The more English Premier League football changes, the more standings remain similar. Champions Manchester City moved to the summit of this season’s table with an emphatic 4-1 victory over newly promoted Ipswich Town. Two time top scorer Erling Braut Haaland’s tenth hat trick of his Etihad Stadium career stymied Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys.
Two time reigning deputy champions Arsenal saw off a spirited effort from Aston Villa 2-0 to remain joint second along with Brighton and Hove Albion who electrocuted Manchester United 2-1 in the very last minute of the game via a Joao Pedro strike. Liverpool also protected their one hundred percent winning record with a 2-0 victory over Brentford thanks to goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.
But the weekend’s biggest win came at the Molieneux where Noni Madueke plundered a second half hat trick in Chelsea’s 6-2 win over Wolves courtesy of as many assists from Cole Palmer whose lobbed effort had put the west Londoners 2-1 up just before half time. Tottenham Hotspur were equally emphatic in dismissing Everton 4-0 via a Son Heung Min brace.
In Spain, second half goals from Federico Valverde plus substitutes Brahim Diaz and 18-year-old Endrick helped Real Madrid overcome stubborn Real Valladolid 3-0. Eternal rivals Barcelona still boss the standings thanks to a hard fought 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao thanks to goals from Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.
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Across the Adriatic sea, Mateo Damian and Hakan Calanoglu found the back of the net as champions Inter Milan bounced back from last week’s 2-2 draw with Genoa by storming past Lecce 2-0. City rivals AC Milan were meanwhile ambushed 2-1 at Parma whereas Europa League winners Atalanta fell 1-2 at Torino. Record champions Juventus are at Hellas Verona tonight.
In Germany, Bundesliga player of the year Florian Wirtz’s 96th minute penalty propelled Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-2 victory over hard battling Gladbach while record 33-time champs Bayern Munich triumphed over Wolfsburg by an identical margin. But last season’s runners up Stuttgart fell 3-1 at Freiburg despite taking the lead through Ermedin Demirovic.
And just over the Alsace Lorraine border Paris Saint Germain reminded rivals there is life after Kylian Mbappe by steam rolling past Montpellier 6-0 courtesy of a double from Bradley Barcola and strikes from Marco Asencio, Achraf Hakimi, Warren Zaire Emery and Lee Kang-in. Racing Lens, Monaco and Lille Metropole all kept pace with PSG by outlasting Stade Brest, Olympique Lyon and Angers respectively by a similar 2-0 margin.
Roberto de Zerbi’s Olympique Marseille crashed back down to earth from their opening day 5-1 victory at Stade Brest when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Stade Reims.