After a brief lay-off for international matches the league programme began again. Gastón Casas from Betis is the surprise leader at this early stage. With new signings Joao Tomas and Ikpeba, plus ex Mallorca and Rangers striker Amato all theoretically ahead of him in the pecking order at 'er Beti', Casas was not even expecting to play . However he got his third league goal and his second from the penalty spot to stake his claim for a first team place. All in all there were six penalties in day two's games, with Celta being awarded two in their match with Tenerife. Catanha insisted on taking the first, wrestling the ball away from regular penalty taker Gustavo López to do so. However neither of them was on the pitch when the second was awarded, so Mostovoi stepped up to get his second goal of the match.

Rayo's new signing Arteaga was also successful from the penalty spot against Barcelona, and he too makes it into our chart this week. Last season he only got three all year playing for Espanyol. Finally Mallorca's Eto'o gave his side their first three points to take the pressure off his manager pending their Champions League game with Arsenal. There were some complaints from managers this week about injuries picked up playing international matches. Barcelona will be missing Rivaldo for the next three or four weeks after he got injured playing for Brazil, and Overmars also missed this weekend's games for the same reason. His teammate at Holland Makaay was also unavailable for Deportivo, and Palencia returned from México with a doctor's certificate keeping him out for a couple of weeks. (10.09.01)