Tuesday Roundup 17/08/2021

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS)

Were you watching Harry Kane? Spurs continued their dominance over champions City at their new stadium in a merited 1-0 win with Son once again the “killer”. Bitter rivals Arsenal suffered the opposite fate as they slipped to a miserable 2-0 defeat at new boys Brentford, promoted via the playoffs. The other title hopefuls were busy laying down markers as Man U crushed Leeds 5-1 thanks to a Fernandes hat-trick and four Pogba assists, Chelsea cruised past Palace 3-0 and Liverpool registered the same score away from home at Norwich. A sensational Jamie Vardy strike helped the Foxes sneak past Wolves 1-0, while the Hammers twice came from behind to take the spoils against the Magpies. Elsewhere, Rafa got off to a winning start with the Toffees despite a shaky start, Watford flew out of the traps to record a 3-2 win over Villa, and things are looking grim for Burnley as they let an early lead slip to fall to defeat against the Seagulls.

LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

It was business as usual in La Liga, as both Real Madrid and Barca knocked in four against Basque opponents Alaves and Sociedad. Benzema netted a brace for Real, while Braithwaite did the same for a Barca side playing for the first time without Messi in the squad. Angel Correa scored two for champions Atletico as they overcame Celta 2-1 with a Suarez “injury” instigating acrimony that led to three red cards at the death. Erik Lamela was also at the double after his move to Sevilla from Spurs as they swept promoted Rayo aside 3-0. Valencia played the whole match with 10 men, but managed to hold on to beat Getafe 1-0, whilst El Comandante was back on target for the Granota in a 1-1 draw in Cadiz. Mallorca’s game against Betis finished the same way, but the remaining 3 matches failed to produce a goal. Villarreal’s Juan Foyth did see red, however.

COPPA ITALIA (HIGHLIGHTS)

The Coppa Italia kicked off the Italian season with the top 8 sides from last year not entering until the last 16. The match of the round was Ternana’s shock win at Bologna, going 5-1 up and missing a penalty before being hauled back to 5-4 and holding on for the final 15 minutes. In another enthralling encounter, a heroic goalkeeping performance from Carnesecchi was not quite enough for Cremonese, as Torino defeated the Serie B outfit on penalties. Serie A new boys Venezia needed to net 8 penalties in their shootout win over Frosinone, as the remainder of the top flight sides booked their passage into the next round, with stadium sharers Genoa and Sampdoria’s 3-2 comeback wins over Perugia and Alessandria other highlights. The second round has already been drawn with Sampdoria vs Torino and Venezia vs Ternana the pick of the ties.

BUNDESLIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)

Both of the new boys ended up empty-handed in Week 1, but Bochum will be a lot happier with their narrow defeat to Wolfsburg (after playing nearly the whole game with 10 men) than Greuther Furth will be with their 5-1 capitulation at Stuttgart. Adi Hutter’s new side, Monchengladbach, took a point against champions Bayern that could have been 3, but his old side Frankfurt continued their torrid start to the new campaign with a 5-2 mauling by Dortmund, Haaland adding another brace. Florian Kainz’s brace was the difference for Koln as they defeated Hertha 3-1, Andrej Kramaric turned provider with 3 assists in Hoffenheim’s 4-0 win at Augsburg, while Mainz caught Leipzig cold in a solid 1-0 win. Elsewhere, Bayer came back to draw 1-1 at Union and Bielefeld Freiburg finished goalless.

LIGUE 1 (HIGHLIGHTS)

With the arrival of Messi and the slow starts of PSG’s rivals, the big fish seems to have got bigger and the pond even smaller in France. Yet the Parisians still needed some refereeing assistance as Icardi’s offside opener was not chalked off and Strasbourg’s impressive comeback to 3-2 was checked by a harsh red card. Their surprise companions atop the table are Clermont, who defeated fellow promoted club Troyes on the back of a Bayo brace, and Angers, who dismantled an abject and lost-looking Lyon 3-0. It was even worse for holders Lille, who are well and truly in the Doguehouse after their former boss’s new charges, Nice, rolled in four without reply at the Pierre-Mauroy. Champions League distracted Monaco also fell to Lorient, and Marseille unexpectedly let a two goal half-time lead slip against out-of-form Bordeaux to drop two. Elsewhere, a much improved Nantes claimed a 2-0 home win over Metz, Montpellier and Reims shared 6 goals in a thriller, Lens had to settle for a point in a 2-2 draw against Saint Etienne in their newly upgraded stadium, and Breton sides Brest and Rennes got their second points of the season as their match ended 1-1.