United shocked by Spurs, Madrid get title challenge back on track

The North Londoners came away from Old Trafford with a 3-2 win as their campaign gathers momentum. League leaders Chelsea won a tight game 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, while champions Manchester City beat Fulham 2-1. Liverpool got their first win as they crushed Norwich 5-2, and Newcastle were held 2-2 by Reading. Everton’s fine form continued with a 3-1 win over Southampton.

Real Madrid slaughtered Deportivo La Coruna 5-1 at the Bernabeu, Cristiano Ronaldo bagging a hat trick. That means Madrid go into the Clasico with Barcelona next weekend eight points behind their bitter rivals. Barcelona still have a 100% record after coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2, their final two goals coming in the last minutes. Malaga beat Real Betis 4-0, Valencia overcame Real Zaragoza 2-0, Real Sociedad won the Basque derby 2-0 against Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid’s fine form continued at Espanyol with a 1-0 win.

In Italy Juventus won 4-1 against Roma to continue their long running unbeaten run, now 45 matches in Serie A. They are still joint on points with Napoli, who won 1-0 at Sampdoria. AC Milan were saved from another defeat at Parma, as they drew 1-1, Udinese were held 0-0 by Genoa and Torino stunned Atalanta, the Turin side winning 5-1 away. Inter Milan beat Fiorentina 2-1, Palermo beat Chievo 4-1 and Lazio beat Siena 2-1.

Bayern Munich beat Werder Bremen 2-0 away from home to stay top in the Bundesliga with a perfect record, and Eintracht Frankfurt remained the surprise package as the newly promoted team beat Freiburg 2-1 to remain second. Champions Borussia Dortmund got back to winning ways with a 5-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach, Schalke drew at Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-2. Hamburg continued their revival, winning 1-0 against Hannover, and Bayer Leverkusen beat Greuther Furth 2-0.

In France leaders Marseille saw their perfect record smashed by Valenciennes, who won 4-1 at home. Paris St Germain are three points behind them going into the Clasico between the pair next week after beating Sochaux 2-0. Lyon lost 2-0 at home to Bordeaux to stay third, and Lorient are still fourth following a 1-1 draw with Evian. Lille’s poor form continued with a 2-0 loss at Rennes, while champions Montpellier won 2-0 at Nancy.

Twente’s perfect record in Holland came to an end, they lost 1-0 at champions Ajax, but are still ahead of Vitesse at the top of the league, who won 2-1 at Utrecht. PSV slaughtered Venlo 6-0, and Feyenoord in fifth are also emphatic winners after beating NEC 5-1. Porto drew 2-2 at Rio Ave while rivals Benfica beat Pacos de Ferreira 2-1 to go top of the league. Sporting Lisbon drew 2-2 with Estoril Praia, while Braga won 2-0 at Vitoria Guimaraes.

Anzhi Makhachkala won 2-1 against Nizhny Novgorod in Russia to go top of the league, ahead of CSKA Moscow, who lost 2-0 to city rivals Dynamo Moscow at home. Lokomotiv Moscow are third after drawing 1-1 at Zenit St Petersburg, the champions, who are down in seventh. Terek Grozny lost 2-1 at Kuban Krasnodar but are still fourth, and fifth place is Spartak Moscow’s after they won 3-1 at Amkar Perm. Rubin Kazan won 4-0 at Rostov.

Turkish champions Galatasaray were stunned 2-0 by Orduspor, while Fenerbahce also lost by the same score at Kasimpasa. Greek champions Olympiakos won 1-0 at Atromitos, Panathinaikos drew 0-0 at home to Asteras Tripolis. In Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk won their 25th match in a row by beating Dnipro 2-1. Dynamo Kiev won 1-0 against Zarja.

In Brazil leaders Fluminense won the big Rio de Janeiro derby 1- 0 at Flamengo to move six points clear of Atletico Mineiro, who drew 1-1 at Portuguesa as their title challenge stumbles. Third placed Gremio drew 1-1 at Santos, Vasco de Gama beat Figueirense 3-1 and Corinthians beat Sport 3-0. Sao Paulo drew 1-1 at Coritiba, and Palmeiras defeated Ponte Preta 3-0. Across in Argentina, Boca Juniors drew 1-1 with San Lorenzo, and River Plate crushed champions Arsenal 4-0. Newell’s Old Boys are still top despite drawing 0-0 with Tigre. Independiente won 2-1 at Union Santa Fe to ease their relegation fears.