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Saturday European Rewind: Dortmund edges Berlin, Inter downs Roma, and more

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Borussia Dortmund made it back-to-back victories to start the Bundesliga season, defeating Hertha Berlin 2-0. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang kicked off the scoring after 15 minutes, finishing Nuri Sahin’s assist from inside the box. Sahin doubled Dortmund’s lead in the 57th-minute rifling home from outside the box. Berlin created four shots on goal, but Roman Burki was up to the task in the clean sheet. Berlin suffer their first loss of the new season.

Elsewhere, Inter Milan edged Roma in the must-watch match in Italy, while Bayern Munich edged Werder Bremen. Manchester City used a stoppage time winner to beat Bournemouth, while Newcastle rolled past West Ham. Barcelona used a brace from Lionel Messi to oust Alaves in Spain, while Juventus fought back for a victory at Genoa. PSG cruised in Friday’s Ligue 1 round opener against St. Etienne.

Here’s a closer look at all of Friday and Saturday’s European action:

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester City used a 97th-minute winner from Raheem Sterling to defeat AFC Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium. Sterling’s deflected effort found the bottom left corner for the winning goal and an important three points for Man City. Charlie Daniels opened the scoring for Bournemouth after 13 minutes, ripping home a left-footed strike. Gabriel Jesus equalized for Pep Guardiola’s men eight minutes later, finishing off David Silva’s assist. Sterling’s dramatic celebration saw the English winger see a second yellow card for time-wasting. Regardless, Manchester City remain unbeaten while Bournemouth remain winless.

Manchester United used a pair of second-half goals at Old Trafford to edge Leicester City 2-0. Romelu Lukaku’s 53rd-minute penalty was saved by Kasper Schmeichel which kept the score deadlocked at zeros. Marcus Rashford scored what proved to be the winning goal, as he slammed home Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s assist after 70 minutes. Marouane Fellaini’s close-range finish added insurance for Jose Mourinho’s side who remain unbeaten this season in league play. Leicester lose their second league match of the season.

Newcastle United rolled to their first Premier League win of the season, blanking West Ham United 3-0 at St. James Park. Recent signing Joselu opened the scoring for the hosts, scoring after 36 minutes from inside the box. Ciaran Clark doubled the lead in the second-half, heading home Matt Ritchie’s cross. Aleksandar Mitrovic added an insurance goal late, slotting home Ayoze Perez’s through-ball assist. West Ham remain winless on the season, after a third straight defeat.

Here’s all of Saturday’s EPL results:

AFC Bournemouth 1 – Manchester City 2

Crystal Palace 0 – Swansea City 2

Huddersfield Town 0 – Southampton 0

Newcastle United 3 – West Ham United 0

Watford 0 – Brighton & Hove Albion 0

Manchester United 2 – Leicester City 0

SPANISH LA LIGA

Lionel Messi became the first player in La Liga history to reach the 350 goal mark, after scoring a brace in Saturday’s 2-0 road win for Barcelona at Alaves. Despite seeing a 39th-minute penalty saved by Fernando Pacheco, Messi got the last laugh. The Argentine opened the scoring after 55 minutes, finishing off Jordi Alba’s assist. Messi added the insurance goal in the 66th-minute, slotting home a left-footed effort. Alaves only forced two shots on goal, falling for the second consecutive week. Barcelona remain unbeaten in league play.

Girona remained unbeaten in the early stages of La Liga play, defeating Malaga 1-0 on Saturday. A 28th-minute winner from Pedro Alcala proved to be the difference between the two sides. Alcala finished from close range following a set piece situation for the hosts. Malaga created two shots on goal, but failed to find the back of the net for the second straight match.

Here are all of Friday and Saturday’s La Liga results:

Real Sociedad 3 – Villarreal 0

Real Betis 2 – Celta Vigo 1

Alaves 0 – Barcelona 2

Levante 2 – Deportivo 2

Girona 1 – Malaga 0

Las Palmas 1 – Atletico Madrid 5

GERMAN BUNDESLIGA

Bayern Munich used a brace from Robert Lewandowski to edge Werder Bremen 2-0 at Weserstadion. Despite being held off the scoreboard for over 60 minutes, Bayern found the breakthrough as the Polish striker finished from close range. Lewandowski stamped the three points for Bayern three minutes later, this time with finishing with his left foot inside the box. Bremen were held to one shot on goal, suffering their second straight defeat.

Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim shared the points in an entertaining 2-2 draw at the BayArena on Saturday. A 70th-minute equalizer from Mark Uth snatched a point for Julian Nagelsmann’s side in their second match of the season. Wendall opened the scoring from the penalty spot after the hour mark after Julian Brandt drew the spot kick. Andrej Kramaric leveled the score after 47 minutes before Karim Bellarabi re-extended the hosts lead two minutes later. Uth’s calm and composed finish helped Hoffenheim remain unbeaten in league play. Leverkusen bounced back from a season-opening loss a week ago.

Here are all of Friday and Saturday’s Bundesliga results:

Koln 1 – Hamburg 3

Werder Bremen 0 – Bayern Munich 2

Eintracht Frankfurt 0 – VfL Wolfsburg 1

Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 1899 Hoffenheim 2

FC Augsburg 2 – Borussia Monchengladbach 2

Stuttgart 1 – Mainz 0

Borussia Dortmund 2 – Hertha Berlin 0

ITALIAN SERIE A

In the must-watch match across Europe on Saturday, Inter Milan used a brace from Mauro Icardi to propel them to a 3-1 road win at Roma. Icardi’s 67th-minute finish cancelled out Edin Dzeko’s 15th-minute opener for the hosts. Icardi put Inter ahead after 77 minutes, this time finishing from a left-footed effort inside the box. Matias Vecino added an insurance goal for the visitors, scoring from close range after 87 minutes. Ivan Perisic picked up two assists in the win, as Luciano Spalletti defeated his old club. Roma suffered their first loss of the year, while Inter remain unbeaten.

Despite being down early, Juventus fought their way back for a 4-2 road win at Genoa. A hat-trick from Paulo Dybala propelled the Old Lady to their second straight win of the season. An own-goal from Miralem Pjanic after a minute gave Genoa a 1-0 lead, before a seventh minute penalty from Andrej Galabinov doubled the advantage. Dybala’s first goal came from a smooth finish in the 14th-minute before the Argentine drew Juve level with a first-half penalty kick goal in stoppage time. Juan Cuadrado finished Mario Mandzukic’s assist after the hour mark for Juve’s first lead, before Dybala capped his hat trick in second-half stoppage time. Genoa suffer their first loss of the year, while Juve remain unbeaten.

Here are all of Saturday’s Serie A results:

Benevento 0 – Bologna 1

Genoa 2 – Juventus 4

Roma 1 – Inter 3

FRENCH LIGUE 1

PSG rolled their way to a fourth straight league victory as they defeated St. Etienne 3-0 on Friday. Edinson Cavani netted a brace in the win, while Thiago Motta also found the scoresheet. Cavani’s 20th-minute penalty opened the scoring for Unai Emery’s side in the match. Motta slotted home PSG’s second goal early in the second half before Cavani added insurance from close prior to stoppage time. St. Etienne only had two shots on goal, and suffered their first league loss of the season.

Nice’s Ligue 1 form continues to be suspect early this season as they fell 3-0 at newly-promoted Amiens on Saturday. A 15th-minute free kick from Gael Kakuta proved to be the winner for the hosts, before Moussa Konate added a second goal before the half hour mark. Konate’s second of the afternoon capped a perfect day for the hosts who earned their first league win of the season. Nice suffer their third league defeat already in the 2017/18 season.

Here are all of Friday and Saturday’s Ligue 1 results:

Paris Saint-Germain 3 – Saint-Etienne 0

Nantes 0 – Lyon 0

Amiens 3 – Nice 0

Bordeaux 2 – Troyes 1

Caen 1 – Metz 0

Dijon 2 – Montpellier 1

Toulouse 3 – Rennes 2

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