospital for precautionary medical checks. He will be assessed by the club’s medical team ahead of this weekend’s Premier League trip to Leicester City.”
The forward was discharged, returned to the team hotel and was fit enough to fly back from Russia, but his potential involvement in Saturday’s match is anyone’s guess for now.
More than 76,000 Fantasy Premier League managers have bought him ahead of Gameweek 12, putting him in the top ten for transfers-in.
But over the last 24 hours, he is second only to suspended team-mate Nicolas Otamendi for sales.
Owned by 23%, Aguero has the form – four goals in his last four matches for club and country, and six from his last four league starts – and he has the fixtures (lei hud SOT WHU), leaving only his fitness in question.
City coach Pep Guardiola will presumably answer that ahead of the Leicester match, with rotation issues surrounding next Tuesday’s Champions League encounter with Feyenoord another factor to be considered.
It’s also worth noting that Aguero has started just one of his side’s last four away matches in the league, whereas fellow forward Gabriel Jesus has started all five of their road trips.
The aforementioned Nicolas Otamendi, played the full 90 minutes against Nigeria, but is suspended for Saturday anyway, while Man United reserve keeper Sergio Romero was an unused sub.
Nigeria came from two goals down to win the friendly, with a brace from Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi and a goal and two assists for Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho.
The latter’s Foxes team-mate Ahmed Musa replaced him on 70 minutes and set up Iwobi’s second goal, while the Leicester duo’s club-mate Wilfred Ndidi played the full match.
Premium strikers finding form
Aguero wasn’t the only big-ticket forward making history on a busy international night.
Man United’s Romelu Lukaku became Belgium’s record goalscorer with the winner in a 1-0 friendly victory over Japan.
The striker headed home a cross from West Brom midfielder Nacer Chadli for his 31st international goal.
Lukaku had gone scoreless for seven matches in all competitions for his club, prompting close to 81,000 managers to show him the door this week, before a brace in last Friday’s 3-3 draw with Mexico stopped the rot.
His continued return to form is timely for a 47.5% ownership ahead of home matches with Newcastle and Brighton over the next two Gameweeks.
Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette also had a good night, scoring both of France’s goals in a 2-2 draw in Germany, with an assist for the first coming from United’s Anthony Martial.
Having failed to find the net in his first four away league matches for the Gunners, Lacazette has now scored in three consecutive road trips for club and country, although Arsenal’s immediate schedule (TOT bur HUD MUN) doesn’t exactly demand investment in the Frenchman.
A third big-name Premier League striker, Chelsea’s Alvaro Morata, had an almost perfect international break – as far as his 19.9% FPL ownership base was concerned, that is.
The Spaniard scored but played just 45 minutes in Saturday’s friendly win over Costa Rica and was an unused sub last night in a 3-3 draw with Russia.
More than 100,000 managers have bought Morata ahead of the Blues’ trip to West Brom this weekend – more than any other forward – and their new purchase looks to be both in form and well rested. He’s emerged as the go-to man for those Aguero owners over the past 24 hours, earning more transfers-in than any other player.
Another key Chelsea target, Eden Hazard, played no part in last night’s Belgium match after picking up a knock against Mexico earlier in the break.
Lukaku and Chadli were among a typically strong Premier League contingent in action for the Belgians. They were joined as starters by Jan Vertonghen – the Spurs centre-half returning after an ankle injury kept him out of the weekend match – Simon Mignolet, Kevin De Bruyne and the fit-again Watford defender Christian Kabasele.
De Bruyne played 62 minutes and Lukaku 74, while Everton winger Kevin Mirallas was introduced with half an hour to go.
Mousa Dembele, Thibaut Courtois, Steven Defour and Laurent Depoitre were unused subs for Belgium, while Southampton defender Maya Yoshida played the full match for Japan.
As for the French, Lacazette was withdrawn after 76 minutes, Martial did the full 90 and Laurent Koscielny and Moussa Sissoko remained on the bench.
Midfielders front and centre
Spurs playmaker Christian Eriksen returned to goal scoring form with a bang as his hat-trick against the Republic of Ireland secured Denmark’s place in next year’s World Cup finals.
The midfielder hasn’t scored in his last three domestic outings and that mini-drought had been extended to the international stage when he blanked for the first time in seven Denmark matches during Saturday’s first leg of the World Cup qualifying play-off.
But he was devastating in the second leg as the Danes won 5-1 and the 69,000+ managers who have sold him on this Gameweek might be regretting their decision, particularly as Spurs’ schedule picks up markedly (WBA lei wat STK BHA) following this weekend’s trip to Arsenal.
Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel and Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen played the full 90 minutes alongside Eriksen, with Christensen providing an assist. Huddersfield stopper Jonas Lossl was on the bench.
Brighton defender Shane Duffy opened the scoring for the Irish and played the full match, as did Stephen Ward, James McClean, Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady.
Harry Arter started but was subbed at half-time, with Shane Long replacing him.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil started and finished Germany’s draw with France and produced an assist for good measure.
He was joined in the German midfield by Emre Can, who played 83 minutes, and Ilkay Gundogan, who was replaced after 65.
Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger came on at half-time, while Leroy Sane’s 25% ownership will be delighted by his bench-warming duties.
Sane, the top-scoring player in FPL, played 87 minutes against England earlier in the break but did not feature at all last night. He’s the third most purchased player heading into Gameweek 12, with over 113,000 new owners.
Sorry end for Loftus-Cheek
Crystal Palace’s midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek had been one of the few positives to emerge from England’s injury-strewn international break.
The Chelsea loanee impressed on his debut against Germany on Friday and started last night’s 0-0 draw with Brazil as well.
But he lasted just 34 minutes of the encounter before a back injury forced him off, with Man United’s Jesse Lingard taking his place. Post-match, Loftus-Cheek conceded he was unsure whether he’ll be fit in time to face the Toffees.
England coach Gareth Southgate opted for a two-man attack of Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy, but neither unduly threatened the Brazilian defence and the Leicester striker has now scored just once in seven matches for club and country.
The visitors handed Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho his first start since Gameweek 9 as he confirmed his full recovery from a groin injury, playing 68 minutes before being replaced by Chelsea’s Willian.
Man City striker Gabriel Jesus started and played 76 minutes, with Roberto Firmino coming on in his place. Fernandinho was introduced at the same time and almost won the match when his shot hit the outside of the post, while his club-mate Danilo was an unused sub.
Elsewhere…
Burnley striker Sam Vokes missed a penalty as Wales were held to a 1-1 draw by Panama.
Vokes played the first half of the friendly, as did Spurs defender Ben Davies, while Liverpool midfielder Ben Woodburn was given a 71-minute run-out.
Wayne Hennessey, Joe Allen, Andy King and Ashley Williams were all unused subs for the Welsh.
Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk, Daley Blind and Davy Propper started as the Netherlands won 3-0 in Romania.
Blind was replaced after 87 minutes and Propper on 62, while Georginio Wijnaldum and Timothy Fosu-Mensah stayed on the bench.
Spurs midfielder Son Heung-min and Swansea City’s Ki Sung-yeung played the full 90 minutes for South Korea in a 1-1 home draw with Serbia.
Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic started and finished for the visitors, while Dusan Tadic and Aleksandar Mitrovic were unused subs.
Son’s team-mate Davinson Sanchez played 72 minutes as Colombia won 4-0 in China, while Cheikhou Kouyate and Idrissa Gueye put in a full shift for Senegal in their 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over South Africa. West Ham striker Diafra Sakho stayed on the bench.
Iceland drew 1-1 in Qatar, with Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson playing the full 90 and Burnley midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson watching from the dug-out, while Man United keeper David de Gea was kept busy for Spain in the 3-3 draw against Russia in which Alberto Moreno came on at half-time and David Silva after 58 minutes.
Marko Arnautovic played 86 minutes and Kevin Wimmer was an unused sub as Austria beat Uruguay 2-1, while Bernardo Silva came on after 62 minutes for Portugal in their 1-1 draw with the USA, Newcastle defender DeAndre Yedlin playing the full match for the Americans.
And in Monday night’s tense 0-0 draw between Italy and Sweden – a match that saw the Italians fail to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958 – United centre-half Victor Lindelof played the full 90 minutes for the impenetrable Swedes.
His club-mate Matteo Darmian was given 63 minutes for the Azzurri, as was Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini.
Finally, reports suggest that Winston Reid could miss David Moyes’ first match in charge of West Ham on Sunday afternoon.
The centre-back isn’t due to return to the UK until Saturday morning as New Zealand’s vital World Cup clash with Peru doesn’t take place until 2.05am GMT tomorrow.
Not only would this affect the Hammers, it would also place bigger question marks over Kiwi striker Chris Wood’s availability for Burnley’s clash with Swansea City, which kicks off at 3pm on Saturday. Reid, at least, has until 4pm the following day before the Vicarage Road encounter gets underway.
