September 24, 2002	Tuesday	Rajab 16, 1423

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LONDON, Sept 23: Arsenal and Bayern Munich stayed top in England and Germany, Celta Vigo continued to make the early running in Spain while Juventus, the two Milan clubs and Piacenza maintained perfect starts in Italy.

ITALY

Alessandro Del Piero scored twice for the second week running as champions Juventus maintained their winning start to the season with a 2-0 win at Serie A newcomers Empoli.

AC Milan also continued their good start to the campaign with a 3-0 home win over Perugia. Filippo Inzaghi scored his fifth goal inside a week.

Uruguayan striker Alvaro Recoba scored an injury-time winner to give Inter Milan a 2-1 win at promoted Reggina.

Piacenza remained the only other team to boast a 100 percent record after the first two matches following a 2-0 win over Udinese.

Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone scored four minutes from time for Lazio in a 1-0 win at Torino while Chievo suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Brescia.

SPAIN

Celta Vigo went top on nine points and preserved their perfect start to the league season after two goals from Russian Alexander Mostovoi carried them to a 3-0 win at Recreativo Huelva.

Malaga missed the chance to take a share of the lead as champions Valencia came back to claim a 2-2 draw with an injury-time strike from Miguel Angel Angulo.

Valencia are second on seven points, ahead of Real Sociedad, Malaga and Barcelona, 2-0 winners over Espanyol, on goal difference.

Real Madrid were among a group of sides on six points after they made it two wins out of two with a 4-1 victory over Osasuna.

ENGLAND

A scrambled goal by Nwankwo Kanu two minutes into injury time gave champions Arsenal a last-gasp 2-1 victory over 10-man Bolton Wanderers.

The win kept Arsenal top of the table on 17 points, two ahead of Liverpool who beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 after the visitors had their goalkeeper sent off in the first half.

Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 thanks to a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty.

Alan Smith was one of three leading strikers to miss a penalty at the weekend as Leeds were beaten 1-0 at Blackburn. Thierry Henry for Arsenal and Michael Owen for Liverpool also fluffed spotkicks.

GERMANY

Leaders Bayern Munich came from behind to earn a 3-1 victory over Energie Cottbus and move four points clear at the top.

Bayern, who started their Champions League campaign with a 3-2 home defeat by Deportivo Coruna Wednesday, bounced back with their fifth victory in six Bundesliga games.

Second-placed Hansa Rostock lost ground after a 1-0 home defeat by champions Borussia Dortmund, while Schalke 04 climbed to third with a 2-1 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Werder Bremen joined Rostock and Schalke on 12 points after a 3-2 win over troubled Bayer Leverkusen.

Leverkusen’s third league defeat of the season, on the back of a 6-2 Champions League hammering by Greek side Olympiakos Piraeus Wednesday, sent them down one spot to 14th.

FRANCE

Nice and AJ Auxerre continued to lead the way in the French first division with wins over Troyes and Sedan Saturday, while champions Olympique Lyon slumped to their first home loss in 22 months.

Nice, despite playing with 10 men for the second half, beat Troyes 1-0 while AJ Auxerre outplayed Sedan 3-1 thanks to a double by Zimbabwean Benjani.

Monaco shattered Lyon’s 30-game unbeaten home run with a 3-1 victory.

Paris St Germain moved up to sixth after a 1-1 home draw with Bastia.—Reuters