European football roundup: West Ham go top of Premier League; Milan maintain perfect start in Serie A

West Ham ruined Luton’s homecoming to Kenilworth Road as David Moyes’ men moved to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win on Friday. Set among rows of terraced houses, Luton’s 11,000 capacity home since 1905 had to undergo significant development to comply with regulations to host matches in England’s top flight. That led to the postponement of their home fixture against Brighton last month. The Hatters have risen from the fifth-tier National League to the Premier League in just 10 seasons. But on the field, Luton are struggling to come to terms with the leap in quality as they remain without a point after three games. West Ham, by contrast, are flying despite the loss of former captain Declan Rice to Arsenal for an initial £100 million. Jarrod Bowen scored the winner as the Hammers claimed their first trophy in 43 years by lifting the Europa Conference League in June. The England international has kicked on to start the new campaign in fine form as he became the first West Ham player to score in three consecutive top-flight away games in nearly 100 years. Bowen was picked out by Lucas Paqueta’s teasing cross eight minutes before half-time and his header from close range had too much power for Thomas Kaminski. The visitors had a second goal after the break narrowly ruled out for offside as Emerson fired home from Michail Antonio’s lay-off. James Ward-Prowse’s impressive start to his West Ham career has masked the departure of Rice. The former Southampton skipper now has a goal and three assists in three appearances as his corner was powerfully headed in by Kurt Zouma five minutes from time. Luton had failed to muster a single shot on target until stoppage time, but set up a grandstand finish when Mads Andersen headed in their first Premier League goal from open play. Ward-Prowse then escaped huge shouts for a Luton penalty when a corner came off the midfielder’s arm. But West Ham held on to move one point ahead of Manchester City at the summit ahead of the champions’ clash with Fulham on Saturday. Serie A: Ten-man AC Milan maintain 100 percent start at Roma [caption id=“attachment_13068232” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Olivier Giroud scored from the penalty spot in AC Milan’s win over AS Roma in the Serie A. AP[/caption] AC Milan continued their perfect start to the new Serie A season with Friday’s straightforward 2-1 win at Roma who struggled even after Romelu Lukaku made his debut from the bench. An early Olivier Giroud penalty and Rafael Leao’s stunning volley two minutes after half-time gave Milan a deserved victory at the Stadio Olimpico and took their points tally to nine after three games. Stefano Pioli’s side were worthy winners in the Italian capital despite having to play the final half an hour with 10 men after central defender Fikayo Tomori was sent off for two bookable offences. Milan have brought in a host of new faces over a busy summer and Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders all performed well again as Milan moved three points ahead of Verona, Inter Milan and Napoli. Champions Napoli host Lazio on Saturday night while Inter take on Fiorentina at the San Siro on Sunday with the two Milan giants facing off in the first derby of the season straight after the coming international break. “Every match is a test that needs to be passed, and that will be a tough test because they’re a worthy opponent,” said Pioli to DAZN. “The derby has come early in the season… we both want the second star (for 20 league titles) on our shirt and it will be a good chance to get a measure of ourselves.” Leonardo Spinazzola netted in stoppage time for Roma who have a single point from their first three matches and have dropped into the relegation zone, a place above local rivals Lazio. Jose Mourinho’s side are also in the midst of an injury crisis just weeks into the new campaign, with Houssem Aouar picking up a thigh knock in the first half and joining Paulo Dybala, Sardar Azmoun and Renato Sanches on the treatment table. Not even the introduction of star loan signing Lukaku not long after Tomori’s dismissal could salvage something for a poor performance against Milan who look a serious candidate for the league title. Milan were the better team throughout a niggly contest and had the lead in the ninth minute when Rui Patricio was judged to have kicked Ruben Loftus-Cheek after the England international miscontrolled the ball while charging through on goal. An outraged Mourinho sarcastically applauded the decision on the sidelines before veteran France striker Giroud stroked in his fourth goal of the season. The away side would have been two ahead in the 22nd minute had Patricio not made up for his previous clumsiness by brilliantly keeping out Christian Pulisic’s close-range volley. But there was nothing Patricio could do about the goal which doubled Milan’s lead, Leao getting goal side of Zeki Celik and brilliantly placing Davide Calabria’s cross in off the post while falling to the turf. “I’ve been trying to score that goal for three years!” a delighted Leao later told Sky Sport. Milan were firmly in control until Tomori was sent off in the 61st minute for a pointless foul on Andrea Belotti, and with 20 minutes remaining Mourinho rolled the dice and brought on Lukaku. However a snapshot not long after being brought was all the Belgium striker managed to drum up in a finale which was made frantic after Spinazzola’s effort was deflected past Mike Maignan but didn’t change the final result. Earlier Domenico Berardi netted twice on his season debut for Sassuolo, a 3-1 win over Verona which got his team off the mark. Italy forward Berardi had been dropped for Sassuolo’s first two matches, defeats to Atalanta and Napoli, as he pushed for a move to Juventus which never materialised. And he was on the spot to hand the hosts their first win of the campaign, the 29-year-old involved in Andrea Pinamonti’s 11th minute opener before bagging his brace in 10 second half minutes after Cyril Ngonge had equalised. Bundesliga: Heidenheim hold stunned Dortmund after late penalty drama [caption id=“attachment_13068242” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Borussia Dortmund have one win and two draws in Bundesliga this season. AP[/caption] Promoted Heidenheim claimed their first points in the Bundesliga on Friday, coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Borussia Dortmund after a controversial and bizarre late penalty decision. Dortmund looked in full control early, taking a commanding lead just 15 minutes with a goal from Julian Brandt and an Emre Can penalty. The home side wasted several chances to land a killer blow and allowed Heidenheim back into the game, Eren Dinkci scoring a stunner early in the second half to give the visitors hope. Heidenheim equalised from the spot late in the second half, Tim Kleindienst scoring after a long VAR delay. Having originally awarded a penalty which was overturned by VAR for offside, the referee approached the box and again overturned the decision, sending Kleindienst to the spot. Dortmund protested but the goal stood, continuing a worryingly poor start from last year’s runners up, who now have one win and two draws in the league this season. “We pretty much beat ourselves in the second half” Brandt told DAZN. “We conceded two goals after safely having possession of the ball. We urgently need to protect the ball – goals like that break our necks.” Dortmund manager Edin Terzic refused to blame the late controversy, telling DAZN “we completely gave the game away… you have to say that we beat ourselves today.” His Heidenheim counterpart Frank Schmidt credited his side’s fightback. “We were 2-0 behind after 15 minutes and I think everyone thought it was over, but then we took risks and provoked mistakes – you can say we should have won.” Facing a side playing only their third top division match, Dortmund dominated early and took the lead after just seven minutes, Brandt lofting a shot past Kevin Mueller and in, off the bottom of the crossbar. Dortmund doubled their lead from the spot soon after, captain Can sending Mueller the wrong way after Lennard Maloney handballed under pressure from Brandt. The home side turned the screws as the newcomers looked shellshocked, but were unable to convert several half-chances. Outclassed in the first half, Heidenheim looked a different side early in the second half, turning up the pressure on the home side. The visitors had the ball in the net shortly after halftime but had the goal struck off for handball. Undeterred, Heidenheim pulled one back shortly after, Dinkci slamming past Gregor Kobel from close range. With 15 minutes remaining, Sebastien Haller brought down an offside Jan-Niklas Beste in the box. In comical scenes, the match official pointed to the spot but a VAR review overturned the penalty for offside – before suggesting the referee have another look on the monitor. The referee took several minutes before awarding a penalty, deciding Haller had control of the ball and had played on, meaning the offside was irrelevant. Kleindienst, who scored the crucial penalty which brought Heidenheim into the top division last season, stepped up and blasted the ball down the middle to equalise. Despite 12 minutes of injury time, the visitors held on for a memorable draw.