EUROPEAN FOOTBALL ROUND-UP
Premiership: Derby delight
Tottenham Hotspur staged a scintillating comeback against Arsenal in the North London derby as they defeated the Gunners 3-2 at the Emirates. Spurs had Gareth Bale, Rafael Van der Vaart and Younes Kaboul to thank for the second-half goals after going to the half-time break 2-0 down. Defending champions Chelsea’s problems continue as they lost for the third time in four matches following a 1-0 defeat away to Birmingham. That loss saw Manchester United moving leveled on points with the Champions after a 2-0 victory over Wigan which saw Patrice Evra scoring his first goal in four years; Javier Hernandez copped the second For United. Avram Grant’s future as manager of West Ham seems gloomy after his side wen down 3-0 at Liverpool, leaving them at the bottom of the table. Bolton continued their fine form with a 5-1 hammering of Newcastle at the Reebok Stadium. Relegation fears for Wolves increased as they lost out 2-1 to Blackpool while Stoke defeated West Brom 3-0. Morten Gamst Pedersen’s brace lifted Blackburn to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa while Carlos Tevez showed old boss Mark Hughes no mercy at Craven Cottage as Manchester City romped to a 4-1 victory that saw them close to within three points of the Premier League leaders.
La Liga: Anything you can do I can do
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both scored hat-tricks on Saturday evening as leaders Real Madrid and Barcelona recorded impressive wins. Barcelona romped to an 8-0 win over Almeria with Bojan Krkic grabbing a brace in the process. Madrid ensured they went into classico on top with a 5-1 rout of Athletic Bilbao. Villarreal fought back from a goal down to earn a point in a 1-1 draw with Valencia. Espanyol climbed into fourth spot in La Liga with a 3-0 win over promoted Hercules. Mallorca closed within 2 points of Sevilla with a 2-1 victory over them. Manuel Pellegrini winning start came to an end as Malaga lost 3-0 to Deportivo. Former Man City striker Felipe Caicedo notched a brace to lift Levante out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Racing Santander. Osasuna meanwhile edged Sporting Gijon 1-0. Atletico came from behind to record a 4-2 victory over Real Sociedad with Kun Aguero grabbing a brace.
Serie A: Crisis
Goals from Sergio Pellissier and Davide Moscardelli condemned the Italian and European champions to their second successive Serie A defeat as Chievo won 2-1 in Verona. Inter are now nine points off the pace and Coach Rafael Benitez is under pressure. Meanwhile AC Milan has extended their lead at the summit of the Serie A table to 3 points with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina at the San Siro. Roma moved into 5th spot and a point behind Juventus following a 2-0 win over Udinese. Lazio missed the chance two move within a point of Milan as they drew 1-1 at Parma. Cagliari and Palermo both recorded 2-1 victories Brescia and Cesena respectively. Napoli moved into third place with a 4-1 win over Bologna which included a brace from Marek Hamsik. Milos Krasic inspired Juventus to a 2-0 victory Genoa to move within 6 points of leaders Milan. Giampaolo Pazzini grabbed a hat-trick to give Sampdoria a 3-2 win at Lecce meanwhile 10-man Catania edged out Bari 1-0.
Bundesliga: Raul lifts Schalke
Raul scored a hat-trick as Schalke collected their second straight home victory and continued their march up the Bundesliga table by thrashing a struggling Werder Bremen side 4-0. Leaders Dortmund scored twice in the final 15 minutes to come from behind and claim a 2-1 triumph away to Freiburg. Mainz are trying to keep apace with Dortmund after a last-gasp goal earned them a 3-2 win over Monchengladbach, while Hannover secured a dramatic home success over Hamburg with the same score line. Vedad Ibisevic scored twice as Hoffenheim enjoyed a convincing 4-0 victory away to Eintracht Frankfurt. Kaiserslautern climbed up to 13th in the standings after an impressive 3-1 away victory at Nurnberg. A late penalty gave Cologne a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Stuttgart while Wolfsburg came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with St Pauli.