TheCable

It was contrasting fortunes for big European clubs as Real Madrid lost at lowly Alaves while Juventus made it eight wins in as many league games. TheCable reviews the performance of major European clubs over the weekend.

England

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City continued their unbeaten streak in this season’s EPL campaign, all going joint-top of the table.

Chelsea defeated Southampton 3-0 away from home thanks to goals from Eden Hazard, Ross Barkley and Alvaro Morata while Liverpool held Manchester City to 0-0 draw at Anfield, with Algerian winger, Rhiyard Mahrez, blasting a second half penalty over the bar.

Mohammed Salah, prolific last season, continued his wayward finishing this season when presented with Liverpool’s best opportunity. The Egyptian lifted the ball over the bar when free on goal with only the goalkeeper, Ederson, to beat.

The draw means the trio of Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea all on 20 points.

Also, Arsenal continued their fine form, recording a 5-1 win over Fulham at the Craven Cottage, with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang each scoring a brace. Furthermore, wantaway midfielder, Aaron Ramsey, scored a goal of the season contender. The win pushed the Gunners to joint fourth with North London rivals, Tottenham.

It was a near-death experience for Manchester United who had to come from two goals down to defeat Newcastle United 3-2 at Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho, who is believed to be on the brink of being sacked, saw his boys go two goals behind in the first ten minutes with strikes from Kennedy and Mito, ably aided by shambolic defending.

Juan Mata’s free kick on 68 minutes started the comeback. Anthony Martial converted low into the bottom corner to equalise, while the much-maligned Alexis Sanchez scored a header in the 90th minute.

Italy

Serie A champions, Juventus, maintained their perfect season with a 2-0 win at Udinese, thanks to goals from Federico Bernerdeschi and £99 million forward, Cristiano Ronaldo. Nigeria’s William Troost-Ekong played all 90 minutes but could not stop the Bianconeri from making it eight straight victories.

Bernerdeschi converted a header from Joao Cancelo’s cross on 33 minutes, while Ronaldo, with his fourth goal of the season, doubled the lead four minutes later, blasting a fierce and unstoppable first-time shot past the keeper from inside the penalty area.

Their closest rival, Napoli, who are six points behind, defeated Sassuolo 2-0, thanks to goals from Adam Ounas and Lorenzo Insigne.

Algerian midfielder, Ounas, gave Napoli the lead on three minutes, while the prolific Lorenzo Isigne sealed the victory with a fine strike 20 minutes from time.

Spain

Real Madrid lost 0-1 at Alaves thanks to a last-gasp Manu Garcia header which condemned the European champions to a fourth league game without a win and a goal. Julen Lopetegui’s men have also lost three out of four their last four games in all competitions.

The hosts, who enjoyed their first win over Real since 1931, made Modric and co. look ordinary all through the encounter, and could have had the lead earlier but for wayward finishing.

Real Madrid dropped to fifth on the La Liga table with 14 points from eight games, while arc rival, Barcelona were kept off the first spot, no thanks to a 1-1 draw at Valencia which moved them back to second.

Atletico Madrid also stayed joint second with a 1-0 win over Real Betis, thanks to Angel Correa’s striker. Sevilla sit atop the La Liga table on 16 points, thanks to a 2-1 win over Celts Vigo.

Germany, France

In Germany, Bayern Munich were surprisingly handed a 0-3 loss by Borrusia Monchengladbach at their Allianz Arena Stadium to drop to fifth on the table.

Borrusia Dortmund continue to lead the Bundesliga summit with a 4-3 victory over Augsburg, thanks to a second half hat-trick from the former Barcelona striker which included a last-minute winner.

In France, Paris Saint-Germain trounced Olympic Lyonnais 5-0 at the Parc des Princes courtesy of four goals from wonder kid, Kylian Mbappe. Neymar Jnr. gave PSG the lead from the penalty spot on nine minutes.