It was a weekend filled with goals as various domestic leagues returned after the midweek break for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League competitions.
In the French Ligue 1, big spenders, Paris Saint-Germain’s perfect start to the season continued, while rivals AS Monaco were back to winning ways with Nice completing their beautiful week with another win.
Over in England, the Manchester clubs continued to set the pace in the Premier League, but champions, Chelsea’s rejuvenation was derailed at home by city rivals Arsenal, whose North London rivals Tottenham’s search for victory at home continued.
Paulo Dybala’s brilliant start to the new season continued after he inspired Juventus to a comeback win, with Inter wrapping up another win in the Serie A.
Bayern Munich’s quest for a sixth successive Bundesliga title received a boost at the weekend, with leaders Borussia Dortmund ready to fight this season following an excellent performance and result.
In the La Liga, Barcelona were made to fight for their win, while bitter rivals, Real Madrid picked up a good win at a difficult stadium.
Ligue 1
PSG 2-0 Lyon
At the Parc des Princes, PSG maintained their perfect start to the campaign with their sixth win in six thanks to two own goals by Lyon players, Marcelo and Jeremy Morel.
Call it the luck of champions, but while the home side dominated, it was the away side who created better chances.
But drama unfolded in the last 15 minutes of the game, as two own goals, either side of an Edinson Cavani penalty miss, preserved PSG’s perfect start.
Monaco 3-0 Strasbourg
After their embarrassing 4-0 thrashing at Nice, defending champions, Monaco bounced back in style, putting three past a struggling Strasbourg team, inspired by their star forward, Radamel Falcao, who scored a brace and assisted the other goal.
Elsewhere, after their emphatic wins over Monaco and Zulte Waragem, Mario Balotelli scored the only goal as Nice’s week ended on a winning note with a 1-0 defeat of Rennes at the weekend.
Metz picked up their first points of the season, after a Nolan Roux second half header earned them a 1-0 win at Angers, while Marcelo Bielsa and his Lille side continued to struggle following a 1-0 defeat at Guingamp.
Nantes’ unbeaten run continued as they beat Caen, with Andrei Girotto scoring an excellent goal, but Dijon and Troyes suffered 1-0 home defeats to Saint-Etienne and Montpellier respectively.
Marseille bounced back from their 1-3 loss to Rennes in the previous weekend to beat Amiens away from home.
To the table now, PSG remain top on 18 points, three ahead of Monaco, who are second. Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux complete the top four, with both teams on 13 and 12 points respectively.
At the other end of the table, Dijon, Strasbourg and Metz occupy the relegation places, with a point separating the former two from the latter.
Full Ligue 1 results
Friday 15 September
Toulouse 0-1 Bordeaux
Saturday 16 September
Monaco 3-0 Strasbourg
Dijon 0-1 Saint-Etienne
Guingamp 1-0 Lille
Nantes 1-0 Caen
Troyes 0-1 Montpellier
Sunday 17 September
Amiens 0-2 Marseille
Angers 0-1 Metz
Rennes 0-1 Nice
PSG 2-0 Lyon
Premier League
Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
Stamford Bridge was the venue for this weekend’s Super Sunday clash as city rivals Chelsea and Arsenal locked horns.
The visitors were composed and organised defensively, as they denied the home side any real chance, while creating the better chances.
However, the Gunners failed to take their chances, and the game ended goalless, with the Blues finishing with ten men after defender, David Luiz was given a straight red card late on.
It was the first time in six years that Arsene Wenger’s men would leave Stamford Bridge with a point, and their first clean sheet there in 12 matches.
Watford 0-6 Man City
Pep Guardiola’s City have been rampant lately, and at the Vicarage Road, they decimated the home side, putting six goals past them, with Sergio Aguero and David Silva pulling the strings.
Aguero scored a hat-trick, with Gabriel Jesus, Nicolas Otamendi and a Raheem Sterling penalty earning the Citizens a 6-0 win, and all three points on the road.
City have now scored 15 times in their last three games, having beaten Liverpool and Feyenoord 5-0 and 4-0 respectively.
Man Utd 4-0 Everton
Not to be undone and left behind by their neighbours, United had to respond and they did.
The story was all about the return of former Red Devil and United’s all-time scorer, Wayne Rooney. But the home side made their intentions known early on, an unlikely scorer, Antonio Valencia gave them a 1-0 lead with a blinder of a strike.
It was a different Everton side in the second half, with Rooney orchestrating play for the Toffees. However, the Toffees capitulated after Rooney was replaced to an standing ovation by the Old Trafford crowd with eight minutes left to play.
United added three more goals thereafter, thanks to Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Romelu Lukaku, who scored against his former club, and a late penalty from substitute, Anthony Martial sealing the emphatic win.
A rather harsh result for the away team, given how much they dominated the game.
Elsewhere in the league, Liverpool struggled to a 1-1 draw at Anfield against Burnley, who picked another valuable point on the road, after their heroics at Wembley.
Tottenham’s struggles at their temporary home seem far from over. They were held to a goalless draw by Swansea, despite Mauricio Pochettino’s declaration that the midweek win over Dortmund in the Champions League would act as a catalyst for change days earlier.
At the Hawthorns, West Brom were held to a goalless draw, while Jamie Vardy rescued a point for 2016 champions, Leicester City, who drew 1-1 with newcomers, Huddersfield.
It was two win in two for Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle United, who followed their win against Swansea last week with a 2-1 defeat of Stoke City at the Sports Direct stadium, with Jamaal Lascelles leading by example, after he scored the decisive second goal, for the second weekend running.
For Crystal Palace, even a change of manager didn’t stop them from going five games without a win or goal, as they fell 0-1 at Selhurst Park to Southampton.
It wasn’t the start former England manager, Roy Hodgson was expecting, especially as his team’s next three fixtures see them come up against Man City, Man United and Chelsea. Talk about tough luck!
Earlier, on Friday night football, Jermain Defoe’s first goal since returning to the Vitality stadium propelled Bournemouth to their first win of the season, after they defeated Brighton & Hove Albion.
As for the league table, City and United are on a head-on collision, but it’s Guardiola and his City side who stay top, but closely followed by United on same points and goal difference.
Chelsea stay third, three points behind the Manchester clubs, while Newcastle United moved up to fourth, following their consecutive wins.
At the other end, Palace find themselves rock bottom, as they remain pointless. The Eagles are joined by Everton and Bournemouth, who occupy 18th and 19th positions respectively.
Full PL Results
Friday 15 September
B’mouth 2-1 Brighton
Saturday 16 September
C. Palace 0-1 Southampton
Watford 0-6 Man City
Hudds’field 1-1 Leicester
West Brom 0-0 West Ham
Newcastle 2-1 Stoke City
Liverpool 1-1 Burnley
Tottenham 0-0 Swansea
Sunday 17 September
Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
Man Utd 4-0 Everton
Bundesliga
Robert Lewandowski’s 81st and 82nd goals in his 100th appearance for Bayern Munich inspired the Bavarians to a 4-0 routing of Mainz at the Allianz Arena.
Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben were also on the score sheet as the defending champions bounced back from a disappointing 2-0 loss to Hoffenhiem last week .
At the beautiful Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund put aside their European disappointment to hammer visitors, Cologne, who also lost in Europe.
Maximilian Philip’s brace set the flurry of goals running, with Sokratis Papa and Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang, who also scored a brace handing the Black and Yellows their fourth win of the campaign, which has now seen them go 40 games at home without a loss.
Hoffenhiem and RB Leipzig were held at home 1-1 and 2-2 draws by Hertha Berlin and Borussia Mochengladbach, while there were wins for Augsburg and Stuttgart over Frankfurt and Wolfsburg.
While Augsburg defeated Frankfurt away, 2-1, Wolfsburg left the Mercedes Benz-Arena as they came, with nothing, as they were pipped 1-0 by the home side.
At the Bay Arena, Kevin Volland’s brace inspired Bayer Leverkusen to a 4-0 demolition of visitors, Frieburg, with Aranguiz and Julian Brandt completing the scoring.
Werder Bremen also suffered a home loss, as Schalke came, saw and conquered them 2-1 thanks to Milos Veljkovic’s own goal and a Leon Goretzka strike, which cancelled out Lamine Sane’s opener for the host.
Meanwhile, Week four in the Bundesliga kicked off a day earlier when Hannover 96 continued their brilliant start so far by putting Hamburg to the sword, 2-0 on Friday.
In terms of the league table, Borussia Dortmund stay top on 10 points, same as Hannover 96, but with an inferior goal difference in second. Bayern Munich are a point behind, with Schalke fourth.
Frieburg, Werder Bremen and Koln are sitting comfortably in the relegation waters.
Full Bundesliga Results
Friday 15 September
Hannover 96 2-0 Hamburg
Saturday 16 September
Bayern Munich 4-0 Mainz
Frankfurt 1-2 Augsburg
Stuttgart 1-0 Wolfsburg
W.Bremen 1-2 Schalke
RB Leipzig 2-2 M. Gladbach
Sunday 17 September
Hoffenhiem 1-1 Hertha
Leverkusen 4-0 Frieburg
B.Dortmund 5-0 Koln
Serie A
In the Italian Serie A, Paulo Dybala scored a brilliant hat-trick as Juventus came from behind to beat Sassuolo 3-1.
Inter Milan remained unbeaten after their 2-0 defeat of Crotone, while Roma tore Chievo apart 3-0, with Edin Dzeko scoring a brace.
In Naples, Napoli taught Benevento a footballing lesson, as a Dries Mertens hat-trick inspired the home side to a 6-0 humbling of the newcomers.
José Callejon, Lorenzo Insigne and Allan were the other scorers, as Sarri’s men ran riot on the day.
There were also wins for AC Milan, Cagliari and Lazio, who all overcame challenges from Udinese, Spal and Genoa respectively.
However, Torino and Chievo were held to draws at home by Sampdoria and Atalanta.
Full Serie A Results
Saturday 16 September
Crotone 0-2 Inter
Fiorentina 2-1 Bologna
Roma 3-0 Verona
Sunday 17 September
Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus
AC Milan 2-1 Udinese
Napoli 6-0 Benevento
Spal 0-2 Cagliari
Chievo 1-1 Atalanta
Genoa 2-3 Lazio
Torino 2-2 Sampdoria
La Liga
In the Spanish La Liga, Barcelona were made to fight hard for their win at Getafe, with substitutes Dennis Suarez and Paulinho saving the blushes of Ernesto Valverde’s side.
Real Madrid returned to winning ways, following their draw with Levante, as they defeated Real Sociedad 3-1 at the Anoeta stadium, thanks to goals from Borja Mayoral, Gareth Bale and Rodriguez, who scored an own goal.
Atletico Madrid began life at the spectacular Wanda Metropolitano, which they inaugurated before kickoff, with a 1-0 win over Malaga, with Antoine Griezmann scoring the only goal.
La Liga Results
Friday 15 September
Eibar 1-0 Leganes
Saturday 16 September
Levante 1-1 Valencia
Getafe 1-2 Barcelona
Real Betis 2-1 Deportivo
Atletico 1-0 Malaga
Sunday 17 September
Alaves 0-3 Villarreal
Girona 0-1 Sevilla
Las Palmas 1-0 Ath. Bilbao
Sociedad 1-3 R.Madrid
Monday 18 September
Espanyol vs Celta*
*Yet to play.
