LONDON, Oct 28: Inter Milan returned to the top of the Italian first division while unfashionable Real Sociedad continued their impressive start to the season by moving to the summit of Spain’s primera liga at the weekend.
Inter beat fourth-placed Bologna 2-0, defender Marco Materazzi and striker Christian Vieri getting the goals, to forge three points ahead of city rivals AC Milan.
Milan suffered their first defeat of the campaign when they lost 3-2 at Chievo Verona to slip to second, with champions Juventus third following a 1-0 win over Udinese secured by Chilean forward Marcelo Salas’s 49th-minute strike.
Former Germany striker Oliver Bierhoff was among Chievo’s scorers against his former club, Andriy Shevchenko and Jon Dahl Tomasson’s second-half goals proving insufficient to save Milan.
The Rome derby finished 2-2 with all the goals coming in the second half to leave Lazio fourth and AS Roma sixth in the table.
Spanish champions Valencia returned to winning ways by crushing Athletic Bilbao 5-1, helped along by a hat trick from Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar.
But they remained three points behind Sociedad whose 2-1 victory over Racing Santander was clinched by a last-gasp penalty from Javi De Pedro.
Celta Vigo are third behind Valencia on goal difference following a 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona hammered Alaves 6-1, Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert claiming a hat-trick, but Real Madrid could only draw 1-1 at home to Villarreal despite going ahead thanks to a ferocious strike by French playmaker Zinedine Zidane.
The European champions lie fourth in the standings, level on points with Deportivo Coruna, Real Mallorca and Malaga, who missed the chance to go second when they lost 4-3 at home to Espanyol.
English champions Arsenal slumped to their third defeat in a week when they lost 2-1 at home to Blackburn Rovers.
Edu put Blackburn ahead with an early own goal, and although the Brazilian atoned by scoring the equaliser, striker Dwight Yorke’s cool finish enabled Rovers to emulate Everton and AJ Auxerre by beating Arsene Wenger’s side.
Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the premier league after England striker Michael Owen’s late penalty sealed a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, but Manchester United’s faltering start to the season continued.
United were held to a 1-1 draw at home by struggling Aston Villa, the only bright spot coming when Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan headed the 77th-minute equaliser to register his first league goal since joining the club in January.
Bayern Munich were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Hanover 96 but remained three points clear at the top of the German Bundesliga.
Brazilian striker Elber scored twice and midfielder Mehmet Scholl once for Bayern, but a late goal from Hanover’s Daniel Stendel, his second, left the Munich side deflated going into next week’s Champions League trip to Deportivo Coruna, which they must win to retain a chance of reaching the next phase.
Champions Borussia Dortmund consolidated their position in second place when two goals by Brazilian forward Ewerthon helped them to a 4-1 win at Werder Bremen.
AJ Auxerre stayed a point clear at the top of the French first division after a 1-0 victory over lowly Stade Rennes.
Olivier Kapo scored the crucial goal after 67 minutes to complete a good week for Auxerre following their shock Champions League win at Arsenal.
Paris St Germain climbed to second, Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho scoring twice, one from the spot, in their comprehensive 3-0 victory over arch-rivals Olympique Marseille.—Reuters