A thriller at Anfield

While all the top leagues across the continent dished out exciting football, Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City takes the cake for being the most talked about match with its amalgamation of tactics, individual brilliance and end-to-end action.

Another game week concludes in European football, bringing about its fair share of elation and disappointment across the global fanbase. While all the top leagues across the continent dished out exciting football, Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City takes the cake for being the most talked about match of the week with its amalgamation of tactics, individual brilliance and end-to-end action.

German and French football threw surprises as Bayern Munich lost its first match of the season and Paris Saint-germain’s star-studded line-up succumbed to a 2-0 defeat against Rennes, the first of its season.

Premier League

It was Liverpool's home match against Manchester City that was tipped to be the game to watch and the two clubs didn’t disappoint. Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola

displayed the best of their tactical aptitude as fans enjoyed a vibrant display of end-to-end attacking football.

Sadio Mane opened the scoring for the Reds, only for his strike to be cancelled out by Phil Foden. It was Liverpool’s second goal by Mohammed Salah, which stole the headlines as the Egyptian used his deft footwork to dribble away from a couple of City defenders, turned rings around Ayermic Laporte and finished at Ederson’s farpost to give Liverpool a 2-1 lead. It would have been an undisputed fairy tale if that was the winning goal, but Kevin De Bruyne played spoilsport as he scored an ■1minute equaliser.

Manchester United showed worrying signs of failing to maintain consistency under the guidance of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as it finished with a 1-1 draw against Everton, a result which did not go down well considering the vast array of talents at his dis

posal. The newly-promoted Brentford continued to shine under coach Thomas Frank as it defeated David Moyes’ West Ham 2-1 to maintain a respectable seventh position in the table.

Brighton and Hove Albion proved to be a difficult customer for the visiting Arsenal team as Mikel Arteta’s boys, fresh from their thrashing of North London rival, Tottenham Hotspur, could not find a way past Graham Potter’s compact backline, which resulted in a goalless draw.

For European champion, Chelsea, two late goals helped the side return to winning ways in a 3-1 victory against Southampton, whose job became more difficult after its goalscorer, James Ward-prowse, was shown a red card in the 77th minute.

After matchday 7, Chelsea sits at the top of the table with 16 points, followed by Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.

Laliga

Luis Suarez added to the woes of his former club Barcelona as he scored a goal and provided an assist to Thomas Lemar to help Atletico Madrid beat Barca 2-0.

It wasn’t a good week for Barcelona’s bitter rival, Real Madrid, as it lost 2-1 to Espanyol after an uninspiring performance, but maintained its position at the top of the table on goal difference as Atletico Madrid equalled the Los Blancos’ points tally.

Laliga also sprang another surprise as Granada clinched a shock 1-0 win against Sevilla, which dominated all the stats departments but could not find a way past the resolute Granada defence.

After matchday ■, Real is on top with 17 points, followed by Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad and Sevilla. Barcelona languishes at the ninth position.

Bundesliga

If not for Liverpool’s brilliant match against Man City, Bayern Munich’s 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt would have surely been the talking point of the week.

When Leon Goretzka scored for the Bavarians in the 29th minute, it seemed like Munich would capitalise on that and run away with the match as it does on most occasions. However, Frankfurt had other ideas as Martin Hinteregger and Filip Kostic’s goals handed Bayern its first loss of the season.

Borussia Dortmund, despite dominating the match and finishing with an astounding 71% possession, could only scrape a 2-1 win against Augsburg while last season runner-up RB Leipzig thrashed VFL Bochum 3-0.

After matchday 7 in the Bundesliga, Bayern heads the points table with 16 points, followed by Bayer Leverkusen also

AP On target: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield.

AFP Memorable win: Eintracht Frankfurt's goalkeeper Kevin Trapp (middle) celebrates with team members after the win against FC Bayern Munich.