European football: Real Madrid maintain unbeaten record
A brace apiece from Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Real Madrid maintained their unbeaten record in the Primera Liga at the weekend.
Jose Mourinho’s side crushed Malaga 4-1 on Saturday evening to leapfrog Valencia, who lost 2-1 against Barcelona earlier in the evening, into top spot.
In another mesmeric display of attack-minded football, the Spanish giants cruised to victory in Andalusia, and certainly appear to have gelled under their new manager at this early stage of the season.
Meanwhile, another club in Spain who have impressed of late are Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine have won their last five league matches and currently sit comfortably in fourth spot. Juan Carlos Garrido’s men take on Hércules this evening and will go top if they can make it six wins from their last six games.
Over in Italy, Lazio still command first place after beating Bari at Stadio San Nicola. Brazilian summer signing Hernanes and Sergio Floccari grabbed the goals in a 2-0 win. Just below them, AC Milan and Inter are locked on the same number of points in second and third place respectively. The Rossoneri secured a 3-1 win against Chievo at the weekend, while their rivals edged past Cagliari, 1-0.
However, at the bottom of Serie A, Fiorentina are clearly suffering in the absence of influential attacking midfielder Stevan Jovetić. Viola lost against Sampdoria on Sunday, putting them down to 20th place – and the worst thing is: Jovetić is still at least six months from returning to action.
Elsewhere, the European story of the season so far, Mainz, finally lost their 100% winning record in the Bundesliga following a 1-0 defeat against Hamburg. The O-Fives looked set to pick up at least a point against Hamburg, but José Paolo Guerrero struck in the 89th minute to bring an end to Mainz’s valiant record breaking attempt.
As always, the Bundesliga produced its usual array of thrills and spills. Bayer Leverkusen came back from 2-0 down against Wolfsburg to win 3-2, thanks to three goals in 11 minutes towards the end of the match. Bayern Munich also grabbed a crucial three points against Hannover, courtesy of a glorious hat-trick from Mario Gomez; while Stuttgart remain bottom of the league on just four points after they could only draw with Schalke.
And in France’s Ligue 1, Lyon showed yet more signs of improvement after sealing their second consecutive win of the season against Lille. Two goals from Lisandro López and another from Yoann Gourcuff earned the points for Claude Puel’s side in a 3-1 win.
Marseille and Bordeaux also continue their ascent up the league table following disappointing starts, but it’s Rennes who remain top after they held third-place Paris Saint-Germain to a 0-0 draw.
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