Top European weekend matches review

The outgone weekend was one that was riddled with top of the draw football matches that produced goals in the dozens, while there were surprises and unpredictable results to go with them.

The top European leagues saw some top teams squaring up against each other and doing what they were expected to do, while some others could not measure up.

Here is how the European football weekend panned out:

English Premier League

Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City

Gabriel Jesus ended Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the season as Manchester City won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The champions started brightly and went close in the third minute when Aymeric Laporte’s header dropped wide.

Chelsea were forced into a change before the half-hour mark as Reece James went off with an injury, Thiago Silva replacing him.

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City continued to dominate and Jesus sliced a good chance wide at the end of the first half. The Brazilian striker made up for that miss with the decisive goal, a deflected shot on the turn from the edge of the area on 53 minutes.

City had chances to double their lead. Jack Grealish drew a save from Edouard Mendy before Jesus was denied a second by Thiago Silva’s goalline clearance.

Man City move up to second on 13 points, ahead of Chelsea on goal difference.

Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa

Kortney Hause scored a late winner to give Aston Villa a rare Premier League victory over Manchester United. Bruno Fernandes missed a stoppage-time penalty and the visitors won 1-0 at Old Trafford.

Man Utd were on top early on, but Villa missed two great chances to take the lead. Matt Targett blazed over from close range and Ollie Watkins shot too close to David De Gea.

Man Utd lost Luke Shaw to injury before twice going close just before half-time. Harry Maguire’s header was saved well while Paul Pogba’s header flew narrowly wide.

Maguire went off injured in the second half before Hause headed in Douglas Luiz’s corner with two minutes remaining.

Hause then conceded a penalty in stoppage time, handling a cross. But Fernandes fired over the resulting spot-kick.

A second Villa win over Man Utd in 46 Premier League matches lifts them to eighth, with 10 points. Man Utd drop to fourth on 13 points after their first defeat of the season.

Brentford 3-3 Liverpool

Substitute Yoane Wissa struck late to earn Brentford a thrilling 3-3 home draw with Liverpool.

Both teams had shots cleared off the line in a fast-paced opening 10 minutes at Brentford Community Stadium.

Brentford’s Ethan Pinnock reacted quickest to tap in the opener on 27 minutes, but Liverpool were level four minutes later through Diogo Jota’s header.

Salah latched on to Fabinho’s pass to score his 100th league goal for Liverpool shortly before the hour mark.

But Brentford came back and Vitaly Janelt headed a loose ball in after Pontus Jansson had hit the bar. That parity did not last long as Curtis Jones struck from range to put Liverpool back in front midway through the second half.

Salah lobbed over when through on goal and Wissa made him pay, neatly clipping in a loose ball from close range with eight minutes remaining.

The result means Brentford are ninth on nine points and Liverpool go a point clear of Manchester City at the top.

Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka both claimed a goal and an assist as Arsenal won the north London derby honours with a 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners raced into a 3-0 lead with a stunning first 45 minutes.

Saka set up Smith Rowe for the opener on 12 minutes, the latter steering the cross beyond Hugo Lloris from eight yards.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started and finished a counter-attacking move for Arsenal’s second after 27 minutes as he swept home Smith Rowe’s pass.

Arsenal added a third seven minutes later when Saka powered forward, weaved past a couple of challenges and kept his composure to produce a crisp finish.

Son Heung-min pulled a goal back for Spurs with 11 minutes remaining, for the first goal conceded by goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in his three Premier League appearances for Arsenal.

Ramsdale produced a brilliant fingertip save in stoppage time, tipping Lucas Moura’s effort on to the bar, but Spurs could not add a second.
Victory takes Arsenal up to 10th on nine points, one place ahead of Spurs.

Leicester City 2-2 Burnley

Jamie Vardy recovered from scoring an early own goal to scare twice and earn Leicester City a 2-2 draw against winless Burnley. The striker flicked Ashley Westwood’s corner past team-mate Kasper Schmeichel to give the visitors the lead after 12 minutes.

He redeemed himself on 37 minutes, latching on to a Youri Tielemans through-ball and finding the bottom-left corner.

But Burnley restored their advantage five minutes before half-time through Maxwel Cornet’s first Premier League goal.

The Ivorian volleyed Matej Vydra’s cross spectacularly past Schmeichel but was forced off shortly after through injury.

The second half continued in a similar end-to-end fashion and Vardy eventually squeezed the ball in from a tight angle to level for a second time with five minutes to play.

There was still time for a late drama as Chris Wood headed in from close range, only for his effort to be overturned following a VAR review. Leicester sit 12th with seven points, while Burnley stay 19th on two points.

Spanish La Liga

Barcelona 3-0 Levante

Barcelona get back to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Levante at Camp Nou. They led by two goals at the break, with Memphis Depay and De Jong scoring early on to get them off to the perfect start.

It looked like it would end 2-0, as Fernandez was excellent in goal for the visitors, denying Depay on several occasions. But Fati wrapped up the three points in stoppage time, marking his return from injury with a goal.

The win moves Barca up to fifth in the table, five points behind Real Madrid at the top, with a game in hand.

Next up is a trip to Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday, before returning to LaLiga action next weekend to face Atletico. Meanwhile, Levante dropped to 17th and remain without a win so far this season and face Mallorca next time out.

Real Madrid 0-0 Villareal

The two sides will share the points as neither side could find the winning goal. The hosts were noticeably improved after the break after Villarreal could probably count themselves unlucky to go into the break level.

They went close through Militao and Benzema but were also kept honest as the visiting side threatened on the break. Ancelotti made changes as he tried to go for the victory but they couldn’t have the desired effect and it finished goalless.

The hosts extend their lead at the top to three points but will rue the opportunity to have made it five as they missed numerous chances to win the game.

They will head to Espanyol in their next La Liga game. Meanwhile, the visitors move to 10th in the table and will count this as a good point due to the form of their hosts. Emery and his men will host Real Betis next in the league as they look to move up the table.

Deportivo Alaves 1-0 Atletico Madrid

Alaves shocked Atletico with a 1-0 victory for their first win of the LaLiga season. Laguardia scored the winner in just the fourth minute when he rose highest to head Duarte’s corner past Jan Oblak.

In the second half, Loum and Pina both fired great chances high over the bar, while Correa came off the bench and saw an effort well-saved by Pacheco with his legs. De Paul also saw a late effort saved and Atletico just couldn’t find a breakthrough.

Atletico’s unbeaten start to the season comes to an end, but they stay fourth in LaLiga. Next up for them is a trip to Milan in the Champions League. Alaves lift themselves off the bottom of the table with that win and they travel to Athletic Bilbao for their next game.

Italian Serie A

Spezia 1-2 AC Milan

A below-par performance did not stop Milan from escaping with another three points. as Diaz – who had been on the pitch for less than five minutes – snatched the win with a decisive intervention from the bench.

His fellow substitute Leap was even more instrumental in changing the Rossoneri’s fortunes after a sluggish first half, in a match that will be long remembered in the Maldini household. For a second consecutive game, Spezia relinquish a chance of points against one of Calcio’s traditional giants, leaving the Aquilotti uncomfortably close to the foot of the table.

Spezia have now lost four of their last six home fixtures in Serie A and are owners of one of the league’s worst defensive records this term. They will hope to recover with relatively easier games against Verona and Salernitana in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Milan return to Champions League action next time out, when they host Spanish champions Atletico Madrid at San Siro.

Juventus 3-2 Sampdoria

There was barely time to breathe for players and observers alike at San Siro, as Inter and Atalanta played out a thrilling, incident-packed draw, which will ultimately satisfy neither side. The action switched from end to end throughout, and a memorable set of opening goals for both teams will live long in the memory.

As a measure of the 90 minutes, the possession was shared virtually equally and the two sides each had at least 20 attempts on goal. Even the super-strict referee was particularly active; showing eight yellow cards in a well contested but fairly fought match.

Juventus held on to beat Sampdoria 3-2. Dybala broke the deadlock early on when he picked out the bottom corner before Bonucci doubled their lead from the penalty spot.

Sampdoria pulled one back through Yoshida’s header just before the break. Locatelli restored Juve’s two-goal cushion when he slotted into an empty net but Sampdoria closed the gap again through Candreva’s goal, but the visitors couldn’t find a late equaliser.

That was Juventus’ first home win of the season and it moved them up to ninth in the table. Their attention turns to the Champions League now as they host Chelsea on Wednesday.

D’Aversa will be hoping Sampdoria can get back to winning ways against Udinese next time out.

French Ligue 1

PSG 2-0 Montpellier

PSG put in a professional but not spectacular performance at the Parc des Princes to seal all three points, beating Montpellier 2-0. The goals came from Gueye’s effort from distance in the first half and Draxler’s low drive immediately after coming on as a substitute in the second half.

The host shaded both possession and total shots in the match, but a disjointed attack led to fewer goals than the match perhaps could have seen.

Neymar and Mbappe were often in each other’s way and the connection between Di Maria and Hakimi was not as fluid as in recent times.

The visitors rarely troubled Navas as Germain was held at bay by the combination of Marquinhos and Kimpembe – who allowed just the one glancing header. The win continues PSG’s perfect start; eight wins from eight.