Manchester United could move well clear in England after City slipped up on the weekend, while Bayern Munich closed the gap in Germany along with Juventus in Italy.
English Premier League
Weekend Results, Saturday; Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 4, Everton 2 West Bromwich 0, Fulham 2 Norwich City 1, Manchester City 3 Sunderland 3, QPR 2 Arsenal 1, Wigan 2 Stoke City 0, Wolverhampton 2 Bolton 3, Sunday; Newcastle 2 Liverpool 0, Tottenham 3 Swansea City 1, Monday; Blackburn v Manchester United
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 73 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 71 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 58 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 58 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 53 |
Manchester City missed the chance to go top after a 3-3 draw with Sunderland, although they did well to fight back from 3-1 down with 30 minutes to play. Manchester United can now move five points clear with victory over struggling Blackburn on Monday. The race for Champions League spots continues, with Arsenal’s defeat to QPR and Tottenham’s win over Swansea bucking their recent runs.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Bolton | 29 |
| 17 | Blackburn | 28 |
| 18 | QPR | 28 |
| 19 | Wigan | 28 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 22 |
Bolton made it two consecutive wins with a hard-fought 3-2 victory at Wolverhampton. Terry Connor’s side are now rooted to the bottom of the table after five straight losses. QPR also recorded a positive 2-1 win over Arsenal which keeps alive their hopes of survival, while Wigan defeated Stoke in a good weekend for those three.
Topscorers, Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 26 goals, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 21 goals, Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 17 goals, Demba Ba (Newcastle) 16 goals, Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Blackburn) 14 goals
Italian Serie A
Weekend Results, Saturday; Catania 1 AC Milan 1, Parma 3 Lazio 1, Sunday; AS Roma 5 Novara 2, Cagliari 2 Atalanta 0, Lecce 0 Cesena 0, Fiorentina 1 Chievo Verona 2, Internazionale 5 Genoa 4, Bologna 1 Palermo 3, Siena 1 Udinese 0, Juventus 3 Napoli 0
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | 64 |
| 2 | Juventus | 62 |
| 3 | Lazio | 51 |
| 4 | Napoli | 48 |
| 5 | Udinese | 48 |
Leaders AC Milan could only manage a 1-1 draw away to Catania on Saturday, meaning Juventus’ 3-0 victory over Napoli in Sunday’s late kick-off saw them close to within two points. Three second-half goals did the trick for the Old Lady, while defeats to Lazio, Napoli and Udinese allowed AS Roma to boost their European Champions League hopes with a 5-2 win over Novara closing them to within a point of fourth place.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Genoa | 34 |
| 17 | Fiorentina | 33 |
| 18 | Lecce | 28 |
| 19 | Novara | 24 |
| 20 | Cesena | 19 |
Parma were the big winners of the weekend with a Sergio Floccari helping them to a 3-1 victory over Lazio. Lecce could only draw 0-0 with Cesena, a result which hardly helps either side. Siena and Cagliari claimed important victories, while Fiorentina’s 2-1 home loss to Chievo ensures they are still looking over their shoulders.
Topscorers, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 22 goals, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 19 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 19 goals, Diego Milito (Internazionale) 17 goals, Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa) 16 goals
German Bundesliga
Weekend Results, Friday; Borussia Dortmund 4 VfB Stuttgart 4, Saturday; Bayer Leverkusen 0 SC Freiburg 2, Werder Bremen 0 FSV Mainz 3, FC Nurnberg 0 Bayern Munich 1, Kaiserslautern 0 Hamburg SV 1, Augsburg 2 FC Koln 1, Hertha BSC 1 Wolfsburg 4, Sunday; Hannover 96 2 Borussia Monchengladbach 1, Hoffenheim 1 Schalke 04 1
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 63 |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 60 |
| 3 | Schalke 04 | 54 |
| 4 | Borussia Moenchengladbach | 51 |
| 5 | Hannover 96 | 41 |
Borussia Dortmund’s stunning eight-goal stalemate with Stuttgart left the door open for Bayern Munich to move within three points of the German champions, as they won 1-0 away to Nurnberg with Arjen Robben hitting the winner. Schalke could only draw at Hoffenheim ending their title hopes.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | FC Augsburg | 30 |
| 15 | Hamburg SV | 30 |
| 16 | FC Koln | 28 |
| 17 | Hertha BSC | 26 |
| 18 | Kaiserslautern | 20 |
Augsburg were the big winners of the weekend as they got past FC Koln 2-1 to move above them and up into 14th. Koln dropped down into the bottom three as a result. Hamburg SV claimed an important 1-0 win at Kaiserslautern who appear doomed for the drop, while Freiburg’s 2-0 victory at Leverkusen boosts their survival hopes.
Topscorers, Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 23 goals, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Hamburg SV) 23 goals, Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), 17 goals, Lukas Podolski (FC Koln) 17 goals, Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 16 goals
Spanish La Liga
Weekend Results, Saturday; Barcelona 2 Athletic Bilbao 0, Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 5, Malaga 0 Real Betis 2, Sporting Gijon 1 Real Zaragoza 2, Racing Santander 0 Granada 1, Sunday; Villarreal 0 Espanyol 0, Real Sociedad 4 Rayo Vallecano 0, Valencia 1 Levante 1, Atletico Madrid 3 Getafe 0, Monday; Sevilla v Mallorca
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 78 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 72 |
| 3 | Valencia | 48 |
| 4 | Malaga | 47 |
| 5 | Levante | 45 |
Real Madrid continued on their merry way with a 5-1 win at Osasuna with Karim Benzema and Cristiano ronaldo scoring some cracking goals. Elsewhere, Barcelona kept up the pressure with a 2-0 triumph over Athletic Bilbao, while Valencia’s recent ordinary form continued with a 1-1 draw against Champions League hopefuls Levante.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Granada | 34 |
| 17 | Villarreal | 32 |
| 18 | Real Zaragoza | 28 |
| 19 | Racing Santander | 25 |
| 20 | Sporting Gijon | 25 |
Real Zaragoza made it three consecutive victories to move off the bottom after Lafita’s late goal inflicted a 2-1 defeat on fellow battlers Sporting Gijon. Granada claimed an important 1-0 win at Racing Santander thanks to Guilherme Siqueira’s last minute spotkick, while there were vital wins for Real Sociedad and Real Betis too.
Topscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 37 goals, Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 36 goals, Radomel Falcao (Atletico Madrid) 20 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 20 goals