5 best individual performances this weekend (17th-18th March)

#4 Ishak Belfodil (Werder Bremen): 2 goals, 1 assist vs Augsburg

Ishak Belfodil has been a divisive figure and had last scored a goal in December for Werder Bremen and that came against Mainz 05.

The Algerian international who is on loan from Standard Liege, came to the fore and took the game by the scruff of its neck and delivered blow after blow until Augsburg finally surrendered and bowed out against Florian Kohfeldt's men.

Belfodil scored his first goal of the night in the 5th minute of the game after picking up a floated diagonal ball on the right flank and cutting in and beating a defender before leathering it past Marwin Hitz and into the far bottom corner.

There was a touch of good fortune about his second goal as the ball ricocheted off of him into the back of the net after Marwin Hitz saved his initial attempt by charging out and cutting the angles.

Belfodil then took control of the ball on the left side of the box and laid it off for Max Kruse to finish in the 82nd minute to put the game beyond any doubt.

For Werder Bremen, it was about time that somebody stepped up and rallied them on to better things and Ishak Belfodil did that and then some.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Amit Mishra