Gunners firing on all cylinders
EPL: Arsenal put six past Southampton this Saturday although they conceded their first goal of the season after a goalkeeping error by Wojciech Szczesyn. The North London side were silky and smooth as they went up 4-0 with the first 35 minutes.
The other standout performance of the weekend was Manchester United’s 4-0 rout of Wigan. In the London Derby, Chelsea dropped their first points of the season at QPR’s Loftus Road.
Both John Terry and Eden Hazard had good shouts for penalties but the Champions League champions generally found it hard to break down their rivals. Manchester City also found it hard on the weekend, only managing to draw 1-1 at Stoke City.
Swansea lost their first game of season against Aston Villa 2-0 while Norwich and West Ham played to a goalless draw. Jamaican-born Raheem Sterling was the standout performer in a lacklustre side which drew 1-1 with Sunderland. Sterling was bright all game and set up the opportunity which led to a Luis Suarez goal.
Dimitar Berbatov netted two as Fulham beat West Brom 3-0 while Tottenham’s Jermaine Defoe also scored a brace in his side’s 3-1 win over Reading.
Madrid drop more points
La Liga: Real Madrid were defeated by Sevilla, leaving them 11th in the table after Piotr Trochowski scored the only goal of the match in the second minute. Barcelona meanwhile put four past Getafe as Lionel Messi scored 2 within five minutes.
Malaga are second in the table after defeating Levante 3-1 at home. Late goals for both sides led to an exciting 3-3 draw between Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol while Osasuna and Granada both drew 1-1 with Mallorca and Deportivo respectively.
There were seven goals however between Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano as the Madrid side conceded three goals within the last ten minutes to give them a scare. Atletico however held on 4-3.
Valencia beat Celta 2-1 and Real Sociedad beat Zaragoza 2-0.
Juve roll on
Serie A: Juventus continued their unbeaten start to the season, beating Genoa 3-1 away from home. The champions went behind in the 18th minute but came back with three second half goals to seal the win.
There were two other 3-1 results as Lazio playmaker Hernanes scored a double to give his side the win over Chievo. Napoli joined both Lazio and Juventus not only in 3-1 wins but also in having an unbeaten record as they defeated Parma in comfortable fashion.
AC Milan suffered a second straight home defeat as they went down 1-0 to Atalanta with Luca Cigarini scoring the lone goal in the 64th minute. Inter and Fiorentina were both convincing however in the 2-0 wins over Torino and Catania respectively.
Palermo and Cagliari ended 1-1 while Siena and Udinese also ended with the teams sharing the points after Udinese scored twice in the first five minutes but then conceded twice in 10 minutes in the second half.
Sampdoria and Bologna both earned 3-2 wins over Pescara and Roma respectively after Maxi Lopez scored a brace for Sampdoria. Bologna’s Alberto Gilardino also scored two, bringing his team back from a 2-0 Roma lead.
Munich march on
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich remain unbeaten after going past Mainz 3-1. Mario Mandzukic netted in the first two minutes.
Borussia Dortmund were also victorious as they triumphed 3-0 over Bayer Leverkusen. Hoffenheim, however, are still without a win as they were defeated 5-3 by Freiburg after they conceded twice in the 83rd and 86th minutes with the scored tied at 3-3.
Hamburg are also without a win after they went down 3-2 to Frankfurt. Conversely, Frankfurt are yet to drop points. There were two other 3-2 results as Hannover and Nuremburg beat Werder Bremen and Borussia Monchengladbach respectively.
Schalke’s young stars Julian Draxler and Lewis Holtby scored in their 2-0 win over Greuther Furth while Augsburg and Wolfsburg along with Stuttgart and Dusseldorf ended goalless.
— Yakum Fitz-Henley