EPL: Goals proved scanty in the premier league weekend as none of the big guns could manage anything more than a one-goal advantage. Manchester United beat Liverpool by 2 goals to 1, amid controversy, as a contentious penalty proved to be the difference even after Jonjo Shelvey was harshly sent off for the Merseysiders.

Chelsea also had to rely on a one-goal advantage an Ashley Cole late strike put them atop the table with a 1-0 win over a resilient Stoke side. Jermaine Defoe scored yet again to give Tottenham the 2-1 in the London Derby against Queen’s Park Rangers. Arsenal and Manchester City ended in an entertaining but even 1-1 tie.

Newcastle also snatched a 1-0 win after Demba Ba scored at Norwich early in the first half. The only teams to score more than two goals were unlikely candidates Southampton, who beat Aston Villa on the back of a Rickie Lambert brace, and Everton who beat Swansea 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium.

Meanwhile, West Brom beat Reading 1-0 as Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku netted his second of the season. Fulham beat Wigan 2-1 while Sunderland and West Ham battled to a 1-1 draw.

Xavi bails out Barca

La Liga: A late goal from substitute Xavi Hernandez was needed to give Barcelona the win over Granada before a Borja Gomez own-goal made it 2-0 in stoppage time. Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano match was called off after floodlights at Vallecano were sabotaged.

Valencia went down 2-0 to Mallorca, while Osasuna remained bottom of the league after they were defeated 3-1 by Zaragoza. Athletic Bilbao and Malaga ended goalless. Meanwhile, Arsenal loanee Park Chu-Young scored in Celta’s 2-1 win over Getafe.

There were two other 2-1 results as Atletico Madrid and Levante triumphed over Valladolid and Real Sociedad respectively. Paulao 19th minute strike proved the lone goal in Betis’ victory over Espanyol.

Flawless Juve

Serie A: Juventus racked up another clean sheet as Fabio Quagliarella scored twice against Chievo to maintain his side’s flawless start to the season. Napoli, however, could not maintain their record as they were held 0-0 by Catania.

Inter suffered the second home defeat of the season as Siena capitalised on a lacklustre performance to claim a 2-0 victory over the Milan club. Their neighbours AC Milan also suffered a defeat at the hands of Udinese as Antonio Di Natale netted a penalty which proved the difference in his side’s 2-1 win.

Atalanta defeated Palermo 1-0 with an 88th minute strike from Cristian Raimondi. There were three 1-1 draws as Sampdoria were held 1-1 by Torino while Jaime Valdes scored a penalty in the 93rd minute to claim one point for Parma at home to Fiorentina. Bologna also drew against Pescara in the other 1-1 result.

Lazio lost to a late Marco Borriello strike against Genoa, while Roma and Cagliari had their match postponed due to safety concerns at Cagliari’s stadium.

Dortmund lose streak

Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund, however, went down 3-2 at Hamburg as Heung-Min Son’s brace cancelled Ivan Perisic’s two after Ivo Ilicevic scored the other Hamburg goal. This ended Dortmund’s 31-game unbeaten streak from last season.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos and Tomas Muller struck within minutes of each other to give their side yet another three points at Schalke. Eintracht Frankfurt are also unbeaten this season after they beat Nuremburg 2-1.

Mainz triumphed 2-0 over Augsburg while Werder Bremen and Stuttgart battled to a 2-2 draw after Chelsea loanee Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring.

There were 1-1 draws between Wolfsburg and Greuther Furth as well as Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Hoffenheim beat Hannover 3-1 while Dusseldorf versus Freiburg ended goalless.