Chelsea thrice fought back from a goal down to hold Premier League champions Manchester City to a 4-4 draw in a fully engrossing encounter at Stamford Bridge. Erling Braut Haaland netted twice, once from the spot, for Pep Guardiola’s treble winners only for Chelsea to reply through former Etihad Stadium stars Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer who netted a stoppage time penalty. The draw saw City’s lead atop the standings slashed to one point by Liverpool who eviscerated Bournemouth 3-0 at Anfield via Mohamed Salah brace.
Arsenal are third, level on points with Liverpool thanks to their 3-1 victory over Burnley on Saturday evening but north London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur’s descent from atop the standings continued when they conceded two injury time strikes to fall 1-2 at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Aston Villa remain fifth just three points off title pace following their 3-1 victory over Fulham in a club record 13th home win in a row.
Paris Saint Germain moved to the summit of Ligue One at the twelveth time of asking by whipping Stade Reims 3-0 courtesy of a Kylian Mbappe Lottin hat trick. Luis Enrique’s Parisians have accumulated 27 points, one more than early season pacesetters Nice who were held to a goalless draw at Montpellier. Monaco are third following their own barren draw at Le Havre. Eight time champions Olympique Lyon won their first game of the season 1-0 at Stade Rennes but are still rooted to the bottom of the standings.
In Spain, upstarts Girona’s fairytale start to Liga Santander continued when they edged Rayo Vallecano 2-1 to maintain a two point cushion atop the standings. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes both netted twice as Real Madrid clobbered Valencia 5-1 to stay second, a couple of points ahead of perennial rivals Barcelona who fought back from 0-1 down at half time to get the better of Deportivo Alaves 2-1 via a pair of goals from Robert Lewandowski. Atletico Madrid are fourth with a game in hand follow their 3-1 victory over Villarreal.
Bayer Leverkusen underlined their title credentials by whitewashing Union Berlin 4-0 to stay two points ahead of eleven time defending champions Bayern Munich, who netted twice late on to see off a spirited challenge from newcomers Heidenheim 4-2. Stuttgart are third courtesy of their 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund who were overtaken by RB Leipzig, 3-1 victors in a duel with Freiburg. Borussia Moenchengladbach pummelled Wolfsburg 4-0 in their most impressive display of the campaign.
Napoli moved closer to surrendering their Serie A title after they were ambushed 0-1 by Empoli to fall ten points behind leaders Inter Milan. Simone Inzaghi’s Nerrazzuri have amassed 31 points following a straight forward 2-0 victory over Frosinone. Record champions Juventus stayed in close contact with the leaders by torpedoing Claudio Ranieri’s stubborn Cagliari 2-1 but Stefano Pioli’s Rossoneri fell eight points off title pace after they were held to a 2-2 draw at Lecce.
