Manchester City thrashed a hapless United side 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a brace from Sergio Aguero with Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri also scoring.
City were simply too good for United as the reigning champions failed to cope with their neighbour’s style and intensity of play from the off. United were without Robin Van Persie who picked up an injury in training and this surely affected them psychologically. City took the lead on 16 minutes when Nasri held the ball intelligently to release Aleksandar Kolarov who was not tracked by Antonio Valencia and the Serbian whipped in a cross from the left which Aguero did brilliantly to guide in first time leaving David De Gea rooted to the spot. If city had hoped for a one goal cushion at the break, they got two. Alvaro Negredo directed Nasri’s corner towards goal and Toure turned home with his knee. Again United defended poorly as Marouane Fellaini failed to mark the big Ivory Coast midfielder. City scored two more within 5 minutes of the restart. The United defence was caught napping as Negredo’s chipped cross was guided home by Aguero. Ashley Young lost possession to Vincent Kompany and the City captain started the counter which saw Nasri volleying home Jesus Navas’ cross. Many by now would have feared something worse than the 6-1 drubbing in 2011. Wayne Rooney missed a sitter and Patrice Evra hit the post from a corner. That summed up United’s performance of the evening. Rooney pulled one back with a brilliant free kick into the top corner but substitute Edin Dzeko could have made it 5 but his shot went agonisingly wide.
Mesut Ozil continued the good start to his Gunners career as he had a part to play in all 3 goals scored by Arsenal as they beat Stoke City 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. The first goal came on 5 minutes when Aaron Ramsey tucked home after Asmir Begovic parried Ozil’s curling free kick from 20 yards. Stoke drew level 20 minutes later when Marko Arnautovic smashed Steven Nzonzi’s long ball onto the post but Geoff Cameron was following up and the American defender made no mistake with a neat finish. Arsenal regained the lead 10 minutes later. Ozil’s corner was headed by Per Mertesacker at the near post and the ball went in at the far post. Begovic denied Olivier Giroud and Ozil after the restart and Wojciech Szczesny kept out Marc Wilson’s effort. Arsenal sealed the win when Bacary Sagna headed in Ozil’s free kick in the 72nd minute. Arsenal are on top of the table and will hope to emulate their recent performances as they hope to win the Premier League title.
John Obi Mikel scored his 1st Premier League goal for the Blues as Chelsea beat Fulham 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Samuel Eto’o had an early chance but David Stockdale looked to have done enough to deflect Branislav Ivanovic’s cross from the right. Fulham could have taken the lead when Patjim Kasami sent Darren Bent through but the striker could only hit straight at Petr Cech. Chelsea took the lead on 52 minutes when Oscar made the most of Stockdale’s blunder from Andre Schurrle’s shot to score. Fulham would have drawn level had Steve Sidwell guided in Kasami’s free kick with his head. Mikel then scored the second of the night with an acrobatic finish.
Liverpool missed the chance to stay on top of the league as they succumbed to their first league defeat losing 1-0 against Southampton at Anfield. The two goalkeepers took centre stage as they produced some excellent saves. Artur Boruc made a superb one handed save to keep out Steven Gerrard’s curling free kick and Daniel Sturridge had a penalty claim denied when Dejan Lovren looked to have brought him down inside the box. Boruc then denied Victor Moses who had done well to go past two defenders but in fairness, the angle was against him. Rickie Lambert missed a chance after Gerrard failed to clear. Lovren scored on 54 minutes when he headed in Adam Lallana’s corner. Simon Mignolet kept the Reds in the game with a triple save to deny Luke Shaw and Steven Davis.
Paulinho scored in injury time as Tottenham Hotspur beat Cardiff City 1-0 in Wales. Cardiff stopper David Marshall was in fine form as he produced save after save but was finally beaten by the Brazilian.
Paolo Di Canio became the first managerial casualty of the new Premier League season after his Sunderland team lost 3-0 away at West Bromwich Albion. Stephane Sessegnon, Liam Ridgewell and Morgan Amalfitano scored for the Baggies. Robert Snodgrass missed a penalty as his Norwich City side lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. Libor Kozak who replaced injured Christian Benteke scored the winner. Loic Remy’s brace proved inadequate as Newcastle were beaten 3-2 at St James’ Park by Hull City. Robert Brady, Ahmed Elmohamady and Sone Aluko scored for the Tigers. Leighton Baines scored two great free kicks and Romelu Lukaku grabbed the winner as Everton beat West Ham United 3-2 in London. Ravel Morrison and Mark Noble scored for the Hammers and Noble was sent off for a second bookable offence. Michu and Nathan Dyer scored as Crystal Palace were beaten 2-0 at home by Swansea City.
Spanish La Liga
Pedro scored a hat trick and Cesc Fabregas also got on the score sheet as Barcelona thrashed Rayo Vallecano 4-0 away. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace with Isco and Pepe scoring two more as Real Madrid beat Getafe 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu after Lafita had opened the scoring for the visitors. Raul Garcia and Diego Costa scored as Atletico Madrid beat Real Valladolid 2-0 away while Valencia beat Sevilla 3-1 at home.
German Bundesliga
Champions Bayern Munich hammered Schalke 4-0 away thanks to goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Mandzukic, Franck Ribery and Claudio Pizarro. Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw away at Nurnberg while Bayer Leverkusen beat Mainz 4-1 away with Werder Bremen beating Hamburg 2-0 away.
Italian Serie A
Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente scored as Juventus beat Hellas Verona 2-1 in Turin. Diego Milito scored a brace as Inter Milan thumped Sassuolo 7-0 away. AS Roma beat Lazio 2-0 in the Rome Derby while AC Milan were beaten 2-1 at the San Siro by Napoli. Miguel Britos and Gonzalo Higuain scored for Napoli while Mario Balotelli’s strike in injury time was ironic as he had missed an earlier penalty. Balotelli was then sent off minutes later for a second bookable offence.
French Ligue 1
The “El-Cashico” as termed by many football trolls between Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco ended in a 1-1 draw. Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring on 5 minutes but Radamel Falcao equalised 15 minutes later. Lyon beat Nantes 3-1 at home while Bastia held Marseille to a goalless draw at home.
Dutch Eredivisie
SC Heracles Almelo 0-3 Twente Enschede
Vitesse Arnhem 3-0 PEC Zwolle
Feyenoord Rotterdam 1-0 FC Utrecht
NAC Breda 3-0 AZ Alkmaar
PSV Eindhoven 4-0 Ajax Amsterdam
Portuguese Liga
Sporting Lisbon 1-1 Rio Ave
Guimaraes 0-1 Benfica
Estoril 2-2 FC Porto
Arouca 0-1 Braga
Scottish Premiership
Celtic 2-1 St Johnstone
Aberdeen 1-0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Hibernian 2-0 St Mirren
Dundee United 2-2 Motherwell
