(Early) Soccer Source Saturday Summary: Chagrin For City

Heading over to the Swamp for the Red Bulls' playoff game, so I need to crank this out early. I'll have full reaction to that game later tonight. For now, let's focus on the continent: Manchester City had their arses handed to them at Stamford Bridge today. Not sure if the six goal margin is justified; Sven's men hung in there for large portions of the first half and it wasn't until the second that the floodgates opened. But I do know this: In last week's top 25 write-up, I mentioned this would be a major test for City, who are not playing in Europe this year. So consider having failed the test, Citizens. I can safely say this team does not belong amongst England's--let alone Europe's--elite. One that definitely does, however, is Manchester's other team, who put on a clinic of their own at Old Trafford today. The 4-1 dismantling of Middlesbrough was the first time in a century that the club scored four goals in four successive games. United are now top of the table, but they have played two games more than Arsenal, whom they displaced. The Gunners, by the way, face a formidable test at Anfield tomorrow and then have Man U at home Nov. 3 with a Halloween trip to Sheffield Wednesday for a Carling Cup match thrown in at midwek.

Elsewhere in Europe, the top clubs were mainly idle today. Check that. By the time of this writing, Juventus were losing to Napoli 3-1. The top game in the Bundesliga, between Werder Bremen and Schalke 04, ended 1-1. VfB Stuttgart got a much-needed victory, over Bayer Leverkusen. In Spain, Espanyol and Malaga drew 2-2. The big game is tomorrow, between Valencia and Seville. Finally, Celtic made quick work of Motherwell, winning 3-0 and cementing their hold on first place. The 'Hoops now have a three point lead over idle Rangers, who face Dundee United tomorrow. Rangers would need to win by more than four goals to dislodge Celtic.