United falter
EPL: The gap at the top of the table is down to five points after Clint Dempsey scored an equaliser for Tottenham in the last minute of extra time to draw 1-1 with Manchester United.
Manchester City had earlier cut the gap to four when David Silva netted a brace to blank Fulham 2-0. Third-placed Chelsea scored two first half goals to beat Arsenal 2-1 while Swansea City outplayed Stoke 3-1 as Jonathon De Guzman scored a brace and Michael Owen scored a consolation goal late on.
Daniel Sturridge has now scored in his first three games for Liverpool as he netted one in the Reds’ 5-0 demolition of Norwich at Anfield. Reading clipped Newcastle 2-1 but remain in the relegation zone with Newcastle just two points above them.
Wigan also remain in relegation danger as they went down 3-2 to Sunderland while West Brom and Aston Villa tied 2-2. West Ham versus QPR ended 1-1 with Rangers remaining bottom of the league.
Barca lose
La Liga: A week after TEENage asked how long can Barcelona’s unbeaten streak last, the Catalans took a two goal lead in the first half only to have Real Sociedad find a stoppage time goal for the 3-2 win.
Lionel Messi’s scoring run continues, however, as he scored in his 10th consecutive game. The loss meant that Atletico Madrid had the chance to cut the gap to eight points and they did not disappoint as they marched past Levante 2-0.
Real Madrid were as close as they have been to last year’s form this week as Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria netted braces the Los Blancos’ 5-0 rout of Valencia. Espanyol meanwhile, committed Mallorca to second-bottom with a late goal for the 3-2 win.
Malaga, however, missed the chance to go into the Europa league spot, temporarily above Betis, as they were held 1-1 by Celta. Getafe also drew 1-1 with Sevilla.
Deportivo are now bottom after losing to other relegation candidates Osasuna by 2 goals to 1. Valladolid and Granada both earned 2-0 wins at Zaragoza and Vallecano respectively.
Juve re-extend lead
Serie A: A week after having their lead cut to three points, Juventus bounced back with a 4-0 rout of Udinese as Paul Pogba scored a brace to extend their lead to five points.
They could do this because their two nearest challengers, Napoli and Lazio drew on the weekend. Lazio had to rely on a late penalty to snatch the 2-2 draw at second-bottom Lazio, while Napoli, who are now above Lazio on goal difference, played out a 1-1 draw with Fiorentina.
A double from Giampaolo Pazzini saw AC Milan climb above Roma into sixth with a 2-1 win over Bologna. Roma drew 1-1 with Inter who remain in the Europa league position.
Bottom-placed Siena finally got a win by clipping Sampdoria 1-0 while third-bottom Genoa went down 2-0 at home to Catania. Cagliari climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-1 draw with Atalanta while Chievo versus Parma also ended 1-1.
No cobwebs for Bayern
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich, who last week announced that Pep Guardiola would be taking the Bavarian reins at the end of the season, had no problems with returning from the long break as they dispatched bottom team Greuther Furth 2-0 with a Mario Mandzukic brace.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen also returned with a win as they dispatched fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1. Dortmund, who are third, cruised to a 5-0 win over Bremen as prodigal son Nuri Sahin returned after time away at Real Madrid and Liverpool.
Schalke snatched the 5-4 win in a match against Hannover that saw eight second-half goals. Augsburg remain second-bottom despite winning 3-2 over Dusseldorf while Hoffenheim, who drew 0-0 with Monchengladbach remain third-bottom.