Thrilling Weekend

Unfortunately, I was only able to watch the Manchester City match as expected, but as the results streamed in I was thrilled with the performances by usual top teams this weekend.

Ronaldo and Messi both bagged hat tricks Saturday

In La Liga, Real Madrid delivered a much needed performance as they defeated Rayo Vallecano 6-2.  Cristiano Ronaldo struck a hat trick (although 2 of 3 were from penalties) and there were splendid strikes as well from Benzema, Higuain, and Varane.  Rayo Vallecano did get two goals though from Miguel Cuesta which is a testament to their good performance this season.  Barcelona also returned to their usual brilliance with a 5-0 rout of Atletico Madrid.  Messi also pulled a hat trick and other great goals came from David Villa and an own goal from Atletico.  This all followed Valencia's stunning 0-1 loss to Sevilla, causing them to drop to 7th in the league.  Betis have yet to play again, but even if they drop the game to Getafe they will still lead Barcelona by 1 point at the top of the table.

Seedorf saved Milan's day and sealed a win

Both Milanese teams got their first wins of the season this weekend.  AC Milan beat Cesena 1-0 thanks to a Seedorf goal and Inter Milan beat Bologna 3-1 with goals from Pazzini, Lucio, and Milito.  This doesn't do much for the two teams as they sit at 12th and 16th spots respectively, but it does give each a bit of hope in an otherwise dreary season that should have seen the two of them at the top of the table.  Current Serie A leaders Juventus lost a bit of ground in the title after today's 1-1 draw with Catania.  Finishing plagued the Bianconeri again as they forfeit too many chances to take the win and had to settle for Krasic's leveling goal.

Last year's Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund recovered from an early goal to defeat FSV Mainz 2-1.  this put them at 8th in the table, showing that there's a lot of work to be done for the champions.  And Bayern München continued their stellar season with a 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.  Bayern saw goals from Müller, Robben, and Daniel van Buyten and easily kept their top spot in the league.  This actually gives them a larger lead than any other league leader at the moment.

Van Persie celebrates a great game for Arsenal

The Premier League had a host of interesting results this weekend.  To start things off, Arsenal secured a 3-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers in which Robin van Persie scored a brace and Alex Song got a great goal.
Van Persie's two goals were actually his 99th and 100th for the club, so that sweetens the victory a bit.  Surely, this result must lift the spirits of some of the fans after a rather bland season for the club.  They may not yet challenge for the title, but Arsenal are certainly improving after their slow start.

Manchester City found trouble against Everton, but eventually got goals and won 2-0.  Second half goals from Balotelli and Milner clinched City's victory this time.  But, the match was refereed poorly in my opinion. The referee was very inconsistent in his decisions to give cards for bad fouls and this adversely affected Everton's chances.  This moved them City one point clear of Manchester United who played later that day.
Manchester United were held though to a 1-1 draw with Stoke City with a goal from Nani matched in the second half by Peter Crouch.  Nani's goal was brilliant and De Gea's goal keeping was better, but "Chicharito" Hernandez joined the ranks of United's injured players which might be a problem for them.  This left the champions tied with Manchester City at the top of the table as United dropped their first 2 points of the season, ending their perfect run.

Chelsea found more drama with Fernando Torres Saturday during their 4-1 victory over Swansea City.  The Spanish striker fired in his second goal of the season in the 29th minute (much to my amusement), but found himself ejected ten minutes later for a bad tackle and a straight red card.  It looked to be another good performance for him, but he didn't really get a chance to show it.  Ramires shined though as he picked up two goals for Chelsea.  In the 86th minute, Swansea fired back and Ashley Williams scored, only to be negated by a 90th minute goal by Didier Drogba.  These results put the Premier League leaders as follows:  Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Liverpool.  It's going to be a close one this year in the Premier League.