DYLAN MARTINEZ / Reuters

Chelsea's Didier Drogba celebrates after scoring against Stoke City on Saturday.

EUROPEAN ROUNDUP

By Steve Douglas

updated 4:35 p.m. ET Aug. 28, 2010

LONDON - Premier League leader Chelsea extended its season-opening winning streak with a 2-0 home win over Stoke on goals by Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba on Saturday, while Arsenal and Manchester United also posted victories to remain close behind.

Malouda opened the scoring for the defending champions in the 31st minute, before Drogba joined the winger on four goals for the season by sealing Chelsea's third successive win with a 77th-minute penalty.

Russia forward Andrey Arshavin scored a 51st-minute goal to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory over Blackburn. United also stayed unbeaten and two points behind Chelsea after thrashing West Ham 3-0, with Wayne Rooney ending his scoring drought.

Free-scoring Chelsea won its opening two league games 6-0, but found goals harder to come by against a team that lost 7-0 at Stamford Bridge last season.

"I was happy because we won, but we didn't have a good, high tempo. It was not our best performance," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said.

Arsenal produced a resilient display at Ewood Park a few hours earlier to climb to seven points and stay second.

England winger Theo Walcott opened the scoring for Arsene Wenger's side in the fourth minute after running onto a through ball by Robin van Persie to slam a low finish into the corner.

Blackburn equalized through on-loan striker Mame Diouf in the 27th, but Arshavin stroked home the winning goal six minutes after the interval.

Rooney had not scored for United or England since March, but slotted home a 33rd-minute penalty, after Ryan Giggs was fouled by Jonathan Spector, to set United on its way against West Ham. Nani and Dimitar Berbatov added second-half goals.

Elsewhere, Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to previously bottom Wigan, Blackpool and Fulham drew 2-2, and Wolverhampton was held 1-1 by Newcastle.

Bilbao tops Hercules
The Spanish season began with Athletic Bilbao's 1-0 win over promoted Hercules thanks to Spain striker Fernando Llorente's 46th-minute goal.

Malaga hosts Valencia and Sevilla visits Levante later Saturday, while Barcelona and Real Madrid play Sunday.

Mainz rallies to shock Wolfsburg
Mainz recovered from three goals down to shock Wolfsburg 4-3 in the Bundesliga, and Schalke's dismal start to the season continued with a 2-1 home loss to Hannover.

Also, Werder Bremen bounced back from an opening-day loss with a 4-2 win over Cologne. On Friday, promoted Kaiserslautern upset reigning champion Bayern Munich 2-0.

More news

Gary Bogdon / Getty Images

Donovan delivers

Landon Donovan returned to the U.S. national team following an eight-month absence and scored his first international hat trick in five years, leading the Americans over Scotland 5-1 in a friendly Saturday night.

NBC Sports

Highlights: Donovan leads US in rout

  Landon Donovan's hat trick helps the U.S. to a convincing 5-1 win over Scotland.

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