United hit Arsenal for eight, Ronaldo fires Real

Manchester United crushed 10-man Arsenal 8-2 as a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick helped Real Madrid get their Primera Liga campaign off to a perfect start with a 6-0 win over Real Zaragoza in European football at the weekend.

ENGLAND

- Manchester United swept to a magnificent 8-2 victory over 10-man Arsenal as the champions produced the perfect response after Manchester City had underlined their title credentials with a 5-1 rout of Tottenham on Sunday.

City had thrown down the gauntlet to United as Edin Dzeko scored four times to destroy Tottenham at White Hart Lane, but Sir Alex Ferguson's team emphasised their determination to hold onto the Premier League crown with a Wayne Rooney hat-trick reducing beleaguered Arsenal to rubble in a sublime display at Old Trafford.

Ferguson once again fielded a youthful line-up and his gifted prodigies rose to the occasion in impressive style to record their third successive win of the season and move ahead of second placed City on goal difference at the top of the table.

Rooney found the net after 41, 64, and 82 minutes, his third from a penalty, as Danny Welbeck (22), Ashley Young (28, 90), Nani (67) and South Korea's Park Ji-Sung (70) continued the rout.

The Gunners got two back from Theo Walcott (45) and Robin Van Persie (74) but were hit by the sending off of defender Carl Jenkinson for two bookings in the second half.

Liverpool are third, above Chelsea, Wolves and Newcastle on goal difference, after a 3-1 win against Bolton at Anfield.

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea left it late to clinch a 3-1 victory over 10-man Norwich in a tie that was marred by a serious injury suffered by Didier Drogba.

SPAIN

- A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick helped Real Madrid get their Primera Liga campaign off to a perfect start with a commanding 6-0 victory over Real Zaragoza as they look to claw the league title back from Barcelona.

The season was supposed to start a week ago but a strike, after players downed tools over wages, meant it was delayed for the first time in 27 years.

Real coach Jose Mourinho warned that the opening weekend of fixtures often spring surprises but the game went according to plan for the Portuguese and it will serve as a statement of intent for Barca who are in action Monday away to Villarreal.

Ronaldo was the joint highest goal scorer in Spain last season with Lionel Messi on 53 goals and mid-way through the first half he opened up his league account for this campaign after converting a Mesut Ozil pass.

Marcelo quickly added a second as Real peppered the Zaragoza goal. The home side were never in the contest and in the second half Real's domination was reflected in the scoring with Xabi Alonso (63) and Kaka (81) finding the back of the net along with two more goals from Ronaldo after 70 and 86 minutes.

Real are top of the table ahead of Valencia, who came back to beat Racing Santander 4-3 after appearing to be heading for defeat at home, thanks to a late double strike from Roberto Soldado.

A double strike from Imanol Agirretxe also gave ten-man Real Sociedad a 2-1 victory at home over Sporting Gijon which puts them provisionally third.

GERMANY

- A hat-trick from Germany striker Mario Gomez gave Bayern a 3-0 victory at Kaiserslautern that puts them top of the Bundesliga for the first time this season.

Spanish veteran Raul fired Schalke 04 to second, just behind Bayern on goal difference, in a hard-fought 1-0 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Just days after securing their ticket to the Europa League group phase with a 6-1 win over Helsinki, the side from Gelsenkirchen handed Gladbach their first defeat of the season, dropping the western outfit from first to fifth.

Schalke have nine points from four games, equal with both Bayern and Werder Bremen, who came from behind to win 2-1 at Hoffenheim thanks to goals from Marko Arnautovic and Markus Rosenberg.

Defending champions Borussia Dortmund and last season's runners-up Bayer Leverkusen played out a 0-0 draw, leaving both teams on seven points.

FRANCE

- Lyon brought high-flying Montpellier down to earth with a 2-1 win at their Gerland Stadium but their victory was marred by captain Lisandro Lopez being stretchered off with an ankle injury.

Goals from Bosnian forward Miralem Pjanic (49) and Jeremy Pied (83) ensured that Lyon move to withing a point of Ligue 1 leaders Montpellier who had been unbeaten in their opening three league games.

Paris Saint Germain are third after record signing Javier Pastore laid on two goals as the big-spending Paris club came from behind to record a timely 3-1 victory at Toulouse as champions Lille won 3-2 at home against Marseille.

Lille's Senegalese striker Moussa Sow, the top Ligue 1 scorer last season with 25 goals, finally got his name on the scoresheet with his first two goals of this campaign as the champions claimed their first win at home.

Sow opened after 15 minutes and added the second when he converted a penalty on 75 minutes with Aurelien Chedjou getting Lille's third.

A Mathieu Valbuena double (57, 62) failed to lift last sesaon's runners-up Marseille who are still looking for their first win, as they sit 16th with just three points.

HOLLAND

- FC Twente maintained the 100 percent winning start in the Dutch with a 4-1 home win over VVV Venklo, striker Luuk de Jong scoring twice on his 21st birthday.

After four rounds, Twente are now two points clear of defending champions Ajax whose Icelandic striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson netted twice in a 4-1 win over Vitesse Arnhem.

Dreis Mertens hit a hat-trick as PSV Eindhoven romped to a 6-1 thrashing of Excelsior. PSV are three points behind Twente in third.

SCOTLAND

- Rangers collected their first home win under coach Ally McCoist as Steven Davis and Steven Naismith scored in a 2-0 win over Aberdeen which takes the Gers to 13 points and keeps them top of the SPL on goal difference ahead of Motherwell who beat Dunfermline 4-2 on the road and who have played a game more.

Celtic, who are one point behind the leaders in third place, notched up their first win in four games when two goals from Gary Hooper proved enough for a 2-0 win at St Mirren.

Dundee United scored twice in the last 10 minutes as they came back from 3-1 down to claim a draw at St Johnstone.