Liverpool crashed to a surprise 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa on Saturday, after Chelsea beat Swansea City 4-2 to move clear at the Premier League summit.
Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor scored the only goal at Anfield in the ninth minute, hooking home from close range after Philippe Senderos’ header was blocked by Javier Manquillo.
After debutant Adam Lallana and Mario Balotelli shot wide, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers sent Raheem Sterling on, but the closest the hosts came to equalizing was a shot from Philippe Coutinho that hit the post.
Photo: AFP
“I think the players gave everything today,” Rodgers said. “We just couldn’t find that quality in the final third of the field and Aston Villa defended well.”
Villa climbed to second, two points behind Chelsea, who came from behind to beat Swansea at Stamford Bridge thanks to a hat-trick by Diego Costa.
A John Terry own-goal from a left-wing cross by Neil Taylor gave previously unbeaten Swansea an 11th-minute lead, but Costa equalized on the stroke of halftime with a header from a right-wing corner.
He struck twice in 11 minutes to put Chelsea in control, polishing off a Cesc Fabregas cut-back and a mishit Ramires shot, and Loic Remy made it 4-1 with a debut goal before Jonjo Shelvey replied for Swansea.
Brazil-born Spain international Costa now has seven goals to his name and is the first player to score in his first four Premier League games since Coventry City’s Micky Quinn in 1992.
“Diego Costa is one of the best strikers we have at this moment in football,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “The team is an attacking team that creates a lot and creates spaces for a striker. It could have been five or six.”
Earlier, Martin Demichelis scored an 83rd-minute equalizer as Manchester City held Arsenal to a 2-2 draw in an entertaining encounter at the Emirates Stadium.
Everton claimed their first win of the season with a 2-0 success at West Bromwich Albion.
An 82nd-minute own-goal by Harry Kane saw Tottenham Hotspur held to a 2-2 draw at Sunderland.
Italian striker Graziano Pelle scored twice as Southampton sent Newcastle United to the foot of the table with a 4-0 win at St Mary’s.
Leicester City secured their first victory since gaining promotion, winning 1-0 at Stoke City.
Burnley and Crystal Palace drew 0-0.
BUNDESLIGA
AFP, BERLIN
Bayern Munich playmaker Franck Ribery scored in his first game this season as the champions moved joint top on Saturday, while Shinji Kagawa also enjoyed a goalscoring return as Borussia Dortmund saw off SC Freiburg.
Mario Goetze put Bayern ahead, before Ribery came off the bench to seal a routine 2-0 win over VfB Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern are now equal on seven points with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who lead on goal-difference after three games.
Die Roten broke the stalemate on 27 minutes when Goetze drove a shot through a crowd of players after a free-kick was partially cleared.
Ribery came on midway through the second half. The French midfielder secured the three points when he slotted under Sven Ullreich with five minutes left.
Bayern manager Pep Guardiola reserved special praise for new signing Xabi Alonso, who touched the ball 150 times and covered more ground than any other home player.
Kagawa made a dream start to his second spell at Borussia Dortmund after getting on the scoresheet in their 3-1 win over Freiburg at Signal-Iduna-Park.
The Japanese midfielder returned to Dortmund from Manchester United last month and his clever pass for Kevin Grosskreutz helped the hosts open the scoring after 34 minutes. Grosskreutz’s low cross was swept in by Adrian Ramos.
Dortmund stretched their lead four minutes before halftime when Ramos found Kagawa and he sidefooted home.
In Saturday’s late game, Andre Hahn scored his first goals for Borussia Moenchengladbach as they crushed Schalke 04 4-1.
Elsewhere, Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki scored twice and Sami Allagui also found the net as unbeaten FSV Mainz 05 won 3-1 at Hertha BSC.
Ivica Olic scored a late equalizer in VfL Wolfsburg’s 1-1 draw at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, while promoted sides SC Paderborn 07 and Cologne are both still unbeaten after they played out a goalless draw.
LIGUE 1
AFP, PARIS
Paris Saint-Germain were held for the third time on their Ligue 1 travels to a 1-1 draw at Stade Rennais on Saturday, while AS Saint-Etienne moved second with a 1-0 win against Stade Malherbe Caen.
An own-goal by Caen defender Jean-Jacques Pierre allowed Saint-Etienne to move into second.
It was a third draw in three outings for PSG, who had opened the scoring two minutes before the break through a rare goal from defender Zoumana Camara.
The hosts got a share of the spoils with a score from striker Paul-Georges Ntep.
Elsewhere, Montpellier Herault moved fourth after a 1-0 win at home against Lorient.
Stade de Reims bounced back from three consecutive losses with a 2-0 home win over Toulouse. OGC Nice snatched a 1-0 win over Metz, while SC Bastia and Racing Club de Lens played out a 1-1 draw.
SERIE A
AFP, MILAN, Italy
Strikes in either half from Carlos Tevez and Claudio Marchisio sent champions Juventus joint top of Italy’s Serie A thanks to a 2-0 home win over Udinese.
AS Roma had gone provisionally top earlier thanks to a 1-0 away win at promoted Empoli and Rudi Garcia’s men now sit second.
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