Fati glitters as Barcelona pound Valencia 5-2

BARCELONA, September 15

Barcelona’s 16-year-old forward Ansu Fati continued his explosive start to life in the first team by scoring and providing an assist as the La Liga champions thrashed Valencia 5-2 on Saturday.

Goals from Fati, Frenkie de Jong, Gerard Pique and two from Luis Suarez gave Barca their second win of the season. Barca now have seven points after four games, while Valencia have four.

Kevin Gameiro and Maxi Gomez scored for Valencia, who suffered their biggest defeat in over three years in coach Albert Celades’ first game.

Sevilla climbed to the top of La Liga after beating Alaves 1-0 away from home. Joan Jordan scored in the 37th minute.

Inter Milan top Serie A

Milan: Inter Milan reclaimed top spot in Serie A after a 1-0 win over 10-man Udinese on Saturday as Juventus lost three players to injury in a painful goalless draw at Fiorentina to complicate preparations for the next week’s Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid. Stefano Sensi’s diving header was enough to seal maximum nine points for Antonio Conte’s Inter ahead of their European opener against Slavia Prague next Tuesday. Juventus are trailing two points behind Inter Milan after three games. 

Meanwhile, Napoli’s  Dries Mertens scored two in a 2-0 win over Sampdoria, to move up to fourth in the table. 

Gunners held by Watford

London: Arsenal gave away a two-goal lead as Watford hit back to draw 2-2 against Arsenal at the Vicarage Road. Pierre-EmerickAubameyang struck twice in the first half.  For Watford, Tom Cleverley halved the deficit in the 53rd minute after some dreadful Arsenal carelessness, while Roberto Pereyra scored an 81st-minute penalty to level the scores. —  Agencies