English Premier League
Manchester United beat newcomers Crystal Palace 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to goals from Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney.
United did not have many chances at the beginning as they lacked creativity in midfield. The best chance fell to Van Persie from Rooney’s long ball but the Dutchman after controlling well with his chest hit the crossbar. Ashley Young was booked for diving as he tried to win a penalty and after several penalty claims were denied, United won one through Young who was brought down by Kagisho Dikgacoi. The referee made two decisions, one right and one wrong. It was right to send off the South African as he denied Young a clear goal scoring opportunity. However, the initial contact was clearly outside the box. Van Persie sent Julian Speroni the wrong way from the spot to put the Red Devils in front but it was Dwight Gayle who was left to rue an earlier miss. He beat Rio Ferdinand with ease from a long ball but sent his effort wide with David De Gea rushing in. The second half saw United create more chances but none were taken. Marouane Fellaini made his debut off the bench and drew a save from Speroni. Fellow substitute Adnan Januzaj was also a constant threat as he kept troubling the Palace defence. After the Belgian teenager had won a free kick, Wayne Rooney made it 2-0 with a brilliant curling effort into the bottom corner.
Manchester City were frustrated by Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium as the game ended in a goalless draw. The Potters had an early chance but Jonathan Walters sent his header wide from Charlie Adam’s cross. Kenwyne Jones then robbed Samir Nasri as the Frenchman failed to deal with a long ball but Joe Hart made himself big to deny the big Trinidad and Tobago forward. Stoke created more chances but failed to capitalise as City looked to be under pressure. Stoke started the second period brightly and Walters failed yet again to turn home a good cross from Geoff Cameron. Jones then sent a header over from another good cross from Adam. Substitute Marko Arnautovic’s cross from the left was almost deflected into his own net by Matija Nastasic but Hart was alert to make a save. Alvaro Negredo missed a chance in the dying minutes and Arnautovic almost won it for the hosts but his effort went over.
Record signing Mesut Ozil made an impactful debut for the Gunners as Arsenal beat Sunderland 3-1 at the Stadium of Light. The German, renowned for his assists brought down Kieran Gibbs’ long ball to find Olivier Giroud with a low cross and the Frenchman made no mistake. Mobido Diakite almost equalised but his header from a corner hit the crossbar after which Jozy Altidore drew a save from Wojciech Szczesny with a long range effort. Theo Walcott was set up twice by Ozil but the winger was denied by Kieren Westwood in goal and Walcott then sent a header wide from Giroud’s cross. After Laurent Koscielny brought down Adam Johnson in the box, substitute Craig Gardner made no mistake from the spot. Steven Fletcher had a goal disallowed for offside and Gardner hit the woodwork from a free kick. Arsenal took the lead when Aaron Ramsey volleyed home Carl Jenkinson’s cross from the right. The Black Cats were denied a goal when Altidore shrugged off Bacary Sagna’s illegal challenge but his effort was ruled out and instead a free kick was awarded. Ramsey put the result beyond doubt when he finished neatly after a good linkup between Ozil and Giroud.
Everton beat Chelsea 1-0 at Goodison Park thanks to Steven Naismith’s goal in 1st half injury time. The Blues in fairness were unlucky not to at least get a point from a game which saw them creating many a chance. New signing Samuel Eto’o had the first chance but headed wide Ramires’ cross after the Brazilian had done well to break forward. Everton failed to create any convincing chances and almost went behind when Tim Howard’s error enabled Andre Schurrle to find Eto’o but the Cameroonian’s effort was blocked by Gareth Barry. Chelsea wasted some more chances and were behind before the break when Nikica Jelavic headed back in Leon Osman’s deep cross for Naismith to nod in from close range. Schurrle came close to equalising in the second half but his dink over Howard went agonisingly wide. Chelsea tried to draw level but Everton ended the game on a high with Leighton Baines’ 90th minute free kick hitting the woodwork where it would have been a “postage stamp” had his effort dipped a bit further.
Former Red Jonjo Shelvey made the headlines for the right reasons as well as the wrong ones as his new club Swansea City drew 2-2 at home to Liverpool. Shelvey scored the opener on 2 minutes but his erroneous back pass allowed Daniel Sturridge to draw level 2 minutes later. Shelvey again gave the ball away with a poor pass and this time it was Victor Moses who made him pay with a wonderful solo effort. Shelvey redeemed himself in the 2nd half as he headed down a ball for Michu to equalise.
Gylfi Sigurdsson scored a brace as Tottenham Hotspur beat Norwich City 2-0 at White Hart Lane. Aston Villa were beaten 2-1 at home by Newcastle United as Yoan Gouffran scored the winner after Christian Benteke had cancelled out Hatem Ben Arfa’s opener. Fulham drew 1-1 at home against West Bromwich Albion with Steve Sidwell scoring for the Cottagers and Gareth McAuley equalising in 2nd half added time. Curtis Davies and Peter Whittingham scored respectively for Hull City and Cardiff City as the game ended 1-1 at the KC Stadium. Southampton and West Ham United played out goalless draw at St. Mary’s.
Spanish La Liga
Barcelona beat Sevilla 3-2 at the Camp Nou thanks to Alexis Sanchez’s later winner. Dani Alves and Lionel Messi had put the Catalan giants in front but Ivan Rakitic and Coke Andujar scored on 80 and 90 minutes respectively to draw level only for Sanchez to grab the winner. Real Madrid were held to a 2-2 draw away at Villarreal. Cani opened the scoring for the hosts after which Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo scored to put Madrid in front. Giovani Dos Santos restored parity as the 2 teams had to settle for a point each. David Villa, Diego Costa, Tiago and Koke scored as Atletico Madrid beat Almeria 4-2 at home. Mounir El Hamdaoui made a dream debut with a hat trick as Malaga thrashed Rayo Vallecano 5-0 at home.
German Bundesliga
Mario Mandzukic and Franck Ribery scored in the 2nd half as Bayern Munich beat Hannover 2-0 at the Allianz Arena. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Hamburg 6-2 at the Signal Iduna Park. Stefan Kiesling bagged a brace as Bayer Leverkusen beat Wolfsburg 3-1 at home. Kevin-Prince Boateng scored the only goal as Schalke beat Mainz away from home. Werder Bremen were beaten 3-0 at home by Eintracht Frankfurt.
Italian Serie A
Mauro Icardi’s 73rd minute goal was cancelled out by Arturo Vidal’s strike 2 minutes later as Inter Milan drew 1-1 at home against champions Juventus. Napoli beat Atalanta 2-0 while Fiorentina and Cagliari drew 1-1 in Florence with Lazio beating Chievo Verona 3-0 at home. Sulley Muntari scored in the 87th minute and Mario Balotelli scored a penalty in the 7th minute of 2nd half added time as AC Milan salvaged a point away at Torino.
French Ligue 1
Blaise Matuidi and Lucas Moura scored as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bordeaux 2-0 away while Lyon were held to a goalless draw at home by Stade Rennes. Radamel Falcao scored from the spot in the 6th minute as AS Monaco beat Lorient 1-0 at home. Marseille travelled to Toulouse and went away with a point after the game ended 1-1.
Dutch Eredivisie
Ajax Amsterdam 2-1 PEC Zwolle
Twente Enschede 2-2 PSV Eindhoven
NEC Nijmegen 3-3 Feyenoord Rotterdam
AZ Alkmaar 3-0 Go Ahead Eagles
Portuguese Liga
Benfica 3-1 Pacos de Ferreira
FC Porto 2-0 Gil Vicente
Olhanense 0-2 Sporting Lisbon
Braga 3-2 Estoril
UEFA Champions League
Group A
Wayne Rooney scored a brace with Robin Van Persie and Antonio Valencia also scoring as Manchester United beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 at Old Trafford. Simon Rolfes’ deflected effort and Omer Toprak’s late goal proved to be a mere consolation. Rooney and Van Persie missed two chances with the goal at their mercy. It was a memorable night for Rooney as he scored his 200th goal for United.
Alex Teixeira scored a brace as Real Sociedad were beaten 2-0 at home by Shakhtar Donetsk.
Group B
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick and Karim Benzema bagged a brace as Real Madrid thrashed Galatasaray 6-1 at the Turk Telekom Arena with Isco scoring the opener for the Spanish side. Umut Bulut’s late goal proved to be a mere consolation. Fabio Quagliarella cancelled out Nicolai Jorgensen’s opener as Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw away at FC Copenhagen.
Group C
Thiago Motta scored a brace with Edinson Cavani and Marquinhos also scoring as Paris Saint-Germain beat Olympiacos 4-1 away in Greece. Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty for the French side. Luisao and Filip Djuricic scored as Benfica beat Anderlecht 2-0 at home.
Group D
Both Bayern Munich and Manchester City recorded 3-0 wins against CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen respectively. David Alaba, Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben scored for the reigning German and European champions while goals from Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero in the space of 10 2nd half minutes secured City an easy away win.
Group E
Chelsea were shocked at Stamford Bridge by FC Basel as the Blues lost their group stage opener 2-1. Oscar opened the scoring in the 1st half but goals from Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller won it for the Swiss team. 3 2nd half goals from Atsuto Uchida, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Julian Draxler helped Schalke beat Steaua Bucuresti 3-0 at home.
Group F
Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey scored as Arsenal beat Marseille 2-1 away in France. Jordan Ayew’s injury time penalty proved to be a mere consolation. Napoli beat last years’ runners up Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home. Gonzalo Higuain and Lorenzo Insigne scored for the Italian side while Juan Zuniga’s own goal gave Dortmund a glimmer of hope with 3 minutes left to play. Mats Hummels went off injured and Dortmund captain Roman Weidenfeller was sent off.
Group G
Emilio Izaquirre’s 83rd minute own goal and Sulley Muntari’s goal 2 minutes later helped AC Milan beat Celtic 2-0 at the San Siro. Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and Gerard Pique also scored as Barcelona thrashed Ajax Amsterdam 4-0 at the Camp Nou.
Group H
Miranda, Arda Turan and Leo scored as Atletico Madrid beat Zenit St Petersburg 3-1 at home. Hulk scored the goal for the Russian side. Lucho Gonzalez scored the only goal as FC Porto beat debutants Austria Vienna 1-0 away.
