KAMPALA: Serie A’s three most successful clubs all lost on the same weekend for the first time in decades to hand the title initiative to upstarts Napoli and Atalanta. Record 36-time winners Juventus had Angel di Maria sent off in falling 0-1 to newcomers Monza, 19-time champions Inter Milan lost 1-3 to Udinese and San San Siro rivals AC Milan, who’ve also lifted the Scudetto on 19 occasions, suffered a 1-2 reverse at home to Napoli.
Luciano Spaletti’s Partenopei boss the standings thanks to goals from Matteo Politano and Giovanni Simeone. The Neapolitans are joined on 17 points by Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta, who saw off a barrage of AS Roma pressure at the Olympic Stadium to prevail 1-0. Udinese are third ahead of matchday 7s biggest winners Lazio, 4-0 winners at newly promoted Cremonese courtesy of a brace from evergreen Azzuri forward Ciro Immobile.
Arsenal recaptured English Premier League table leadership by cruising past Brentford 3-0 thanks to goals from William Saliba, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira after they had briefly fallen to third on Saturday night. Champions Manchester City are a point adrift following an identical 3-0 whitewash of Wolverhampton Wanderers in a game in which monster forward Erling Braut Haaland scored his eleventh league goal in just seven outings.
City are level with Tottenham Hotspur on 16 points after the north Londoners whitewashed Leicester City 6-2 thanks to a Son Heuing Min hat trick. Brighton Hove remain fourth ahead of Manchester United, with Marco Silva’s Fulham sixth. The Cottagers lofty position is explained by an imposing 3-1 win at fellow newcomers Nottingham Forest.
Bayern Munich fell to fifth place in the Bundesliga following a 0-1 setback at Bavarian neighbours Augsburg. It was the fourth consecutive German top flight game Julian Nagelsmann’s side have failed to win. Urs Fischer’s Union Berlin lead the table thanks to a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg. Borussia Dortmund are second after seeing off Schalke 1-0 in the Revierderby through a late strike by 17-year-old prodigy Youssoufa Moukoko.
Paris Saint Germain took sole possession of the number one slot in Ligue One standings by overcoming Olympique Lyon 1-0 thanks to Lionel Messi. Olympique Marseille remain second despite being held to a one-all draw by Rennes. Lorient are an unlikely third following a 3-1 victory at Auxerre. Racing Lens’ goalless stalemate at Nantes saw them fall to fourth.
In Spain, Real Madrid maintained their one hundred percent winning record by torpedoing city rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Wanda Metropolitao. Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos lead Liga Santander standings by two points from perennial rivals Barcelona who had briefly taken over the number one slot with a 3-0 pummeling of Elche on Saturday night. Two goal hero Robert Lewandowski leads the race for the Pichichi after grabbing a brace.