London, Sep 1: Arsenal beat Aston Villa 1-0 away from home to maintain its winning start to the Premier League while Barcelona and Roma preserved their perfect records in Spain and Italy with convincing wins on Monday.
Osasuna beat Getafe 1-0 to continue its unbeaten start in La Liga, while Atalanta had to wait until the final minute to get the goal that beat Bologna in Serie A.
Rampant Barcelona top La Liga
Lamine Yamal and Raphinha both scored a brace and English winger Anthony Gordon grabbed two assists as Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 to record its 21st consecutive home victory.
Rayo was looking for its first win of the season and it took an unexpected lead in the 12th minute when Sergio Camello hammered home a cutback from Álvaro García on the left.
Barcelona, however, bounced back almost immediately and it was 2-1 up before the first period was even halfway over.
Raphinha equalized with a well-taken goal in the 18th and Lamine Yamal put them ahead 90 seconds later with a characteristic move, cutting in from the right and unleashing a powerful left-foot shot into the roof of the net.
Hansi Flick’s men got a third after halftime when Florian Lejeune turned Gordon’s cutback into his own net. Although the excellent Camello cut the deficit with a solid header, Raphinha soon made it 4-2 and Yamal rounded off the scoring with a low shot from just outside the box a minute from time.
The win moved Barcelona above Real Madrid at the top of the league on goal difference. Rayo sat third from bottom.
Malen keeps scoring for Roma
In Serie A, Donyell Malen took his season tally to five in two games as Roma went to Lecce and won 4-0.
Malen, who scored a hat trick in Roma’s opening win over Fiorentina, had Roma 2-0 up midway through the first half, and Matias Soulé added a third before halftime. Rodrigo Mora completed the scoring 20 minutes into the second half as Roma established its title credentials early.
The result, a second consecutive 4-0 win for the capital club, lifted Roma to the top of Serie A after two games.
Later, Atalanta sneaked past Bologna thanks to a stoppage time goal from Lazar Samardžic.
Neither side convinced in an ordinary encounter and it wasn’t until stoppage time that Samardžic’s long-range effort squirmed in past the Bologna goalkeeper.
The result was harsh on Bologna and left it pointless after two games.
Atalanta moved into the top five, one of six clubs with maximum points.
Arsenal win on landmark night for Arteta
In England, reigning champion Arsenal recorded a familiar 1-0 win as Bukayo Saka’s 59th minute goal secured all three points at Aston Villa.
Villa is suffering after a string of high-profile departures in recent weeks, and struggled to make an impact. It ended a second game in a row without recording a shot on target.
Unai Emery’s side was pointless after two games, while counterpart Mike Arteta celebrated his 250th Premier League match in the dugout for Arsenal. Arteta was content to see his side become one of only four English teams to take maximum points from their first two games. (AP)
