It was a huge weekend of results all around Europe, with significant changes to the title race in the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A.
English Premier League
Weekend Results, Saturday; Stoke City 3 Blackburn 1, Bolton 0 Everton 2, Chelsea 3 Wolves 0, Man Utd 1 Newcastle 1, Norwich City 2 QPR 1, Sunderland 1 Wigan 2, West Bromwich 1 Tottenham 3, Arsenal 1 Fulham 1, Sunday; Swansea City 0 Aston Villa 0, Liverpool 1 Man City 1
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 35 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 30 |
| 3 | Tottenham | 28 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 26 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 25 |
There were draws at the top of the Premier League for the leading Manchester duo, meaning Tottenham and Chelsea managed to make ground with wins this weekend. Manchester United will feel hard done by with the penalty they conceded in their 1-1 draw with Newcastle, while Manchester City were held at Liverpool, with Joe Hart making some fine saves.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Sunderland | 11 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton | 11 |
| 18 | Bolton | 9 |
| 19 | Wigan | 9 |
| 20 | Blackburn | 7 |
It only gets worse for Blackburn this weekend after a poor 3-1 loss at Stoke City, however boss Steve Kean received a new contract in midweek which has the fans stunned. Wigan heaped the pressure on Sunderland boss Steve Bruce and eased their relegation woes, with a 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light with Franco Di Santo striking late.
Topscorers, Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 13 goals, Edin Dzeko (Manchester City) 10 goals, Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 10 goals, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 9 goals, Demba Ba (Newcastle) 9 goals
German Bundesliga
Weekend Results, Friday; FC Koln 0 Borussia Moenchengladbach 3, Saturday; Borussia Dortmund 2 Schalke 0, FC Nurnberg 1 Kaiserslautern 0, Hoffenheim 1 SC Freiburg 1, FC Augsburg 2 VfL Wolfsburg 0, Hertha BSC 3 Bayer Leverkusen 3, Hannover 96 1 Hamburg SV 1, Sunday; Werder Bremen 2 Stuttgart 0, FSV Mainz 3 Bayern Munich 2
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 29 |
| 2 | Moenchengladbach | 29 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 28 |
| 4 | Werder Bremen | 26 |
| 5 | Schalke 04 | 25 |
It was a massive weekend in Germany, with Borussia Dortmund taking the honours in the fierce Ruhr derby, 2-0 over Schalke thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski and Felipe Santana. Dortmund went top too, after Bayern Munich lost 3-2 at FSV Mainz on Sunday, while Moenchengladbach were briefly on top after Friday’s 3-0 win at Koln.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | FC Nurnberg | 15 |
| 15 | Hamburg SV | 14 |
| 16 | Kaiserslautern | 13 |
| 17 | SC Freiburg | 12 |
| 18 | FC Augsburg | 11 |
FSV Mainz’s big win over Bayern Munich has moved them up to 13th and away from the drop zone, along with FC Nurnberg who had Timothy Chandler to thank for their relegation battle win over Kaiserslautern. Augsburg claimed a much-needed 2-0 win over Wolfsburg to stay in touch with the pack.
Topscorers, Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 13 goals, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04) 12 goals, Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 11 goals, Marco Reus (Moenchengladbach) 10 goals
Spanish La Liga
Weekend Results, Saturday; Rayo Vallecano 1 Valencia 2, Real Madrid 4 Atletico Madrid 1, Getafe 1 FC Barcelona 0, Real Betis 2 Real Sociedad 3, Levante 4 Sporting Gijon 0, Real Mallorca 2 Racing Santander 1, Sunday; Espanyol 1 Osasuna 2, Athletic Bilbao 0 Granada 1, Real Zaragoza 0 FC Sevilla 1, Monday; Malaga v Villarreal
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 34 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 28 |
| 3 | Valencia | 27 |
| 4 | Levante | 26 |
| 5 | Sevilla | 21 |
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a double with two goals from the spot as Real Madrid moved six points clear at the top of the Spanish table with a 4-1 victory over city rivals Atletico Madrid, while Barcelona slumped to a shock 1-0 loss at Getafe. Valencia stay in touch after their 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano too, while Levante snapped their poor run with a big 4-0 win over Gijon.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Real Sociedad | 12 |
| 17 | Sporting Gijon | 12 |
| 18 | Granada | 12 |
| 19 | Real Zaragoza | 10 |
| 20 | Racing Santander | 9 |
The woes continue for Real Zaragoza and Racing Santander who both are struggling to find wins. Granada, who had only scored four goals prior to the weekend, claimed a huge 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao, while Real Mallorca’s 2-1 win over Racing was a huge result in the dogfight down the bottom. Real Sociedad almost blew a big three points at Real Betis, surrendering a two-goal lead before Inigo Martinez’s injury-time strike won it 3-2.
Topscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 16 goals, Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 15 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 12 goals, Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 8 goals
Italian Serie A
Weekend Results, Friday; Udinese 2 AS Roma 0, Saturday; Lecce 0 Catania 1, Novara 2 Parma 1, Sunday; Atalanta 1 Napoli 1, Lazio 0 Juventus 1, Cagliari 1 Bologna 1, Cesena 2 Genoa 0, Palermo 2 Fiorentina 0, Siena 0 Inter Milan 1, AC Milan 4 Chievo Verona 0
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juventus | 25 |
| 2 | AC Milan | 24 |
| 3 | Udinese | 24 |
| 4 | Lazio | 22 |
| 5 | Palermo | 19 |
Simone Pepe scored the winner as Juventus moved a point clear at the top with a 1-0 win over Lazio who slipped down to fourth. Leapfrogging the Romans was AC Milan who are the big movers in Serie A, after claiming a 4-0 win over Chievo Verona, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic the hero with a double as they raced to half-time four-goal lead.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Fiorentina | 13 |
| 17 | Bologna | 11 |
| 18 | Novara | 10 |
| 19 | Cesena | 9 |
| 20 | Lecce | 8 |
Newly-promoted Novara recorded a huge three points despite going down to 10 men, beating Parma 2-1, while Adrian Mutu fired a brace as Cesena won 2-0 over Genoa in two significant results down the bottom. Lecce conceded late to lose 1-0 to Catania in a blow which sees them drop to bottom, while Inter Milan’s gradual climb continued after a 1-0 win at Siena moved them up to 12th.
Topscorers, German Denis (Atalanta) 10 goals, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 9 goals, Sebastian Giovinco (Parma) 7 goals, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 7 goals, Miroslav Klose (Lazio) 6 goals