Jose Mourinho's reshaped Manchester United destroyed Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1 with a performance that thrilled Old Trafford on Saturday and justified his decision to leave out Wayne Rooney. The shake-up seemed to liberate Paul Pogba who led the way with a polished display, heading his first goal for the club on 42 minutes and starting the clever move that led to Juan Mata firing home United's second after 37 minutes.
Chelsea begin their Premier League title defence against Swansea City on Saturday in the unusual position of heading into a new season having been significantly outspent by their rivals.
Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne put on an attacking masterclass to help City rout Leicester City 5-1.
Bayern Munich wasted a two-goal lead and needed a lucky 82nd- minute winner from Joshua Kimmich to beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in Germany's Super Cup on Wednesday and secure their fifth title of the year.
Three matches into the Premier League season following a stunning title success by 5,000-1 outsiders LeicesterCity, the table already has a more familiar look.
Champions Chelsea have not enjoyed the best of starts at home this season and face their biggest test yet on Saturday with the visit of free-scoring leaders Manchester City.
Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as champions Manchester City made a convincing start to their title defence with a 5-0 win over West Ham United.
It was not the free-flowing City of late and Tottenham will rue missing some good chances to salvage something from a disjointed affair on a patchwork pitch at a half-empty Wembley.
City have 89 points, one more than rivals Liverpool, with both teams having three games to play -- and none of them against top six opponents.
Jose Mourinho's side had paid lavish sums to bolster key areas by this time last year but, having claimed the title at a canter, the motto of this transfer window seems to be: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Manchester City beat Swansea 3-1 to make it a perfect 10 victories under Pep Guardiola, including six in the Premier League, as they recorded their best start to a top-flight campaign. City's victory was the perfect riposte to the Spaniard's old rival Jose Mourinho, who earlier saw his remodelled Manchester United sparkle without the dropped Wayne Rooney, thumping Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1. On a day of goals, both Manchester sides were outscored by Liverpool, who crushed Hull City 5-1 to take their tally to 24 in the past eight games.
Karim Benzema came off the bench to score 13 minutes from time and ruin any chance of a dream result for resilient Ludogorets as holders Real Madrid carved out a patchy 2-1 win in Wednesday's Champions League Group B match.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Having left it late to earn a 3-2 win in the first leg, City took a while to hit their stride at The Etihad on Tuesday but when they did Guardiola's team produced a magnificent attacking display that will ring alarm bells around Europe.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero has been playing like one of the gods all year and after being honoured by the FSF at its annual gala dinner in London.
Sergio Aguero struck twice as Manchester City moved into second place in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool, with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth on Sunday. Just three weeks into the new season and last year's top two clubs are already perched at the top of the table.
For the first time in the seven-year history of the new Wembley, the arena was less than half full for an England international as 40,181 underwhelmed fans witnessed a familiar old diet of mostly turgid, uninspiring fare from Roy Hodgson's World Cup failures, enlivened mainly by the sparky contribution of Raheem Sterling.
Here is a look at some of the key head-to-head duels which could prove decisive.
Chelsea beat Newcastle United 2-0 for a 10th successive Premier League home win at their Stamford Bridge stronghold on Saturday to reassert themselves as Premier League leaders while champions Manchester City drew at Everton.
A summary of Tuesday's group matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Of the 220 players who started for Premier League clubs at the weekend, only 73, or 33.2 per cent, were eligible to play for England.
Aymeric Laporte's late header sealed a deserved 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur
Watford climbed into the top four of the Premier League after Tom Cleverley's 92nd-minute goal gave them a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Photos from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday
Real Madrid completed their pre-season tour of Australia with a crushing 4-1 friendly win over a depleted Manchester City in front of a record soccer crowd of 99,382 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Before the game, a few protesters handed out fliers outside the stadium where Man City played local outfit Kitchee.
Images from the English Premier League matches on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Leicester City's Premier League title defence got off to a terrible start as they were beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City, who shrugged off an injury crisis to shock the champions on the opening day of the new season on Saturday
New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has come to England to prove himself and wants to produce the "beautiful football" for which his teams are famed, he told reporters on Friday. Speaking at his first news conference since joining the club, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach said his personal learning curve would be steep as he came to terms with his new team and adapted to the rigours of the Premier League. "It's the right moment to come here and prove myself," he said. Asked if he could get City to play the sort of beautiful football trademarked by Barcelona, he added. "That's why I am here. I want to play the way I want. But wherever you go you have to adapt to the quality of the players. We have to find each other as soon as possible.
Manchester City set a new top-flight record of 15 consecutive wins as their seemingly unstoppable march towards the English Premier League title continued with a 4-0 romp at bottom club Swansea City.
Manchester City shook off the impact of a COVID outbreak in their ranks to outclass Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge
Arsenal delivered a brutal lesson in fast-paced Premier League football to beat Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday, maintaining their faint title aspirations and almost certainly dashing their opponents' hopes of a top-four finish.
Images from Sunday night's English Premier League matches.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has a goalkeeping dilemma to resolve before ManchesterCity turn up for their Group C Champions League match in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Manchester City must put a potentially ruinous fortnight behind them as they seek to reboot their faltering season with a big performance in their Champions League last-16, first leg trip to Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Spaniard Pedro scored twice as Chelsea tightened their grip on top spot by sweeping past Bournemouth 3-0 on Monday, a club record 12th successive Premier League win taking them seven points clear.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday night.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances