There were goals aplenty for some of Europe’s leading clubs this weekend as both halves of Manchester celebrated big wins, Real Madrid kicked off the Liga season with a 6-0 win and PSV Eindhoven racked up half a dozen strikes of their own.
Premier League
Manchester United were rampant as they handed a depleted Arsenal side their biggest defeat of the Premier League era, Wayne Rooney notching a hat-trick and Ashley Young scoring twice in an 8-2 triumph. The win took United ahead of Manchester City, after their neighbours posted an eye-catching 5-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur with Edin Džeko hitting four. Elsewhere Chelsea beat Norwich City 3-1 and Liverpool beat Bolton Wanderers y the same scoreline.
La Liga
There was a hat-trick for Cristiano Ronaldo also as Real Madrid eased past Real Zaragoza to make a stunning start to their Liga bid. The Madrid performance laid down an early warning to champions Barcelona, who plau on Monday. Former Madrid forward Roberto Soldado was in fine form as well, his three goals helping Valencia record a 4-3 win against Racing Santander, while Real Betis Balompié won the battle of the promoted teams as they prevailed 1-0 at Granada.
Bundesliga
In Germany, Mario Gomez took the headlines as his hat-trick powered Bayern Munich to a 3-0 defeat of 1. FC Kaiserslautern that took the Bavarian giants top in Germany. They are joined on points by Werder Bremen, who emerged 2-1 victors at Hoffenheim courtesy of Markus Rosenberg’s late volley. Elsewhere, titleholders Borussia Dortmund drew 0-0 with last season’s runners-up Bayer Leverkusen and Raúl hit the winner as Schalke saw off Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 to end their opponents’ unbeaten start.
Ligue 1
Lille grabbed a second consecutive win in Ligue 1 as they edged Olympique Marseille 3-2 in northern France, Moussa Sow scoring twice to leave the visitors 16th and still in search of their first victory of the season. The champions themselves lie two points off leaders Montpellier HSC, who lost their 100% record in a 2-1 reverse at the hands of Lyon, while Paris Saint-Germain engineered a late 3-1 victory at Toulouse.
Eredivisie
PSV got themselves in among the goals thanks to a 6-1 humbling of Excelsior, Dries Mertens weighing in his hat-trick. FC Twente continue to set the early pace in the Eredivisie, as they made it four wins from four by dispatching VVV Venlo 4-1.
