Mbappe on target as Real Madrid defeat Espanyol

Madrid, Sept. 22: In-form striker Kylian Mbappe netted again as Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of La Liga.

Xabi Alonso's Madrid have won all five of their opening league fixtures and French superstar Mbappe has netted five goals in the top flight.

Eder Militao opened the scoring with a screamer from distance after 22 minutes and Mbappe buried the second from outside the box early in the second half.

Madrid are five points clear of champions Barcelona, who host Getafe on Sunday.

England international Jude Bellingham made a late appearance as a substitute in the final stages, his first since undergoing shoulder surgery in the summer.

"We can't be doing any better," Madrid defender Dani Carvajal told Real Madrid TV.

"The good thing is we're getting better at playing in the way the coach wants, understanding the concepts and the results are coming with that."

Earlier Levante romped to a 4-0 win at Girona, who finished with nine men.

ManU win chaotic match 

Bruno Fernandes struck his 100th goal for Manchester United in a chaotic 2-1 win against Chelsea and helped ease pressure on coach Ruben Amorim on Saturday. Fernandes and Casemiro struck in a wild first half at Old Trafford where both teams went down to 10 men and Chelsea lost star player Cole Palmer to injury.

Fernandes hit a century of goals in his 200th Premier League appearance. But the biggest celebration came after the final whistle as United won for only the second time this season.

"Every win, especially in this moment, is important against a great opponent," Amorim told the BBC. "Our crowd, our fans are easy to please. If you give everything they will be there. That is something our players need to understand. To have the crowd with us we just need to run, to fight and tackle."

Defending champion Liverpool maintained its 100% start with a 2-1 victory against Everton at Anfield in the Merseyside derby. Liverpool has won five consecutive home games against Everton for the first time since 1937.

In another bad day for West Ham coach Graham Potter, his team lost for the fourth time in five games, going down at home to Crystal Palace 2-1. It's even worse for Wolverhampton after losing at home to Leeds 3-1. Trailing 2-0 at Brighton, Tottenham came back to salvage a 2-2 draw.

Ange Postecoglou got his first point as Nottingham Forest coach in a 1-1 draw at Burnley and Fulham beat Brentford 3-1 at Craven Cottage to climb to seventh.

Pulisic guides another AC Milan win 

Christian Pulisic is in fine form nine months before a home World Cup. The United States forward scored twice and was involved in another goal as AC Milan won at previously unbeaten Udinese 3-0 in Serie A on Saturday.

It was just the type of performance that American fans will be hoping to see at the 2026 World Cup that the U.S. is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. Pulisic and U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino recently indicated they had moved on from some controversy after the top American player skipped the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Since joining Milan in 2023, Pulisic has scored 36 goals and provided 21 assists in 105 matches — meaning he has produced a goal in more than half of his matches.

"Winning trophies and games are more important for me," Pulisic said. "Goals and assists are always there."

Milan's third win in four matches moved the Rossoneri level with defending champion Napoli, one point behind leader Juventus, which had its perfect start ended in a 1-1 draw at Hellas Verona.

Under returning coach Massimiliano Allegri, who was suspended for the Udinese game, it's already looking like Milan has improved after an eighth-place finish last season that left the seven-time European champion out of continental competition.

Kane hits another Bayern hat-trick 

Harry Kane scored his second Bundesliga hat-trick of the season as Bayern Munich downed Hoffenheim 4-1 on Saturday, while Hamburg won in the top flight for the first time in seven years.

Man of the match with two goals in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Chelsea in the Champions League, the England captain kept up his prolific form in a heavily rotated Bayern side.

Kane now has 13 goals this term, including eight in four Bundesliga fixtures.

He has 98 goals in 103 games overall since joining Bayern in 2023. This hat-trick was his ninth for the club.

"Hat-trick Harry is what they called me in school," Kane told DAZN, "that one kind of stuck when I was younger."

Kane has converted all 17 of his penalties in the Bundesliga. The England captain said that keeping the streak alive "is not easy... I prepare a lot, I practise a lot.

"Any ball in the box, whether penalty or not, I back myself to hit the target."

In Hamburg, the promoted hosts beat lowly Heidenheim 2-1 to secure their first top-flight win in 2,688 days, or seven years and four months.

In Saturday's late game, RB Leipzig turned on the style in the first half to win 3-1 at home to promoted Cologne.

Elsewhere, Freiburg won 3-0 at Werder Bremen and Mainz triumphed 4-1 at Augsburg despite being reduced to 10 men when Dominik Kohr was sent off early in the second half. (AFP/AP)