Chelsea’s English Premier League title defense is already floundering after a rare home loss allowed Manchester City to increase their lead following a fourth consecutive win on Saturday.
City’s latest success of the new season was a 2-0 victory over Watford, with ￡49 million (US$76 million) signing Raheem Sterling scoring his first league goal to join Fernandinho’s effort.
A 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace left Chelsea with only four points from four games and eight points behind league-leading City.
Photo: AFP
Although Radamel Falcao canceled out Bakary Sako’s Palace opener by heading in his first Chelsea goal in the 79th minute, the south London visitors were back in front inside two minutes via Joel Ward.
Liverpool were left stunned after a 3-0 home loss to West Ham United.
Arsenal relied on Fabricio Coloccini’s own goal to win 1-0 at Newcastle United, despite the hosts playing for 75 minutes with 10 men after Aleksandar Mitrovic was dismissed.
West Bromwich Albion edged Stoke City 1-0 through Salomon Rondon’s header, while Tottenham Hotspur drew 0-0 with Everton.
Like Stoke, Sunderland are still searching for their first win of the season after being held 2-2 at Aston Villa.
Newcomers AFC Bournemouth have four points from four after drawing 1-1 with Leicester City.
LA LIGA
The race between main rivals is closer in Spain, where Real Madrid rolled to a lopsided 5-0 win over Real Betis Balompie for their first victory under new coach Rafa Benitez, after Barcelona eked out another 1-0 victory.
Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez scored two goals each to fuel Real’s big win in their home opener.
Rodriguez picked out Bale to set the tone from the second minute and increased the lead with a vicious free-kick from a tight angle in the 39th minute.
After Karim Benzema made it 3-0 early in the second half, Rodriguez produced another brilliant strike with a bicycle kick to whip in his second goal in the 50th minute.
Bale was not to be outdone and struck a blistering long ball while on the run that hit the upright before landing in the net with two minutes left.
While Real eased to the convincing win, Barcelona needed Thomas Vermaelen to score his first goal for the defending champions to down Malaga.
Barcelona lead Real by two points after two rounds, but it was RC Celta de Vigo who took the overnight lead on goal difference after crushing 10-man Rayo Vallecano de Madrid 3-0.
David Moyes’ Real Sociedad are still searching for their first goal after the Basque side drew 0-0 with Real Sporting de Gijon.
LIGUE 1
Nabil Fekir scored his first Ligue 1 hat-trick as last year’s runners-up Olympique Lyonnais won 4-0 at Stade Malherbe Caen, while Stade de Reims moved provisionally top with a 4-1 victory at Lorient.
Stade Rennais are level with Reims and Paris Saint-Germain after coming from behind to beat Toulouse 3-1.
Fekir got his first in the 18th minute following a pass from Corentin Tolisso.
The duo combined again a minute before half-time.
Fekir ran onto Tolisso’s long ball before squeezing a shot in off the far post. Tolisso also had a hand in the third, passing the ball to Mathieu Valbuena, who set up Fekir shortly before the hour mark.
Newly-promoted Angers SCO drew 1-1 with OGC Nice. Lille OSC got their first victory of the season, winning 1-0 at Gazelec Ajaccio, while Montpellier Herault drew 0-0 at ESTAC Troyes.
BUNDESLIGA
Thomas Mueller celebrated his 200th Bundesliga match with two goals as defending champions Bayern Munich powered past Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0. Arjen Robben converted a penalty for Bayern’s other goal.
Yoshinori Muto scored his first pair of Bundesliga goals and set up one to lead FSV Mainz 05 past Hannover 96 3-0.
Cologne rallied to beat 10-man Hamburg SV 2-1, while promoted Ingolstadt 04 and SV Darmstadt 98 both picked up points.
Ingolstadt won 1-0 at Augsburg, while Darmstadt held TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 0-0. Eintracht Frankfurt kept VfB Stuttgart winless with a 4-1 defeat.
SERIE A
Two of AC Milan’s new forwards combined to give them a 2-1 win at Empoli, but Mario Balotelli remained on the bench following his return from Liverpool.
Carlos Bacca put Milan in front in the 17th minute, but the home side’s lead lasted just four minutes before Riccardo Saponara leveled against his old club.
Luiz Adriano, who had set up Bacca’s opener, headed in the winner in the 69th minute.
US Sassuolo defeated hosts Bologna 1-0.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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