Author: Olukayode Oke

Alvaro Morata scored twice as Atletico Madrid ended Real Madrid’s 100% start to the La Liga season with a fine victory over their city rivals. They led inside four minutes when former Real forward Morata converted Samuel Lino’s dangerous cross. Antoine Griezmann then made it 2-0 with another header, before Toni Kroos’ fine low strike halved the deficit. But Morata sealed Atletico’s victory when he rose highest to meet Saul Niguez’s ball in after the break. Victory moved Atletico up to fifth in the table, while Real are third – behind leaders Barcelona and Girona – after dropping points for…

PSG cruised to a 4-0 win over Marseille in Le Classique, although the hosts are now sweating on Kylian Mbappe’s fitness after the French star was withdrawn through injury. Luis Enrique’s side made the dream start by taking the lead after just eight minutes. Achraf Hakimi stepped up and curled in a magnificent free-kick from the right-hand side of the penalty area. Marseille came close to equalising after 23 minutes when Vitinha was found in the penalty area but the Portugal U21 international could only divert his header onto the top of the crossbar. PSG suffered a blow after 32…

Newcastle United thumped Sheffield United 8-0 to pile more misery on the winless Blades – becoming the first team in Premier League history to have eight different goalscorers. The visitors took the lead after 21 minutes thanks to a smart finish from Sean Longstaff. Early substitute Anthony Gordon did well down the left-hand side to keep the ball in play before picking out Longstaff, who fired home. Eddie Howe’s side doubled their lead just eight minutes later with Dan Burn on hand at the back post to head home Kieran Trippier’s corner. Less than five minutes later and Newcastle had…

The first north London derby of the season finished level as Arsenal and Tottenham played out a frenetic 2-2 draw at the Emirates. Arsenal took the lead when a Bukayo Saka shot was turned into his own goal by Cristian Romero. Gabriel Jesus missed a good chance to extend the lead, before superb work from James Maddison set up an equaliser for Son Heung-min just before half-time. Saka restored Arsenal’s lead with a contentious penalty early in the second half, only for Spurs to equalise immediately as Maddison robbed Jorginho to set up Son once more. In injury time, Guglielmo…

Ollie Watkins scored the sole goal as Aston Villa beat 10-man Chelsea 1-0 in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge. The opening minutes of the first half saw Chelsea with most of the possession. Moises Caicedo had an early chance from outside the box after Nicolas Jackson won the ball off Douglas Luiz, but the low shot was an easy save for Emiliano Martinez. Aston Villa grew into the half, and Lucas Digne’s volley from a corner required a big save from Robert Sanchez to keep it out. Chelsea thought they had broken the deadlock moments before half-time after a…

Darwin Nunez scored a crucial goal as Liverpool battled past West Ham United 3-1 at Anfield and maintained their unbeaten start to the season. Liverpool took the lead against the run of play and from the penalty spot; Mohamed Salah scored after he had been fouled at the end of an excellent counter-attack. West Ham went in level, though, thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s diving header, which rounded off a nice team move. The teams traded bad misses after the break as first Nunez hacked wide after Liverpool sprung the offside trap and then Bowen headed straight at Alisson when picked…

Joao Cancelo snatched a late win for Barcelona as they returned to the top of La Liga with a fightback against Celta Vigo. Celta were 2-0 up with nine minutes remaining after goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Tasos Douvikas. But two clinical finishes in the space of just four minutes from Robert Lewandowski rescued Barcelona’s hopes. And Cancelo completed the comeback as he met a Gavi ball and drilled a composed volley past Ivan Millar. Barcelona now top La Liga thanks to a superior goal difference over Girona, with both sides on 16 points. Barca were regularly undone at…

England captain Harry Kane scored a hat-trick and assisted twice as Bayern Munich extended their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season. Kane reacted quickly to smash home a loose ball in the Bochum box in the first half before converting a penalty after the break. He secured the match ball by turning home a pass from Noussair Mazraoui in the 88th minute. Kane delivered precise passes to set up Leroy Sane and teenager Mathys Tel. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Matthijs de Ligt also scored for the Bavarians. Kane, whose goal on Wednesday helped Bayern to a 4-3 Champions League victory over…

Leaders Manchester City were forced to hang on to beat Nottingham Forest after Rodri’s red card but still maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season. City were cruising at the break thanks to early goals by Phil Foden and Erling Haaland but the game changed dramatically only 27 seconds after the restart. Rodri was shown a straight red for violent conduct after putting his hands around Morgan Gibbs-White’s throat as they tangled near the corner flag, with VAR upholding referee Anthony Taylor’s decision. Forest had been outplayed until that point, with City slicing them open with sparkling attacks…

Liverpool have not exactly made things easy for themselves this season, but they say it’s a sign of champions to win without playing well. They have claimed the most points from losing positions (nine) in the Premier League this season, winning all three games they’ve trailed in. Aiming to keep Liverpool’s star-studded attack quiet are West Ham, who sit just three points behind them in the fledgling league table, occupying sixth place with 10 points from five outings ahead of Matchday 6. If West Ham are to cause an upset, the counter-attacking prowess of Jarrod Bowen could be key, with…

Arsenal host rivals Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium this weekend. Both sides come into this game with unbeaten Premier League records (W4 D1), and Spurs (2nd) sit two places above Arsenal (4th) on goal difference alone. Both teams’ fast starts mean this will be the first Premier League north London derby with both Arsenal and Tottenham unbeaten coming into the match. Tottenham Hotspur had to work extremely hard for their latest win – a 2-1 success over Sheffield United last time out – as two late goals from Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski saw them pull off the latest winning comeback in…

Jesse Lingard is training with Al-Ettifaq, the Saudi Pro-League side has announced. They said the ex-England and Manchester United midfielder would spend a month at the club. Lingard, 30, had been training with Premier League side West Ham United after being released by Nottingham Forest in the summer. Al-Ettifaq, managed by Steven Gerrard, signed Jordan Henderson from Liverpool in a £12m deal in July. Lingard, who won the last of his 32 England caps in 2021, has been a free agent since leaving the City Ground. He spent the majority of his career at Manchester United, apart from loan spells at Derby County…