THE FAI Cup final this season will be between Shamrock Rovers and Cork City, to be held in Dublin on November 9. Cork are bottom of the Irish Premier Division but pulled off a surprise 3-0 win against St. Patrick’s Athletic, thanks to two late goals from Evan McLaughlin. The game was preceded by a fan protest about the club’s majority owner at a raucous Turner’s Cross stadium. Meanwhile, champions-elect Shamrock Rovers thrashed second tier Kerry 6-1, a team that had beaten Premier division Sligo in the quarter-finals. Shamrock are on target to complete the double this season, they are 11 points clear at the top of the league with five games remaining, so they are champions in all but name.
**La Liga: Sevilla shock fragile Barca**
BARCELONA suffered their worst defeat to Sevilla since 1951 as their defensive shortcomings were exposed by an ebullient home side. Sevilla went ahead through former Barca and Arsenal winger Alexis Sánchez but Marcus Rashford levelled just after half-time. Sevilla regained the lead and Barca had the chance to restore parity when they were awarded a penalty, but Robert Lewandowski struck his poor spot-kick wide. Sevilla then took control and scored twice in added time to secure a 4-1 win and consign Barca to their first league defeat of the season. Sevilla’s local rivals, Real Betis, won 2-1 in Barcelona at Espanyol, while Real Madrid were 3-1 winners against 10-man Villareal with Vinícius Júnior scoring twice and Kylian Mbappé also finding the net. Elche’s unbeaten record came to an end with a 3-1 defeat at Alavés. Atlético Madrid had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Celta Vigo after having Clément Lengelet sent off in the first half.
**Bundesliga: Goal-crazy Hamburg**
AFTER scoring just two goals in their first five games, Hamburg hit four past struggling Mainz at a very wet Volksparkstadion. Two goals came from Rayan Philippe, HSV’s signing from Eintracht Braunschweig in the summer. It was a very one-sided game and the win lifted HSV to the top half of the table. Bayern Munich won 3-0 at Frankfurt with Luis Díaz scoring twice and Harry Kane – needless to say – also on the scoresheet. Dortmund lost a little ground on Bayern with a 1-1 draw at home to RB Leipzig, they travel to face the leaders on October 18. Borussia Mönchengladbach are still struggling to score goals, they drew 0-0 at home to Freiburg and are the only team in the Bundesliga without a win.
**Scotland: No surprise, Martin sacked by Rangers**
HEARTS remain top of the Scottish Premiership after beating Edinburgh rivals Hibernian 1-0 at Tynecastle. The winning goal came from defender Craig Halkett in added time after Hibs’ Martin Boyle had a goal ruled out and also struck the woodwork. Celtic reduced Hearts’ five point lead at the top to two with a 3-2 win against Motherwell. Rangers were held 1-1 at Falkirk and since the game, their coach, Russell Martin has been sacked by the club after just 17 games. He was given a police escort from the Falkirk stadium after fans tried to prevent the team coach from leaving. Rangers have won one of their seven league games and have lost their two Europa League matches.
**Premier League: Arsenal go top as Liverpool lost at Chelsea**
THE PUNDITS are starting to see Arsenal as this season’s Premier league champions after their 2-0 victory against West Ham at the Emirates. The Gunners’ goals came from Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka. Liverpool lost top spot after their third defeat in eight days, their 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge coming after being beaten by Crystal Palace and Galatasaray. Palace, meanwhile, let a one-goal lead slip at Everton and were beaten 2-1, their first reverse of the season. Jack Grealish scored the vital goal for the Toffees. Manchester City won 1-0 at Brentford and Tottenham were 2-1 winners at Leeds United. Manchester United won 2-0 against Sunderland with goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Šeško. Nottingham Forest’s new manager, Ange Postecoglou, came under fire once more as his team were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United.
**Serie A: Roma keep the pressure on**
RASMUS Højlund netted a 75th minute winner for champions Napoli against Genoa to keep his side on top of the Serie A table. Geona had taken the lead in the first half, but Napoli levelled through Frank Anguissa’s header 12 minutes into the second period. Højlund grabbed his fourth goal since joining Antonio Conte’s team, pouncing on a rebound after Nicola Leali had saved another effort from Anguissa. Roma are level on points with Napoli at the top and kept up their challenge with a 2-1 win in Florence. Moise Kean gave the home side the lead, but two goals before half-time by Matías Soulé and Bryan Christante gave Roma the points. Inter Milan were comfortable 4-1 winners against Como, while Juventus and Milan drew 0-0. Christian Pulisic missed a penalty for Milan.
**Ligue 1: Strasbourg on song**
PARIS Saint-Germain may have some stiff competition this season in the form of Strasbourg and Olympique Marseille. While PSG were drawing 1-1 at Lille, where Kylian Mbappé’s brother Ethan scored for the home team, Strasbourg were trouncing Angers 5-0 at the Stade de la Meinau with Joaquín Panichelli and Martial Godo scoring two apiece. Marseille won 3-0 at Metz with all three goals scored in the second half. The game was interrupted by some trouble following Marseille’s third goal. OM coach Roberto de Zerbi confronted Metz fans after objects were thrown at the away team and their fans. The home contingent were angered by a group of OM fans celebrating in the home section. Paris FC continued their adjustment to life in Ligue 1 with a 2-0 win over Lorient, with Ilan Kebbal scoring his fourth goal in seven games.
**And elsewhere…**
* Ajax come back from 3-1 down to earn a point at Sparta Rotterdam; PSV won 4-0 at Zwolle, while Feyenoord beat Utrecht by the odd goal in five
* Porto and Benfica drew 0-0 in O Classico
* In the Zurich derby, Grasshoppers beat FC Zurich 3-0; Lausanne thrashed Young boys 5-0 with Theo Bair scoring a hat-trick
* Sparta and Slavia Prague drew 1-1 in the Czech First League.
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/)