Olivier Giroud scored a brace to help Arsenal beat Southampton 2-0 at the Emirates with the result putting the league leaders four points clear of Liverpool and Chelsea.
The Gunners had the first chance on 11 minutes when Jack Wilshere did well to lob the ball over Artur Boruc from an acute angle but the ball came off the post. They came close again 6 minutes later when Aaron Ramsey’s flick from Mesut Ozil’s cross hit the post yet again. Boruc gifted the hosts their first goal when he failed to clear a back pass first time and opted to try and dribble past Giroud who easily robbed the Polish keeper and tapped into an open goal. Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez came close for the Saints but Wojciech Szczesny made two good saves to keep them at bay. The second half did not see many chances being created until a penalty was awarded against Jose Fonte for pulling Per Mertesacker. Giroud sent Boruc the wrong way and bagged his double while securing all three points for Arsenal.
The 221st Merseyside derby ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw as substitute Daniel Sturridge scored on 89 minutes to earn Liverpool a point at Goodison Park. The Reds took the lead after just 5 minutes when Philippe Coutinho smashed in Steven Gerrard’s corner after it had fallen kindly for him. The Toffees were back on level terms 3 minutes later when Leighton Baines’ free kick was nodded towards Kevin Mirallas by Ross Barkley and the Belgian kept his calm to score. Romelu Lukaku was sent through by Steven Pienaar after the South African had dispossessed Gerrard but Simon Mignolet came off his line to deny his compatriot. Luis Suarez was fouled in a dangerous central position and the Uruguayan curled a low free kick into the bottom corner. Barkley then saw a curling effort tipped away by Mignolet after which Mirallas was cautioned for a dangerous tackle on Suarez. The stud marks were visible on the striker’s right knee and Mirallas should have been sent off. Gerard Deulofeu came on for Everton in the second half and had an instant chance to restore parity but hit straight at Mignolet when clean through on goal. Joe Allen then missed a sitter when Suarez’ attempt to dribble past several defenders fell to him but he shot wide from ten yards with Tim Howard going the wrong way. Mignolet then produced three more saves to deny Lukaku. Lukaku eventually beat Mignolet on 72 minutes when he turned home Mirallas’ cross. Howard kept out a header by Suarez and Mignolet saved Deulofeu’s effort with his left foot. Lukaku put the hosts in front on 82 minutes when he powered home a header from Mirallas’ corner. When all three points looked to be in the bag, Sturridge glanced home Gerrard’s free kick. Howard then had to be alert to push away another effort from Suarez as a thrilling encounter came to a fitting end.
Frank Lampard scored twice against his old club as Chelsea comfortably beat West Ham United 3-0 at Upton Park. The Hammers went behind on 21 minutes when they gave away a needless penalty when Guy Demel’s failure to deal with a harmless ball enabled Oscar to sneak in and he was brought down by Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Finn was lucky not to see red for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Lampard stepped up and blasted his effort to convert the spot kick. The Blues doubled their lead on 34 minutes when Oscar was allowed space to run and his shot went in at the bottom corner with Jaaskelainen beaten. Samuel Eto’o then had a goal bound curling effort tipped over by Jaaskelainen as the teams headed for the break. Mark Noble cleared Gary Cahill’s header off the line from Lampard’s corner to keep the score line respectable. Demel made amends for his mistake when he went past three players down the right before crossing for Modibo Maiga but the striker shot wide with the goal at his mercy. Chelsea grabbed their third when Eden Hazard’s shot from Branislav Ivanovic’s cross was blocked but only up to Lampard who calmly found the back of the net.
Manchester City ran riot at the Etihad as they thumped Tottenham Hotspur 6-0 condemning the Spurs to their worst league defeat in 17 years. Jesus Navas put the hosts in front after just 13 seconds when he floated the ball over Hugo Lloris from the right after the Frenchman’s erroneous clearance had sparked the move. Sandro was unlucky to score an own goal as Alvaro Negredo’s effort went in off the Brazilian to make it 2-0. Sergio Aguero made it three before the break when he tapped in Navas’ low cross from the right. Aguero got his second on 50 minutes when he tapped home after Yaya Toure had done all the hard work to run into the box and cross for the Argentine. Negredo made it five to the good 5 minutes later when he turned with Fernandinho’s pass to smash home past Lloris. Samir Nasri almost got on the score sheet but his nonchalant lob hit the crossbar. Navas ended the rout which he had started when he rushed onto a defensive blunder to slot past Lloris who had a horrible day in goal.
Manchester United yet again let a lead slip in the dying minutes of a game when they conceded in injury time to lose two points as they drew 2-2 away at Cardiff City. Wayne Rooney put the Red Devils in front when Ben Turner’s lazy ball to the flank was intercepted by Antonio Valencia whose cross was flicked on for Rooney by Javier Hernandez and the number ten found the back of net with the help of a deflection. Many would argue that he should have been sent off on 8 minutes when he kicked Jordon Mutch and he should have been. David Marshall then pushed away a goal bound header by Marouane Fellaini after which Cardiff equalised. Mutch found Frazier Campbell with a delightful ball and the former United man kept his cool to slot the ball past David De Gea. United went into the break with the lead when Patrice Evra headed in Rooney’s corner on the stroke of halftime. Marshall produced two saves to keep the Bluebirds in the game when he denied Fellaini and Chris Smalling. Campbell latched onto Tom Cleverley’s poor pass but his chip hit the woodwork with De Gea beaten. Substitute Danny Welbeck should have put the game to bed after a neat link up with Rooney but shot over. His miss was costly as Kim Bo-Kyung headed in the leveller. United could have won it though when Rooney controlled Ryan Giggs’ long ball well but instead of going for goal himself, he opted to lay for Welbeck and his pass lacked the power and was collected by Marshall.
Fulham were beaten 2-1 at Craven Cottage by Swansea City as Jonjo Shelvey scored the winner after Scott Parker had cancelled out teammate Aaron Hughes’ own goal. After having been reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Yannick Bolasie, Crystal Palace beat Hull City 1-0 at the KC Stadium thanks to Barry Bannan’s goal. Loic Remy and Yoan Gouffran scored for Newcastle United as they beat Norwich City 2-1 at St. James’ Park. Leroy Fer pulled one back for the Canaries. Charlie Adam and Steven Nzonzi scored for Stoke City as the Potters beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Britannia. Wes Brown was sent off for the Black Cats. Shane Long’s early double for the Baggies was to no avail as Karim El Ahmadi and Ashley Westwood scored for Aston Villa as they drew 2-2 at the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion.
Spanish La Liga
Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez and Pedro scored for Barcelona as they easily beat Granada 4-0 at the Nou Camp. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Isco and Alvaro Morata scored for Real Madrid as the Los Blancos thrashed Almeria 5-0 away from home. David Villa and Raul Garcia scored a brace each with Diego Costa and Adrian also scoring as Atletico Madrid thrashed Getafe 7-0 at home.
German Bundesliga
Mario Gotze, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller all scored in the second half as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 at the Signal Iduna Park. Stefan Kiesling’s only goal was enough for Bayer Leverkusen as they beat Hertha Berlin 1-0 in the German capital. Wolfsburg were held to a 1-1 draw at Nurnberg while Borussia Monchengladbach beat Stuttgart 2-0 away and Eintracht Frankfurt held Schalke to a 3-3 draw at home.
Italian Serie A
Juventus beat Livorno 2-0 away while AS Roma drew 0-0 at home against Cagliari. Napoli were beaten 1-0 at home by Parma while Inter Milan drew 1-1 at Bologna with Udinese beating Fiorentina 1-0 at home and AC Milan drawing 1-1 at home against Genoa.
French Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain beat Stade de Reims 3-0 away while AS Monaco beat Nantes 1-0 away. Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Valenciennes and Marseille beat Ajaccio 3-1 away.
Dutch Eredivisie
Go Ahead Eagles 0-3 Vitesse Arnhem
PSV Eindhoven 1-1 Heerenveen
AZ Alkmaar 2-2 Roda JC Kerkrade
Ajax Amsterdam 3-0 Heracles Almelo
RKC Waalwijk 1-0 Feyenoord Rotterdam
Twente Enschede 5-2 NAC Breda
Scottish Premiership
Celtic 2-1 Aberdeen
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1-0 St Johnstone
Dundee United 4-1 Partick Thistle
Kilmarnock 0-2 Motherwell
St Mirren 0-0 Hibernian
