Barcelona took the game by storm, going in front as early as the third minute. Andres Iniesta released Lionel Messi on the right-hand side of the penalty area and Messi made no mistake with his lobbed finish to open his goalscoring account in this season’s Primera Division.

Barcelona had another chance on the half hour mark, but Messi was dispossessed by Francis Perez just as he was about to pull the trigger from near the penalty spot. Moments later, Andres Iniesta made it two with another spectacular effort – this time a marvellous dipping volley from outside the penalty box, following a poor clearance from Tono.

The only real chance for Racing in the first half came in the 35th minute when Francis Perez earned Racing a penalty with a theatrical dive on the left-hand side of the penalty box, following a tussle with Maxwell. Justice was served, however, as Victor Valdes pulled a magnificent save to deny Mohammed Tchite from the spot.

As the game approached half-time Los Cules pressed for a third, but could find another goal before the break. David Villa had one controversially ruled out for offside deep in injury time in what proved to be the final moment of interest for the first half.

The second half saw the tempo drop rapidly as Barcelona were content to play cat and mouse with Racing, passing the ball around comfortably in their trademark style. It did not take long for the visitors to put the ball in Racing’s net again as Dani Alves delivered an uncharacteristically precise cross for the unmarked David Villa, who powered a header past the helpless Tono.

Barcelona were in complete control for the rest of the game as this encounter was starting to look like a training session for the reigning champions. Racing had a chance to score a consolation goal with a quarter to the final whistle, but Valdes easily claimed a meek effort from substitute Adrian Gonzales from the left-hand side of the penalty box. There were no more goals for either side and the match ended with Barcelona winning three to nil.

Inter tried to assert their dominance but it was Bologna who created the early chances, with Henry Gimenez scooping over the bar after a mix up between Lucio and Julio Cesar. Gyorgy Garics then had a go, but his snap shot fizzed just wide.

Inter’s passing was uncharacteristically sloppy and they were second to most balls, as such Bologna grew in confidence as they attacked through Gimenez and Garics, while captain Marco Di Vaio was having an interesting duel with Walter Samuel, eventually drawing blood from the defender.

Despite their territorial advantage Inter were unable to create any clear openings on goal and were restricted to a couple of longs rangers from Wesley Sneijder and MacDonald Mariga, even during periods of prolonged possession the Nerazzurri were passing in front of the Rossoblu defence.

The home team continued to threaten especially down the right with Garics really giving Cristian Chivu a tough time. Gaby Mudingayi also broke from midfield releasing Di Vaio on the right and his cross found Gimenez unmarked but he was unable to keep his shot down and it sailed high over the crossbar.

Just before half-time Sneijder went close with a free kick but it ended up inches over.

More of the same ensued after the break but Inter slowly turned the screw, exerting more and more pressure on the Bologna penalty area, but still found that final pass lacking.

Bologna did not give Inter an inch of space, even when the Nerazzurri did find room it wasn’t long before they were in a sea of Rossoblu once more.

The best chance came from a Sneijder free-kick but Emiliano Viviano was equal to the task and parried away at full stretch. By this point it was wave after wave of Inter attack as Samuel Eto’o hit the crossbar not long after.

The match ended in a goalless draw, much to the dismay of the fans and players alike.

Atletico needed just 11 minutes to open the scoring.

Jurado, who is being linked with a big-money move to Schalke, was the goalscorer as he drilled a shot into the far corner of the net.

That was just the start Atletico would have been hoping for, but they were fortunate still to be holding that advantage half an hour later as Sporting cut open the home defence on several occasions.

Miguel de las Cuevas, David Barral and Carmelo all had more than one effort each, but a mixture of good goalkeeping from David De Gea and poor finishing let Atletico off the hook.

After another good save by De Gea in the 37th minute, Atletico immediately broke down the other end for Forlan to make it 2-0.

It was Sergio Aguero who did all the work with a mazy dribble into the area that looked set to net him a wonder goal.

The Argentinian was finally tackled but, agonisingly for Sporting, the ball fell perfectly for Uruguayan World Cup star Forlan to slot into an empty net from five yards out.

Atletico never looked back after that and might even have increased their lead further before the break with Jurado and Forlan going close.

Sporting briefly threatened at the start of the second half with Carmelo being denied by De Gea’s feet, but Forlan made sure of the points in the 63rd minute when he tapped home Tomas Ujfalusi’s cross.

Atletico had further opportunities to increase their lead before finally managing to add a fourth right at the end through Simao.

Simao’s superb 20-yard effort flew into the far top corner to put the icing on the cake for the delighted Atletico players and their fans.

Everton played like the home team, taking the game to Villa and doing everything but score. The statistics said it all: Everton controlled 68% of possession and had 18 corners to Villa’s four. It was as much as Villa could do to get out of their half at times and, in the closing stages, they were hanging on for dear life. Deep into injury time, Brad Friedel denied Louis Saha with two fine saves.

Plenty of Everton chances had also come and gone before the frantic finale. Steven Pienaar struck the crossbar in the 18th minute with a brilliant curling shot while Saha, whose arrival for the ineffective Jermaine Beckford gave Everton some much-needed thrust up front, drew a smart reflex save from Friedel on the hour. Three minutes later Jack Rodwell found space in the Villa penalty area but his glancing header from Mikel Arteta’s free-kick flashed inches wide.

All of which was of little consolation to Moyes, who has presided over Everton’s worst start to a league season in 11 years.

Manchester City soon picked up where they’d left off against Liverpool and but for an astonishing miss on 15 minutes, would have deservedly gone ahead. A Sunderland free-kick was charged down and Yaya Toure won the loose ball and powered forward.

Yaya skipped past two challenges and with just one defender and team-mates James Milner and skipper Tevez to choose from, he slid the ball to Tevez who somehow managed to blaze over from eight yards with an open goal at his mercy.

Yaya was proving too much for the hosts to handle and he was at the centre of most of the Blues’ first half attacks, linking particularly well with Tevez. With Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure comfortably repeling anything Sunderland could muster and such was their dominance, the home side’s first shot on goal wasn’t until the 34th minute.

Yaya had the last chance of an entertaining first period, seeing his shot at the far post smothered after Milner’s cross had been flicked on by Kompany.

The frantic pace of the game showed no signs of a let up after the break, though Steve Bruce had clearly demanded his troops up the pace – and up it they did. Joe Hart saw more action in the first 15 minutes after half-time than he had in the previous 45 as the Black Cats began to look menacing.

With City increasingly under the cosh and the home fans turning the volume up to maximum, Mancini decided to bring Emmanuel Adebayor on at the expense of Joleon Lescott – and within four minutes the change almost paid off as Micah Richards header was volleyed goalwards by the Togolese striker, producing a fantastic point-blank save from keeper Simon Mignolet.

With both teams seeming happy with a point, referee Mike Dean pointed to the spot four minutes into injury time after spotting a push in the box. Bent tucked away the penalty to earn Sunderland a rare win over Manchester City.

Liverpool applied early pressure as Glen Johnson was allowed far too much space on the right wing and the full-back was able to create opportunities to cross the ball. Unfortunately for Liverpool, the combination of an isolated Torres and an organised West Brom defence resulted in few clear-cut chances.

West Brom did manage to create chances as the new pairing of Marc-Antoine Fortune and Peter Odemwingie looked promising, as did Chris Brunt on the wing, but Liverpool’s back-line had also learned from a previous defeat to a title-challenging side on Monday, and cheap goals against relegation candidates are not associated with a Hodgson team.

Both sides were restricted in shooting opportunities. Milan Jovanovic and Dirk Kuyt had goal-bound efforts blocked superbly by the resolute visitors and Liverpool lacked the creativity needed to create a clearer opening.

The second half started with Liverpool hoping to provide greater cutting edge after a flat first half performance, but it was West Brom who created the first chance after the interval. James Morrison was allowed a free reign from 25 yards to hit in space but could only drag his shot wide.

On 51 minutes Graham Dorrans attempted an ambitious effort from 30 yards after an incisive passing move from Di Matteo’s side but skewed his shot well wide when he had many other better options available to him.

Liverpool’s best effort of the match came after an hour. A corner was flicked on from Poulsen and helped create confusion in the West Brom box. The ball eventually dropped to Skrtel, whose half-volley was cleanly and powerfully struck, but flew just over the West Brom goal. Whilst the deadlock was not broken, the chance did help to rouse an Anfield crowd that had been up to that point quiet.

Liverpool’s breakthrough eventually came after 65 minutes after a series of end to end attacks saw West Brom go close at the other end through Gonzalo Jara. But Reina’s quick clearance found Torres, whose pass put Kuyt through before the Dutchman laid it back to the Spaniard. The talisman Torres met Kuyt’s return with a beautifully struck half-volley which left Scott Carson with no chance.

Despite being behind West Brom didn’t resort to direct football as the match wore on and worked the ball to Odemwingie after a series of good passes. Last week’s hero against Sunderland found himself in a bit of space but his shot was tame and Reina was able to easily gather.

Liverpool pressed forward to find a second ball and had their furious appeals for a penalty waved away after 82 minutes when Torres thought his attempt had been handballed by Jara. Lee Probert, however, waved away the howls of the Kop and Liverpool side to deny the Reds the chance to double their lead from the spot.

West Brom’s plight was not helped when they were reduced to ten men after 84 minutes. Morrison’s two footed challenge on Torres was high and although it didn’t look malicious it was dangerous and saw him rightly dismissed.

After the red card Albion did have a late flourish as they put pressure on a Liverpool defence that was sitting increasingly deeper, but the Reds held on for the first league win of the Hodgson era.