Arsenal top the table as both United and City lose

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Manchester United succumbed to their first home defeat of the season as they were beaten 2-1 at Old Trafford by West Bromwich Albion.

English Premier League

United have lost 3 of their 6 games so far marking their worst start in the top flight in 24 years. The first proper chance came United’s way when Nani’s curling low cross from the right beat the defence but Boaz Myhill did well to hold with Javier Hernandez sliding in. Wayne Rooney then headed a free kick straight at Myhill and sent another over. Shinji Kagawa shot straight at Myhill and Anderson failed to score when Kagawa picked him with a great cross. Saido Berahino who replaced Scott Sinclair early in the 1st half came close to scoring for the Baggies when he headed Morgan Amalfitano’s cross and then shot straight at David De Gea.  The visitors took the lead on 54 minutes when Amalfitano made a run which was poorly challenged and did well to lift the ball over De Gea to score. United drew level 3 minutes later through Rooney’s free kick which beat the crowd and Myhill. Jonas Olsson almost restored the lead when his header hit the underside of the crossbar but West Brom did score eventually when Amalfitano laid off the ball with a back heel for Berahino and the 20 year old scored with a bottom corner finish. Stephane Sessegnon almost added insult to injury but shot wide. Substitute Marouane Fellaini had a goal ruled out for offside while Rooney had his free kick punched away by Myhill and Adnan Januzaj shot wide as West Brom held on for an impressive win which they thoroughly deserved.
Manchester City lost 3-2 away at Villa Park as Aston Villa stunned the Blue Mancunians. City created 21 chances but failed to capitalise on them on many an occasion. James Milner shot wide after Aleksandar Kolarov had done well to cross after a strong run on the left. Edin Dzeko shot straight at Brad Guzan after he was sent through by Samir Nasri and the Frenchman himself had a shot deflected after he was sent through by Yaya Toure. Dzeko shot over while Alvaro Negredo and Kolarov both missed chances. Villa saw very few chances in the 1st half and Toure came close to breaking the deadlock and he did on the stroke of halftime scoring from Nasri’s corner. Negredo had the chance to double the lead after the restart after a poor back pass by Yacouba Sylla but Guzan did well to clear the danger. Villa equalised when Leandro Bacuna found Karim El Ahmadi with a cute pass and the Moroccan scored from an acute angle. Replays however showed that he was in an offside position. City responded 5 minutes later when Dzeko scored from another corner. Complacency seemed to get the better of City as they gave away a free kick when Matija Nastasic brought down Andreas Weimann. Bacuna stepped up and curled a beauty into the top corner. City had barely recovered from that when Weimann scored with one touch following Guzan’s long ball. City tried to save the game but Stevan Jovetic had a shot blocked and saved after which Kolarov headed wide.
Arsenal went on to top the table after beating Swansea City 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium and the Gunners have now won 5 consecutive Premier League games after their opening day loss to Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium. The first half saw very few chances as both teams thwarted each others’ attacks. Jonjo Shelvey shot over after which Per Mertesacker headed wide from Aaron Ramsey’s cross. Olivier Giroud missed a great chance to score but shot wide after Serge Gnabry had done well to find him. Gnabry drew a save from Michel Vorm in the 2nd half and the German scored on 58 minutes after some neat play between Giroud and Ramsey. Mesut Ozil could have made it two to the good after being played in by Ramsey but was denied by Vorm. It was 2-0 4 minutes after the 1st goal as Ramsey beat Vorm after Jack Wilshere had won a 50-50 tackle. Nathan Dyer drew a save from Wojciech Szczesny with a powerful drive followed by Wilfried Bony’s shot straight at the Arsenal custodian. The Swans pulled one back when Ben Davies exchanged passes with Bony and finished well. Swansea had a late penalty appeal denied for handball as Arsenal went back to London with all 3 points.   
Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea had to share the spoils as their London derby ended 1-1 at White Hart Lane. Tottenham took the lead on 19 minutes when Christian Eriksen found Roberto Soldado inside the box and Spaniard laid the ball off for Gylfi Sigurdsson and the Icelandic midfielder did well to hold off a sliding tackle from John Terry to finish coolly past Petr Cech. Chelsea were dominated by their hosts and almost conceded another when Andros Townsend found Soldado on the right but Branislav Ivanovic did very well to deny Paulinho the chance to tap in the low cross. Eden Hazard dispossessed Kyle Walker but Jan Vertonghen got in the way of his shot. Oscar shot a well hit volley straight at Hugo Lloris. Paulinho had a great chance to score the 2nd for Spurs but hit the upright after having being played in by Townsend. Jose Mourinho had certainly seen enough at the break and his halftime team talk seemed to have worked. Fernando Torres found Oscar with a great low cross but the Brazilian could not wrap his left foot around the ball to score. Torres then drew a good save from Lloris after a brilliant run and was later booked for tangling with Vertonghen. Chelsea drew level when Terry headed in Juan Mata’s free kick. Substitute Andre Schurrle had a chance to score but Lloris was yet again on the alert. Torres received a 2nd yellow for an aerial challenge on Vertonghen but in fairness the striker was not at fault. Jermain Defoe and Sigurdsson could have won it for Spurs but the game ended honours even.
Liverpool got back to winning ways with a 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland. Luis Suarez made his return after a lengthy ban for biting the arm of Branislav Ivanovic last season. Sunderland had the first chance of the game through a free kick but Sebastian Larsson’s effort came off the crossbar. Daniel Sturridge gave the Reds the lead from Steven Gerrard’s corner but replays showed the striker benefiting from the use of his hand rather than his head. Liverpool were 2 goals to the good 8 minutes later when Gerrard found Sturridge with a long ball and the striker found Suarez with a low cross and the Uruguayan made no mistake. Craig Gardner had a chance to reduce the deficit before the break but Simon Mignolet produced a great reaction save. The Black Cats did pull one back through Emanuele Giaccherini who rebounded home after Mignolet had parried Sung-Yueng Ki’s long range effort. Mignolet then redeemed himself by denying Gardner with a good save. Suarez had 2 chances to double his tally but Carlos Cuellar and Lee Cattermole got in his way. Suarez eventually bagged his brace on 89 minutes brushing aside any doubts.
Fulham were beaten 2-1 at Craven Cottage by Cardiff City thanks to goals from Steven Caulker and Jordon Mutch either side of Bryan Ruiz’s equaliser for the hosts. Robert Brady won a controversial penalty and converted it as Hull City beat West Ham United 1-0 at the KC Stadium. Pablo Osvaldo and Rickie Lambert scored as Southampton beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at home. Stoke City were beaten 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium thanks to Jonathan Howson’s strike. Romelu Lukaku scored a brace and Ross Barkley also scored as Everton beat Newcastle United 3-2 at Goodison Park. Yohan Cabaye and Loic Remy scored for the visitors.

Spanish La Liga
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are the only unbeaten teams with a 100% record after 7 games. Real Madrid are 3rd with 16 points. Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao and Valencia make up the top 6 respectively.
Lionel Messi and Adriano scored as Barcelona beat Almeria 2-0 away while Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu thanks to Diego Costa’s early goal.

German Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich top the table on 19 points each with the former having a greater goal difference. Bayer Leverkusen, Hannover 96 and Hertha Berlin make up the top 5 respectively.
Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski scored a brace each and Jakub Blaszczykowski also scored as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Freiburg 5-0 at the Signal Iduna Park. Thomas Muller scored the solitary goal as Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 1-0 at the Allianz Arena. Bayer Leverkusen beat Hannover 2-0 at home while Stuttgart hammered Eintracht Braunschweig 4-0 away with Hoffenheim drawing 3-3 at home against Schalke. 

Italian Serie A
AS Roma have made a perfect start to the season winning all 6 games and are followed by Napoli, Juventus, Inter Milan and Fiorentina respectively.
Gervinho scored a brace as Roma thrashed Bologna 5-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Goran Pandev scored a brace as Napoli beat Genoa 2-0 away. Paul Pogba’s only goal was enough for Juventus as they beat Torino 1-0 in the Turin derby. Inter Milan drew 1-1 away at Cagliari while Sassuolo held Lazio to a 2-2 draw at home. AC Milan beat Sampdoria 1-0 at home and Fiorentina were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Parma. 

French Ligue 1
AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain share top spot with 18 points each after 8 games and are also the only unbeaten sides. Marseille, Lille and Nice make up the top 5.
Stade de Reims held Monaco to a 1-1 draw at home while PSG beat Toulouse 2-0 at home.

Dutch Eredivisie
AZ Alkmaar 2-1 PSV Eindhoven
Ajax Amsterdam 6-0 Go Ahead Eagles
Feyenoord Rotterdam 4-2 ADO Den Haag
Twente Enschede 5-0 FC Groningen
Heerenveen 2-1 Cambuur Leeuwarden
NEC Nijmegen 2-3 Vitesse Arnhem

Portuguese Liga
FC Porto 1-0 Guimaraes
Benfica 1-1 Belenenses
Braga 1-2 Sporting Lisbon
Maritimo 3-4 Pacos de Ferreira

Scottish Premiership
Kilmarnock 2-5 Celtic
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3-0 Hibernian
Motherwell 3-1 Ross County

UEFA Champions League
Group A
Manchester United drew 1-1 away in Ukraine against Shakhtar Donetsk as Taison cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s opener. Jens Hegeler scored in injury time as Bayer Leverkusen beat Real Sociedad 2-1 at the Bayarena after Carlos Vela had cancelled out Simon Rolfes’ opener. 

Group B
Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria scored a brace each as Real Madrid hammered FC Copenhagen 4-0 at home. Juventus were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Galatasaray. Didier Drogba put the visitors in front after which Arturo Vidal and Fabio Quagliarella put the Italian champions in front. Umut Bulut scored the leveller.

Group C
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a brace and Marquinhos also got on the score sheet as Paris Saint-Germain beat Benfica 3-0 at home. Anderlecht were beaten 3-0 at home by Olympiacos as Kostas Mitroglou scored a hat trick.

Group D
Reigning European champions Bayern Munich beat Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben scored for the Bavarians while Alvaro Negredo scored a consolation for City. CSKA Moscow beat Viktoria Plzen 3-2 at home.

Group E
Julian Draxler scored the only goal as Schalke beat FC Basel 1-0 in Switzerland. Ramires scored a brace and Frank Lampard also got on the score sheet as Chelsea thrashed Steaua Bucuresti 4-0 in Romania.

Group F
Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil scored inside the opening 15 minutes as Arsenal beat Napoli 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. Robert Lewandowski scored a brace and Marco Reus also scored as Borussia Dortmund beat Marseille 3-0 at home. 

Group G
Zenit St Petersburg drew goalless at home against Austria Vienna while FC Porto were beaten 2-1 at home by Atletico Madrid. Jackson Martinez opened the scoring for the hosts but Diego Gordin and Arda Turan scored in the 2nd half to hand the Spanish side all 3 points in Portugal.

Group H
Cesc Fabregas scored the winner as Celtic were beaten 1-0 by Barcelona at Celtic Park. Mario Balotelli’s penalty in injury time cancelled out Stefano Denswil’s strike on 90 minutes as Ajax Amsterdam drew 1-1 at home against AC Milan.