It was some weekend in England and across Europe, where Levante continued their incredible start to the season by moving above Real Madrid and Barcelona to the top of La Liga.
They crushed Villarreal 3-0 away from home to go top in Spain, after Barcelona had been forced to settle for a 0-0 draw at home to Sevilla, in a game marred by controversy following a brawl at the end when a penalty was awarded to Barcelona.
Real Madrid won 4-0 at big spending Malaga, Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat trick, as they went level on points with Barcelona. Valencia and Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 in a thrilling game at the Mestalla, where Roberto Soldado netted a late equaliser for the hosts.
Manchester City’s thumping win over United moved them five points clear of their great rivals, who remain second after Chelsea were also stunned. They lost 1-0 at QPR, and had two men sent off in the process. Newcastle continued their fine start to the season with a battling win at home to Wigan (1-0), but Liverpool were held 1-1 by Norwich at home. Arsenal continued their recovery with a 3-1 win at home to Stoke and Tottenham beat Blackburn 2-1 away.
After last week’s goalless escapades the ball started hitting the net once more in Italy this weekend when AC Milan beat Lecce 4-3 away from home. Leaders Udinese won 3-0 at home to Novara, and second placed Lazio beat Bologna 2-0 away. Third place Juventus drew 2-2 at home to Genoa, whilst Fiorentina and Catania played out the same score at the Artemio Franchi.
Eric Lamela scored a sumptuous first goal for Roma when they beat Palermo 1-0, Inter won by the same score against Chievo, and Napoli were held 0-0 by Cagliari, who are flying high in fourth.
Paris St. Germain continued their form with a 2-0 win at home to Dijon, whilst Montpellier took a good 3-1 win at Caen to stay second. In the weekend’s big game, Lille came from behind to beat Lyon 3-1 at home. Marseille got their second win of the season at home to Ajaccio.
In Germany Bayern Munich went down to a shock 2-1 defeat at Hannover, whilst Borussia Dortmund crushed Koln 5-0 to move second. Schalke won 1-0 at Bayer Leverkusen in the Ruhr derby.
Porto and Benfica continue to dominate in Portugal, with the former beating Nacional 5-0 at home to stretch their long unbeaten league run, and the latter cruised to a 1- 0 win at Beira Mar.
Feyenoord and Ajax drew 1-1 in the big game in Holland, whilst the leaders AZ beat Roda JC 1-0, and Twente drew at Gronigen.
Zenit St. Petersburg won 3-1 at FC Rostov, while nearest rivals CSKA won 5-3 at big spending Anzhi Makhachkala.
In Brazil, Vasco de Gama went back to the top of the league with a 2-0 win at Bahia, whilst Corinthians could only draw at Internacional.
Flamengo remain third after a 1-1 draw at home to Santos, whilst Botafogo went down to a 3-2 defeat at Avai. Fluminense’s 2-0 home loss to Atletico Mineiro meant that only one of the top five won.
