Robin steals three

E P L : Robin van Persie netted a hat-trick as Manchester United came from behind to beat Southampton 3-2 away. The Dutchman recovered from a penalty miss and scored two within the final five minutes to break Southampton hearts and take him to four goals in three matches for United.

In a replay of last season’s dramatic seasonwinning match, Manchester City played QPR and beat the visiting Rangers 3-1 in a match that was slightly nervy for the champions at times. In the weekends marquee match-up, new signings Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla in Arsenal’s 2-0 blanking of Liverpool at Anfield.

West Bromwich continued their excellent start to the season beating Everton 2-0 at home while West Ham recovered from last week’s defeat to beat Fulham 3-0 after an excellent first-half performance.

Andre Villas Boas is yet to get his first Premier League win after Tottenham drew 1-1 with Norwich after Grant Holt rescued it late on for the Canaries. Meanwhile Stoke City and Wigan drew 2-2 in an exciting affair at the DW.

Swansea dropped their first points of the season, drawing 2-2 with Sunderland while Newcastle and Aston Villa played to a 1-1 draw.

Madrid muster first win

La Liga: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win against Granada at the Santiago Bernabeu. Barcelona meanwhile had to fight hard to beat Valencia at the Nou Camp with Adriano’s spectacular first-half goal the only one of the night.

Athletic Bilbao scored twice in five minutes to down Valladolid 2-0 at Bilbao for their first points of the season. Newly promoted Celta also gained their first points of the season in a 2-0 win at home to Osasuna.

Meanwhile, an unfortunate 93rd minute own-goal cost Espanyol three points in a 3-2 affair at Levante. Malaga and Mallorca both had 1-0 wins over Zaragoza and Real Sociedad respectively while Deportivo and Getafe played to a 1-1 draw.

Sevilla’s and Rayo Vallecano’s match ended scoreless.

Juve reign supreme

Serie A: Champions Juventus were dominant away to Udinese, beating the hosts 4-1 in their second match defending the Scudetto.

Giampoalo Pazzini scored at hat-trick away to Bologna to give AC Milan the 3-1 win. Roma also won 3-1 over Inter on the back of an inspiring Francesco Totti performance. Meanwhile, Miroslav Klose scored a brace in Lazio’s 3-0 win over Palermo.

Torino also won 3-0 at home against Pescara. Napoli and Sampdoria both earned 2-1 wins over Fiorentina and Siena respectively while Gonzalo Bergessio scored twice in two minutes to aid in Catania’s uneasy triumph over Genoa.

Parma beat Chievo 2-0 while Cagliari and Atalanta battled to a 1-1 tie.

Munich ruthless at home

Bundesliga: Bayern Munich put six past Stuttgart as Thomas Muller scored two in a majestic display at the Allianz-Arena.

The visitors actually scored first; however there was no closing the flood gates after Muller equalised just over five minutes later to initiate the rampant Munich flow. The match ended 6-1. Champions Borussia Dortmund, however, dropped points in a 1-1 draw away to Nuremburg.

Hannover and Eintracht Frankfurt were both unstoppable away to Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim respectively with both teams blanking their hosts 4-0. Sami Hyppia earned his first win with his Bayer Leverkusen team after Bayer turned back Freiburg 2-0 at home.

Werder Bremen also won 2-0 at home to Hamburg while Schalke benefited for three Jefferson Farfan assists in a 3-1 home win against Augsburg. Mainz meanwhile went down 1-0 to Bundesliga newcomers Greuther Furth.

Fortuna Dusseldorf and Borussia Monchengladbach ended in a scoreless draw.

Editor’s Note: Due to international break, the European leagues will resume on Saturday, September 15.