THE Vienna derby between Rapid and FK Austria is one of Europe’s oldest and in its hey-day was a very passionate affair. Even in recent times, in the very refined Austrian capital, the game is a frenetic affair, so much so that after some very unpleasant scenes last season, this game did not involve away fans. Rapid, who were unbeaten before welcoming their old rivals, went a goal down after 24 minutes through Lee Tae-Seok but levelled on 48 minutes with a penalty from Claude Mbuyi. Within a minute, Austria Wien took the lead once more through Abuka Barry and clinched the three points with a third goal from Noah Botic. Austria had Philip Wiesinger sent off in the 74th minute but left the Allianz Stadion with their players claiming, “Vienna is violet”.
**La Liga: Madrid derby drama**
ALMOST 70,000 people saw Atlético Madrid pull off a sensational 5-2 win against Real Madrid, who arrived at the Metropolitano with a 100% record amid claims that the title race was looking like theirs to lose. Atlético have been criticised over their disappointing start to the season and have been labelled boring by critics of Diego Simeone’s style. Atlético led from Robin Le Normand’s goal in the 14th minute, but Real responded with goals from Kylian Mbappé and Arda Guler. By half-time it was 2-2, thanks to Alex Sørloth’s header in added time. Then came an excellent second half from the home team and two goals from Julián Alvarez and some icing on the cake from Antoine Griezmann in the 92ndminute. “No excuses, we simply were not good enough,” said Real boss Xabi Alonso. Atlétic certainly exposed some of Real’s defensive shortcomings in a game that had nine yellow cards. Real lost their leadership to Barcelona, who came from behind to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 with the winning goal scored by Robert Lewandowski. Villareal are in third place after their 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao, while promoted Elche kept-up their unbeaten record as they beat Celta Vigo 2-1.
**Premier League: Palace lower the champions’ colours**
LIVERPOOL have been defeated for the first time this season. Crystal Palace, who are now the only side not to have lost a league game, beat the Premier champions 2-1 at Selhurst Park to equal their longest ever unbeaten run (18). They took the lead early on from Ismaila Sarr and held on until the 87th minute when Federico Chiesa levelled for the visitors. Palace refused to settle for a draw and clinched victory in added time through Eddie Nketiah. Liverpool have a three-point lead at the top over second-placed Arsenal, who won 2-1 in dramatic circumstances at Newcastle United. The Geordies went ahead through Nick Woltemade’s classic header and were still in front with six minutes remaining. Arsenal’s Mikel Merino sent a glancing header past Nick Pope and then in the 96th minute, Gabriel nodded home from a corner. Manchester City’s scoreline might have looked emphatic, but it was a long-time coming against Burnley. City had to rely on two own goals and a late flurry by Erling Haaland to win 5-1 at the Etihad. City’s local rivals United went down 3-1 at Brentford where Igor Thiago netted twice for the home side. Benjamin Šeško scored his first goal for United, but it was another disappointing afternoon for the club. Ruben Amorim, who must be feeling some pressure, claims he is not worried about his future. Chelsea’s early season form seems to have deserted them with their third defeat in four league and cup games – a 3-1 loss at home to Brighton, for whom Danny Welbeck netted twice. For the second consecutive league game, Chelsea had a man sent off, Trevor Chalobah being red-carded early in the second half.
**Bundesliga: Worrying times for Gladbach**
A BIZARRE match took place at Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Borussia-Park with the home side conceding another six goals in what has been a poor start to the season. Eintracht Frankfurt went in at half-time 5-0 ahead with young Can Uzun dominating the first half. Gladbach’s interim manager, Eugen Polanski, called on his team to go out in the second period and show some pride and despite conceding a sixth goal, they scored four times in the closing stages to give the result a rather misleading complexion. Gladbach’s sporting director, Roland Virkus told the media: “This was a desolate performance. We lacked everything you need in football.” Meanwhile, Bayern Munich won 4-0 against Werder Bremen with Harry Kane scoring twice to take his total for the club to 100. Jonathan Tah and Konrad Laimer scored Bayern’s other goals. Dortmund won 2-0 at Mainz without their star striker Serhou Guirassy who withdrew just before kick-off with a thigh injury. New signing Daniel Svensson and Karim Adeyemi scored the goals for BVB. RB Leipzig also won away, 1-0 at Wolfsburg with Johan Bakayoko the matchwinner.
**Serie A: Napoli beaten by resurgent Milan**
NAPOLI were beaten for the first time this season when they lost 2-1 at AC Milan in front of almost 74,000 people in the San Siro. Milan took their place at the top of Serie A but Napoli and Roma are also on 12 points. Milan were 2-0 ahead in half an hour, with goals by Alexis Saelemaekers and Christian Pulisic. Milan were reduced to 10 men when Pervis Estupinan was sent off for preventing Giovanni di Lorenzo from scoring and Kevin De Bruyne netted the penalty kick on 60 minutes. Despite pressurising the home team, Napoli were unable to carve out an equaliser. Roma, who have conceded just once this season, won 2-0 at home to Verona, while Juventus were held 1-1 against the 10 men of Atalanta. Inter were 2-0 winners at Cagliari.
**Scotland: Hearts – making the Premiership more interesting**
HEARTS went top of the Scottish Premiership with a resounding 3-0 win against Falkirk at Tynecastle. The club’s investor, Tony Bloom, has predicted that the Edinburgh side could split the Old Firm dominance this season and so far, Hearts are flying. Their goals came from Alexandros Kyziridis, Lawrence Shankland and Craig Halkett. Celtic were held 0-0 at home by Hearts’ neighbours Hibernian despite enjoying over 70% of possession and having 26 shots to Hibs’ four. Rangers grabbed their first league win of the season at Livingston, their 2-1 victory was clinched by a 94th minute goal from Max Aarons. Aberdeen are bottom of the table after losing 2-0 at Motherwell.
And elsewhere…
* Shamrock Rovers are all but champions in Ireland after beating Bohemians 2-1
* Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from their defeat at Marseille with a 2-0 win against Auxerre. Lyon are level on points with PSG after winning 1-0 at Lille.
* Feyenoord are three points clear at the top of the Eredivisie. They won 1-0 at Groningen while PSV also won on the road at Excelsior and Ajax beat Breda 2-1.
Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)