Arsenal ease past Newcastle; Wigan hit five at Hull; Defoe stars as Pompey win at Goodison

Arsenal 3 - Newcastle 0 (Premier League, August 30, 2008) (MOTD highlights here.) In the third minute at the Emirates, Gallas missed a great chance at the back post to put Arsenal ahead and as Arsenal dominated the early exchanges Toure saw his stinging shot go just wide. Robin van Persie gave Arsenal the lead from the penalty spot after N’Zogbia had handled an Adebayor cross. On the half-hour Given saved well from a van Persie free-kick. Four minutes before the break Robin van Persie grabbed his and Arsenal’s second, finishing off a fine move led by Eboue who backheeled to the Dutchman. Although Newcastle got into the game a little after the break (Butt hit the bar with a header), Denilson killed the game off with the third just before the hour - finishing off a fine move. Seconds after the third goal, van Persie smacked a shot against the bar.

Hull 0 - Wigan 5 (Premier League, August 30, 2008) (MOTD highlights here.) Wigan raced into a two-goal lead within fourteen minutes at Hull thanks to an og from Samuel Ricketts and a fine run and finish from Antonio Valencia. Amr Zaki scored the third, turning in a Valencia cross and Emile Heskey grabbed the fourth. And Amr Zaki completed the rout with a great effort that cannoned in off the bar.

West Ham 4 - Blackburn 1 (Premier League, August 30, 2008) (MOTD highlights here.) Paul Ince’s return to Upton Park saw a feverish opening half, Callum Davenport and Dean Ashton put Westh Ham two-up, before Jason Roberts kept Blackburn in the match with a great turn and finish. (First-half highlights here.) Late on, Craig Bellamy and Carlton Cole completed a miserable afternoon for Paul Ince and boosted Alan Curbishley’s chances of holding on to his job.

Everton 0 - Portsmouth 3 (Premier League, August 30, 2008) Jermain Defoe was the stand-out player at Goodison Park as Pompey secured their first points of the season. Defoe received a Crouch flick on before turning Lescott to score the first, he then teed up Glen Johnson with a fine backheel for the second and in the second half after David James had saved a Yakubu penalty, Defoe scored a sumptuous third.

Middlesbrough 2 - Stoke 1 (Premier League, August 30, 2008) Afonso Alves put Middlesbrough in front at home to Stoke with a terrific curling free-kick that gave Sorensen no chance. Downing missed a penalty, and Stoke punished the hosts by drawing level, Justin Hoyte accredited with an own goal under pressure at the back post. But Boro pushed for a winner, and Downing’s cross eventually fell to Tuncay in the box and the Turk finished with ease.

Bolton 0 - West Bromwich Albion 0 (Premier League, August 30, 2008) (MOTD highlights here.) The Baggies had the best of the chances as they secured their first point of the season.

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Valencia 3 - Mallorca 0 (La Liga, August 30, 2008) First-half headers from David Villa and Juan Manuel Mata put Los Che firmly in control before substitute Vicente poked home a third goal from close range seven minutes from time.

Espanyol 1 - Valladolid 0 (La Liga, August 30, 2008) Luis Garcia gave Espanyol an opening-day win.

Tenerife 3 - Gimnastic 2 (Segunda Division, August 30, 2008)

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Sampdoria 1 - Inter Milan 1 (Serie A, August 30, 2008) Jose Mourinho’s new life at Inter Milan started well, Zlatan Ibrahimovic played a lovely one-two before producing an assured finish to give the title holders the lead. But Samp hit back after the break, a cross came in from the right hand side and Delvecchio was in the right place to sweep home the loose ball.

Udinese 3 - Palermo 1 (Serie A, August 30, 2008) Udinese opened the Serie A season by taking a two-goal lead into the break at home to Palermo thanks to two goals from Antonio Di Natale - the first a fine right-footed curling effort on 9 minutes and then the second a terrific chip on 34. Bresciano pulled Palermo back into the match on 69 minutes but a minute later Gokhan Inler secured the win.

Mantova 2 - Frosinone 0 (Serie B, August 30, 2008)

Ascoli 1 - Vicenza 0 (Serie B, August 30, 2008)

Piacenza 1 - Cittadella 0 (Serie B, August 30, 2008)

Treviso 2 - Ancona 2 (Serie B, August 30, 2008)

Modena 0 - Albinoleffe 2 (Serie B, August 30, 2008)

Avellino 1 - Livorno 3 (Serie B, August 30, 2008)

Empoli 2 - Brescia 2 (Serie B, August 30, 2008)

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Bayer Leverkusen 5 - Hoffenheim 2 (Bundesliga, August 30, 2008) Hoffenheim’s fairytale start to their debut season in the Bundesliga came to an abrupt end. Karim Haggui, Manuel Friedrich and Stefan Kiessling struck in the first half before Tranquillo Barnetta and Kiessling again completed the rout late on to knock the top-flight new-boys off the top of the table. Ibisevic and Salihovic scored for the visitors.

Schalke 1 - Bochum 0 (Bundesliga, August 30, 2008) Heiko Westerman gave Schalke the win, heading home ten minutes before the break.

Borussia Monchengladbach 3 - Werder Bremen 2 (Bundesliga, August 30, 2008) Monchengladbach raced into a two-goal lead in the opening half-hour following goals from Karim Matmour and Rob Friend. Alexander Baumjohann added a third in the 71st minute to ensure Bremen’s late fightback, with goals from Claudio Pizarro and Diego, was not enough.

Energie Cottbus 0 - Borussia Dortmund 1 (Bundesliga, August 30, 2008) Neven Subotic scored the only goal from close range.

Wolfsburg 2 - Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (Bundesliga, August 30, 2008) Frankfurt had taken a 22nd-minute lead through Ioannis Amanatidis, but Grafite equalised from the penalty spot five minutes later and Wolfsburg were on course for victory after Ashkan Dejagah put them back in front six minutes into the second half. But with time running down, Toski found the net in the 83rd minute to earn a point for the visitors.

Arminia Bielefeld 2 - Hamburg 4 (Bundesliga, August 30, 2008) Hamburg came from behind to beat Armenia with Bastian Reinhardt (39, 49) drawing them level after Bielefeld had surged into the lead through goals from Christopher Katongo (9) and Artur Wichniarek (36). Ivica Olic put Hamburg in front in the 64th minute and Daniel Jarolim added a fourth in the 77th.

Mainz 4 - Osnabruck 2 (Bundesliga II, August 29, 2008)

Ingalstadt 1 - Kaiserslautern 3 (Bundesliga II, August 29, 2008)

Duisburg 2 - Augsburg 0 (Bundesliga II, August 29, 2008)

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Marseille 2 - Sochaux 1 (Ligue 1, August 30, 2008) Marseille took the lead at home to Sochaux after 39 minutes, Ziani burst down the right and fired a fierce shot in from a tight angle and the ball forced its way into the near post. Marseille increased their lead in the second half, Niang picked out Kone who volleyed the ball home. Erding broke the offside trap to bring Sochaux back in the game. But two fabulous saves from Mandanda kept OM’s lead intact, and Maseille jumped to the top of Ligue 1.

Caen 0 - PSG 1 (Ligue 1, August 30, 2008) Guillaume Hoarau netted the crucial goal after just five minutes.

Lorient 0 - Auxerre 2 (Ligue 1, August 30, 2008) Ireneusz Jelen opened the scoring after 34 minutes and Benoit Pedretti also found the target in the 73rd minute.

Nantes 1 - Le Mans 4 (Ligue 1, August 30, 2008) The home team went ahead after 19 minutes when midfielder Guirane N’Daw headed in a David De Freitas corner. But Thorstein Helstad levelled for Le Mans three minutes later and Modibo Maiga added a second with a 25-metre drive on the stroke of halftime. Mathieu Coutadeur made it 3-1 before Ivory Coast’s Gervinho completed the rout in stoppage time.

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Willem II 2 - Ajax 1 (Eredivisie, August 30, 2008) Miram Sulejmani put Ajax in front at with a great long-range effort. But second half goals from Demouge and Aerts turned the game on its head and inflicted an opening day defeat on Marco van Basten.

Utrecht 1 - PSV 5 (Eredivisie, August 30, 2008) Ibrahim Afellay put PSV in front three minutes before the break. Nordin Amrabat stole in for the second in injury-time of the first period. And there was even time for Danny Koevermans to tap into an empty net before half time. PSV added a fourth with Afellay bagging his second with a brilliant long-range strike, four minutes into the second-half to all but complete the win. Koevermans added his second of the game for the fifth before Uiterloo scored a consolation for the home side.

Vitesse Arnhem 0 - Groningen 4 (Eredivisie, August 29, 2008) Sepp De Roover gave Groningen the lead in the 10th minute and a completely one-sided second half saw Koen Van de Laak double the visitors’ lead from the spot after Frank van der Struijk was given his marching orders in the 68th minute. Marcus Berg extended their lead with another penalty five minutes later before Evgeniy Levchenko added a fourth 12 minutes from time.

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Benfica 1 - Porto 1 (Superliga, August 30, 2008) Lucho Gonzalez put Porto in front, beating goalkeeper Quim from the penalty spot after a foul by Greek midfielder Kostas Katsouranis. Benfica levelled in the 55th minute, Oscar Cardozo headed home after Porto’s keeper Helton failed to clear a cross from Hassan Yebda. However, the hosts were down to 10 men just three minutes after equalising when Katsouranis was sent off for a second yellow card.

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Lokomotiv Moscow 0 - CSKA Moscow 2 (Premier Liga, August 30, 2008) In the Moscow derby, Lokomotiv were almost immediately at a disadvantage after Gurenko was sent off after collecting two yellow cards in the opening 12 minutes. And CSKA cashed in on their numerical supremacy when Dzagoev turned home a left wing cross ten minutes later. CSKA got the crucial second after the break, Zhirkov scoring a fabulous solo goal by cutting in from the left, beating two defenders and firing into the far corner.

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Maccabi Haifa 3 - Ashdod 1 (Ligat ha’Al, August 30, 2008) Dekel Keinan scored the first goal for the hosts after 18 minutes when he knocked in Gustavo Boccoli’s weak shot from a few meters out. Elisha Levy’s team doubled its lead seven minutes before halftime when South African striker Fentini was fouled in the box and Katan scored the penalty. KAtan got the third with a super shot from 40 meters out.

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Polonia Bytom 4 - Lechia Gdansk 1 (Ekstraklasa, August 30, 2008) Komorowski netted a hat-trick with goals in the 10th, 41st and 69th minute. Jaromin hit the fourth in the 90th minute while Piatek had earlier netted a consolation.

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Fenerbahce 2 - Istanbul BB 0 (Super Lig, August 30, 2008) Kazim-Richards put the home side in the lead after 51 minutes and Senturk doubled the lead ten minutes later. Both goals were scored against a nine-man Istanbul BB, Depe received a direct red card after 30 minutes and Gulpinar followed his teammate with a second booking just after the break.

Ankaragucu 1 - Trabzonspor 2 (Super Lig, August 29, 2008)

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Olympiakos 3 - Asteras Tripoli 1 (Super League, August 30, 2008) Olympiakos went behind before halftime when Danijel Cesarec converted a penalty. Galletti levelled with a long-range shot that flew past the goalkeeper in the 61st minute before netting his own penalty two minutes later. Olympiakos had several more chances and Darko Kovacevic wrapped up the points when he got on the end of a long pass to slide the ball into the net.

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Aarau 0 - Basel 2 (Swiss Super League, August 30, 2008)

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Cobh Ramblers 4 - Galway United 1 (Eircom Premier, August 30, 2008)

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Tubize 1 - Club Brugge 4 (Jupiler League, August 29, 2008)

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Tavriya 1 - Chornomorets 3 (Vyscha Liga, August 30, 2008)

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San Jose Earthquakes 2 - KC Wizards 1 (MLS, August 30, 2008) Arturo Alvarez scored his fifth goal of the season to put the Quakes 1-up. Davy Arnaud tied the game 1-1 with a goal in the 64th minute for Kansas City. But Darren Huckerby scored in the 84th minute winner to lift San Jose out from last place in the Western Conference for the first time all season.

Chivas USA 2 - Toronto FC 1 (MLS, August 30, 2008) Jim Brennan had given Toronto the lead, but Alecko Eskandarian evened the score one minute later while Atiba Harris scored deep in extra time to seal the win.

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Adelaide United 3 - Wellington Phoenix 0 (A-League, August 30, 2008) United took the lead in the 15th minute thanks to a powerful Lucas Pantelis strike but it was Cristiano’s two goals after the break that stole the show for Adelaide.

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Godoy Cruz 1 - Velez Sarsfield 3 (Argentinean Apertura, August 30, 2008)

Argentinos Juniors 0 - Racing Club 1 (Argentinean Apertura, August 30, 2008)

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U.A.G. (Tecos) 2 - Toluca 2 (Mexican Apertura, August 30, 2008)

Indios 2 - Pachuca 1 (Mexican Apertura, August 30, 2008)

Monterrey 2 - Santos 0 (Mexican Apertura, August 30, 2008)

Cruz Azul 2 - Necaxa 1 (Mexican Apertura, August 30, 2008)

Atlante 1 - San Luis 0 (Mexican Apertura, August 30, 2008)

Guadalajara (Chivas) 1 - Morelia 1 (Mexican Apertura, August 30, 2008)