Goals galore for Man United and Bayern, Barca slip up

Reuters: Neighbours Manchester United and City recorded convincing wins to continue setting the pace in the Premier League but European champions Barcelona dropped points in La Liga.

There were plenty of goals in Italy as the Serie A season finally got underway after a players’ strike and German leaders Bayern Munich scored seven times in their match against Freiburg.

SPAIN

Champions Barcelona blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Real Sociedad and Real Madrid took advantage of the slip-up with a 4-2 home win over Getafe.

Real Madrid, Valencia and promoted Real Betis are the only teams still with 100 percent records with just two games played in the season.

European champions Barca had been cruising after early strikes from Xavi and Cesc Fabregas but eased off and the Basques levelled with two goals in three second-half minutes.

France striker Karim Benzema led Real Madrid to victory, scoring either side of a disputed Cristiano Ronaldo penalty but it needed substitute Gonzalo Higuain to settle the match for Jose Mourinho’s men.

ENGLAND

Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick for Manchester United and Sergio Aguero did the same for Manchester City as the two city rivals maintained their perfect starts to the season with wins over Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic respectively.

Rooney, who also scored a hat-trick in United’s last match against Arsenal two weeks ago, took his tally to the season to eight as United won 5-0 at Bolton.

Aguero continued to justify City’s club record outlay of 38 million pounds ($60 million) for his signature in the close season with all three in the 3-0 home win over Wigan. He has now scored six league goals in four appearances for his new club.

Both clubs have 12 points from their four games with United topping the table on goal difference.

Chelsea stayed on their tails with a 2-1 win at Sunderland to move on to 10 points with Stoke City in fourth spot after their 1-0 win over Liverpool.

ITALY

There were goals galore on the delayed opening weekend of the Serie A season with Juventus lighting up their new stadium with a 4-1 win over Parma for new boss Antonio Conte.

Inter Milan counterpart Gian Piero Gasperini was less impressed with a 4-3 defeat at Palermo on his league debut although new signing Diego Forlan did score. AS Roma’s new coach Luis Enrique also watched a 2-1 home defeat by Cagliari.

Champions AC Milan came back from two down to draw 2-2 at the San Siro with Lazio thanks to goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano.

The original start to Serie A was postponed last month due to a player strike.

FRANCE

Olympique Marseille coach Didier Deschamps is under increasing pressure after a 1-0 home loss to Stade Rennes left them with just three points from five games.

Champions Lille went third with winger Eden Hazard scoring twice and new loan signing Joe Cole impressing in a 3-1 win at St Etienne while Javier Pastore scored his first Paris St Germain goal in a 1-0 win over Stade Brest.

Montpellier lead the way following Souleymane Camara’s strike in a 1-0 success over Nice and Olympique Lyon are just behind after their 2-1 victory at promoted Dijon.

GERMANY

Bayern Munich lead the Bundesliga race following their 7-0 demolition of Freiburg on Saturday with top scorer Mario Gomez netting four times.

Werder Bremen are also on 12 points from five games, second on goal difference, following their 2-0 win over rivals Hamburg SV courtesy of a Claudio Pizarro brace.

Borussia Moench-engladbach kept up their fine start to the season with a 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern that lifted them to third on 10 while champions Borussia Dortmund suffered their second defeat of the season, losing 2-1 to Hertha Berlin, to remain in 11th place, five points off the pace.

NETHERLANDS

Ajax Amsterdam went top of the Dutch league after beating Heracles Almelo 3-2, with Siem de Jong scoring a double, as Twente Enschede suffered their first defeat when they lost 2-1 at Roda JC Kerkrade. AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord registered wins over Vitesse Arnhem and NAC Breda respectively, while PSV Eindhoven dropped two points in a spectacular six goal draw at VVV Venlo.

PORTUGAL

Champions Porto maintained their perfect start in the Portuguese Premier League with a 3-0 victory at home to Vitoria Setubal to stay top of the table on 12 points from four games.

Porto were a constant threat but had to wait for substitute Joao Moutinho to break the stalemate with a long-distance drive on 53 minutes. South American duo James Rodriguez and Fernando Belluschi later added one each.

Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo scored two penalties and missed another in Benfica’s 2-1 home win against Vitoria Guimaraes. Benfica are just below Porto on 10 points.

Sporting lag behind their rivals in mid-table but earned their first victory of the season away to Pacos de Ferreira, coming back from two goals down to win 3-2.