Monday, November 4, 2024

Juventus yet to concede, Monaco turn 100, Mourinho booked

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Unbeaten Juventus are second in Serie A after winning three and drawing three [Getty Images]

Juventus’ remarkable defensive record continued this weekend – and they are now the only team in Europe’s top 16 domestic leagues yet to concede a league goal.

Their 3-0 win at Genoa, with Dusan Vlahovic scoring twice, means Thiago Motta’s side have scored nine goals and not conceded any in their opening six Serie A games.

That is despite not having an established backline. They have two goalkeepers and eight defenders who have all started at least one of their six league games.

The last Italian team to score against Juve were Motta’s Bologna in May.

“We have a strong group that can become even stronger together,” said Motta. “That [not conceding] is an important statistic, it shows that we have a solid team. We defend as a team.”

The last side to keep a clean sheet in their opening six games were the legendary AC Milan team of 1993-94. With Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini, they only conceded 25 goals in all competitions that season – and won Serie A and the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Torino lost top spot in Serie A, with a 3-2 home defeat by Lazio, despite Scotland striker Che Adams netting for a third consecutive game.

Napoli’s 2-0 win over Monza on Sunday moved them into top spot. Inter Milan and AC Milan also won their games.

La Liga – Barcelona remain top despite first loss

Atletico Madrid players with fansAtletico Madrid players with fans

Atletico Madrid players pleaded with their fans to stop [Getty Images]

Sunday’s Madrid derby was held up by about 15 minutes after Atletico fans threw items on to the pitch including lighters and a plastic bag filled with unknown contents.

The referee took the players off the pitch while the situation was sorted out, with Atletico players and boss Diego Simeone going over to their fans to ask them to stop.

The game ended 1-1 with Angel Correa netting an injury-time equaliser for Atletico – a goal initially ruled out for offside but given by the video assistant referee.

Eder Militao had opened the scoring for Real, who take their unbeaten run in all competitions to 36 games.

Barcelona’s 100% start to the La Liga season came to an end with a 4-2 defeat at Osasuna on Saturday.

Boss Hansi Flick, who suffered defeat for the first time, told Movistar Plus “it’s my responsibility” after resting several first-team players.

“I tried to protect the players, because they have been playing a lot of minutes, but I didn’t expect us to play like this,” he said.

They remain top of the table though, with Real and Atletico, who both remain unbeaten, behind them.

Bundesliga – Bayern and Leverkusen play out draw

Xabi AlonsoXabi Alonso

Xabi Alonso has only lost 12 of his 98 games in charge of Bayer Leverkusen [Getty Images]

Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen and leaders Bayern Munich, who had won the 11 titles before last season, drew 1-1 in the standout game in Germany.

Robert Andrich gave Leverkusen the lead at the Allianz Arena but Aleksandar Pavlovic levelled with a long-range strike before half-time.

It was the first time Bayern manager Vincent Kompany had failed to win a game since his previous club Burnley lost to Nottingham Forest on the final day of the Premier League season.

Bayern striker Harry Kane was replaced late on with an ankle injury but his club say the news is “positive”.

Leipzig remain undefeated following a 4-0 win over Augsburg, while Borussia Dortmund beat Bochum 4-2 on Friday night.

Hoffenheim took a 3-0 lead within 12 minutes at home to Werder Bremen but ended up losing 4-3 with Jens Stage hitting a hat-trick.

Ligue 1 – Monaco celebrate 100th birthday with dramatic win

MonacoMonaco

Monaco celebrated their 100-year anniversary with a special shirt [Getty Images]

Leaders Paris St-Germain and second-placed Monaco remain level on points at the top of Ligue 1 after both sides won again.

PSG have the edge on goal difference, with both sides on 16 points from six games.

Bradley Barcola scored twice to go top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts with six goals as PSG beat Rennes 3-1 on Friday.

Monaco needed a 98th-minute winner from Lamine Camara to beat Montpellier 2-1.

The club were celebrating their centenary – wearing a black kit to commemorate their original 1924 jersey.

Boss Adi Hutter said: “I’m very happy with the victory in front of all these former Monegasque stars, including Arsene Wenger.

“We saw everyone’s emotion when the goal was scored. It’s a great victory, in front of our supporters, former coaches and former players.”

Elsewhere, Jonathan David scored a hat-trick as Lille won 3-0 at Le Havre.

Liam Rosenior’s Strasbourg inflicted a first defeat on Roberto de Zerbi’s Marseille, winning 1-0.

Elsewhere – Sporting win, Osimhen scores, Mourinho booked

Victor OsimhenVictor Osimhen

Victor Osimhen took four games to score for Galatasaray [Getty Images]

Ruben Amorim’s Sporting made it seven wins from their first seven Portuguese league games with a 3-0 win at Estoril. They have a goal difference of 25-2.

Benfica also enjoyed a comfortable 5-1 win over Gil Vicente. Porto beat Arouca 4-0 to complete a clean sweep for the country’s big three.

Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott netted his sixth goal in four games for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar but they lost 2-1 to Utrecht.

American Ricardo Pepi scored twice for PSV as they beat Willem II to move on to seven wins from seven games.

Waalwijk are bottom on zero points from seven games after losing 2-0 at home to Ajax.

Napoli loanee Victor Osimhen scored his first two goals for Galatasaray but they blew a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Kasimpasa and lose their 100% start to the league season.

Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho found a novel way to collect a yellow card during their 2-0 win at Antalyaspor.

Annoyed at a disallowed goal, he put a laptop with an image of the incident in front of the TV camera near his dugout.

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