Srnic sinks former club Red Star

Midfielder Slavoljub Srnic engineered a memorable 2-0 win for Serbia's surprise package Cukaricki Belgrade against his former club Red Star, pushing the 1991 European Cup winners into a fresh crisis on Sunday.

The 21-year-old right winger set up the first goal after just 18 seconds with a sharp cross from the right, which striker Nikola Stojiljkovic turned in from seven metres, and then rifled in a crisp low volley in the closing stages to pile the pressure on Red Star coach Slavisa Stojanovic.

Red Star are now fifth in the 16-team first division on 13 points from eight games, four adrift of second-placed Cukaricki and leaders Partizan Belgrade, who were held to a 0-0 home draw by Javor Ivanjica on Saturday.

"All credit to our rivals because they wanted it more, showed heart and took their chances while we made schoolboy defensive errors and there is no doubt I will have a meeting with the board to see what's the best course of action," Stojanovic told a news conference.

"Whatever central defensive pair I field they keep making calamitous mistakes but that's the kind of quality, or lack of it, we have to make do with at the moment."

His counterpart Vladan Milojevic said: "We have a young team whose limits are still anyone's guess and we can afford to celebrate for a day ahead of the international break because we beat a club of great stature.

"Then it's back to hard work in order to keep up the momentum in an effort to stay up here as long as possible."

Srnic, who spent last season on loan at Cukaricki and completed a permanent move on a free transfer during the close-season, delighted the home fans early in the match by teeing up Stojiljkovic.

He ensured the win and silenced raucous Red Star fans with a superb finish which left visiting keeper Boban Bajkovic grasping at thin air.

Third-placed Vojvodina kept up the pressure on the pacesetters after Enver Alivodic and Nebojsa Kosovic helped them to a 2-1 win at Rad Belgrade, while Radnicki Nis climbed one place to fourth after a 1-1 

Barca, Atletico and Roma stay perfect

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid maintained their perfect records in La Liga while Premier League club Arsenal dropped points but returned to the top of the table.

Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga and Andrea Pirlo was in sparkling form as Juventus beat AC Milan in Italy where AS Roma won their seventh straight match.

Paris St Germain got the better of bitter rivals Olympique Marseille in Ligue 1.

ENGLAND

Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League on Sunday after Jack Wilshere rescued a point for them in a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion, but rivals Liverpool, Chelsea and both Manchester clubs all made up ground with wins.

Liverpool are level on points with Arsenal after strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge both scored for the second week running on Saturday in a 3-1 win at home to Crystal Palace, while Chelsea won at Norwich by the same scoreline to go third.

Jose Mourinho's team were 1-1 until the dying stages of Sunday's match but a raft of attacking substitutions and late goals from Eden Hazard and Willian helped give them a comfortable victory.

Manchester United's conveyor belt of exciting young players seems still to be in working order after 18-year-old Adnan Januzaj struck twice as they came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1, avoiding a third straight league defeat.

The shock of the weekend came at White Hart Lane where Tottenham Hotspur were stunned 3-0 by West Ham United while surprise package Southampton won 2-0 at home to Swansea City to move fourth.

They are one spot above Manchester City who beat Everton 3-1.

SPAIN

Alexis Sanchez struck twice and created a goal for Neymar as Barcelona recovered from conceding early to maintain their perfect La Liga start with a 4-1 win at home to Real Valladolid on Saturday.

An eighth victory in eight games for the champions restored their five-point advantage over arch-rivals Real Madrid who needed a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time to secure a 3-2 triumph at Levante earlier.

Atletico Madrid kept pace with Barcelona with Diego Costa scoring both goals in a workmanlike 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo on Sunday.

ITALY

AS Roma made it seven wins from seven games when two goals from 37-year-old Francesco Totti helped them to a stunning 3-0 win at previously unbeaten Inter Milan.

A breakaway goal from Alessandro Florenzi completed the rout to leave Roma on 21 points from seven games and making them early title favourites.

Napoli and defending champions Juventus both won to stay two points behind.

Napoli demolished promoted Livorno 4-0 while goals from Andrea Pirlo, Sebastian Giovinco and Giorgio Chiellini gave Juve a 3-2 win over Milan, who had taken the lead through Sulley Muntari after 20 seconds. Muntari also scored Milan's consolation.

GERMANY

Treble winners Bayern Munich reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga despite a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen.

Franck Ribery beautifully set up Toni Kroos for Bayern's 30th-minute lead but Leverkusen, a point behind on 19 in third place, struck straight back through Sidney Sam.

Bayern, who were the better team throughout and missed half a dozen clear scoring chances, have 20 points from eight matches, one ahead of Dortmund and third-placed Leverkusen.

The Bavarians, who were last beaten in the league by Leverkusen last year, have now gone 33 league games without defeat - three shy of the record.

Dortmund slipped down to second after missing a bagful of chances themselves and conceding two late goals to slump to a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach for their first loss of the campaign.

FRANCE

Monaco retained their Ligue 1 lead as James Rodriguez set up both goals in a 2-1 home win against St Etienne on Saturday.

Rodriguez fed Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and Lucas Ocampos to put the principality's side on 21 points from nine matches.

They lead Paris St Germain on goal difference as the French champions snatched a 2-1 comeback win at Olympique Marseille despite playing with 10 men for an hour.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the winner from the penalty spot.

Marseille are now fourth on 17 points.

AUSTRIA

FC Salzburg equalled Rapid Vienna's 26-year-old Austrian Bundesliga record of 30 matches unbeaten when they won 2-1 at champions Austria Vienna.

Salzburg have not lost a league game since their defeat against SV Ried in November last year.

Brazilian Alan scored the second-half winner for Salzburg with his eighth goal of the season to take them on to 25 points from 11 games, six clear of second-placed Ried.

SWITZERLAND

Leaders Basle went three points clear of Grasshoppers at the top of the Swiss Super League when they came from behind to win 2-1 at Lausanne Sport despite playing most of the second half with 10 men.

Salim Khelifi gave the hosts a 14th minute lead and Basle pulled level with an own goal by Kevin Fickentscher six minutes before the break.

Basle's Ivorian forward Giovanni Sio was sent off after clashing with Lausanne captain Guillaume Katz in the 50th minute, but Arlend Ajeti grabbed a winner on the hour. Grasshoppers drew 1-1 at FC Thun.

Rossi returns, Mario included despite ban

Giuseppe Rossi returned to the Italy squad on Sunday for the first time since the injury nightmare which cost him two years of his career while Mario Balotelli avoided being dropped despite a ban for bad behaviour.

US born forward Rossi was included in the squad, published on the Italian Football Federation website (www.figc.it), for the World Cup qualifiers away to Denmark on October 11 and at home to Armenia four days later.

He is set to make his first appearance since playing against Serbia two years ago.

Rossi's troubles began when he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee while playing for Villarreal in a Spanish league match against Real Madrid in October 2011.

He fought desperately to be fit again in time for Euro 2012 only to re-injure the knee in training two months before the tournament.

Villarreal sold him to Fiorentina at the start of this year and he finally made his comeback against Pescara in May, playing 27 minutes in the final match of last season.

This season, he has surpassed expectations by scoring five league goals for Fiorentina.

Balotelli's place in the squad was in the balance after he was sent off at the end of a 2-1 home defeat by Napoli two weeks ago for arguing with the referee and given a three-match ban.

Coach Cesare Prandelli has in the past punished players for similar misdemeanours, including Balotelli himself, but on this occasion decided not to enforce his code of ethics.

AS Roma defender Federico Balzaretti was called up for the first time since last November.

Italy have already guaranteed top spot in European Group B and qualified for the World Cup finals in Brazil next year.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris St Germain)

Defenders: Ignazio Abate (AC Milan), Davide Astori (Cagliari), Federico Balzaretti (AS Roma), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Lorenzo De Silvestri (Sampdoria), Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Andrea Ranocchia (Inter Milan)

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Diamanti (Bologna), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Sunderland), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Milan), Thiago Motta (Paris St Germain), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Andrea Poli (AC Milan), Marco Verratti (Paris St Germain).

Forwards: Mario Balotelli (AC Milan), Alessio Cerci (Torino), Alberto Gilardino (Bologna), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (Southampton), Giuseppe Rossi (Fiorentina)

Hammers' Morrison finally making impact

Alex Ferguson may have had a wry smile on his face when hearing news of midfielder Ravel Morrison's solo goal for West Ham United in their 3-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Nearly two years after Ferguson allowed a teenaged Morrison to leave Old Trafford, his patience worn thin by a series of off-field antics, his prediction that the academy graduate could one day become a "top class" player looks accurate.

The 20-year-old completed West Ham's shock win at Spurs, their first at White Hart Lane since 1999, with a solo goal after racing away from Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen, bamboozling England international Michael Dawson and then dinking the ball over France's first choice keeper Hugo Lloris.

It was a stunning glimpse of the potential spotted by Ferguson but which had seemed like being fritted away after several run-ins with the law, including being given a 12-month referral order for witness intimidation.

"He's 20, but he's quite old in terms of years but he's learnt so much in a short period of time. That's the beauty. The penny has dropped," West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, who descirbed the goal as "genius" told the BBC.

"Sir Alex Ferguson told me I hope you can sort him out because you will have a top class player on the your hands, I'm not sure I've done that but he's enjoying his football. He can do something no one else can do and we saw that today."

Morrison joined West Ham in January 2012 but was loaned out to Birmingham City where, after some initial problems, he began to earn rave reviews.

After returning to Upton Park he has flourished, scoring his first Premier League goal this month in a 3-2 defeat by Everton and has been called into the England fold at under-21 level.

Experienced West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan has seen Morrison's impact from close quarters this season and believes he is finally learning from his mistakes.

"Last year we had a lot of problems with him and his lifestyle off the pitch but he went to Birmingham on loan and worked hard and came back and got back in the team," Nolan said.

"Me and Mark Noble speak to him and have had big long chats with him and we like to protect him and take him under our wing.

"We are excited by his talent, and I think you are now starting to see the player that Manchester United saw when he was younger."

West Ham had not registered an away goal all season before Sunday's London derby but struck three times in 13 minutes after the interval to cause the shock of the weekend.

Arsenal's Wilshere inhales plaudits

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere responded to recent criticism over a photograph of him smoking by scoring the equaliser that rescued a 1-1 draw for the Premier League leaders at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Manager Arsene Wenger, who promised to have words with the player on Friday after saying he had damaged his reputation because of a newspaper picture of him with a cigarette in his mouth, was pleased with the England international's strike.

Wilshere had endured a poor first half against West Brom as he repeatedly gave away the ball and spent a lot of time picking himself up off the ground but he made up for it when his deflected 63rd-minute strike cancelled out Claudio Yacob's first-half headed opener.

"He had trouble today to find the rhythm of the game," Wenger, who played Wilshere out of position on the wing, told Sky Sports. "But he has character as well. He doesn't give up, he continues to play his game and got a great goal."

It was Wilshere's first Premier League goal in nearly three years and put Arsenal back on top of the table with 16 points from seven matches, ahead of Liverpool on goals scored.

"It was a tough game for me. I am not used to playing on the wing, I'm still getting used to it, I'm learning it, but I'm happy to do it for the team," Wilshere told Sky Sports.

"I got a goal which was nice, I've always said I want to score a few more goals."

He agreed it had been the ideal way to respond after being in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in recent days.

"When it comes to the weekend, you've got to do your job," he said. "There's thing that happen but at the end of the day we're footballers and we have to do our job.

Harrison named new Arrows coach

Mark Harrison has been swiftly installed as the new coach of Lamontville Golden arrows, the club said on Monday.

He replaces Manqoba Mngqithi, who resigned abruptly on Saturday in spite of Arrows’ success the night before in the first round of the Telkom Knockout away against Bidvest Wits.

Harrison handed in his resignation as coach of Chippa United immediately after their 1-1 draw in the National First Division at Thanda Royal Zulu on Sunday and left for Durban.

“Presently, Mark is one of the most qualified and experienced coaches in South Africa,” said Arrows in a statement that failed to give any details of his terms.

But it does represent a return to the top flight after he last season narrowly failed to keep Chippa United up.

In 2011 he also came in at the death of the season to try and save Mpumalanga Black Ace from relegation but did not succeed.

He is a qualified Uefa A licensed coach and began his coaching career in Britain at Bristol City before moving to Everton, Stafford Rangers and Oxford United.

He was also the Bangladesh National Head Coach in the early 2000’s before returning to South Africa to coach at FC Fortune. After a spell coaching in the Maldives, Harrison has been back in South Africa.

In the NFD he also spent several months at African Warriors.

My risky tactics paid off - Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho gave himself the credit as his substitutions paid off with Eden Hazard and Willian scoring late to grab a 3-1 win at Norwich City in the Premier League on Sunday.

The self-proclaimed 'Special One' is no stranger to talking himself up and he was not afraid to stick his hand up to say his risky tactic of throwing on more attacking power at the expense of a defender had won the three points.

Having taken a fourth-minute lead through Oscar, Chelsea failed to build on that and allowed their hosts back into the game with Anthony Pilkington's 68th-minute equaliser.

Mourinho threw on Samuel Eto'o, Eden Hazard and Willian between the 73rd and 81st minutes and it paid dividends.

"If the substitutes come in and they change the game, the manager did very well," Mourinho said on his club's website (www.chelseafc.com).

"If they come in and they make it worse, the manager made a very bad decision. In the end I always think it is their responsibility."

Hazard struck on 85 minutes after Chelsea broke quickly from a Norwich corner, the Belgian's shot going over the line in almost slow motion after Ruddy had pounced on it but not stopped it.

Another counter-attack wrapped up the win a minute later as Willian curled in a scorching first-time shot on his league debut.

"The situation became difficult at 1-1," Mourinho said. "We all knew that a point here would be a bad result for us. The whole team, not just the boys that came on, and they coped well with that pressure.

"Without losing totally the balance, we could risk a bit and try to bring to the game different things to see if Norwich could cope with that.

"I had to go with what I did. I had to put Eto'o, Hazard and Willian on, all three at the same time."

He said the move could have backfired as he took off left back Ashley Cole in favour of more firepower.

"We could win, we could lose. At that moment we didn't want the point, we played with three guys at the back with (Andre) Schuerrle open, Eden central to make three quick strikers. We lost a bit of balance to try to gamble and create," he said.

"We left the road a bit open for Norwich too. If they scored a second goal, probably we lose. We are trying to be top so after one point at Tottenham (in a 1-1 draw last weekend), one point here today would be a bad result, so we tried to win."

Victory lifted Chelsea to third place in the table with 14 points from seven matches. Arsenal are top of the standings on 16 points, ahead of Liverpool on goals scored.