European Wrap Third Edition

In the Scottish Premier League Hearts maintained their one hundred percent record with a narrow 1-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Rudi Skacel netted his seventh goal of the season to give Hearts all three points and to maintain his remarkable record of a goal every game so far this season.

Other results were Hibernian 0-1 Celtic; Dundee Utd 2-0 Livingston; Dunfermline 0-2 Aberdeen; Motherwell 5-0 Falkirk; Rangers 3-0 Kilmarnock.

This weekend in the Italian Serie A Juventus also maintained their perfect start to the season, as Milan lost to Sampdoria.

The reigning champions edged to a 2-1 success over newly promoted Ascoli.

Alessandro Del Piero was the hero for Juve with two goals, including a penalty in the first half.

Milan was sunken 2-1 at Sampdoria who came from behind to snare the points after Alberto Gilardino put Milan ahead on 18 minutes.

Emiliano Bonazzoli equalised on 36 minutes and the comeback was completed on 58 minutes courtesy of Max Tonetto’s effort.

Other results were Livorno 0-0 Roma; Siena 1-2 Palermo; Reggina 1-3 Chievo; Lazio 3-1 Treviso; Fiorentina 4-2 Udinese; Cagliari 1-1 Messina; Inter 3-0 Lecce; Parma 1-0 Empoli.

In the Spanish La Liga Real Madrid slumped to their third loss in a week after going down 1-0 against Espanyol.

Real Madrid ended the game with nine men after Sergio Ramos and Julio Baptista was red carded with Daniel Jarque netting the only goal of the game.

Real dominated the first half and were unlucky not to score when Ronaldo hit the post from David Beckham’s free kick.

Iker Casillas produced a fine save to deny Luis Garcia from a free kick just after the break.

Espanyol broke the deadlock when Jarque headed home Ivan De la Pena’s free kick on 70 minutes.

Ramos was sent off eight minutes from time for a second bookable offence and Baptista followed him deep into injury time for a late tackle.

The defeat piles the pressure on Real boss Wanderley Luxemburgo as they slipped into the bottom half of the table.

Other results were Atl Madrid 2-1 Barcelona; Real Betis 0-0 Real Zaragoza; Osasuna 1-0 Sevilla; Celta Vigo 0-1 R Santander; Cadiz 1-1 Villareal; Athl Bilbao 1-2 Malaga; Mallorca 5-2 Real Sociedad; Valencia 2-2 Deportivo.

In French Ligue One action Monaco’s sluggish start to the season continued as they went down 2-0 to Rennes.

Monaco was never at the races on home soil as Kim Kallstrom gave Rennes the lead in the 36th minute.

Monaco’s attempts to get back in the game in the second period proved in vain as Rennes doubled their advantage on the hour mark through Youann Gourcuff.

Other results were St Etienne 3-0 Paris SG; Strasbourg 1-1 Lens; Marseille 2-1 Troyes; Auxerre 2-0 AC Ajaccio; Nantes 2-0 Toulouse; Nancy 1-1 Metz; Lille 4-0 Nice; Le Mans 2-1 Sochaux; Bordeaux 1-1 Lyon.

In the German Bundesliga a fine game saw Werder Bremen pick up a 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

Werder kept themselves level pegging with Bayern Munich in a five goal thriller – as Johan Micoud grabbed an important winner.

Eby Smolarek opened the scoring for Borussia Dortmund, but Miroslav Klose levelled before Ivan Klasnic put Werder ahead.

Smolarek’s second tied up the scores, but Micoud grabbed an important winner for Werder.

Other results were Schalke 0-0 Hertha Berlin; MSV Duiberg 1-3 B Leverkusen; Wolfsburg 1-1 Nurnberg; Hamburg 1-1 E Frankfurt; FSV Mainz 1-2 Stuttgart; Cologne 2-1 B M’gladbach; Bayern Munich 1-0 Hanover 96; Arminia B 0-0 Kaiserslautern.

In the Dutch Eredivisie AZ Alkmaar maintained their perfect start to the season, moving back to the top of the table, with a resounding 4-2 home win over Ajax.

The result was especially sweet for AZ boss Louis van Gaal who inflicted defeat on the club he led to UEFA Champions League success.

Ex-Rangers hit man Shota Arveladze, who played under van Gaal during their time at Ajax, was a key figure for AZ, grabbing a brace against his former employers.

It was the visitors who edged ahead after ten minutes through Dutch international midfielder Wesley Sneijder, but Arveladze handed AZ the initiative with two goals in two minutes shortly before the interval.

However, Ajax refused to be bowed and went in level at the break when Sneijder poached his second of the afternoon.

But the hosts were always in the ascendancy after half time and another double, this time from Kenneth Perez (56 & 58), gave them a lead they were never going to surrender.

Other results were Roda JC Kerk 0-2 Willem II; Groningen 1-0 PSV; Utrecht 1-0 Vitesse; Feyenoord 5-1 Heerenveen; NEC Nijmegen 1-1 NAC Breda; Roosendaal 1-1 S Rotterdam; Heracles Almelo 0-2 RKC Waalwijk; ADO Den Haag 0-0 Twente.

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