Victories for Leverkusen and Atletico, defeat for Porto

Bayer Leverkusen - next week Club Brugge's first opponent in the Champions League - picked up a convincing 0-3 victory this weekend. Atletico Madrid also took a three-peat on a visit to Valencia. FC Porto, on the other hand, went down for the first time this season.

Mainz 05 - Bayer Leverkusen 0-3

Bayer Leverkusen took its first win of the season at Mainz 05. It thus counts three points after four games in the German Bundesliga. Just before the half-hour mark, Palacios brought Leverkusen into the lead with a deflected distance shot. Afterwards, it was Dutchman Frimpong who put the final score on the scoreboard before halftime. He scored his first goal on an assist from Diaby. He forced his second goal himself with an individual action.

Mainz still tried in the second half, including a shot that hit the crossbar, but nothing more changed the score that was already on the boards at halftime. Odilon Kossounou was substituted twenty minutes before time. Hincapie received a second yellow card for knocking down a breakaway player and at the very end of the match Mitchel Bakker was also ruled out for a punching move towards Onisiwo. Leverkusen - next week Club Brugge's first opponent in the Champions League - thus ended the match with 9 players. This puts the team in 13th place, deep in the belly of the standings. (EV)

Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky, Frimpong (71' Kossounou), Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie, Andrich, Demirbay (81' Amiri), Diaby (81' Fosu-Mensah), Palacios (71' Aranguiz), Bakker, Schick (83' Azmoun).
Goals: 29' Palacios (0-1), 39' Frimpong (0-2), 41' Frimpong (0-3).

Valencia - Atletico Madrid 0-1

Atletico Madrid picked up a narrow 0-1 victory at Valencia's field. Coach Diego Simeone's team had started the season with a smooth 0-3 win over Getafe, but went down 0-2 against Villarreal at home last week. Real Madrid and Real Betis started the season 9-on-9, and so Atletico had better not lose any points in Valencia. Red Devil Axel Witsel started as a central defender in a three-man defense. After halftime, Yannick Carrasco also stepped in. The game remained close for a long time, but halfway through the second half, thanks to two substitutes, a goal suddenly fell out of the sky. Thomas Lemar served Antoine Griezmann, who gave Atletico the lead. No more goals were scored after that, so Atletico Madrid took a narrow 0-1 victory. (SF)

Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Gimenez, Witsel, Reinildo, Llorente, Rodrigo De Paul (65' Lemar), Kondogbia (65' Griezmann), Koke, Saul Niguez (46' Carrasco), Morata (83' Correa), Joao Felix (83' Cunha).
Goals: 66' Griezmann (0-1).

Rio Ave - FC Porto 3-1

After three wins in a row, FC Porto suffered its first defeat on the road at tail team Rio Ave. Only deep into injury time did Toni Martinez manage the honorable goal. FC Porto was nowhere in the first half on Sunday. Goalkeeper Diogo Costa had to step up in the first minute to prevent the home side from taking a lead. Porto, a team that normally sets its own pace, had to leave the ascendancy to the home team. And Rio Ave was rewarded for their soccer. Yakubo punished lax defending midway through the first half. Moments later, Porto did score through Evanilson, but the goal was rightly disallowed for offside. The home team continued to press and through an overhead shot by Amaral and a header goal by Yakubo, it had a comfortable 3-0 lead after the first half.

Coach Sérgio Conceição (ex-Standard player & assistant coach) was clearly not satisfied and brought three new players between the lines at the start of the second half. Porto recovered, but lacked the luck to ensure a turnaround. After 15 minutes of play in the second half, the visitors were awarded a penalty kick. However, Taremi aimed the eleven-meter on the goalpost. Only deep into injury time was Porto able to score. On a pass from Pepe, substitute Toni Martinez headed the 3-1 final score on the board.

Porto has already collected nine points from four matches and is currently third in the standings just one point behind leader Braga. Next weekend, FC Porto plays away at Gil Vicente. (KN)

FC Porto: Diogo Costa - Zaidu Sanusi, Ivan Marcano (71' Andre Franco), Pepe, Joao Mario (46' Wenderson Galeno) - Otavio, Mateus Uribe, Pepe, Bruno Costa (46' Gabriel Veron) - Mehdi Taremi (84' Danny Loader), Evanilson (46' Toni Martinez)
Goals: 22' Yakubo (1-0), 33' Amaral (2-0), 43' Yakubo (3-0), 93' Martinez (3-1).