Euro: Atleti in shock loss, Inter unbeaten, Maldini scores

Atletico Madrid’s La Liga title defence was dealt a blow as they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Alaves.

Centre-back Victor Laguardia’s fourth-minute header from a Ruben Duarte corner was enough for the hosts to secure their first win of the season as they moved off the foot of the table.

Atleti huffed and puffed as they attempted to find a way back into the match after such an early blow, but were kept out by admirable defending from the hosts.

Marcos Llorente, Luis Suarez and substitute Angel Correa all went close for the visitors and Laguardia headed Kieran Tripper’s shot off the line.

Tomas Pina missed a glorious chance to double Alaves’s lead nine minutes from time, but fired over when unmarked on the penalty spot – but his side hung on to claim a first victory over Atleti since 2003.

The result left Diego Simeone’s side second on 14 points, two behind leaders Real Madrid, who are in action later on Saturday when they host Villarreal.

Valencia rallied late with 10 men to draw 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao, ending a two-game losing streak.

Bilbao took the lead with a goal from Inigo Martinez in the 69th minute but Marcos Andre equalised five minutes into stoppage time at Mestalla Stadium. The hosts had lost Maxi Gomez with a red card in the 82nd minute.

Serie A – Inter remain unbeaten, Maldini scores on first start

Lautaro Martinez helped Inter Milan to victory
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Lautaro Martinez helped Inter Milan to victory

Inter Milan maintained their unbeaten record in Serie A with an entertaining 2-2 draw against Atalanta on Saturday that featured late drama, as the champions missed a penalty and the visitors had a match-winning goal ruled out.

A sublime Lautaro Martinez volley put Inter in front after five minutes, but Atalanta turned the game on its head before the break with goals from Ruslan Malinovskyi and Rafael Toloi.

Edin Dzeko pulled the hosts level after 71 minutes, before Federico Dimarco’s penalty came off the bar with four minutes remaining and Roberto Piccoli’s last-minute strike was disallowed because the ball went out of play in the build-up.

Daniel Maldini scored for AC Milan on his first start
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Daniel Maldini scored for AC Milan on his first start

The result leaves Inter in third place on 14 points, three ahead of Atalanta in fifth but two behind league leaders AC Milan, who beat Spezia 2-1 earlier on Saturday.

Daniel Maldini scored for Milan on his first league start for the club. The 19-year-old followed in the footsteps of his father Paolo and grandfather Cesare, two Milan greats, by scoring in Italy’s top flight with a 48th-minute header, which sent the Rossoneri top of the table.

Daniele Verdes’ heavily deflected strike drew the home side level at the Stadio Alberto Picco, but a late goal from substitute Brahim Diaz scored the winner for Milan four minutes after coming on.

Bundesliga – Gladbach beat Dortmund

Denis Zakaria celebrates after scoring for Borussia Monchengladbach
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Denis Zakaria celebrates after scoring for Borussia Monchengladbach

Hosts Borussia Monchengladbach stunned 10-man Borussia Dortmund 1-0 with a goal from Denis Zakaria.

Dortmund, playing without injured captain Marco Reus and top striker Erling Haaland, suffered their second loss of the season, dropping to fourth place on 12 points, four off leaders Bayern Munich as Gladbach notched their second victory in six games.

Zakaria struck in the 37th minute after charging in the box, getting a lucky deflection to keep possession and then slotting in for the lead.

Things got worse for Dortmund, who host Sporting in the Champions League next week, three minutes later when Mo Dahoud got his marching orders following a second booking, putting his team firmly on the backfoot.

The hosts had a string of good chances in the second half on a frustrating return to Gladbach for Dortmund coach Marco Rose, who had coached the Foals for two years, but left this season to join the Ruhr valley club.

Rose’s team did not manage a single effort on goal over 90 minutes, dropping to fourth, one off third-placed VfL Wolfsburg, who lost 3-1 at Hoffenheim, and Bayer Leverkusen. Gladbach move up to 11th on seven points.

RB Leipzig thrashed Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga
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RB Leipzig thrashed Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga

RB Leipzig thrashed Hertha Berlin 6-0 to finally ease the pressure that had been building on manager Jesse Marsch.

Christopher Nkunku chipped the ball over the Hertha goalkeeper in the 16th minute, then set up Yussuf Poulsen for Leipzig’s second. Lukas Klostermann had a goal ruled out as Leipzig racked up nine efforts to the visitors one in the first half, before Nordi Mukiele made it 3-0 in injury time.

There was no let-up for Hertha as Emil Forsberg converted a penalty on the hour mark, and Nkunku, who had been fouled for the penalty, scored from a free kick in the 70th minute. Amadou Haidara completed the rout seven minutes later.

Florian Wirtz’s second-half strike was enough for Bayer Leverkusen to beat Mainz 1-0.

Cologne drew at Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1, Hoffenheim came from behind to defeat Wolfsburg 3-1 and Kevin Behrens scored in the 88th to give Union Berlin a late 1-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld.

Ligue 1 – Nice see off St Etienne

Nice bounced back from their first defeat of the season with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at St Etienne that lifted them up to third in the Ligue 1 standings.

Amine Gouiri, Calvin Stengs and Andy Delort scored to put the side, who slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Lorient on Wednesday, on 13 points from seven games.

Nice, who had conceded goals in two consecutive games after starting the season with four clean sheets, were rock solid in defence and the talent of their attacking players made the difference at Geoffroy Guichard.

Gouiri found the back of the net after 15 minutes with a 30-metre strike that took a deflection off Mahdi Camara.

Stengs doubled the advantage nine minutes into the second half after being played through nicely by Kephren Thuram before Delort wrapped it up seven minutes from time from close range.