ENGLAND
Manchester United recorded a comprehensive 4-0 win against Swansea City, away at the Liberty Stadium. Eric Bailly, Romelu Lukaku-his third of the season-, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial with the goals for the Red Devils, who maintain their leadership on the log ahead of Huddersfield Town, thanks to a superior goal difference.
Harry Kane extended his bizarre record of never scoring a league goal in August, after Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1at Wembley Stadium, in the first-ever Premier League game on the ground. Marcos Alonso was the unlikely hero, netting a brace which saved the blushes of Michy Batshuayi, who scored an own goal minutes after coming on as a substitute.
FRANCE
Champions Monaco faced their toughest challenge yet of the new season, managing to win 1-0 away from home against Metz, thanks to Radamel Falcao’s 78th minute winner. The win lifts the champions into second-place on the table.
Olympique Lyon and Bordeaux shared points in a six-goal thriller at the Stade de Gerland, in a round which saw Lyon relinquish top spot on the log. Nabir Fekir, Tete and Bertrand Traore all netted for Lyon, who threw away a two-goal lead, eventually drawing 3-3, no thanks to Lerager and Malcom’s goals in the final few minutes of the game.
Neymar enjoyed a dream home debut in the colours of PSG; netting a brace, providing two assists and earning a penalty to secure a comfortable 6-2 win for 10-men PSG against Toulouse, as they lead the standing following the conclusion of matchday 3. The Brazilian superstar opened and completed scoring for PSG, added to further strikes from Adrien Rabiot, Edison Cavani, Javier Pastore and Layvin Kurzawa, thereby ensuring the numerical advantage handed the visitors following the 69th minute sending off of Marco Verratti didn’t put spanners in their works.
GERMANY
Champions Bayern Munich got their season off to a winning start at home to Bayer Leverkusen, earning a convincing 3-1 victory at the Allianz Arena. Goals from Suele, Tolisso and Robert Lewandowski, rendered Mehmedi’s strike for the visiting team a mere consolation.
Borussia Dortmund began the new season in bullish form away from home, tearing apart Wolfsburg 3-0. Last season’s second-runner up were business-like on the day, netting goals from Christian Pulisic, Marc Bartra and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Schalke 04 put fears of a turbulent season to rest, earning a comfortable 2-0 victory against Leipzig, on the opening round of the season. Nabil Bentaleb and Yevhen Konoplyanka were the goal scorers for the royal Blues, while defeat condemned last season’s runner-up to 16th-place.
ITALY
Action resumed in the Italian Serie A over the weekend, in what promises to be a highly competitive season, and a major test to Juventus six successive league titles.
Juventus secured a routine home win against Cagilari to set a marker for the new season. Mario Mandzukic, Paolo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain all netted in a comfortable home win.
New boy Aleksander Kolarov secured maximum points for Roma away at Atalanta, netting a 31st minute winner for the capital club.
AC Milan appears determined to shred the tag of sleeping giants this season following a summer transfer window of heavy recruitment. The Rossoneri broke no sweat in securing a comfortable 3-0 win away at Crotone. Franck Kessie, Cutrone and Suso all netted goals inside the opening 23-minutes to hand Vincenzo Montella’s men a winning start to the season, equally dominating possession by 76%, the first time they had achieved that in Serie A since 2004/05 season.
Inter Milan made light work of Fiorentina at the San Siro Stadium, thanks to a brace from Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic, to hand Luciano Spalletti a winning start to his reign as coach.
