In England the big talking point was the big Manchester United vs. Chelsea clash. It lived up to the hype, fans were treated to an extremely open match with tons of goal scoring opportunities for both sides. In the end Chelsea failed to take their chances and United ran out 3-1 winners with goals from Chris Smalling, Luis Nani, and Wayne Rooney. Wayne Rooney missed from the spot but it will be overlooked as he continues his scorching start to the season. He is on 9 goals and 1 assist after 5 games this season, his influence on this new younger United team cannot be overlooked. It's early days, but if he can maintain this form he will be the one challenging Messi at the end of the season for the Balon D'or and not former United player Cristiano Ronaldo. Elsewhere in England the promoted teams all won, the highlight was new look Q.P.R putting 3 past Wolves at Molineux. New signings Joey Barton and Sean Wright-Phillips looked sharp in the thrashing, with Barton getting on the score sheet in the process. They look the most likely of the promoted sides to stay up after their spending spree at the end of the transfer window.
In Italy current Scudetto holders A.C Milan were humbled by a rampant Napoli side who won 3-1. Edinson Cavani was the man of the match, the matador scored a hat trick to help his side roll past a Milan side that looked tired and devoid of any creativity without star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Inter and Roma continue to struggle with new managers at the helm, as the sides played to a 0-0 draw at the San Siro. Roma looked the more likely to score but never manged to get one past Julio Cesar. Juventus continue to set the pace though after a tidy 1-0 win against promoted side Siena. Alessandro, Matri got the only goal of the game.
Barcelona made up for their two draws last week by thrashing Osasuna 8-0. Messi does what Messi does, putting 3 in for Barcelona. Real Madrid stumbled against a gutsy Levante side, losing 1-0. The talking point of the match came just before half time. Angel Di Maria was his usual theatrical self, and it cost his team in the end as Sammy Khedira pushed a Levante player in an attempt to come to Di Maria's aid despite the player not being in any pain or harm. He was already on a yellow, the push got him his second and Madrid were down to 10 men for the rest of the game. Madrid still managed to control the game but struggled to create clear cut chances against a resilient Levante side and the breakthrough came on a counterattack where Marcelo was caught out of position. On loan forward Arouna Kone scored the only goal which saw Madrid fall behind Barcelona for the first time this season. Is it already the end for Jose Mourinho and co.? It's too early to tell but with Barcelona having the upper hand in the Clasico's in recent times dropping points outside of those matches is really going to hurt Madrid's chances at dethroning Barcelona.
In MLS the playoff race heated up and LA got that much closer to its second consecutive Supporters Shield. Robbie Keane was on form against Vancouver and scored a goal and assisted one of Mike Magee's two goals as the Galaxy ran out 3-0 victors at the Home Depot Center. Questions will be raised about the referee denying Vancouver a penalty just before the Galaxies first goal though. This Galaxy team has been head and shoulders above everyone else for a second year running now, but it will all be for nothing unless the Galaxy can make a deep postseason run and make it to the MLS Cup Final which will be at their house this year. Anything less than an MLS Cup will be a failure for Bruce Arena's men.
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