Games immediately following European midweek action tend to have some interesting results, as fatigue takes its toll on players across Europe. The weekend’s action was full of drama and intrigue, with plenty of real goals, top drawer saves, and jaw-dropping results. But which teams performed well this week, and which teams didn’t?
Premier League
Top Performers: Chelsea
The Blues ruined the return of former manager Jose Mourinho at the Bridge, delivering a masterclass performance as they ran away 4-0 winners.
A goal in the first 30 seconds of the game from Spanish forward Pedro put Manchester United on the back foot straight away, and they never quite recovered. Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante found the back of the net, as Chelsea humiliated their former manager.
Chelsea’s switch to a 3-5-2 has seen them become more fluid in attack and more compact in defence. The London team sit in 4th place after this victory.
Underperformers: Arsenal
The Gunners, straight from their 6-0 Champions League mauling of Ludogorets showed their familiar inconsistency as they could only manage a draw against underdogs Middlesborough.
Arsenal, missing key midfield players in Santi Cazorla, and Granit Xhaka struggled to create any clear-cut chances throughout the game.
A win will have seen the Gunners move two points clear at the top, but they have to settle for 2nd place, level on points with Manchester City and Tottenham.
La Liga
Top Performers: Celta Vigo
Iago Aspas was the hero as Celta Vigo thrashed Deportivo La Coruna 4-1 on Sunday to move into 8th position in the Spanish La Liga standings.
Hugo Mallo put Celta Vigo ahead, but the goal was cancelled out by Deportivo’s Raul Albentosa. Iago Aspas scored the decisive 2nd goal from the penalty spot.
A goal from Fabian Orellana and a second from Iago Aspas put the game beyond doubt. The win sees Celta Vigo bounce back from last weekend’s heavy 5-0 defeat to Villarreal.
Underperformers: Atletico Madrid
Atletico suffered their first loss of the season, as they went down 1-0 away at Sevilla.
Steven N’Zonzi’s broke through the Atletico defence in the 78th minute of the game and steered the ball past Jan Oblak to take all three points for the Europa League holders.
The goal was only the 4th Atletico have conceded thus far, and the Madrid giants ended the weekend in 5th place.
Ligue 1
Top Performers: Nice
The league leaders continued their impressive start to the season, beating Metz 4-2 away from home to extend their lead at the top of the table to 4 points.
Metz managed to stay with the table toppers, coming back twice from 1-0 and 2-1 to draw the game level. Alassane Plea’s goal in the 83rd minute, his 3rd of the night proved to be the decisive goal.
Cyprien scored in the dying minutes of the game to put the result beyond doubt as the Eaglets continued their unbeaten start to the season.
Underperformers: Montpellier
For 74 minutes of the match, it looked like a draw was on the cards for Monaco and Montpellier as the game stood at 2-2. Goals from Radamel Falcao and Kylian Mbappe-Lottin cancelled out by two set-piece goals from Ryad Boudebouz.
The floodgates however opened in the last third of the second half; with goals from Jemerson, Valere Germain, Thomas Meler and Adama Traore securing a 6-2 win for the principality side.
The result saw Montpellier end the weekend in 17th place, with 10 points from 10 league matches.
Bundesliga
Top Performers: TSG Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim secured a morale-boosting 3-0 away win at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, with goals from Demirbay, Sandro Wagner and Steven Zuber.
The hosts played almost the entirety of the game with ten men, as Kevin Volland was sent off in the 5th minute for a professional foul.
The result sees Hoffenheim end the weekend in 3rd place, only behind FC Bayern and RB Leipzig.
Underperformers: Borussia Dortmund
BVB lost more ground on league leaders Bayern Munich, as they could only manage a draw at struggling Ingolstadt.
Ingolstadt raced out of the blocks quickly, leading 2-0 at half time. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled the BVB back to within one goal, before Dario Lezcano’s goal restored the two-goal deficit.
Adrian Ramos scored for BVB to set up a pulsating final 20 minutes before Christian Pulisic scored in injury time to share the points.
The result sees Borussia Dortmund sit in 6th place, with 14 points from 8 games.
Serie A
Top Performers: AC Milan
The Rossoneri reminded the world of the good old days with a hard fought 1-0 victory over league leaders Juventus at the San Siro on Saturday.
The victory, their first over Juventus in 4 years came via a stunning long-range effort from 18-year-old midfielder Manuel Locatelli.
Juventus efforts to find the back of the net were thwarted by a resolute defence and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who was in fine form.
The result sees Milan go to 2nd place in the standings, two points behind favourites Juventus.
Underperformers: Inter Milan
Frank de Boer is finding it tough in the Serie A, as his Inter side slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Atlanta, their 3rd defeat in a row.
Andrea Masiello’s goal had given the hosts the lead before Inter equalised through Portuguese striker Eder. Mauricio Pinilla scored in the 88th minute of the game from the penalty spot to give Atlanta all three points.
The pressure is starting to build on De Boer, who only took over from Roberto Mancini in the summer. The Milan team are currently in 14th place, with 11 points from 9 games.
