Valencia handed an off-colour Real Madrid side their first defeat of the season as they won 2-0 in the Mestalla on Saturday to take over at the top after Deportivo had earlier suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat at Osasuna, who moved up to fourth.
Rafa Benitez’s Valencia side went in front after four minutes through Mista and a Ricardo Oliveira strike in the second half clinched a surprisingly comfortable win.
Valencia’s victory put them top with 13 points from five games after Deportivo lost their 100 percent record by conceding three goals in a nightmare four-minute spell in the first half.
They dropped to second on 12 points with Real Madrid and Osasuna both on 10 in third and fourth respectively.
Nine-man Barcelona held Atletico Madrid to a goalless draw draw in a frantic encounter at the Vicente Calderon after midfielders Philip Cocu and Thiago Motta were dismissed in the second half for picking up their second bookings.
Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko struck twice for AC Milan as the European champions beat Lecce 3-0, while AS Roma overcame struggling Ancona by the same margin to join Juventus at the top of the Serie A standings.
Shevchenko struck on 21 and 69 minutes before striek partner Jon Dahl Tomasson’s late third.
Vincenzo Montella, Francesco Totti and Marco Delvecchio scored second-half goals for Roma, while champions Juventus, who played on Saturday, eased to a comfortable 2-0 win at Reggina.
Inter Milan held on for a 0-0 draw at Udinese after being forced to play for more than hour with 10 men after Brazilian winger Luciano was sent-off.
Almost a week after being labelled a cheat and a diver, Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy made headlines for more noble reasons with a hat trick in the 4-1 demolition of Leicester City.
United’s victory kept them one point behind leaders Arsenal, who overcame Newcastle United 3-2 on Friday with Thierry Henry netting the winner from the penalty spot 10 minutes from time.
Arsenal have 17 points from seven matches, while Chelsea, who overcame Aston Villa 1-0 with a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink goal, are second on 16, ahead of United on goal difference.
Bundesliga leaders VfB Stuttgart warmed up for their Champions League clash at home to Manchester United on Wednesday with a stylish 3-0 win at TSV 1860 Munich on Saturday.
Results of Italian Serie A soccer matches played on Sunday:
Chievo Verona 4 Perugia 1
AC Milan 3 Lecce 0
Empoli 2 Lazio 2
Modena 2 Bologna 0
Parma 1 Siena 1
AS Roma 3 Ancona 0
Sampdoria 2 Brescia 1
Played on Saturday
Reggina 0 Juventus 2
Udinese 0 Inter Milan 0
French Ligue 1 results:
Girondins Bordeaux 1 AC Ajaccio 0
Racing Strasbourg 1 Nantes 0
Played on Saturday:
Olympique Lyon 4 RC Lens 0
Olympique Marseille 2 Nice 1 Bastia 2
Sochaux 0 Lille 1 Montpellier 1
Metz 1 En Avant Guingamp 1
Monaco 3 Toulouse 0
Paris St Germain 1 AJ Auxerre 0
Stade Rennes 2 Le Mans 0
Spanish Primera Liga results on Sunday:
Albacete 2 Real Mallorca 0
Espanyol 1 Malaga 2
Racing Santander 0 Villarreal 2
Real Zaragoza 0 Real Betis 1
Sevilla 1 Murcia 0
Atletico Madrid 0 Barcelona 0
—Reuters