It was a weekend which was all about Wayne Rooney’s brilliance in the Manchester derby, but there were major slip-ups for a few big clubs in Spain, Italy and Germany.
English Premier League
| Pos | Team | Pts | Pl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 57 | 26 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 53 | 26 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 49 | 27 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 47 | 26 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 44 | 25 |
Wayne Rooney stole all the headlines this weekend after his wonderful bicycle goal clinches the Mancunian derby for Manchester United 2-1 over Manchester City. The goal came in the 78th minute, at a time when not only the derby, but the title race, was suddenly poised at an interesting junction. The result, though, knocks the Sky Blues effectively out of the title race, while keeping Arsenal at arm’s length.
Arsenal did maintain the pressure to stay four points behind, but they’d love to be closer. Robin van Persie hit a double in their routine 2-0 win over Wolverhampton. Tottenham moved to fourth for now after a 2-1 win at Sunderland, while Chelsea play Fulham on Monday.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Blackpool | 29 |
| 17 | West Bromwich | 27 |
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 27 |
| 19 | West Ham United | 25 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 24 |
It was a weekend of draws for the Premier League strugglers, with five of the bottom six all recording draws. Wolverhampton slipped into last spot after their 2-0 loss at Arsenal, but West Ham produced the stunning performance of the weekend to fight back from 3-0 down against West Bromwich to draw 3-3. Wigan claimed a commendable 1-1 draw at Liverpool. Birmingham moved away from trouble with a 1-0 win over Stoke City.
Spanish La Liga
Leaders FC Barcelona had their record-breaking run of victories halted on the weekend by lowly Sporting Gijon as the two sides fought out a 1-1 draw. It might have been worse for Barca had it not been for David Villa’s wonderful leveller.
Real Madrid cut the gap at the top to five points, despite losing Iker Casillas to a second-minute red card. Marcelo got the winner as Real Madrid won 1-0 at Espanyol. Meanwhile, Villarreal slipped to their second consecutive defeat, 1-0 at Deportivo Coruna allowing Valencia to move into third after a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid thanks to a Joaquin double.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Sporting Gijon | 23 |
| 17 | Real Zaragoza | 23 |
| 18 | Osasuna | 22 |
| 19 | Almeria | 20 |
| 20 | Malaga | 19 |
Felipe Caicedo scored the only goal of a crucial relegation scrap as Levante moved up to 15th with a 1-0 win over Almeria. Bottom-placed Malaga fought back from 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go, to draw 2-2 with Getafe, but games like that they need to win if they’re to survive.
Italian Serie A
AC Milan kept themselves on course with a 4-0 victory over Parma, with Clarence Seedorf and Antonio Cassano scoring early goals, before Robinho put plenty of gloss on the result. Napoli stayed in touch with a major 2-0 win at AS Roma, thanks to Edinson Cavani’s double. Roma are now 8th.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan suffered a stunning 1-0 Derby d’Italia defeat to Juventus, thanks to new signing Alessandro Matri’s goal. The result dents Inter’s Scudetto ambitions after a recent resurgence under new boss Leonardo.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Catania | 26 |
| 17 | Lecce | 24 |
| 18 | Brescia | 22 |
| 19 | Cesena | 21 |
| 20 | Bari | 15 |
Francesco Lodi was the hero of the weekend for Catania firing in a brace as they recorded a crucial 3-2 win over fellow strugglers Lecce in an enthralling contest. Cesena’s winless streak extended to eight matches after a 3-0 home loss to Udinese, while bottom-placed Bari claimed a 0-0 draw with Genoa.
German Bundesliga
Runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund showed more jitters this weekend, after conceded late to draw 1-1 with Kaiserslautern. Dortmund have now drawn three of their past four matches, to hold a 10-point advantage from Leverkusen, who cruised to an impressive 3-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt with some stylish football.
Bayern Munich moved back up to third after a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim. Arjen Robben returned to form with a double, including a sublime second goal which he curled into the corner.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Werder Bremen | 24 |
| 15 | VfL Wolfsburg | 23 |
| 16 | Kaiserslautern | 23 |
| 17 | VfB Stuttgart | 19 |
| 18 | Moenchengladbach | 16 |
| Germany | St Pauli and FC Koln were the big movers this weekend after both winning. St Pauli defeated Moenchengladbach 3-1 to move up to 12th, but the losers will rue Igor De Camargo’s first-half red card after taking an early lead. Koln beat Mainz 4-2 to move up to 13th with Lukas Podolski> hitting a double. |
Random League: French Ligue 1
Lille continue to look the goods in France after a 2-0 win over Toulouse, thanks to goals from Kouassi Gervinho and Tulio de Melo. Stade Rennais kept up the pressure with a 2-0 win over Nice.
The big guns lurking behind the top two are still staying in touch, Marseille winning 2-1 at Sochaux thanks to Alain Gignac’s double, while Lyon ominously thrashed St Etienne 4-1.
