English Premier League
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 25 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 23 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 20 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 20 |
| 5 | Newcastle | 17 |
It was a brilliant weekend for Manchester United after Park Ji-sung’s stoppage-time goal clinched a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton on Saturday. Then their rivals Arsenal lost to Newcastle 1-0 and Chelsea lost 2-0 to Liverpool on Sunday, to see the Red Devils move into second and close the gap at the top.
Newcastle’s shock win at the Emirates moves them into fifth, while Bolton defeated Tottenham 4-2 to jump into sixth. Liverpool, though, are the big movers up to ninth after Fernando Torres’ double guided them to their third straight victory.
Down the bottom, Wigan moved into the drop zone after being beaten 2-1 by fellow strugglers Blackburn, while bottom-club West Ham blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Birmingham City.
Spanish La Liga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 26 |
| 2 | FC Barcelona | 25 |
| 3 | Villarreal | 23 |
| 4 | Espanyol | 18 |
| 5 | Valencia | 17 |
Cristiano Ronaldo did not score but it did not matter as Real Madrid cruised past Atletico Madrid 2-0 with two inside the opening 20 minutes. Barcelona keep in touch with the Spanish leaders after a 3-1 win at Getafe, with Lionel Messi on the scoresheet. Villarreal remain close after a 4-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao.
Down the wrong end, Gabi’s late goal gave Real Zaragoza an invaluable 3-2 win over Mallorca which moves them off the foot of the table. They go above Malaga, who had new boss Manuel Pellegrini watch on as they lost 1-0 at Espanyol. Meanwhile, Deportivo moved into 15th after a second consecutive win, 2-1 at Levante.
German Bundesliga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 28 |
| 2 | FSV Mainz | 24 |
| 3 | Bayer Leverkusen | 21 |
| 4 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 19 |
| 5 | TSG Hoffenheim | 18 |
Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund extended their lead atop the German Bundesliga to four points following an emphatic 4-0 win at Hannover 96. Meanwhile, second-placed FSV Mainz lost for the third time in four matches, going down 1-0 away to SC Freiburg, while Leverkusen closed in on them with a 3-1 win over Kaiserslautern.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm admitted his side’s title hopes were slipping away after a 3-3 draw at bottom-club Moenchengladbach. Bayern are ninth, 12 points behind Dortmund. Elsewhere, VfB Stuttgart moved out of the bottom three after a stunning 6-0 win over midtable Werder Bremen while Schalke 04 got a much-needed 3-0 win over St Pauli to move into 16th.
Italian Serie A
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lazio | 22 |
| 2 | AC Milan | 20 |
| 3 | Internazionale | 19 |
| 4 | Juventus | 18 |
| 5 | Napoli | 18 |
Leaders Lazio were beaten by two second-half penalties in the Rome derby as AS Roma moved into seventh spot with the 2-0 victory. Inter couldn’t mount the pressure on Lazio, though, after they needed a controversial late Samuel Eto’o penalty to draw 1-1 with Brescia, but AC Milan move into second after a 3-2 win at bottom-club Bari.
Down in the drop zone, the bottom three all lost this weekend, so it isn’t looking good for Parma, Cesena and Bari, but they have company after 16th-placed Lecce lost 2-0 to Bologna. Fiorentina’s 1-0 win over Chievo Verona moves them further away from danger and up to 11th.
Random League: Portuguese Liga Sagres
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Porto | 28 |
| 2 | Benfica | 18 |
| 3 | Nacional | 16 |
| 4 | Academica | 15 |
| 5 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 15 |
FC Porto moved an incredible 10 points clear just 10 games into the Portuguese season after a 5-0 thrashing of their nearest rivals Benfica on Sunday. Porto boss Andre Villas-Boas labelled the victory a “tasty result”. Hulk grabbed two goals, Radomel Falcao got a double while Silvestre Varela got one.
Pre-season title hopefuls Sporting Braga slumped to seventh following their third defeat in four matches with a 3-2 home loss to Beira Mar. Meanwhile, sixth-placed Sporting Lisbon> can move into second with a win on Monday against Vitoria Guimaraes.