It was a pivotal weekend in title races across Europe with crucial results for Manchester United, AC Milan, Barcelona, Dortmund and newly crowned Portuguese champions FC Porto.
English Premier League
Saturday; West Ham 2 Manchester United 4, Birmingham City 2 Bolton 1, Everton 2 Aston Villa 2, Newcastle 4 Wolverhampton 1, Stoke City 1 Chelsea 1, West Bromwich 2 Liverpool 1, Wigan 0 Tottenham 0, Arsenal 0 Blackburn 0. Sunday; Fulham 3 Blackpool 0, Manchester City 5 Sunderland 0
| Pos | Team | Pts | Pl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 66 | 31 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 59 | 30 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 56 | 31 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 55 | 30 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 50 | 30 |
Saturday was a pivotal day in the Premier League as Manchester United moved seven points clear to appear destined for title. Wayne Rooney scored three second-half goals to help the Red Devils fight back from 2-0 down to defeat West Ham 4-2. Elsewhere, Arsenal and Chelsea could only draw.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Aston Villa | 34 |
| 17 | Blackpool | 33 |
| 18 | West Ham | 32 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton | 32 |
| 20 | Wigan | 31 |
Birmingham City’s 2-1 win over Bolton moved them up to 15th and above city rivals Aston Villa. Roy Hodgson’s West Bromwich also recorded an important win, 2-1 over his former club Liverpool, moving them up to 36 points and 13th. Blackpool’s 3-0 loss at Fulham suggests they are sliding on into major trouble.
Spanish La Liga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Barcelona | 81 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 73 |
| 3 | Valencia | 57 |
| 4 | Villarreal | 54 |
| 5 | Sevilla | 45 |
Real Madrid’s stunning 1-0 loss to Gijon at the Bernabeu - manager Jose Mourinho’s first home loss for almost a decade – has all but ended their title hopes as Barcelona’s 1-0 win at Villarreal saw them move eight points clear at the top. Gerard Pique got the winner for Barca on 66 minutes.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Deportivo Coruna | 34 |
| 17 | Real Zaragoza | 30 |
| 18 | Hercules | 29 |
| 19 | Malaga | 26 |
| 20 | Almeria | 26 |
Royston Drenthe’s double helped Hercules moved off the bottom with a 3-1 win at Real Sociedad who slipped to their fourth consecutive defeat and down to 14th. Meanwhile, Deportivo’s 2-1 victory over Mallorca has eased their relegation concerns.
Italian Serie A
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | 65 |
| 2 | Napoli | 62 |
| 3 | Internazionale | 60 |
| 4 | Udinese | 56 |
| 5 | Lazio | 54 |
Alexandre Pato was the hero with a double in the Milanese derby as AC Milan defeated Inter Milan 3-0 to dent the champions hopes of retaining their title, although both bosses insist the result won’t be decisive. Don’t forget Napoli either after Edinson Cavani’s dramatic hat-trick helped them to an amazing 4-3 win over Lazio.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Parma | 32 |
| 17 | Lecce | 31 |
| 18 | Cesena | 30 |
| 19 | Brescia | 29 |
| 20 | Bari | 20 |
Lecce claimed a shock 2-0 win over Champions League hopefuls Udinese to take them out of the bottom three. Brescia also breathed life into their survival hopes with a 3-1 win over Bologna, while 15th-placed Sampdoria at least ended their losing streak with a goalless draw against Chievo.
German Bundesliga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 65 |
| 2 | Bayer Leverkusen | 58 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 51 |
| 4 | Hannover 96 | 50 |
| 5 | FSV Mainz | 45 |
Mario Gotze and Lucas Barrios ran riot as Borussia Dortmund got back on track with a 4-1 win over Champions League hopefuls Hannover 96 to re-affirm their seven-point advantage ahead of Leverkusen who kept the pressure up with a win at Kaiserslautern.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Kaiserslautern | 31 |
| 15 | VfB Stuttgart | 30 |
| 16 | VfL Wolfsburg | 28 |
| 17 | St Pauli | 28 |
| 18 | Moenchengladbach | 23 |
St Pauli>’s alarming slide of form came to an unusual halt when a beer mug thrown by a fan struck a referee in Friday’s game against Schalke. The game was abandoned with Schalke 2-0 up, and the result is likely to stand. Luckily for St Pauli, who had lost their previous five matches, no one around them claimed a win this weekend.
Random League: Portuguese Liga Sagres
FC Porto claimed the Portuguese title in style with a 2-1 win over second-placed Benfica on Saturday. Porto have an incredible record of 23 wins and two draws without a defeat this season and will now be hoping to finish season unbeaten.