Cristiano Ronaldo made a disappointingly low-key home debut for Real Madrid against Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad in their Peace Cup match at the Bernabeu on Sunday.
Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud gave food for thought to Arsenal fans craving a new striker by scoring in a 3-1 Premier League win at Fulham on Saturday while Liverpool made it two victories from two games at Aston Villa.
A preview of the top matches coming up in the English Premier League.
Christian Benteke struck twice to inspire Aston Villa to a shock 3-1 win at Arsenal on a dramatic opening day of the Premier League season on Saturday. Striker Daniel Sturridge scored and new goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved a late penalty to earn Liverpool a deserved 1-0 win over Stoke City.
Images from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
The majority of Premier League clubs would prefer not to have the distraction of playing in the FA Cup, according to Paul Lambert, the manager of seven-time winners Aston Villa.
Manchester City came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw with Liverpool in a breathless and pulsating Premier League encounter, at Anfield, on Sunday. All four goals came in the second half.
Chelsea's title hopes suffered a blow when the Premier League leaders finished with nine men in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday after Manchester City won 2-0 at Hull City to cut the gap at the top to six points.
"I think he plays on Wednesday because on Saturday it was a decision to protect him," manager Jose Mourinho told the club website (www.chelseafc.com).
The schedule of matches in the English Premier League between Saturday, September 26 and Monday, September 28.
For all the millions splashed out by Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners on attacking talents, it is the English champions' grit in defence that is keeping them in the Premier League title hunt.
England striker Danny Welbeck made the most of a rare start for Manchester United with a first-half double in a 3-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday as the champions ended a run of four Premier League games without victory.
Carlos Tevez of Manchester City and Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United emerged the top scorers with 20 goals in the English Premier League season, which concluded on Sunday. Arsenal's Robin van Persie, with 18 goals, was next best.
Manchester City's Roberto Mancini has expressed frustration with the treatment he receives from rival managers after his latest touchline altercation during Tuesday's League Cup defeat to Aston Villa.
Allowing independent panels to punish players retrospectively for diving and other infringements would be a "disaster", according to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
Frank Lampard broke Chelsea's all-time scoring record with two goals as the European champions all but secured a top-four finish in the English Premier League with a 2-1 win in an incident-packed game at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Frank Lampard broke Chelsea's all-time scoring record with two goals as the European champions all but secured a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 2-1 win in an incident-packed game at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke scored a hat-trick to lead his side to a crushing 6-1 win over Sunderland on Monday that gave them a massive lift in their battle for Premier League survival.
Ronaldo's career tally includes goals for four top-flight clubs
Alex Ferguson says his current Manchester United model is a match for any of the previous editions that have rolled off the Old Trafford production line and should they win their last four games it would be hard to mount a case against him.
Robin van Persie turned a dream into reality after 13 minutes of Manchester United's 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Monday by scoring a memorable second of a first-half hat-trick as United went on to clinch their 20th league title.
Manchester United reclaimed their Premier League crown in style on Monday as Robin van Persie's hat-trick inspired a 3-0 win over Aston Villa that gave them an unassailable 16-point lead over Manchester City and erased the pain of last season.
Manchester United won their 20th league title when a Robin van Persie hat-trick led them to 3-0 victory over Aston Villa and gave them an unassailable 16-point lead over last season's Premier League champions Manchester City.
ManchesterCity manager Roberto Mancini says his side are not inferior to Manchester United despite a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday giving their rivals the chance to clinch their 20th league title with four games to spare.
Arsenal's England striker Danny Welbeck will miss Euro 2016 after being sidelined for nine months following surgery on his right knee, the Premier League club said on Wednesday. Welbeck went off in Sunday's 2-2 draw at Manchester City after sustaining "significant cartilage damage", the London club said on their website (www.arsenal.com). Since returning in February after a knee injury suffered in May last year, Welbeck has been in good form, scoring five times including winners against Leicester City and Norwich City.
Images from the English Premier League matches played across England on Saturday.
Images from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Manchester United were humbled 1-0 by Norwich City and Chelsea upset at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday as champions Manchester City took advantage of their rivals' mistakes to go top with a 5-0 demolition of Aston Villa.
Manchester United were humbled 1-0 by Norwich City and Chelsea upset at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday as Premier League champions Manchester City took advantage of their rivals' mistakes with a 5-0 demolition of Aston Villa.
Chelsea's Belgium forward won Eden Hazard England's PFA player of the year award ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane and Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea on Sunday.
Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard struck second-half goals for Liverpool who increased Aston Villa's Premier League relegation fears by recovering from going behind to secure a 2-1 away victory on Sunday.
Javier Hernandez went off clutching the match ball after helping leaders Manchester United fight back for a 3-2 win at Aston Villa after Arsenal were held in another rip-roaring Saturday of Premier League action.
Javier Hernandez went off clutching the match ball after helping leaders Manchester United fight back for a 3-2 win at Aston Villa after Arsenal were held in another rip-roaring Saturday of Premier League action.
Millwall and Blackburn Rovers fought out a goalless stalemate in a scrappy FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday with both the Championship (second tier) sides going into the semi-final draw.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola accused Sadio Mane of diving after the Liverpool forward's match-winning display against Aston Villa in the English Premier League.
A turbo-charged start yielding two goals in the opening 15 minutes and a spectacular effort by Tom Cleverley led Manchester United to a 3-0 victory at Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Leaders Manchester United moved closer to a 20th title and pushed Queens Park Rangers nearer to relegation when goals from Rafael and Ryan Giggs gave them a 2-0 win at the bottom side in the Premier League on Saturday.
Paul Pogba believes the Red Devils have right balance to win FA Cup and Europa League crowns.