Football round-up: All about the action-packed weekend
The 2018-19 season of the Serie A and La Liga took off this weekend with defenders Juventus and Barcelona winning their openers. Paris Saint-Germain continued their strong start in Ligue 1. The match of the week was the one between Chelsea and Arsenal. It was a chaotic 5-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge. Also other top teams are in action next. Here are the updates.
Barcelona skipper, Lionel Messi, scored a brace to help the defending champions thrash Alaves 3-0 in their season opener. Half-time substitute Philippe Coutinho cut inside to curl the other. Messi's first goal from a free-kick was Barca's 6,000th in La Liga. Messi's goal also meant that he has now scored in 15 consecutive La Liga seasons. Real and Atletico Madrid play later on.
All eyes were on Cristiano Ronaldo, who made his Juventus debut against Chievo in Serie A. The hosts had the 7-time successive champions in trouble with a 2-1 score-line. But Juve came back strongly through an own goal by Mattia Bani and an injury-time winner by Federico Bernardeschi. Ronaldo didn't score, but showed promise both as a striker and a left-winger.
Chelsea went 2-0 ahead and then squandered the advantage in a frantic first-half that saw Arsenal get back at 2-2. It was left to a Marcos Alonso late strike to seal all three points for the Blues, who have six points from two matches. Arsenal missed a host of sitters with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang misfiring. Both he and Mkhitaryan shot over from close range.
Tottenham Hotspur continued their winning start to the season after a routine 3-1 win against Fulham. Striker Harry Kane scored to break the August jinx. There were wins for Leicester City, Everton and Bournemouth.
Paris Saint-Germain won 3-1 against Guingamp in Ligue 1. The hosts led 1-0 at half-time and PSG then had a magical 2nd half with Neymar equalizing with a 53rd minute penalty. Then came in French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, who scored a brace to see his side get past the line. Gianluigi Buffon was picked for the 2nd game in succession.
