The first-place teams in the top leagues of England, Italy, Spain and Germany all won over the weekend, ensuring that each is still perched at the top in the young 2007-2008 campaign. Arsenal, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all picked up three points in domestic competition, though none can claim a terribly comfortable advantage at this early stage.
Inter had probably the toughest test of any of the clubs mentioned above, taking on Napoli on Saturday. Julio Cruz struck twice in the first half for the hosts, who held off the Naples club for a 2-1 win at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Juventus lost a little ground on Inter on Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw, an 88th-minute penalty kick equalizer by Adrian Mutu stealing a point for Fiorentina. Juve is still only three points back, though, as is Roma. That club knocked off Parma 3-0 Sunday, Francesco Totti leading the capital club with two goals. Also of note, AC Milan's offense came alive with a 5-1 win against Lazio and Inter's main rival is at eighth place and facing a seven-point deficit.
Defending English Premier League champions Manchester United briefly moved atop the table Saturday with a 4-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic. Last year's top EPL player Cristiano Ronaldo hit the target twice, while the Red Devils also got goals from Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney. But on Sunday, Arsenal leapfrogged back to first with a 3-2 victory against Sunderland. Robin Van Persie notched a pair of goals, including the game-winner in the 80th minute, which cancelled out the visiting side's impressive comeback bid.
Liverpool was rather lucky just to save a point at home against Tottenham Hotspur. Robbie Keane's two nifty finishes put Spurs on top, but Spanish striker Fernando Torres struck in the last minute to prevent the Reds from losing to a team near the bottom of the standings. Manchester City comfortably beat Middlesbrough 3-1 and is in third place now with 19 points, while Chelsea squeezed out a 1-0 result against Bolton and is in seventh. Arsenal's lead on United at the top of the table is two points, but the Manchester side has played one more match.
The race is just as tight in Spain as both Real and Barcelona won over the weekend to keep the two-point difference intact. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Stefano Higuain each found the back of the net late in the second half to keep the defending champions in the top spot. Barcelona again swept an opponent aside, thanks in no small part to Leonel Messi, who scored once and set up another goal in a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid. Both Villareal and Valencia fell to four points behind Real, with losses to Espanyol and Osasuna, respectively.
In Germany, Bayern Munich blew past Nurnberg 3-0 Sunday and now sports a five-point lead in the Bundesliga. Italian striker Luca Toni provided two of the goals in a comfortable home victory. Karlsruhe holds in second place with 18 points after a 2-0 win over Schalke 04.
And though the Dutch Eredivisie may be a half-step behind the big four mentioned above, it did produce one of the weekend's most amazing stories. Brazilian Alfonso Alvez scored an unbelievable seven goals for Heerenveen, which is where U.S. international and former MetroStars midfielder Michael Bradley currently plies his trade, in a 9-0 drubbing of SC Hercales Almelo. Alves had a hat trick by the 19th minute and four more in a nine-minute span after the intermission to set a new Dutch league record for goals in a game.
Though they didn't find the net nine times, River Plate still celebrated wildly in Argentina after handing Boca Juniors a 2-0 loss in that country's biggest "Superclasico." River scored twice in the first half and Boca couldn't counter with any offense to show for in the second, playing with just 10 men following the expulsion of one of their players at the midpoint.
A little closer to home, yet another coaching change is making headlines in Mexico, as now Club America's Luis Fernando Tena is unemployed. He got the pink slip after Sunday's 3-1 loss to Toluca. Tena was quickly replaced by Argentine Daniel Brailovsky in the sixth coaching swap in Mexico already this season.
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
