United scrapes by Chelsea, Barca goes wild

LONDON - Manchester United needed a controversial winner from Javier Hernandez to beat nine-man Chelsea and cut the deficit at the top of the Premier League to just one point.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored twice as Barcelona and Real Madrid registered 5-0 away wins in La Liga, while Bayern Munich’s perfect start to the Bundesliga season was ended at home by victorious Bayer Leverkusen.

Mexico striker Javier Hernandez secured a 3-2 victory for Manchester United at Premier League leaders Chelsea after a game of high drama.

Hernandez looked offside as he poked home the winner in the 75th minute after Chelsea had Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres sent off. Chelsea later made a complaint against the referee over “inappropriate language.”

Third-placed Manchester City, below United on goal difference, is also a point behind Chelsea after it beat Swansea City 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez had an injury-time winner wrongly ruled out for offside in a 2-2 draw with local rivals Everton.

In Spain, Lionel Messi scored twice as leaders Barcelona crushed Rayo Vallecano 5-0 away to maintain their unbeaten start to La Liga this season.

Messi moved on to 301 senior career goals for club and country, while David Villa, Cesc Fabregas and Xavi netted the others to put Barca on 25 points from nine games.

Tito Vilanova’s side was ahead of unbeaten Atletico Madrid on goal difference after Radamel Falcao scored in a 3-1 home win over Osasuna that made it eight straight league victories for Diego Simeone’s side.

Champions Real Madrid was eight points back in fourth, behind third-placed Malaga who drew 0-0 at Espanyol, after a 5-0 rout of Real Mallorca when Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo both bagged braces.

In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich’s 100 percent start to the domestic season ended in a surprise 2-1 defeat by visiting Bayer Leverkusen.

Sidney Sam scored the winner with a deflected 87th minute header that ended Bayern’s record eight-game winning streak.

The Bavarians, who had not lost to Leverkusen in Munich since 1989, are still four points clear at the top on 24 points with Schalke 04 climbing to second after their narrow 1-0 win over Nuremberg.

Champions Borussia Dortmund beat Freiburg 2-0 to move up to 15 points in fourth, four points behind third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at VfB Stuttgart.

Reuters