SPORTS> Soccer
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SPORTS> Soccer
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Inter trounce Milan, Ronaldo scores
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-31 10:34 LONDON - Inter Milan crushed AC Milan 4-0 in Serie A at the weekend while Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty on his debut for Real Madrid and Manchester United came from behind to beat Arsenal thanks to an own goal.
ITALY Champions Inter Milan destroyed AC Milan 4-0, helped by three South American goals in the first half. Brazilians Thiago Motta and Maicon scored from open play while Argentine Diego Milito converted a penalty given away by Gennaro Gattuso, who was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 40th minute. Dejan Stankovic completed Milan's humiliation in the second half. Juventus, poised to be Inter's main rivals again this term, won 3-1 at AS Roma with Brazilian Diego scoring two classy goals in only his second Serie A game. Fiorentina edged Palermo 1-0 on a dreadful Florence pitch. SPAIN World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his La Liga debut on Saturday, converting a penalty in a 3-2 home win over Deportivo Coruna. Depor twice came from behind before Lassana Diarra sealed the points for Real. On Sunday, Juan Mata and Pablo Hernandez gave Valencia a 2-0 home win over 10-man Sevilla, who had striker Frederic Kanoute sent off just before the break. Atletico Madrid were humbled 3-0 at Malaga and had coach Abel Resino sent off for dissent. ENGLAND Champions Manchester United came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 at Old Trafford thanks to an own goal and climb to fourth in the Premier League. Andriy Arshavin put the visitors ahead before a Wayne Rooney penalty and Abou Diaby's header into his own net gave United victory. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was ordered from the dugout and stood among the home fans for the last minute of the match. Chelsea thumped Burnley 3-0 and Tottenham Hotspur beat Birmingham City 2-1 to maintain their 100 percent records after four games, while Manchester City made it nine points out of nine with a 1-0 win over bottom club Portsmouth. GERMANY Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored twice on his Bayern Munich debut as a halftime substitute to help them beat champions VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 and pick up a first Bundesliga win this season. Mario Gomez was also on target for Bayern, who had taken only two points from their opening three games. Peru striker Paolo Guerrero scored twice to propel Hamburg SV to a 3-1 win over Cologne and top place on goal difference from Bayer Leverkusen, 2-1 winners over Bochum on Saturday. NETHERLANDS Champions AZ Alkmaar went top of the Dutch first division by beating Willem II Tilburg 2-1, leapfrogging Feyenoord and Twente Enschede who drew 1-1. Roy Makaay salvaged a point for Feyenoord with a penalty in stoppage time. PSV Eindhoven beat Groningen 2-0 to join Feyenoord and Twente on 11 points, one behind Alkmaar. FRANCE Champions Girondins Bordeaux went top despite a goalless draw at Olympique Marseille. They lead Paris St Germain and Olympique Lyon on goal difference with all three on 10 points from four games. PORTUGAL Hugo Viana scored twice to help Braga beat Beleneses 3-1 on Sunday and maintain their perfect start to the season after three games. RUSSIA Champions Rubin Kazan beat closest rivals Spartak Moscow 3-0 to go four points clear in the Russian championship. Captain Sergei Semak fired Rubin ahead in the 33rd minute when he rounded off a swift break. Argentine Alejandro Dominguez made it 2-0 from the penalty spot shortly afterwards and Aleksandr Bukharov headed the third on the hour. SERBIA Leaders Vojvodina Novi Sad made it three wins out of three by beating Cukaricki Belgrade 3-1 in Serbia's top flight while OFK Belgrade also have nine points after beating city rivals Rad 2-0. Red Star Belgrade have seven following a 1-1 draw at Napredak Krusevac where they were helped by a comical own goal from Napredak goalkeeper Bojan Sejic. ROMANIA Surprise package Brasov stayed top with 11 points from five matches in the Romanian first division after first-half goals by Robert Ilyes, Attila Hadnagy and Catalin Munteanu handed them a 3-0 win at Internacional. Dinamo Bucharest head a chasing pack of four teams on 10 points after a Gabriel Tamas goal midway through the first half earned them a 1-0 derby win at bitter city foes Steaua. Champions Unirea Urziceni won 4-1 at Otelul Galati. POLAND Front-runners Wisla Krakow stretched their perfect start to five matches in the Polish championship as Costa Rican Junior Diaz and Pawel Brozek helped them to a 2-1 home win over Jagiellonia Bialystok. Ruch Chorzow stayed three points behind thanks to a 2-0 home defeat of Polonia Warsaw, courtesy of goals by Artur Sobiech and Andrzej Niedzielan either side of halftime. SCOTLAND Rangers and Celtic won to stay level at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a maximum nine points. Rangers beat Hamilton 4-1 on Saturday with Steven Whittaker and Kris Boyd scoring twice. Celtic won 1-0 at Hibernian on Sunday with a Georgios Samaras header despite Aiden McGeady being sent off in the 62nd minute for a second yellow card awarded for diving. GREECE Panathinaikos are the only team to have won their opening two matches in the Greek top flight. They beat Skoda Xanthi 1-0 on Sunday with a first-half goal from midfielder Kostas Katsouranis. |
