AS Roma and Juventus lost on their domestic returns from midweek UEFA Champions League action as their miserable starts to the season continued.
In England, frontrunners Liverpool and Chelsea fared better with wins while Valencia top the table on goal difference in Spain and Lazio, Udinese and champions Inter Milan share the lead in Italy.
ENGLAND
Chelsea and Liverpool are neck and neck at the top of the Premier League while Manchester United are beginning to climb the table.
Luiz Felipe Scolari's Chelsea were far superior to Aston Villa in a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge that moved them on to 17 points. Liverpool also have 17 from seven games after coming from 2-0 down at Manchester City to win 3-2 -- Fernando Torres twice on target before Dirk Kuyt grabbed a late winner.
Wayne Rooney was on target for champions Manchester United in a 2-0 defeat of Blackburn Rovers that moved them up to eighth, six points behind the leaders with a game in hand.
Surprise package Hull City are third after a 1-0 victory at Tottenham Hotspur that left the London club rock bottom while north London rivals Arsenal are fourth with 13 points after a Cesc Fabregas header earned them a 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
SPAIN
A second-half goal from Manuel Fernandes gave Valencia a 1-0 victory at Real Valladolid and kept them top of the Primera Liga on 16 points, ahead of Villarreal on goal difference.
Barcelona trounced Atletico Madrid 6-1 on Saturday after storming three goals in front after just nine minutes to move to fourth place, one point behind Sevilla who thumped Athletic Bilbao 4-0 on Sunday.
Champions Real Madrid are level on points with Barca and marginally behind them on goal difference after twice coming from behind thanks to goals from Raul to draw 2-2 at home with Espanyol.
ITALY
AS Roma lost their third league match this term when they went down 1-0 at Siena, where defenders Philippe Mexes and Christian Panucci were sent off.
Juventus again lost ground with a 2-1 home defeat by Palermo following Mohamed Sissoko's dismissal in the first half.
AC Milan, resurgent in recent weeks, could only draw 0-0 at bottom side Cagliari.
Inter Milan are joint top after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's superb backheel helped seal a 2-1 win over Bologna. Lazio, who drew 1-1 with Lecce, and Udinese, 2-0 winners over Torino, also share the Serie A lead.
GERMANY
Faltering champions Bayern Munich slipped down to 11th place after a careless 3-3 draw at home to Bochum left them seven points behind leaders Hamburg SV.
Bayern were 3-1 up and heading for a routine win via goals from Daniel van Buyten and Ze Roberto (2) before defensive lapses let Bochum score two goals in two minutes late on.
Hamburg took full advantage, as Mladen Petric's late goal gave them a 2-1 win at Energie Cottbus on Sunday, but the other title favourites lost ground with Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen both losing while Schalke 04 could only draw.
After seven games, Hamburg lead with 16 points, followed by 1899 Hoffenheim on 13 after their 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Stuttgart, 4-1 victors over Werder, also have 13, with Leverkusen, Schalke and Dortmund all on 12.
FRANCE
Olympique Lyon were handed their first defeat of the season in Ligue 1 when Mickael Pagis struck a hat-trick as Stade Rennes trounced the champions 3-0 on Sunday.
Lyon, who snatched a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, still lead the table with 19 points from eight matches, two points ahead of Toulouse, 1-0 winners over AJ Auxerre on Saturday.
Olympique Marseille beat Caen 2-1, also on Saturday, to stay third three points off the pace three days after losing 2-1 at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
NETHERLANDS
Fourth-placed Heerenveen thrashed Ajax Amsterdam 5-2 on Sunday while Groningen stayed top on 13 points after a 3-0 home win over ADO Den Haag kept them a point ahead of PSV Eindhoven and NAC Breda.
Serbia's Danko Lazovic struck twice in PSV's 3-0 victory over Graafschap Doetinchem and Matthew Amoah scored twice to take his tally for the season to eight in Breda's 4-2 win at bottom side FC Volcendam.
Feyenoord's league woes continued after a 2-0 home defeat against NEC Nijmegen which left them 14th with four points, their worst league start since 1989.
SCOTLAND
Rangers missed the chance to move clear of rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premier League on Sunday when they suffered their first defeat by St Mirren in 17 years.
A 77th-minute goal from substitute Stephen McGinn earned St Mirren a 1-0 home win, lifting them off the bottom of the standings. McGinn curled a 25-metre shot away from keeper Allan McGregor and high into the left side of the net.
Champions Celtic, who crushed Hamilton Academical 4-0 on Saturday, lead on goal difference from Rangers. Both teams have 19 points from eight matches.
GREECE
Olympiakos Piraeus scored twice in the space of three second-half minutes to secure a 2-0 win over AEK Athens on Sunday which puts them clear at the top of the Greek Super League.
Goals from substitute Darko Kovacevic and Diogo maintained the champions' unbeaten start to the season with a total of 13 points from five games, two clear of PAOK Salonika who were held to a goalless draw by Ergotelis.
Larissa and Xanthi share third spot with ten points while Panathinaikos, who have a game in hand, are a point further back after beating Levadiakos 2-0.
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