Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal struck twice to help deliver a commanding 4-1 win at Girona on Sunday that extended their perfect start to La Liga with a fifth consecutive win while Conor Gallagher scored his first goal in Atlético Madrid colours.
The Spain winger gave Barça a two-goal lead with strikes in the 30th and 37th minutes while Dani Olmo extended their advantage right after the break with a first-time effort from close range.
Pedri scored the fourth with a tap-in in the 64th minute while the Girona substitute Cristhian Stuani netted a consolation goal in the 80th, six minutes before Barça were reduced to 10 men when Ferran Torres was given a straight red card for a nasty studs-up challenge on Yáser Asprilla.
Gallagher, who joined Atlético this summer in a protracted move from Chelsea, gave them the lead at home against Valencia after 39 minutes. Antoine Griezmann doubled their advantage 15 minutes later and Julián Álvarez also scored his first Atlético goal since his summer move from Manchester City.=
Barcelona top the league with 15 points, four ahead of Real Madrid, Atlético and Villarreal.
In Serie A, Atalanta, Arsenal’s Champions League opponents on Thursday, won 3-2 at home to Fiorentina, with all the goals coming in the first half.
The visitors were 2-1 up after half an hour but the Europa League holders responded with two goals in 60 seconds at the end of the half: Charles De Ketelaere made it 2-2 with a header and then Ademola Lookman pounced in the first minute of stoppage time.
Antonio Conte’s Napoli have overtaken the defending champions Internazionale at the top. Conte heaped praise on Romelu Lukaku for his performance after a 4-0 victory at Cagliari. The Belgian scored one and provided two assists. “I have always said that I wanted Romelu at Inter Milan, had also requested him at Chelsea before he went to Manchester United, because he is an atypical striker,” Conte told Sky Sport Italia. “He is extremely tall and physically strong, but also very good at sprinting forward. His condition is still nowhere near optimal, but he becomes fundamental for us.”
Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Alessandro Buongiorno scored the other goals for Napoli. Scotland midfielders Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour made their debuts after joining Napoli at the end of the transfer window. The pair – signed from Manchester United and Brighton respectively – came on together in the 74th minute with their new side 3-0 up.
Inter had the chance to return to the summit later on Sunday but were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Monza. The hosts took a shock lead in the 81st minute through substitute Dany Mota’s header, but Denzel Dumfries levelled in the 88th minute with close-range finish. Inter are on eight points after four games, in second ahead of Juventus and Torino on goal difference, with Napoli top on nine points after the same number of matches.
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