Schalke, Fiorentina, and Rennes Shine in Dramatic European Night
Referee forced off as Schalke overpower Union Berlin
Schalke arrived with just a single point from their opening two Bundesliga games. So did Union Berlin. Only one of them looked like a promoted side scrapping for air.
Schalke tore into Union and never really let go, powered by a standout display from Loris Karius in goal and a ruthless edge in front of it.
Robin Gosens set the tone, crashing in the opener with a sharp angled volley that stunned the home crowd. Moments after the restart, Aouchiche doubled the lead, finishing a sweeping move with a composed, clinical strike that gave Schalke clear daylight.
From there, it became the Karius show. Union pushed, crossed, probed. Karius kept swatting them away, his positioning and handling keeping Berlin at arm’s length for almost the entire second half.
Tim Skarke finally beat him in the sixth minute of added time, a late lifeline that briefly stirred the stadium. It didn’t last. With almost the final kick, Maximilian Wober stepped up and buried Schalke’s third, restoring the two-goal cushion and sealing a statement 3-1 win.
The game carried an extra twist. Early in the second half, referee Timo Gerach signaled he could not continue, complaining of a sore calf. Fourth official Jarno Wienefeld, a seasoned Bundesliga 2 referee, stepped in and handled his first top-flight match on the fly. Schalke handled the chaos better than Union and walked away deserved winners.
Mastantuono hat trick hauls Fiorentina off the floor
Fiorentina and Venezia had both opened their Serie A campaigns with three straight defeats. Something had to give.
It was Venezia who struck first. In the 22nd minute, Akor Adams finished calmly with his right foot after smart buildup play from American midfielder Gianluca Busio, and the home side suddenly had a platform.
Fiorentina ripped it away in two devastating minutes.
Franco Mastantuono burst forward in the 29th and then again in the 30th, turning the game on its head with a rapid-fire brace that flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 halftime lead. Two runs, two finishes, and a team that had been sinking suddenly looked alive.
The pressure didn’t ease after the break. Midway through the second half, Mateo Pellegrino struck Fiorentina’s third, his second goal in as many games, stretching the advantage and draining belief from the home crowd.
Mastantuono wasn’t done. Six minutes from time he completed his hat trick, capping a dominant personal display and killing off any lingering doubt.
Antoine Hainaut’s late goal for Venezia trimmed the scoreline but not the damage. Venezia stayed bottom of the 20-team table, still without a point. Fiorentina climbed to 15th and finally had a performance to build on.
Sevilla edge flat Valencia to climb in La Liga
It took time. It wasn’t pretty. But Sevilla kept their early-season momentum rolling and moved into joint second in La Liga with a late 1-0 win over a lifeless Valencia.
Chances were scarce, the tempo low, the anxiety high. With nine minutes left, the breakthrough finally arrived. Giorgi Kochorashvili swung in a deep cross from the left, and Juan Antonio Iglesias met it, his header looping over the stranded keeper and dropping into the net.
Valencia offered nothing in response. Not a single shot on target all game, no late surge, no real sign of a comeback. The defeat left them rooted to the bottom, with just one point from a possible 15 and serious questions hanging over their direction.
Rennes outlast Marseille to go top in France
Rennes made their move in Ligue 1, grinding out a 1-0 win over Marseille to climb to the top of the table.
The decisive moment arrived six minutes into the second half. Adrien Thomasson, a recent signing from Lens, struck his first goal for the club, a composed finish that underlined why Rennes brought him in. It proved enough to secure a third straight victory for the Breton side.
For Marseille, the night only deepened the gloom. This is their worst start to a league campaign in more than two decades. Three defeats on the bounce have left them marooned in 11th with just three points and an increasingly restless fanbase. Rennes, by contrast, now sit a point clear of Monaco and carry the look of a team that believes this early surge can last.
West Ham hit six and climb to the Championship summit
In England, West Ham turned a promotion race marker into a demolition job.
They crushed Wrexham 6-0, a ruthless display capped by the fact that six different West Ham players found the net. No single star, just wave after wave of claret-and-blue pressure.
The result lifted West Ham to the top of the Championship table, a point ahead of West Bromwich Albion and already throwing down a challenge: who’s ready to keep pace with that kind of firepower?
