LONDON, Oct 20: Inter Milan and Valencia scored a combined eight goals without conceding to remain or move to the top of their respective leagues.
Inter moved ahead in Italy after thumping AS Roma 4-0 and Valencia eased past Numancia by four unanswered goals to stay ahead in Spain.
ITALY
Inter Milan crushed struggling AS Roma 4-0 away from home to take sole control of the Serie A standings thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace and powerful strikes by Dejan Stankovic and Victor Obinna.
Minnows Catania are two points behind the champions after beating Palermo 2-0 at home, as are Udinese, who came from two down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Lecce.
Napoli also have 14 points after Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Juventus which extended the Turin side’s winless run to five games and increased the pressure on their coach Claudio Ranieri.
AC Milan are one point further back thanks to a 3-0 home victory over winless Sampdoria secured with a second-half Ronaldinho double and a late Filippo Inzaghi goal.
SPAIN
Valencia moved two points clear at the top of the Primera Liga after hammering promoted Numancia 4-0 at the Mestalla with a brace from in-form Spain striker David Villa on Sunday.
Sevilla climbed to second with a 1-0 win at Almeria, ahead of Villarreal on goal difference, after Manuel Pellegrini’s side drew 0-0 at Espanyol on Saturday.
Samuel Eto’o scored to give Barcelona a 1-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao that saw them move into fourth with 16 points the same as fifth-placed Real Madrid.
The champions edged city rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Calderon on Saturday with a last-minute penalty from Gonzalo Higuain.
GERMANY
Bayern Munich could breathe a sigh of relief after a Miroslav Klose goal four minutes from time gave then a 1-0 win away to Karlsruhe, their first Bundesliga victory in four games, to bring them back to within five points of the leaders.
There was further cheer on Sunday when Hamburg SV and Schalke 04, two of their title rivals, played out a 1-1 draw.
Werder Bremen were also held to a draw on Saturday, 3-3 at home to Borussia Dortmund, making it a highly satisfactory weekend for the Bavarians.
With eight games played, Hamburg lead with 17 points, followed by Hoffenheim on 16 after their 5-2 win at Hanover 96.
Schalke are sixth on 13 points, with Werder and Bayern a point further back in 10th and 11th respectively.
FRANCE
Olympique Marseille moved one point behind leaders Olympique Lyon with a 3-1 win at struggling Valenciennes on Sunday.
Ivory Coast striker Bakary Kone and France forward Hatem Ben Arfa scored in either half before Valenciennes pulled one back through forward Gregory Pujol. Substitute Charles Kabore sealed Marseille’s win in added time.
Marseille, the only undefeated side after nine games, climb to second on 19 points, one point behind seven-times champions Lyon, who were held to a 2-2 home draw by Lille on Saturday.
Surprise package Le Mans moved into third, two further points adrift, with a 2-0 home win over lowly Nancy on Sunday and are level on points with Girondins Bordeaux and Toulouse, respectively fourth and fifth on goal difference.
NETHERLANDS
NAC Breda registered a stunning 2-1 home win over champions PSV Eindhoven to go top of the table for the first time since the league went professional in 1956 as leaders Groningen suffered their first loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat at Ajax.
Mounir El Hamdaoui struck twice to earn AZ Alkmaar a 2-0 win at Graafschap Doetinchem and steer them to third place, while PSV slipped to fourth.
Feyenoord’s league woes continued after their third defeat in a row, a 1-0 reverse against Willem II Tilburg, left the Rotterdam side 15th with four points.—Reuters
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