By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
ANKARA (AA) – At the start of the work week, claiming the top of their national standings are Arsenal in England’s Premier League, Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga, Napoli in Italy’s Serie A, Union Berlin in the German Bundesliga, and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in France’s Ligue 1.
- English Premier League
Arsenal defeated Tottenham 3-1 in a London derby in week 8 of the English Premier League. Harry Kane netted his team's only goal, making the record books as the first player to score 100 away goals in Premier League history.
The Gunners, at the top of the league, increased their points to 21 with the win, while Tottenham, suffering their first defeat this season, are in third with 17 points.
The reigning champion, Manchester City, which dominated the Manchester derby from start to finish, defeated Manchester United 6-3. City defeated their opponent with two hat-trick heroes: Phil Foden who scored in the 8th, 44th, and 72nd minutes, and Erling Haaland, who netted in the 34th, 37th, and 64th minutes.
In the match, the Citizens' Norwegian superstar Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in 3 consecutive home games.
The match ended with 9 goals, making it the Manchester derby with the most goals scored ever.
Afterwards, Manchester City placed second with 20 points while Manchester United took sixth place with 12.
Chelsea won 2-1 against Crystal Palace while Liverpool drew 3-3 with Brighton at home. Losing points for the 5th time this season, Liverpool now has 10 points under its belt.
- Spanish La Liga
In week 7 of the Spanish La Liga, Barcelona defeated Mallorca 1-0 in an away match.
Barcelona's winning goal came from Polish striker Robert Lewandowski in the 20th minute. Lewandowski, 34, who scored a total of 9 goals in the last 7 matches in La Liga, maintained his top position in the top scorer chart as well.
Defending champion Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Osasuna in the match played on home ground. Los Merengues lost their lead, seeing their first loss of points in the league.
At the end of week 7 of La Liga, Barcelona, one of the teams with 19 points, took the lead with a goal difference, while Real Madrid fell to the number two spot.
- Italian Serie A
In week 8 of the Italian Serie A, Roma made a comeback by defeating Inter 2-1 away.
Roma increased their points count to 16 to place fourth in the league standings with a match surplus. Inter are in the number nine spot with 12 points, 8 points behind the leaders Napoli. After a poor start to the season, Inter suffered their second consecutive defeat in Serie A.
By contrast, after enjoying a good start to the 2022-23 season, Napoli defeated Torino 3-1 at home, propelling it to the top spot on the Serie A table. Napoli, still undefeated in Serie A this season so far, extended its winning streak to four games.
Juventus beat Bologna 3-0 and with the win, the black and white team gained 13 points and rose to 7th place.
Atalanta, after starting the league well this season, beat Fiorentina with a single goal. With the win, the blue and black team has now 20 points and equalized with the leaders Napoli on the same score.
Fiorentina, which is set to face Türkiye’s Medipol Basaksehir in the UEFA European Conference League Group A, suffered its third defeat in its last five games in Serie A. Fiorentina took the number 11 spot with 9 points.
In week 8 of Serie A, Napoli is the standings leader with a goal difference from the teams with 20 points, followed by Atalanta in the second spot, and then Lazio and Milan with 17 points.
- German Bundesliga
In week 8 of the German Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund lost 3-2 to Cologne in an away game. Borussia Dortmund remained with 15 points, while Cologne increased its points to 13.
Bundesliga leaders Union Berlin lost 0-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt in an away game. Union Berlin, after their first Bundesliga loss this season, has 17 points. Eintracht Frankfurt, on the other hand, increased its points count to 14.
Defending champion Bayern Munich defeated Bayer Leverkusen 4-0.
Leipzig defeated Bochum 4-0 on home ground, while Freiburg defeated Mainz 2-1.
In the league, now wrapped up after eight weeks, leader Union Berlin with 17 points and a goal difference is followed by Freiburg with the same points, while defending champions Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have 15 points each.
- French Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defeated Nice 2-1 in week 9 of the French Ligue 1.
Olympique Marseille defeated Angers 3-0.
Undefeated PSG has increased its points count to 25, two points ahead of its nearest rival, Olympique Marseille.