Rennes Tops Ligue 1, Schalke Shines in Bundesliga: A Wild Night in Europe
Rennes hit top, Schalke roll, Mastantuono explodes: a wild night across Europe
Schalke surge as referee limps off
Two games into the Bundesliga season, Schalke and Union Berlin were already feeling the pressure. One point each, questions everywhere. By full time in Gelsenkirchen, only one side looked like it belonged.
Schalke’s 3-1 win crackled with energy, incident – and even a refereeing twist.
Loris Karius, named player of the match, turned back the clock with a commanding display in goal. He watched Robin Gosens set the tone early, the wing-back smashing in an angled volley to give the newly promoted side the lead. It was a ruthless finish and it jolted the stadium into life.
Right after the break, Schalke struck again. Adil Aouchiche picked his spot and buried a superb effort to make it 2-0, a goal that underlined just how fragile Union already looked.
From there, Karius took over. Union pushed, probed, and kept running into a goalkeeper in full control. He repelled chance after chance in the second half, holding Berlin at bay until deep into stoppage time, when Tim Skarke finally beat him in the sixth added minute.
Any hint of late drama vanished almost instantly. With virtually the last kick, Maximilian Wober restored the two-goal cushion, sealing the 3-1 victory and sending Schalke home with their first win of the campaign.
The match also delivered an unusual subplot. Referee Timo Gerach pulled up early in the second half, complaining of a sore calf. He had to come off, and fourth official Jarno Wienefeld stepped in. An experienced Bundesliga 2 referee, Wienefeld suddenly found himself overseeing his first top-flight match – on a night when Schalke refused to be stopped.
Mastantuono’s hat trick hauls Fiorentina off the floor
Fiorentina and Venezia entered the weekend in the same sinking boat: three Serie A games, three defeats, zero points. Someone had to blink.
It was Venezia who landed the first punch. In the 22nd minute, Akor Adams finished neatly with his right foot, capping tidy buildup play led by American midfielder Gianluca Busio. The home crowd sensed a turning point in their season.
They were wrong.
Franco Mastantuono tore the game away in the space of two breathless minutes. First in the 29th, then again in the 30th, he broke forward and struck twice to flip the scoreline and send Fiorentina into halftime 2-1 up. The momentum, and the mood, swung entirely.
Midway through the second half, Mateo Pellegrino made sure it wasn’t wasted. His goal – his second in as many games – stretched the lead to 3-1 and pushed Venezia to the brink.
Mastantuono wasn’t done. Six minutes from time he completed his hat trick, a statement performance that dragged Fiorentina clear of the bottom and into 15th place.
Antoine Hainaut grabbed a late second for Venezia, but it barely softened the blow. Four games, four defeats, and still rooted to the bottom of the 20-team table. Fiorentina, finally, have a foothold.
Sevilla edge toothless Valencia
It was ugly, tense, and short on chances – but Sevilla will not care.
Their 1-0 win over struggling Valencia carried them into joint second in La Liga, decided by one of the few moments of quality in the entire match.
With nine minutes left, Giorgi Kochorashvili swung in a deep cross from the left. Juan Antonio Iglesias rose to meet it and his header looped over the goalkeeper and in. One delivery, one header, one decisive blow.
Valencia offered nothing in response. Not a single shot on target, not a hint of a late surge. Five games in, they sit bottom of the table with just one point from a possible 15, a club of their stature locked in early-season crisis.
Sevilla, by contrast, keep climbing, even on nights when the spectacle never really arrives.
Ruthless Rennes punish Marseille’s slump
Rennes are flying. Marseille are sinking.
A tight 1-0 win was enough to send Rennes to the top of Ligue 1, their third straight victory and another sign of a side building serious momentum.
The breakthrough came six minutes into the second half. Adrien Thomasson, a recent signing from Lens, struck his first goal for the club, and that was all Rennes needed. They managed the game, controlled the key moments and protected their lead with the assurance of a team that expects to be near the summit.
For Marseille, the picture is far darker. This is their worst start to a league campaign in more than two decades. Three consecutive defeats have left them 11th with just three points, their early-season optimism already evaporating.
Rennes, one point clear of Monaco, now set the pace in France. Marseille are left staring at the table, and at themselves.
West Ham hit six and take control
In England, West Ham turned a big night into a statement.
A 6-0 demolition of Wrexham fired them to the top of the Championship table, and it wasn’t the work of a single star. Six different players found the net, a spread of goals that underlined the depth and confidence running through the squad.
The margin of victory lifted West Ham a point above West Bromwich Albion and sent a clear message to the rest of the division: this is a team already playing with promotion swagger.
On a night when referees limped off, hat tricks rewrote scripts, and giants stumbled, West Ham’s ruthless efficiency might have been the clearest sign of where this season is heading.
