A packed Monday of European club soccer delivered a series of dramatic results across Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga, headlined by Lazio securing a third consecutive league win that catapults the Rome-based side into a share of first place.
In the headline Serie A fixture, Lazio fought back from an early second-half deficit to defeat Udinese 2-1, extending their perfect start to the new season. Midfielder Davide Frattesi maintained his red-hot scoring streak, finding the net for the third straight match. After Jesper Karlstrom put Udinese ahead in the 49th minute, Frattesi slid to convert a low cross into the back of the net in the 75th minute to level the score. Just minutes after Frattesi was substituted off for debutant Albert Gudmundsson, the Icelandic international iced the win with a powerful header in stoppage time, two minutes before the final whistle. The three points lift Lazio to nine points from three opening matches, tying them with Roma and Inter Milan at the top of the table. Udinese stays in 10th place following the defeat.
In another Serie A clash, Cagliari earned a 1-0 home win over Lecce, with on-loan attacker Daniel Maldini (from Atalanta) scoring the only goal of the game. Maldini nodded home a first-half corner to give Cagliari an early lead, and despite dominating possession and creating multiple chances—including a second-half strike from Paul Mendy that hit the base of the post and a Maldini free kick that struck the woodwork—the club could not add to their lead, but held on for the full three points. The result lifts Cagliari into the top half of the Serie A standings, while Lecce drops to 14th.
Across the continent in La Liga, Real Sociedad pulled off a thrilling late 3-2 away victory over winless Elche, marking their first away league win since February. Job Ochieng got Sociedad off to a fast start, opening the scoring in just the 11th minute, and Yangel Herrera doubled their advantage 20 minutes later after a mistake from Elche’s goalkeeper. The game shifted dramatically in the 65th minute when Sociedad’s Jon Martin was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle, leaving the side down to 10 men. Elche capitalized quickly: on-loan forward Thomas Lemar pulled one back four minutes after the red card, and Fer Nino bundled home an equalizer nine minutes later to level the match at 2-2. Elche squandered multiple late chances to claim their first win of the season, and were punished in the 90th minute when Luka Sučić broke away to score the winning goal, securing all three points for Sociedad. Following the result, Sociedad sits ninth in the La Liga table with seven points from five matches, while Elche remains joint-bottom with just one point so far this season.
In the final Monday La Liga fixture, Getafe and Celta Vigo split points after a 1-1 draw. Uruguayan striker Martin Satriano put Getafe ahead early, pouncing on a loose ball in the six-yard box after Celta failed to clear a right-sided corner. Celta responded in the 57th minute, with Carl Starfelt heading home an equalizer from their own corner kick. Midway through the second half, Getafe defender Zaid Romero was sent off after picking up a second yellow card, reducing the hosts to 10 men. Despite pushing hard for a late winning goal, Celta could not find a breakthrough, extending their search for a first win of the campaign. Celta has only scored two goals in five league matches this season, and sits 16th in the table with four points, one point and one place behind Getafe who occupy 15th.