Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By RYAN TOLMICH
For the first time this season, Manchester United appeared to resemble a team capable of living up to the history and tradition of the club.
The Red Devils surged past Queens Park Rangers Sunday by a 4-0 scoreline, as Man United picked up their first English Premier League victory of the 2014-15 season.
Meanwhile, in Italy, AC Milan and Parma combined for nine goals with the Rossoneri emerging victorious via a 5-4 scoreline.
In other European action, Lille topped Nantes to ascend to the top of Ligue 1, Valencia remained unbeaten with a victory over Espanyol and Inter Milan scored seven against Sassuolo.
Here is a closer look at all of Sunday’s action from across Europe’s top leagues:
ENGLAND
After grabbing just two points from their first three games this season, Manchester United finally displayed a bit of attacking flair.
The Red Devils routed Queens Park Rangers, 4-0, Saturday, as some of the club’s latest signings led the way.
With Daley Blind playing pass-master throughout the match, Angel Di Maria opened the scoring in the 24th minute via a curling free kick. Fellow signing Ander Herrera added a second shortly after, before Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata contributed Man United’s third and fourth.
Sunday also saw the debut of the recently acquired forward Radamel Falcao, who replaced Mata in the 67th minute.
ITALY
Sunday’s matchup between AC Milan and Parma provided fans with goals of nearly every imaginable variety.
The two Serie A sides provided nine finishes, as AC Milan edged Parma to earn a 5-4 victory in what was likely the weekend’s most thrilling contest.
With both sides going down to 10 men, Sunday’s matchup proved to be an attacking clinic, with AC Milan’s Jeremy Menez leading the way with a brace, including a spectacular backheel finish for AC Milan’s fifth and final goal.
The goalscoring frenzy was carried on by AC Milan’s crosstown rivals as well, as Inter Milan exploded to a 7-0 victory over Sassuolo. Led by Mauro Icardi’s hat-trick, Inter demolished Sassuolo for the second time in just over 12 months, having already scored seven against Sunday’s opposition just last season.
Here are the results from all of Sunday’s Serie A action:
Sampdoria 2 – 0 Tornino
Cagliari 1 – 2 Atalanta
Fiorentina 0 – 0 Genoa
Inter Milan 7 – 0 Sassuolo
Lazio 3 – 0 Cesena
Napoli 0 – 1 Chievo Verona
Parma 4 – AC Milan 5
SPAIN
Despite not being as prolific as powerhouses Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, both Valencia and Sevilla have started their season amongst the league’s elite.
Both sides remain unbeaten after Sunday’s action as Valencia topped Espanyol, 3-1, while Sevilla defeated Getafe by a 2-0 scoreline.
Valencia opened the scoring just eight minutes in through Pablo Piatti before Dani Parejo and Paco Alcacer each added additional goals in the second half. With the victory, Valencia have seven points through seven goals in their opening three games of the La Liga season.
Meanwhile, Sevilla, who drew with Valencia earlier in the season, also kept their record unblemished due to goals from Carlos Bacca and Alex Vidal. Sevilla now sit even with the aforementioned Valencia, with both sides sitting two points behind Barcelona.
Here are the results from Sunday’s La Liga action:
Rayo Vallencano 2 – 3 Elche
Valencia 3 – 1 Espanyol
Sevilla 2 – 0 Getafe
Granada 0 – 0 Villareal
FRANCE
Five games into the Ligue 1 season, Lille remain unbeaten.
Last season’s third place finishers picked up their third win of the season Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Nantes. With the victory, Lille remain atop the Ligue 1 table and are joined by only Paris Saint-Germain as the league’s final two unbeaten sides.
Lille were led by Divock Origi, who opened the scoring just seconds into the second half by finishing off a Florent Balmont cross. Origi played provider for Lille’s second, as the Liverpool loanee assisted Marco Lopes to grab Lille an insurance goal.
Meanwhile, Marseille ascended to second place Sunday by picking up a 3-1 victory over Evian behind goals from Andre-Pierre Gignac, Giannelli Imbula and Florian Thauvin.
Here are the results from Sunday’s Ligue 1 action:
Lille 2 – 0 Nantes
Guingamp 2 – 1 Bordeaux
Evian 1 – 3 Marseille
GERMANY
After finishing last season in tenth, Hannover have started off their 2013-14 Bundesliga campaign on a much higher note.
Hannover picked up their second win in three games Sunday by knocking off Hamburg, 2-0.
Leon Andreasen and Artur Sobiech each contributed a goal as Hannover grabbed three points that see them ascend into a three way tie atop the table. Meanwhile, Hamburg remain without a goal, having mustered just one point this season.
Here are the results from Sunday’s Bundesliga action:
Eintracht Frankfurt 0 – 1 SC Augsburg
Hannover 2 – 0 Hamburg
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What do you make of Manchester United’s 4-0 victory? Will this season signal a resurgence for either AC Milan and Inter Milan? Can Valencia and Sevilla hang with La Liga’s top sides?
Man U proves once & for all that if you buy enough players & play a bad team, you might win!
Man United have traditionally been the biggest spenders in English football.
SAF personally broke the UK transfer record 5 times.
So this latest spending orgy is really just United going back to their roots.
Had obligations all weekend and missed the match. “For the first time this season, Manchester United appeared to resemble a team capable of living up to the history and tradition of the club.”
This first line sounds pretty over the top for a match against a recently promoted club. Am I being too critical or is this sentiment unanimous among those who watched the match?
+1
“Appeared to resemble a team capable of” has a lot of hedging mixed in, so no, I don’t read that as over the top. Remove “appeared”, and they still only “resemble a team capable of”, remove “appeared” and “resemble”, and they were still only a team capable of living up to the history (not actually living up to it, necessarily).
The statement could pretty much be rewritten as, “Manchester United, for one game, finally played well.”
Mr. School,
” the history and tradition of the club.”
The history and tradition part means that bad teams get put to the sword at Old Trafford. The game should have been 6-0.
Man U have often won their campaigns in the past by slaughtering the weaker teams and drawing with or narrowly beating their top rivals.
At least they have one part of the equation going.