Declan Rice paid the first installment on his club record £105m transfer fee by scoring in injury time to help propel Arsenal to a 3-1 victory over sworn rivals Manchester United in the most significant Premier League encounter of match day four. Victory lifted the Gunners to within two points of leaders Manchester City who clobbered Fulham 5-1a day earlier courtesy of an Erling Braut Haaland hat trick. The Norwegian leads the goal scoring charts with six goals from just four matches, a couple more than Brighton Hove and Albion’s 18-year-old Evan Ferguson, who plundered a hat trick of his own as Roberto de Zerbi’s side eviscerated Newcastle United 3-1.
Ange Postecoglu’s rebuilt Tottenham Hotspur are one of four teams on ten points following their emphatic 5-2 victory at Vincent Kompany’s Burnley in a match up that featured another threesome from the club’s new captain Son Heung Min. The North Londoners were joined on ten points by Liverpool, who made light work of Aston Villa 3-0 thanks to goals by Dominic Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah. West Ham United led the embryonic standings for 24 hours by subduing newcomers Luton Town 2-1 on Friday night.
The Milan clubs are the early season pacesetters in Italy after both sides successfully negotiated potential banana skins. Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan maintained their one hundred percent winning record by torpedoing Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma 2-1 on Friday night, only to be overtaken by Giuseppe Meazza Stadium co-occupants Inter Milan, 4-0 winners over Fiorentina thanks to a brace from Lautaro Martinez. Record Scudetto winners Juventus are third following their 2-0 victory at Lecce but champions Napoli dropped to sixth after they were ambushed 2-1 by Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Jude Bellingham continued the dream start to his Santiago Bernabeu career by netting the winner as Real Madrid kept their perfect record intact by outlasting Getafe 2-1. Perennial rivals Barcelona moved into joint second place by overcoming ten man Osasuna 2-1 via a Robert Lewandowski penalty. The reigning champions were joined on ten points by Girona, 1-0 winners over determined Las Palmas. Atletico Madrid are three points further back as their home clash with Sevilla was postponed due to torrential rain.
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen served notice of their title ambitions by demolition Darmstadt 5-1 to take over first place in the nascent Bundesliga table. New signing Victor Boniface grabbed a hat trick as Xabi Alonso’s much improved side seized leadership on goal difference from champions Bayern Munich who needed a late Mathys Tel strike to overcome bogey side Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1. Stuttgart are one of six teams on six points following their emphatic 5-0 win over Freiburg. In the most prestigious game of the weekend, RB Leipzig ended Union Berlin’s winning start to the campaign by clobbering the side from the capital 3-0.
Kylian Mbappe Lottin netted twice as Ligue One champs Paris Saint Germain whitewashed listless Olympique Lyon 4-1 to move into second position in the standings. The Parisian moneybags are two points adrift of Monaco who wiped the floor with last season’s deputy champions Racing Lens 3-0. PSG were joined on eight points Olympique Marseille who were held to a one-all draw by Nantes.
