Chelsea Clear At The Top

Ahead of the second round of European games, the Premier League's six participants will all go into midweek on the back of unbeaten weekends with four meeting across two derbies.

Saturday's early kick-off saw Liverpool host neighbours Everton in the hallowed 'Merseyside Derby' with the visitors looking secure a first win at Anfield in 15 years. As both sides have had open defences this season, it was a surprise that the first goal took 65 minute to arrive. A stunning free-kick from Steven Gerrard sent the Kop wild and with the final minutes ticking down, a win looked to be on the cards.  However, Everton salvaged a draw with a stellar effort from Phil Jagielka in injury time for 1-1.

Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season continued as they swept aside visitors Aston Villa with a comfortable 3-0 victory to open up a three point lead at the top. A superb start for the hosts saw them take a seventh minute lead with a strike from Oscar before Diego Costa continued his scoring spree with a goal in the 59th minute. The three points were wrapped up in the 79th minute as Willian made it 3-0 to condemn Villa to a successive three-goal defeats.

Crystal Palace halted Leicester's fine run of form with a 2-0 win at home to the Foxes who for the first time this season failed to score in a game meaning Leonardo Ulloa's scoring spree came to an end but the Eagles wrapped up the points with a three minute double as Fraizer Campbell opened the scoring before Mile Jedinak added a second in the 54th minute to confirm the win. 

Manchester City came out on top in a six goal thriller away to Hull City with the champions racing into a 2-0 lead inside 12 minutes after an opener from Sergio Aguero in the seventh minute was added to by a second from Edin Dzeko four minutes later. The hosts drew level with two goal in 11 minutes either side of the half hour with Eliaquim Mangala heading into his own net in the 21st minute before Abel Hernandez made it 2-2 with a 32nd minute penalty.  However, City regained the lead with Dzeko's second strike in the 68th minute before Frank Lampard continued his superb start to the season with a fourth in the 87th minute.

Manchester United bounced back from their collapse at Leicester to secure a 2-1 win at home to West Ham with the hosts making a perfect start as Wayne Rooney opened the scoring just five minutes in before Robin Van Persie made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute. The Hammers reduced the deficit with a strike from Diafra Sakho in the 37th minute to give them hopes of a comeback, hopes that increased just before the hour mark as United captain Wayne Rooney was sent off after kicking out at Stewart Downing. The Hammers pushed to draw level but were unable to prevent the hosts from claiming all three points.

Southampton continued a superb start to the season with a 2-1 win over QPR as with two of their summer signings proving their worth with both goals in the second half. Ryan Bertrand scored his first goal for the Saints in the 54th minute before Charlie Austin levelled for the visitors in the 66th minute. However, QPR's parity lasted just two minutes as Graziano Pellè made it 2-1 to the hosts and the strike proved to be enough to secure all three points.

Sunderland and Swansea shared the points in a 0-0 draw with the Swans suffering an indifferent end to the game with the dismissal of Angel Rangel in the 81st minute. The evening kick-off saw Arsenal host Tottenham in the 'North London Derby' and alike the earlier derby, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Tottenham went ahead in the 56th minute with a trike from the in-form Nacer Chadli before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain levelled in the 74th minute.

Sunday's solitary game saw West Brom romp to a 4-0 win over Burnley with the Baggies taking the lead in the 30th minute with a strike from Craig Dawson before Saido Berahino made it 2-0 to the hosts just before half-time. The young striker completed a brace in the 56th minute to put the Baggies in control at 3-0 before the gloss was added to the win in the final minute with a goal from Graham Dorrans.

The final game of the weekend took place on Monday as Stoke played host to a Newcastle side still yet to win this season and with Magpies manager Alan Pardew under pressure to deliver results, the fact that Peter Crouch opened the scoring for the Potters inside 15 minutes was an early blow. Newcastle pushed to draw level but Crouch's strike proved to be enough to secure the points for the hosts.

Capital One Cup Third Round Summary

The third round of the Capital One Cup saw the influx of the top flight sides who qualified for European competitions this season including current holders Manchester City.

Tuesday night saw ten games featuring some shocks and surprises with the first coming at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Southampton who had to come from behind when Alexis Sanchez put the Gunners in front in the 14th minute. The Saints drew level just six minutes later with a penalty from Dusan Tadic before going 2-1 ahead in the 40th minute with a stunning strike from Nathaniel Clyne. Arsenal pushed to draw level but Southampton held firm to secure a surprise victory.

Bournemouth also staged a shock as they cruised to a 3-0 win away to Cardiff with the result pretty much sealed before half-time as Dan Gosling struck twice in the ninth and 33rd minutes either side of a second from Daniels to sent them into the fourth round.

Derby continued their fine star to the season with a 2-0 win over fellow Championship side Reading with the Rams securing the win with two second half goals from Russell in the 67th minute before the second came just eight minutes from the end with Pearce scoring an own goal. Sheffield United also advanced after a narrow 1-0 win away to Leyton Orient with the crucial strike coming after only two minutes from Michael Higdon but it proved to be enough to secure the win for the Blades. 

A historic and record breaking night at Anfield saw Liverpool and Middlesbrough share 31 goals in a game that will surely be remembered as an 'I was there when..' moment. Liverpool opened the scoring in the tenth minute with a debut strike from Jordan Rossiter but were pegged back in the 63nd minute by an Adam Reach header. The sides went into extra time and Liverpool regained the lead in the 108th minute with a powerful strike from Suso but their joy evaporated in the final seconds when Kolo Toure fouled Patrick Bamford with the 'Boro striker converting the penalty for 2-2 and forcing a shootout.

Balotelli started the Reds off before Bamford missed Middlesbrough's first attempt at 1-0. Lucas, Lallana and Suso all converted for Liverpool with Clayton, Reach and Adomah responding for the visitors. Sterling blew the chance to win the tie for Liverpool at 4-3 and the match went into sudden-death with Vossen's strike.

From there it was a masterclass in penalty taking with 19 successive spot kicks converted with Williams, Toure, Sakho, Manquillo, Enrique, Mignolet, Balotelli, Lucas, Lallana and Suso scoring for Liverpool with Friend, Ayala, Fredricks, Omeruo, Wildschut, Blackman, Clayton and Reach all successful from the spot but Adomah was unable to continue the trend with a miss that sealed the win for Liverpool and a 14-13 victory on penalties.

MK Dons continued their good run in the competition with a 2-0 win over 2013 runners-up Bradford City with Benik Afobe the hero with two strikes in the 5th and 86th minutes to sent the Dons into the fourth round. Shrewsbury caused the shock of the round as they sealed a 1-0 win over Norwich who sit to divisions above the Shrews with the crucial strike coming in the 54th minute via Collins.

Last season's runners-up Sunderland exited the competition after a 2-1 defeat at home to Stoke who had to come from behind after the hosts took a 16th minute lead with a Jozy Altidore strike before Muniesa levelled in the 31st minute. Stoke completed their comeback in the 71st minute when Muniesa struck for a second time to seal the win.

Swansea cruised to a 3-0 win over Everton with Nathan Dyer opening the scoring in the 28th minute before the Swans took control in the 64th minute with a Gylfi Sigurdsson strike before the win was confirmed in the final minutes with Marvin Emnes' 87th minute strike. 

The final match of the night saw Fulham secure a 2-1 win over fellow Championship side Doncaster with first half goals from Ruiz and Burn in the 16th and 32nd minutes putting the Cottagers in control. Doncaster replied with a Coppinger strike on the hour mark but were unable to prevent the hosts securing a first win of the season.

Wednesday night saw six games take place with comebacks being the main focus as no shocks appeared. Brighton cruised to a 3-0 win away to Burton with first half strikes from Ince and Lua Lua in the 18th and 37th minutes putting the visitors in control. The win was sealed in the 66th minute with a strike from Craig Mackail-Smith for 3-0 before Brighton suffered a bad end to the game with the dismissal of Calderon in the 88th minute.

Chelsea secured a narrow win over Bolton with Zouma putting the Blues ahead in the 25th minute before they were pegged back just five minutes later by a strike from Mills before the win was sealed in the 55th minute with a strike from Oscar.

Manchester City began their defence of the trophy in devastating style with a 7-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday who remarkably were level at 0-0 at half-time before suffering a complete collapse in the second half which began with three goals in seven minutes from Lampard, Dzeko and Navas. Yaya Toure converted a penalty on the hour mark before Dzeko his a second strike for 5-0. City confirmed the win with two late goals from Pozo and Lampard in the 88th and 90th minutes.

Tottenham secured a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest but had to come behind after a 62nd minute opener from Grant with Mason levelling in the 72nd minute followed by goals from Kane and Soldado in the 83rd and 90th minutes to seal the win.

Newcastle came from behind to seal a 3-2 victory after extra time away to Crystal Palace with the hosts taking a 25th minute lead with a Dwight Gayle penalty before a double from Riviere in the 36th and 48th minute put the Magpies ahead. The victory looked safe until the final minute of the 90 when KaiKai levelled for Palace to force extra time.  Newcastle went down to ten men in the 100th minute with the dismissal of Abeid but the Magpies prevailed and secured the win two minutes later with a strike from Dummett.

West Brom left it late to secure a 3-2 win at home to Hull with the Baggies taking a 15th minute lead with a Brown Ideye strike before Tom Ince levelled in the 41st minute for the Tigers before Robbie Brady made it 2-1 in the 50th minute. West Brom staged a late smash and grab with a 87th minute leveller from McAuley followed up by a winning goal from Berahino in the 88th minute.

Merseyside Duo Stunned By Londoners

As if last week's shocks and surprises were not enough, the Premier League unpredicabiity continued with some real thrillers across Saturday and Sunday.


Saturday's lunchtime kick-off saw a four goal thriller between QPR and Stoke end with a share of the points for the the two sides, Mame Diouf put the Potters ahead in the 11th minute only for Steven Caulker to level three minutes before half-time. Peter Crouch regained the lead for the visitors before a late stunner from Niko Kranjcar salvaged a draw for the hosts.



Arsenal bounced back from their midweek Champions League heartache with a comfortable 3-0 win away to Aston Villa whose hopes of continuing their good start to the season ended in the space of four minutes as Danny Welbeck set up Mesut Ozil in the 32nd minute before the German returned the favour in the 34th minute. The third strike came via an own goal from Aly Cissokho in the 36th minute and ensured the Gunners moved into the top four.


Burnley and Sunderland are still yet to win this season after they shared the points in a 0-0 draw where neither will be to satisfied as a result as they both sit in the bottom five after four games along with Newcastle who were lucky to avoid defeat as they shared the points in a four goal thriller with Hull.

The visitors opened the scoring three minutes into the second half when Nikica Jelavic struck and his opener was followed 20 minutes later by a strike from Mo Diame which put the Tigers in control but an inspires change by Magpies manager Alan Pardew saw the hosts salvage a draw after Papiss Cissé struck in the 73rd and 87th minutes to make it 2-2.


Southampton continued their good start to the season with a narrow 1-0 win away to Swansea who had to play two thirds of the game with ten men after Wilfried Bony was dismissed in the 39th minute but the Swans did well to battle against Southampton's 11 men but were undone with ten minutes to go by a stunning winner from Victor Wanyama who struck to seal the win for the visitors.

 
The evening kick-off saw West Ham cruise to a 3-1 win at home Liverpool and the Hammers made a perfect start as Winston Reid headed them in front inside a minute before Diafra Sakho chipped Simon Mignolet for a 2-0 lead after only seven minutes.  Liverpool hit back with a strike from Raheem Sterling in the 26th minute but the win was sealed late on as Morgan Amalfitano hit a third in the 88th minute.


Super Sunday began with an eight goal thriller as Leicester came from 3-1 down to win 5-3 at home to Manchester United with the visitors taking a 2-0 lead after 16 minutes with strikes from Robin Van Persie and Angel Di Maria but Leicster hit back instantly with a strike from top scorer Leonardo Ulloa for 2-1.  The visitors went 3-1 up in the 57th minute when Ander Herrera hit past Kasper Schmeichel but again Leicester responded with two goal in as many minutes with David Nugent converting a penalty in the 62nd minute ahead of a leveller from Esteban Cambiasso for 3-3 in the 64th minute.

Leicester went 4-3 in front with a strike from Jamie Vardy in the 79th minute before the dismissal of Tyler Blackett in the 83rd minute resulted in a penalty which Leonardo Ulloa tucked away successfully to put the Foxes 5-3 up, a lead they held on to until the end to seal a historic victory.  The other early kick-off saw West Brom claim a 1-0 win away to Tottenham with the winning goal coming in 74th minute from James Morrison.


Everton suffered a Europa League hangover as they fell to a 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace despite taking an early lead with a Romelu Lukaku strike inside nine minutes by the Eagles bounced back and drew level on the half hour and Mile Jedinak converted from the penalty spot. Palace went ahead in the 54th minute when Fraizer Campbell made it 2-1 followed by a third in the 69th minute by Yannick Bolasie.

The hosts reduced the deficit with a Leighton Baines strike for 3-2 in the 83rd minute but Palace held on for a vital victory.

The final game of the weekend was the heavyweight clash between Manchester City and Chelsea which saw a superb 90 minutes end with the sides sharing a point a piece. The sides were level past the hour mark but the hosts suffered a blow when Pablo Zabaleta was dismissed for a second bookable offence in the 66th minute which Chelsea took advantage of to take the lead in the 71st minute with a strike from Andre Schurrle.

However in a strange twist of fate, City drew level five minutes from the end with a goal from all time Chelsea top scorer Frank Lampard who hit superbly past Thibault Courtois to salvage a draw for City against the side he spent 13 years at as a player.

Europa League Matchday One Summary

Alike the Champions League, the Europa League features a Spanish defending champion in the form of Sevilla who will look for back to back titles from group G.

A
Apollon made a good start to their campaign with a 3-2 win over FC Zurich with the hosts leading after only nine minutes with a strike from Papoulis and went into the interval 2-0 up after Gullon scored in the 40th minute. Zurich drew level with two goals in three minutes from Rikan (50) and Yapo (53) and were given an aid towards a win as Gullon was sent off in the 80th minute for the hosts. However, Koch hit into his own net to put Apollon ahead and Zurich's chances ended with the sending off of Chikhaoui in the 87th minute at 3-2.

Borussia Moenchengladbach and Villarreal shared the points in a 1-1 draw which saw the Germans edge ahead in the 21st minute via a strike from Hermann only for the Spanish side to draw level when Uche struck in the 68th minute to salvage a draw.

B
Club Brugge and Torino shared the points in a 0-0 draw while FC Copenhagen got off to a good start in the group with a 2-0 win after a brace from Jorgensen in the 68th and 81st minute to give the Danes an opening win and put them top of the group.


C
Partizan Belgrade and Tottenham shared the points in a 0-0 draw while Besiktas and Asteras also began the group stage with a point each after a 1-1 draw which saw the Turks go ahead thanks to a Tore strike in the 33rd minute but they were denied all three points late on as Parra equalised in the 88th minute to salvage a draw.




D
Red Bull Salzburg and Celtic shared the points in a four goal thriller which saw the Scottish champions take a 14th minute lead with a strike from Wakaso before the Austrians drew level with a Carvalho goal in the 36th minute. Celtic regained the lead on the hour mark as Brown struck but again the hosts came back as Soriano levelled in the 78th minute to ensure a point each.

Dinamo Zagreb made a stunning start to their campaign with a 5-1 victory over Astra with a first half hat-trick from Soudani in the 17th, 24th and 45th minutes putting the Croatians in control at 3-0 before Iturra made it 4-0 in the 70th minute. Chitu reduced the deficit for Astra in the 82nd minute before Coric completed the rout for 5-1 in the 90th minute.

E
Dinamo Moscow made a good start to their campaign with a 2-1 win away to Panathinaikos with two goals in nine minutes either side of half-time putting them 2-0 ahead as Kokorin (40) and Ionov (49) struck before Dinas reduced the deficit for the Greeks in the 63rd minute but the Russians were able to hold on for the win.

PSV Eindhoven also made a good star to the group stage with a 1-0 win over Estoril with De Jong's 26th minute strike enough to secure all three points for the Dutch side.  


F
Inter Milan started the group stage with a 1-0 win away to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk with the Ukranian's going down to ten men in the 67th minute as Rotan was dismissed and the Italians took advantage of having the extra man to go in front in the 71st minute with what proved to be the winning goal from D'Ambrosio.

FC Qarabag and St Etienne both began the group stage with a point a piece as they drew 0-0.

G
Sevilla began the defence of their title with a 2-0 win at home to Feyernoord with Krychowiak putting the defending champions ahead after only eight minutes with Mbia adding a second goal in the 31st minute which proved to be enough for the hosts to secure all three points.

Standard Liege also began the group stage with a 2-0 win as they played host to Rijeka but the Belgians left it late to secure all three points with Ciman putting them in front in the 74th minute before Araujo secured all three points in the 87th minute.

H
Everton made a stunning start to their campaign with a 4-1 win at home to Wolfsburg who put the English side in front with an own goal from Rodriguez before a Seamus Coleman strike on half-time was followed by a Leighton Baines penalty in the 47th minutes to put the Blues 3-0 ahead. Kevin Mirallas made it 4-0 with a minute to go but the Germans had the last say as Rodriguez redeemed himself with a 90th minute strike.

Lille and Krasnodar shared the points in a 1-1 draw which saw the visitors go ahead with a Laborde strike in the 35th minute before the French side levelled in the 63rd minute via a Kjaer strike to salvage a draw.


I
Young Boys cruised past Slovan Bratislava with a 5-0 win that saw them go in front inside four minutes as Lecjaks struck before Steffen added a second in the 29th minute. Nuzzolo made it 3-0 to the Swiss side in the 63rd minute before two goals in the 80th and 90th minutes from Nikci and Hoarau completed the rout.

Napoli also started with a win as they secured a 3-1 victory over Sparta Prague but it was the visitors who went in front as Husbauer struck in the 14th minute but a penalty from Higuain in the 23rd minute brought the Italians level. Mertens put the hists in front in the 51st minute before his secured all three points with a second goal in the 81st minute.  

J
Dynamo Kyiv made a good start to the group stage with a 3-0 win away to Rio Ave with two goals in the space of five minutes from Yarmolenko and Belhanda in the 20th and 25th minutes put the Ukranians in control before Kravets sealed all three points in the 70th minute.

Steaua Bucharest also started with a win as they cruised to a 6-0 thrashing of Aalborg but despite the huge score it was 0-0 at half time before Sanmartean opened the scoring in the 51st minute, Aalborg went down to ten men in the 57th minute when Larsen was dismissed and Rusescu converted a 59th minute penalty for 2-0. Keseru stunned the Danes with an 11th minute hat-trick in the 61st, 65th and 72nd minutes before Rusescu completed the rout with his second strike in the 73rd minute.  

K
Fiorentina secured a 3-0 win over Guingamp with Vargas opening the scoring in the 34th minute before Diallo was dismissed for the visitors in the 38th minute. Cuadrado made it 2-0 in the 67th minute before Bernardeschi secured all three points in the 88th minute.

PAOK also started with a win as they cruised to a 6-1 win over Dinamo Minsk with a Nikolic own goal putting them ahead inside three minutes before a 17 minute hat-trick from Athanasiadis in the 11th, 16th and 28th minutes put the hosts 4-0 ahead at half-time. Papadopoulos made it 5-0 in the 50th minute before the visitors went down to ten in the 64th minute with the dismissal of Simovic and even reduced the deficit in the 80th minute with Nikolic redeeming himself for his error early on before Tzandaris completed the rout in the 90th minute.

L
Legia Warsaw began their campaign with a win with a 58th minute strike from Radovic proving to be enough to secure all three points while Metalist fell to a 2-1 defeat to Trabzonspor with the Turks going ahead via a Constant strike in the 25th minute before the Ukranians levelled in the 61st minute with a Gomenyuk strike but the visitors secured all three points in the the 90th minute as Papadopoulos struck.




 

Champions League Matchday One Summary

It seems a long time since Real Madrid claimed their illusive 'La Decima' back in May but their pursuit of an 11th European Cup began earlier this week with matchday one of the group stage.

A
Juventus made a superb start to their campaign with a 2-0 win at home to Malmo with a brace from Carlos Tevez sealing all three points, the Argentine striker opened the scoring in the 59th minute before rounding off a good evening for the Italians with his second in the 89th minute.

Last season's runners-up Atletico Madrid suffered a shock opening defeat to Olympiakos with the Greeks leading 2-0 inside 31 minutes courtesy of strikes from Masuaku and Ibrahim Afellay but Atletico fought back with a goal from Mario Mandzukic for 2-1 at the interval. Olympiakos looked to have sealed the win in the 73rd minute as Mitroglou struck for 3-1 but a frantic last five minutes saw Antoine Griezmann reduced the deficit to 3-2 but the Greeks held on for the win.

B

After a five year absence from the competition, Liverpool left it late to secure a 2-1 over group stage debutant's Ludogorets Razgrad but the sides were level at 0-0 until the 82nd minute when Mario Balotelli scored his first goal for the Reds to give them a 1-0 lead only for Dani Abalo to level in the 90th minute. Ludogorets looked to be on for an unbeaten start in their first game but when they conceded a penalty in injury time, Steven Gerrard converted successfully to seal all three points for Liverpool.

Reigning champions Real Madrid made a near perfect start to the defence to their title with a comfortable 5-1 win over Basel who put the Spainish side ahead with an own goal from Suchy in the 14th minute. Real raced into a 4-0 lead with three goals in the space of six minutes as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez struck in the 30th,31st and 36th minutes to put their side in control.  Basel responded with a goal from Gonzalez for 4-1 in the 38th minute but the win and the three points were secured for the hosts with Karim Benzema's 79th minute strike for a 5-1 victory.

C
Zenit made a good start to their campaign with a 2-0 win away to last season's Europa League runners-up Benfica with Hulk opening the scoring inside five minutes but Benfica's task to level suffered a blow as Moraes was sent off in the 18th minute and Zenit moved clear at 2-0 just four minutes later as Axel Witsel struck and the Russians maintained their two goal lead to claim all three points.

Monaco also made a good start to the group stage as they shrugged of the summer loss of Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez to secure a 1-0 win at home to Bayer Leverkusen with the winning goal coming on the hour mark when Joao Moutinho struck. 

D
Arsenal made a bad start to their campaign with a 2-0 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund with the sides meeting at this stage for the third successive season and the Germans went ahead just before half-time with a strike from Ciro Immobile. The win looked to be sealed just three minutes into the second half when Pierre Aubameyang slotted past Szczesny for 2-0 and secured all three points.


Galatasaray and Anderlecht started their respective campaigns unbeaten as they shared the points in a 1-1 draw with the Belgians going ahead in the 52nd minute with a strike from Praet but just as the three points looked to be in the hands of the visitors, Galatasaray levelled in the final minute as Yilmaz slotted in the equaliser to salvage a draw and a share of the points.

E
For a third season in the last four, Bayern Munich hosted Manchester City and despite the visitors holding firm for the majority of the game, they were foiled in the final minute by a stunning curling strike by Jerome Boateng which sailed past Joe Hart to give the Germans all three points.

Roma stormed to a superb start in the group stage with a 5-1 over CSKA Moscow with Iturbe putting the Italians ahead inside six minutes with Gervinho and Maicon adding a second and third before the 21st minute. Gervinho made it 4-0 on the half-hour mark before Sergei Ignashevich hit into his own net in the 51st minute to give Roma a 5-0 lead. CSKA had the last say with eight minutes to go when Musa pulled a goal back for 5-1.

F
Ajax and PSG both began with unbeaten starts as they shared the points in a 1-1 draw with the French side opening the scoring i the 14th minute with a goal from Edinson Cavani but the Dutch side levelled in the 74th minute with a strike from Schone.

Barcelona made a good start to their campaign as they secured a slim 1-0 win at home to Apoel Nicosia who did well to keep the Catalans to a single goal in the form of a strike from Gerard Pique in the 28th minute.

G
Chelsea made a rapid start to their campaign as they took just 11 minutes to open the scoring against Schalke with Cesc Fabregas putting them in front but Schalke avoided defeat as a superb strike from Klass-Jan Huntelaar levelled the score in the 62nd minute and ensured a share of the points.

Maribor and Sporting also began the group stage with a point each after a late show from both sides, Nani put the Portuguese side ahead in the 80th minute which looked good enough to be the winning goal until Zahovic levelled in the final minute to salvage a draw.

H
Athletico Bilbao and Shakthar Donetsk shared the points in a 0-0 draw while a stalemate would have been a dream for BATE Borisov as they were thrashed 6-0 by FC Porto. The Portuguese side took an early lead with a goal from Brahimi in the fifth minute before the Algerian added a second in the 32nd minute.

Martinez added a third in the 37th minute with Brahimi completing a superb hat-trick in the 57th minute for 4-0, BATE had no response and were soon 5-0 down when Adrian struck in the 61st minute the rout was completed in the 76th minute when Aboubakar made it 6-0.

Costa Treble Puts Chelsea On Top

After a break in the competition for the International fixtures, the Premier League resumed in a weekend where draws and shocks were paramount with three sides scoring four at home.

Saturday's lunchtime kick off saw Arsenal host Manchester City with both looking for a good result ahead of starting their Champions League campaign and it was the visitors who made the best start as Sergio Aguero opened the scoring in the 28th minute.

Arsenal drew level in he 63rd minute with a strike from Jack Wilshere and even went ahead themselves in the 74th minute when Alexis Sanchex continued his fine start to the season with a classy strike for 2-1. The sides shared the points after Martin Demichelis hit a 83rd minute leveller to salvage a draw for City.

The standout match of the afternoon matches saw the unbeaten duo of Chelsea and Swansea meet at Stamford Bridge and to the surprise of the home fans it was the visitors who went ahead as John Terry deflected the ball into his own net for 1-0 in favour of the Swans.

Chelsea went into half-time on level terms as Diego Costa continued his fine scoring form with a goal in the 45th minute and the Spanish striker was on fine form as he put the Blues in firm control with a goal in the 56th minute before completing his first hat-trick in Chelsea Blue in the 67th minute to put the hosts 3-1 ahead.

Another summer signing got in on the act for Chelsea as Loic Remy made it 4-1 in the 81st minute but Swansea had the last say as Jonjo Shelvey made it 4-2 with four minutes remaining but it was just a consolation as Chelsea maintained their winning run.

Crystal Palace and Burnley shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw meaning both sides are still without a win this season but both will be glad to be unbeaten in two of their four games so far.



Another side still without a win this season are Newcastle who hit rock bottom in the league table after suffering a 4-0 thrashing away to Southampton who moved into the top four as a result and the Saints made a superb start as Graziano Pelle struck a brace in the sixth and 19th minutes to put them in control.

Newcastle look to be in trouble after only four games as their leaky defence was carved open for a third time when Jack Cork slotted past Tim Krul in the 54th minute and the Magpies woes were completed right at the end when Morgan Schneiderlin struck a fourth for the hosts to quell the pre-season doubters after their summer exodus.

Leicester City continued their bright start to the season after promotion from the Championship with a shock 1-0 win away to Stoke who traditionally are strong at the Brittania Stadium but fell to a winning goal from one of the surprise stars of the first few games in the form of Leonardo Ulloa who struck the crucial goal in the 64th minute. 

A four goal thriller at the Stadium of Light saw Sunderland salvage a point late on against Tottenham who took an early lead inside three minutes when Nacer Chadli continued his fine start to the season with the opening goal but Sunderland hit back instantly with a strike from Adam Johnson for 1-1 after only five minutes.

Tottenham regained the lead three minutes into the second half with a strike from Christian Eriksen but their joy was soured with just eight minutes remaining as Harry Kane tapped into his own net to hand Sunderland a point and deny his side the chance to break into the top four.

Everton prepared for their Europa League campaign in style as they sealed a 2-0 win away to West Brom whose poor and winless start to the season continued. The Toffees made a perfect start as Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring inside three minutes and the win was confirmed when Kevin Mirallas struck to make it 2-0 in the 66th minute to seal a comfortable win.

The evening kick-off saw Liverpool host Aston Villa with the visitors keen to continue their fine record at Anfield and after only nine minutes they were on their way to such a feat when a lack of concentration in the Reds defence allowed Gabriel Agbonlahor to hit past Simon Mignolet and give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

 However, Liverpool were unable to draw level despite huge pressure as the Villa defence held firm and sealed a fine win that put them second in the table.

A break from tradition saw just one game on Sunday as Manchester United hosted QPR with the hosts claiming their first win of the season and in devastating style with a 4-0 win which began with a first United goal for summer signing Angel Di Maria in the 24th minute with fellow new signing Ander Herrera making it 2-0 in the 36th minute.

The hosts seemed to be in firm control at the halfway point as Wayne Rooney added a third in the 44th minute and QPR's miserable afternoon got even worse before the hour mark as Juan Mata made it 4-0 in the 58th minute which proved to be enough to end the Red Devils poor run of form.

The final game of the weekend came on Monday night as Hull and West Ham shared the points in a four goal thriller dominated by new signings with Abel Hernandez putting the Tigers in front in the 39th minute only to have his opener cancelled out by Enner Valencia in the 50th minute.

Mo Diame put the hosts ahead for a second time against his former club in the 64th minute but the Hammer struck back almost instantly with a Diafra Sakho's strike deflecting in off Curtis Davies to salvage a draw for the visitors.