PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS)
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace on second debut as Man Utd saw off the Magpies 4-1 to top the table. Former United man Romelu Lukaku also scored two in a 3-0 win for Chelsea over Villa to sit level on 10 points with United and Liverpool, who lost Harvey Elliott to serious injury in their 3-0 win at Leeds. Everton joined them at the top on Monday after a comeback 3-1 win over beleaguered Burnley. Man City and Brighton snuck 1-0 wins at Leicester and Brentford and lie just a point behind alongside a depleted and lifeless Spurs, who crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Palace, new man Eduoard netting two in a ten minute cameo. Wolves and Arsenal finally got their first goals and points of the season in wins over Watford (0-2) and Norwich (1-0), as Southampton vs West Ham finished goalless with Antonio picking up a red at the death.
LA LIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)
The mess that is the World Cup qualifying campaign resulted in the postponement of the Barcelona vs Sevilla and Villarreal vs Alaves encounters. Their rivals took full advantage as a Benzema hat-trick saw Real, back at the Bernabeu after a long absence, come back twice to defeat Celta 5-2. A reinvigorated looking Valencia also came from behind at El Sadar to win 4-1, while Atletico left it till the 10th minute of injury time to sneak a 2-1 win at Espanyol. Basque rivals Sociedad and Bilbao sit just behind the top 3 after 2-0 wins against Cadiz (an Oyarzabal double) and Mallorca. Elsewhere, an injury time equaliser saw Rayo claim at point at Levante, Betis scored a late winner to defeat fellow Andalusians Granada, and Getafe slumped to a fourth defeat in four at home to Elche.
SERIE A (HIGHLIGHTS)
Mourinho’s 1000th game as a manager ended in victory for Roma with the Giallorossi sitting pretty atop the table, but they rode their luck in a 2-1 win over Sassuolo. AC Milan have also won 3 of 3, as Zlatan got back on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory over Lazio. Napoli are the only other side still perfect after downing Juve 2-1, with the Old Lady amazingly still winless and down in 16th. Atalanta are also struggling to get going after an uncharacteristic 2-1 home defeat to La Viola dominated by controversial refereeing. Inter dropped their first points at Samp, who twice came from behind to draw 2-2. Udinese and Bologna continued their impressive starts with 1-0 wins over Spezia and Verona, while Genoa, Torino and Venezia claimed their first points in victories over Cagliari (coming back from 2-0 down to 2-3), Salernitana (a 4-0 demolition) and Empoli (0-1) respectively.
BUNDESLIGA (HIGHLIGHTS)
Top versus bottom ended as expected as the Wolves comfortably extended their winning streak with a 2-0 win at Furth. Bayern remain right on their tail thanks to a stunning 4-1 victory for Julian Nagelsmann at his old side Leipzig, who have taken just 3 points from 4 games. The game of the weekend saw Dortmund edge out Leverkusen 4-3 courtesy of an Erling Haaland brace. Mainz remarkably sit level on points with the Schwarzgelben after an impressive 2-0 win at Hoffenheim. Hertha finally got some points on the board at new boys Bochum and the Foals returned to winning ways against Arminia. There were late equalisers in the Freiburg vs Koln and Eintracht vs Stuttgart draws, while the goalkeepers of Union and Augsburg, swapped a season ago, both kept clean sheets.
LIGUE 1 (HIGHLIGHTS)
Even if the Argentinians are missing, PSG’s squad is still so superior to any other side in the division that it barely affects them. This week the capital club swatted aside early pacesetters Clermont 4-0. A late penalty from second-placed Angers rescued a point at Brest, but “le SCO” slipped further behind the Parisians. Marseille and Nice look the most likely to complete the podium this year on early evidence; Marseille earned a deserved win in the principality as striker Dieng netted two and hit the post twice, while Nice held on against Nantes before poaching the win with two late strikes. Nice have been docked a point by Ligue 1 for the crowd trouble against l’OM and the match will be replayed at a neutral venue. Champions Lille slipped to another defeat at Lorient, but Lyon and Dembele seem to be getting their season back on track after a 3-1 win over Strasbourg. Reims claimed a convincing 2-0 win at Rennes, while the bottom 3 all lost. Metz fell to Troyes (who claimed their first victory of the season), Valere Germain scored on debut as Montpellier defeated les Verts 2-0, and bottom side Bordeaux came back from two down only to lose to a 96th minute penalty to visitors Lens.
