Merseyside derby delivers pulsating thriller

Daniel Sturridge had to come off the bench to salvage a 3-3 draw for Liverpool in an entertaining game against city rivals Everton at Goodison Park last weekend. Phillippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez also scored for the Reds, while Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku (twice) netted for the Toffees.

Olivier Giroud’s double led Arsenal to a 2-0 win over Southampton on Saturday in what was a battle between first and fourth. Saints’ goalkeeper Artur Boruc’s glaring error allowed Giroud to tap into an open net to have the Gunners ahead at 1-0 before the Frenchman later converted from the penalty spot.

Manchester United failed to maintain their good run of form of late after drawing 2-2 at Cardiff. Kim Bo-Kyung sealed the draw with a header in stoppage time, a goal the hosts truly deserved.

Manchester City 6 —Tottenham 0

West Ham United 0 — Chelsea 3

Newcastle 2 — Norwich City 0

Barcelona consolidates lead atop table

An injury plagued Barcelona ran out 4-0 winners over Granada in the Spanish Primera Division which consolidated their lead atop the table. Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, Alexis Sanchez and Pedro netted for Blaugrana as they ended another match with a win without their talisman Lionel Messi and playmaker Xavi Hernandez.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his week by being forced off with injury after netting the opener for his side in a 5-0 victory over Almeria. Ronaldo stretched out his left boot to meet Isco’s cross before Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Alvaro Morata and Isco himself netted to seal the rout.

Carlos Vela had a match to remember as he scored all 4 goals for Real Sociedad in a breathtaking 4-3 win over Celta Vigo.

Atletico Madrid 7 — Getafe 0

Levante 0 — Villarreal 3

Rayo Vallecano 1 — Espanyol 4

Bianconeri keeps pressure on Roma

Juventus’ strike force combined beautifully to clinch a 2-0 victory over Livorno as the champions leapfrogged Roma provisionally, who plays on Monday. Fernando Llorente and new recruit Carlos Tevez scored in the 63rd and 75th for Juve.

Napoli lost their second match in succession after going down 1-0 to Parma at the Stadio San Paolo on Saturday. Former Real Madrid, Inter and AC Milan forward Antonio Cassano scored 9 minutes from time to earn a shock win for Parma.

Sampdoria 1 — Lazio 1

Udinese 1 — Fiorentina 0

AC Milan 1 — Genoa 1

Bayern maintains stranglehold

Mario Gotze’s first visit back to the Signal-Iduna Park since moving to Bayern Munich saw him score the opening goal against his former employers in a 3-0 win for the Bavarians. Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller rounded off the scoring in the top-of-the-table clash Saturday. The result in this German Der Klassiker is seen as pivotal in deciding the outcome of the Bundesliga championship.

Eintracht Frankfurt and Schalke played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena. After a Joselu double between the 61st and 68th minutes put the home team in front at 3-2, Benedikt Howedes had the final say with an equaliser four minutes from time to make it 3-3.

Werder Bremen 2 — Mainz 04 3

Stuttgart 0 — B Monchengladbach 2

Hamburg SV 3 — Hannover 96 1