The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The old cliché certainly seems to be holding true in the English Premier League so far this season, where mighty Chelsea FC's struggles went from bad to worse over the weekend.
In a West London derby, the winners of two of the last three EPL titles were held to a scoreless draw against Fulham, which featured three U.S. starters in goalkeeper Kasey Keller, defender Carlos Bocanegra and striker Clint Dempsey. The match was the home debut of new Chelsea manager Avram Grant, and it didn't go at all like the Israeli would have hoped.
Striker Didier Drogba was sent off after receiving two yellow cards while captain John Terry suffered a broken cheekbone after catching a Dempsey elbow. Fans of the Blues let their frustrations be known, loudly booing Ukranian striker Andriy Shevchenko when he was substituted for. The one-point result means that Chelsea are already seven points behind EPL leaders Arsenal.
The Gunners kept rolling right along with a 1-0 win against West Ham on Saturday, Robin van Persie scoring the only goal in the 13th minute. Manchester United kept hold of second place by defeating Birmingham City on the road by the same score, thanks to Portuguese playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo's goal shortly after halftime. Manchester City is just a point behind its crosstown rivals, former England manager Sven Goran-Eriksson leading his team to a 3-1 win against a Michael Owen-less Newcastle. The two Liverpool clubs (Liverpool and Everton) round out the top five in the standings.
Reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan grabbed hold of the top spot in Italy over the weekend by taking down Roma in a convincing 4-1 win. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz and Ivan Cordoba all scored for Inter, which broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in a 12-minute span.
A last-gasp strike from Frenchman David Trezeguet kept Juventus just one point back, as the Turin club claimed a 1-0 victory over Torino in a derby match. Fiorentina moved up to third by beating Livorno, while AC Milan's woes continued Sunday in a 1-1 tie with Catania Calcio. The European champions are in 11th place with just seven points.
Another top-of-the-table clash took place in Germany over the weekend, Bayern Munich claiming a big three points with a win over Bayer Leverkusen as Luca Toni scored from close range Saturday. The powerhouse club now has a four-point cushion atop the Bundesliga, with the league's only other undefeated team, Schalke 04, in second place.
Real Madrid are tops in Spain still, thanks to a 1-0 result Sunday against Getafe, but the big story coming out of La Liga over the weekend belonged to Barcelona. French striker Thierry Henry exploded for a hat trick against bottom-dwellers Levante Saturday and the Catalan club is within striking distance of the leaders, just two points back. Villareal and Valencia reside between the two big names, each with 15 points. They secured 1-0 wins against Athletic Bilbao and Recreativo Huelva, respectively, over the weekend.
In Scotland, Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers are even atop the Premier League with 19 points each, while Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV sit one, two and three in the Dutch top division.
Just days after falling to D.C. United 1-0 in Washington in the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana round-of-16 match, Chivas de Guadalajara fired coach Jose Manuel de la Torre and promoted Efrain Flores to the post. Chivas responded quickly with a 3-1 win against Veracruz, though last year's Torneo Apertura winners are still second in Group 3 behind San Luis. Toluca and Santos sit at the top of the Group 1 and Group 2 tables.
Looking ahead, the UEFA Champions League continues this week with Matchday 2. Several enticing contests are on the docket, including Manchester United vs. Roma and Inter Milan vs. PSV on Tuesday and Valencia vs. Chelsea and defending champs AC Milan vs. Celtic on Wednesday.
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
