Schalke, Fiorentina, Rennes: Key Friday Wins in Europe
Schalke arrived level on one point with Union Berlin. They left with a 3-1 win, a man-of-the-match goalkeeper, and a refereeing subplot that stole almost as many headlines as the goals.
Robin Gosens lit the fuse. His angled volley gave the newly promoted side the lead, a sharp finish that set the tone for a night when Schalke looked nothing like a team still finding its feet in the Bundesliga.
Right after the interval, they struck again. Aouchiche doubled the advantage with a clean, composed finish that underlined Schalke’s growing control.
Behind them, Loris Karius turned the game into his own personal showcase. Time and again he shut the door on Union Berlin, his saves preserving the two-goal cushion and draining belief from the hosts. Only deep into stoppage time did the resistance crack, Tim Skarke finally beating him in the sixth minute of added time.
Any chance of a frantic finale vanished almost instantly. With virtually the last kick, Maximilian Wober restored the two-goal margin, sealing a result that felt bigger than three points for Schalke.
The night carried an unusual twist. Early in the second half, referee Timo Gerach signaled he could not continue, complaining of a sore calf. Fourth official Jarno Wienefeld stepped in, an experienced Bundesliga 2 referee suddenly thrust into his first top-flight middle. He guided the rest of the match without fuss, as Schalke powered away.
Mastantuono’s hat trick drags Fiorentina off the floor
In Serie A, two winless sides met with nerves already fraying. Venezia struck first. Akor Adams finished neatly with his right foot in the 22nd minute, capping tidy buildup play from American midfielder Gianluca Busio and giving the home crowd hope that their own season might finally start.
That hope didn’t last long.
Franco Mastantuono turned the game on its head in the space of two ruthless minutes. He broke forward to level in the 29th, then did it again in the 30th to send Fiorentina into halftime suddenly in front. The visitors, beaten in their first three matches, finally had something to cling to.
The pressure eased further midway through the second half. Mateo Pellegrino, on a scoring run of his own, made it 3-1 with his second goal in as many games.
Mastantuono wasn’t finished. Six minutes from time he completed his hat trick, the decisive flourish in a performance that dragged Fiorentina out of the mire and up to 15th place.
Venezia did pull one back late through Antoine Hainaut, but it barely softened the blow. Another defeat, still no points, and bottom of a 20-team table. The numbers say everything.
Sevilla edge lifeless Valencia
In La Liga, Sevilla climbed into joint second, but they had to grind for it.
Valencia offered almost nothing in attack. Not a single shot on target. The match drifted, cagey and flat, until the closing stages when Sevilla finally found a way through.
With nine minutes left, Giorgi Kochorashvili swung in a deep cross from the left. Juan Antonio Iglesias rose to meet it, his header looping over the goalkeeper and dropping in. One moment of quality, one decisive touch.
That was enough. Sevilla took the 1-0 win and the league position that comes with it. Valencia stayed rooted to the bottom, with just one point from a possible 15 and serious questions piling up.
Relentless Rennes punish struggling Marseille
Over in Ligue 1, Rennes kept their momentum rolling and climbed to the summit.
Facing a Marseille side in disarray, the Breton club did not need a spectacle, just precision. They got it six minutes into the second half. Adrien Thomasson, a recent signing from Lens, struck his first goal for Rennes to secure a 1-0 victory and a third straight league win.
The result pushed Rennes one point clear of Monaco at the top.
For Marseille, the picture grows darker by the week. This was a third consecutive defeat and the club’s worst start to a league campaign in more than two decades. Three points, 11th place, and little sign yet of a turning tide.
West Ham run riot against Wrexham
In England, West Ham turned their Championship clash with Wrexham into a demolition.
Six goals. Six different scorers. A 6-0 scoreline that sent a clear message and sent West Ham to the top of the table, a point ahead of West Bromwich Albion.
On a night when several clubs across Europe clawed for narrow wins and hard-fought breakthroughs, West Ham chose a simpler route: overwhelm the opposition and walk away with the kind of victory that can define an early-season mood.
