European soccer round up: Chelsea win again
European soccer round up: Chelsea win again
Chelsea made it three wins out of three with a 2-0 victory over Stoke City.

London: English champions Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the season but Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid were held 0-0 at Real Mallorca and German champions Bayern suffered a shock defeat to Kaiserslautern.

Chelsea made it three wins out of three with a 2-0 victory over Stoke City thanks to goals from Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba (penalty) after Frank Lampard had missed from the spot earlier.

Arsenal, 2-1 winners at Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United, who beat West Ham United 3-0 at Old Trafford, are in second and third places, but Tottenham Hotspur, who complete England's quartet of Champions League teams, slumped to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic who they beat 9-1 at White Hart Lane last season.

Real Mallorca spoiled Jose Mourinho's debut at the helm of Real Madrid holding them to a 0-0 draw but it was back to business as usual for champions Barcelona as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at Racing Santander.

Mourinho's team dominated and created the clearer openings in Mallorca but ran into an inspired Dudu Aouate in goal, and Michael Laudrup's side could have stolen a surprise winner.

Barca showed they could cope without Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and new signing David Villa fired them past Racing, though they needed Victor Valdes to save a penalty at 2-0.

Bayern Munich slumped to a shock 2-0 defeat at promoted Kaiserslautern, where Croatians Ivo Ilicevic and Srdan Lakic scored in a 60-second spell in the first half. Schalke 04, runners-up last season, are pointless after two games after losing 2-1 at home to Hanover 96 while Michael Ballack's Bayer Leverkusen were thumped 6-3 at home by local rivals Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Former England manager Steve McLaren's VfL Wolfsburg squandered a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 at home to Mainz 05.

As if to prove how insanely illogical soccer can be, Bologna sacked coach Franco Colomba on Sunday -- one day before their season-opening Serie A match against champions Inter Milan.

New club president Sergio Porcedda said Colomba "was too sceptical" about the team's chances. Juventus started their season in disappointing fashion with a 1-0 defeat at Bari on Sunday where Massimo Donati scored the only goal but AC Milan glowed in a 4-0 win over Lecce witnessed by new recruit Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Toulouse extended their perfect start to the season with a fourth win in as many games, 2-0 at Nancy on Saturday. The only team with maximum points, Toulouse are four points clear at the top of the table. Stade Rennes moved up to second thanks to a 1-0 win at promoted Arles-Avignon, who have yet to win this season.

New signing Yoann Gourcuff made an unhappy debut as sluggish Olympique Lyon slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Lorient, whose coach is his father Christian. Lyon are on four points, the same as Girondins Bordeaux and champions Olympique Marseille who drew 1-1.

Uruguayan Luis Suarez hit a hat-trick to inspire Ajax Amsterdam to a 5-0 rampage over Graafschap Doetinchem and bring them level with PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table with 10 points from four games and matching goal tallies of 14-4.

PSV dropped two points as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Den Haag while champions Twente Enschede and Feyenoord registered 4-0 home wins over Utrecht and Vitesse Arnhem respectively to stay in touch with the leaders on eight and seven points.

After two successive defeats, champions Benfica beat Vitoria Setubal 3-0 at home thanks to goals by Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo, Brazil defender Luisao and Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar.

Leaders Porto kept their 100 percent record with a 2-0 away win over Rio Ave. Brazilian Forward Hulk scored both goals, the first with a low diagonal shot in the 22nd minute and the second on 66 minutes with a tap-in from a Silvestre Varela cross.

Celtic took their tally to nine points from three games with a 1-0 win at Motherwell thanks to Daryl Murphy's penalty. Champions Rangers also have nine points after coming from behind to beat St Johnstone 2-1 with goals from Kenny Miller, who has scored in all three league matches so far, and Sasa Papac.

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