Game Recaps

A sensational first-half hat-trick from Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa to a stunning 7-2 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday to end the champions' 100% start to the season in extraordinary fashion.

Liverpool started badly at Villa Park as a poor pass from Adrian — deputizing for Alisson in goal for the visitors after the Brazilian picked up a shoulder injury — gifted Watkins the opener in the fourth minute.

Oh NO, Adrián!

Tottenham gave Manchester United a historic beatdown on Sunday, winning 6-1 at Old Trafford after scoring four goals in an opening 37-minute barrage that also saw Anthony Martial sent off.

And things started so brightly for the Red Devils after Davinson Sánchez hacked down Martial in the area, leading to a Bruno Fernandes penalty with only two minutes on the clock.

Enter Harry Maguire.

For Real Madrid supporters, the new season had been worryingly labored, bordering on wasteful. It began with a 0-0 draw against Real Sociedad, continued with a narrow win over 10-man Real Betis that required a late Sergio Ramos penalty and reached a crescendo at mid-week after Vinícius Júnior’s scuffed effort was the only difference in a home victory over Valladolid.  

Arsenal scored two goals in four minutes to grab a 2-1 Premier League home win over struggling Sheffield United, with Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pepe getting on the scoresheet in the second half as the Gunners' misfiring attack finally found its rhythm.

The visitors frustrated Arsenal for the first hour, but Saka broke the deadlock by heading home following a snappy passing move in the 61st minute, and substitute Nicolas Pepe added a second three minutes later.

England call up:
Opening goal:

Irrepressible Atalanta kept up their record of scoring at least four goals in every game this season as they despatched Cagliari 5-2 on Sunday to maintain their 100 percent record in Serie A.

Luis Muriel, Alejandro Gómez, Mario Pašalić, Duván Zapata and Sam Lammers shared the goals in another hugely entertaining Atalanta performance while Diego Godín and João Pedro replied for the Sardinians, whose goalkeeper Alessio Cragno spared them further damage.

LEEDS, England — Leeds United's Rodrigo Moreno struck his first goal for the club to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday as visiting Pep Guardiola was denied victory against one of the men who inspired him to be a coach.

City's Spanish boss has often spoken highly of Leeds' Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, who Guardiola took advice from before going into management at Barcelona, with the two tacticians meeting for the first time in England.

LIVERPOOL, England — James Rodriguez netted twice and Dominic Calvert-Lewin became the first Everton player to score in the opening four matches of a Premier League season as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 on Saturday to stay top of the table with a maximum 12 points.

The hosts produced another classy performance with Rodriguez's fellow Colombian Yerry Mina also on the scoresheet for Carlo Ancelotti's high-flying side who next face champions Liverpool in the Merseyside derby after the international break.

In a way, it can be a bit exhausting following all the young American stars in Europe these days. As soon as we get used to Weston McKennie playing for Italy’s most famous club, Sergiño Dest moves to Barcelona. As soon as we finish gushing over a performance from Tyler Adams, Giovanni Reyna does something like he did on Saturday. It might just be a golden age for Americans abroad, and we’re not going to complain, nor are we going to stop celebrating these Americans, because everyone who grew up in the 90s or earlier can really appreciate just how special this moment in time is.

LONDON — Chelsea settled their stuttering start to the season with a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday as Ben Chilwell marked his league debut for the Blues by scoring the opening goal and creating another for Kurt Zouma.

Jorginho sealed the win with two late penalties in a second-half demolition of Palace who had stifled Chelsea in a goalless first half.

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace Highlights (Oct. 3, 2020)

This week has been, to put it mildly, a shitshow. From the U.S. presidential debate in which the incumbent was incapable of following simple rules of decorum to that same candidate contracting Covid-19 after flouting simple mask regulations, it’s probably a sign of things to come just two days into October.

So how about a brief reprieve from the crazy, replaced with some crazy good football? How about some highlights of Kylian Mbappé and Neymar doing mean things to PSG’s poor opponent in Ligue 1?