Related items

• Motta defends Juventus talisman Vlahovic after Genoa brace

  Juventus boss Thiago Motta lashed out at those criticising striker Dusan Vlahovic after he scored twice in the Bianconeri's 3-0 win over Genoa on Saturday.

  Juve continued their fine start to life under Motta with a routine victory at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, Vlahovic netting twice before Francisco Conceicao added a late third.

  They have kept a clean sheet in each of their first six matches of a Serie A season for the very first time, also scoring at least twice in five of their last eight games, having done so only once in their previous eight.

  Despite Juve's strong run of form, Vlahovic has attracted criticism from some quarters.

  Only Christian Pulisic (six) and Marcus Thuram (five) have bettered his four goals in Serie A this term, though, with the Serbian also helping himself to a brace versus Verona.

  Motta heaped praise upon Vlahovic after the win, also hailing his defensive work as he said: "No goals conceded is a team effort. 

  "Scoring goals starts well with [goalkeeper Mattia] Perin and not conceding goals starts with Vlahovic.

  "We have a group that wants to defend to have the ball and recover it. This is very important, a team must be solid to aspire to something great."

  Motta then added: "Honestly, I think you pay too much attention to a single player. He has always been very good. 

  "I understand the expectations and needs of a striker at this level. But as I said from the beginning, he is a positive leader who helps a lot.

  "I am happy because he scored but I was also happy when he didn't. He must improve and be more connected with the team because he is an important player in many aspects of our game. He is fine and must continue to work as he is doing".

  Vlahovic, who has more games with multiple goals than any other player across the last six Serie A seasons (19), said: "The most important thing is that we won and we want to continue like this.

  "It's no problem, people talk. If you score you're the best, if you don't you're the worst. It's up to me to respond on the pitch and I will certainly do so.

  "Sometimes there are fewer opportunities. People expect me to solve the games and that's normal, I don't run away. I always do everything 100%.

  "I'm super calm and I will always give my all on the pitch. For a striker when you don't score it's difficult, but today we won and that's the only thing that matters." 

• Al Kholood 2-4 Al-Hilal: Koulibaly on target as champions move to summit

  Al-Hilal withstood a late Al Kholood rally to move top of the Saudi Pro League following a 4-2 victory at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.

  The damage was done during a late first-half surge by the reigning champions, who leapfrogged Al-Ittihad to the summit of the table.

  Al-Hilal broke the deadlock in the 38th minute through former Napoli and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who finished after Renan Lodi initially struck the woodwork.

  Malcom doubled the lead four minutes later, then Ali Al Bulayhi made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.

  Former Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest defender Lodi then got in the act to make it four within three minutes of the restart.

  The hosts finished the contest the stronger of the two sides with Hammam Al Hammami and a William Troost-Ekong penalty halving the deficit, but that rally could not prevent the visitors from remaining perfect after their first five games.

  Data Debrief: Al-Hilal remain perfect

  Al-Hilal have won each of their opening five games in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time in their history, also achieving the feat in 2010-11 and 2018-19.

  Jorge Jesus' side also continued their dominant record against newly promoted clubs, having now won each of their last nine such matches.

  Despite their late surge, Al Kholood suffered their third defeat of the season, though there was individual cause for celebration, as former Al-Hilal player Mohammed Jahfali came on for his 200th Saudi Pro League appearance.

   

• Chelsea 4-2 Brighton: Palmer makes Premier League history as Maresca's side fight back

  Cole Palmer made Premier League history as Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 in a six-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge.

  Palmer became the first player to score four goals before half-time in a single Premier League game, helping Enzo Maresca’s side record their fourth straight victory in all competitions.

  Brighton took an early lead through Georginio Rutter's header, but were powerless as Palmer took command of the contest.

  His remarkable quadruple came in the space of 20 minutes - including a penalty and free-kick - with Carlos Baleba's strike to make it 3-2 swiftly cancelled out by Chelsea's talisman.

  Nicolas Jackson and Palmer went close after the break for the hosts, who also had a Marc Cucurella goal disallowed for offside, but they held out for another victory.

  The Blues climb to third place, a point behind pacesetters Manchester City and Arsenal, while Brighton drop to eighth after suffering their first defeat of the season.

  Data Debrief: History-making Palmer does the damage once more

  Palmer completed his third Premier League hat-trick - the joint-most by any Chelsea player along with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard - in the space of only nine minutes and 45 seconds.

  The Blues forward also hit the post, was denied by the offside flag and then slotted a decent opportunity wide after the break, so we could have been saluting the first player to score six or more goals in a single Premier League game.

  His fourth goal was set up by Sancho, who became the third Chelsea player after Eden Hazard (2012) and Cesc Fabregas (2014) to provide an assist in each of his first three Premier League appearances for the club.

  As for Brighton, they are now without a victory in each of their last nine Premier League visits to London, since a 3-0 win over Arsenal in May 2023.