Atletico Madrid beats 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 in derby, Man City outlasts Sunderland in England

MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid won the first capital derby of the season in the Spanish league with a 2-1 win against 10-man Real Madrid, while Manchester City prevailed in an eight-goal thriller against Sunderland to move clear at the top of the Premier League.

Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David scored second-half goals for Atletico, which moved to second place behind Barcelona.

Man City beat Sunderland 5-3 to open a three-point lead over defending champion Arsenal in England.

Atletico scored twice in the second half to beat its city rival, which played a man down nearly the entire second half at the Metropolitano stadium. Dean Huijsen was sent off in the 52nd for a foul that prompted the penalty kick converted by Grimaldo.

David added to the lead in the 59th, before Antonio Rüdiger scored for Madrid in the 89th.

Madrid wanted a red card for Atletico’s Cristian “Cuti” Romero in the first half after he stepped on the leg of Jude Bellingham. The play was reviewed by the VAR but Romero was only shown a yellow card.

The result moved Atletico within five points of Barcelona, which won 3-1 at Sevilla on Saturday with a hat trick by Raphinha.

Real Madrid dropped to third. It's six points behind Baracelona, which has won seven in a row to start the season.

Vinícius Júnior had a lackluster performance and was substituted in the 54th by Yan Diomande.

Man City extended its perfect winning start to the season to five games after City twice relinquished the lead and Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey outshone Erling Haaland with a hat trick.

Haaland eventually ended the visitors’ brave fight with City’s fifth goal in the 81st minute.

Alexander Isak scored his fourth goal of the season as Liverpool beat Bournemouth 1-0, and Leeds drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring the fifth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Sunderland in Manchester, England, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Sunderland's Trai Hume goes for a header during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Sunderland in Manchester, England, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Atletico Madrid's Cristian Romero grimace on the ground after a collision during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in Madrid, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe tries to get past Atletico Madrid's Marc Pubill, right, and Marcos Llorente during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in Madrid, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Atletico Madrid's Lee Kang-in tries to dribble the ball past Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni, right, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in Madrid, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he plans to stay in office after his party's losses in two state elections on Sunday, and again doubled down on the government’s plans for potentially painful reforms to Europe’s biggest economy.

Exit polls by public broadcaster ARD on Sunday night indicated that Metz's center-right Christian Democratic Union came in with just 5% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania -- the lowest result ever since World War II for the party in any state. The anti-migration, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany party made significant gains Sunday.

Merz acknowledged the CDU’s result as a “disaster” but struck a defiant note, rejecting any retreat from his government’s reform agenda. He argued that Germany’s economic and political problems made difficult and potentially unpopular reforms more urgent, not less, and pledged to press ahead with “backbone, steadfastness and patience.”

In Berlin, the CDU was projected to come in second with 20%, behind the Left party at 24.5%, according to ARD's exit poll.

Merz’s authority was already damaged by CDU's stinging defeat to AfD in the Sept. 6 election in the small eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. That result shocked many Germans who had believed their country had developed an immunity to nationalism and assertions of racial superiority after confronting the horrors of its Nazi past through education and laws to outlaw persecution.

Merz, 70, became Germany’s leader 16 months ago with promises to turn around an economy that has barely grown in years, but has failed to lift a sullen national mood and has himself become deeply unpopular.

The strong showing of AfD in the Saxony-Anhalt election, where it has best chance yet of forming the country’s first far-right regional government since World War II, has further weakened the chancellor's standing on the national level as well. In the past two weeks there have been calls even from within his own party to replace him as chancellor, although no top-level allies have called publicly for his departure, and many have warned against “personnel debates.”

Apparently anticipating a tough postelection period, Merz abandoned a planned trip to New York next week to attend the U.N. General Assembly. Despite the strong headwinds, he has repeatedly said that he’s determined to stay on and finish his term as chancellor.

Voters sit at a voting booth in Schwerin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, as the vote for the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state election, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)

A man casts his vote at a polling station during the Berlin state election in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Social Democratic Party Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the party's top candidate for the upcoming state election Manuela Schwesig poses in front of an election campaign poster reading "The Woman Against Blue", in Schwerin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. ( Jens Buettner/dpa via AP)

Leif-Erik Holm, the AfD's candidate for state premier in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, speaks at the campaign's closing rally in Neubrandenburg, Germany, on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrives for the Cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)